Loftus Hall is a large mansion located on the Hook Peninsula in County Wexford, Ireland.
This mansion has earned a reputation as the most haunted house in Ireland: haunted by the devil and the ghost of a young woman.
A building that stands imposing and ominous, it was once known as Redmond Hall.
Set against the backdrop of a rugged, windswept coastal landscape, Loftus Hall looms over the surrounding landscape.
A chilling place for the mysteries it hides, the history of Loftus Hall and the land on which it stands dates back some 800 years.
However, the locals say it was sacred to the Druids as far back as thousands of years ago.
Loftus Hall was purchased in 2011 by the Quigleys who decided to make it a tourist stop for lovers of mystery, every year there are about 80 thousand curious people who stop here to visit the house in the hope of a supernatural encounter.
This house was also chosen as the location for the horror film “The Lodgers”.
Loftus Hall is a large mansion located on the Hook Peninsula in County Wexford, Ireland.
This mansion has earned a reputation as the most haunted house in Ireland: haunted by the devil and the ghost of a young woman.
A building that stands imposing and ominous, it was once known as Redmond Hall.
Set against the backdrop of a rugged, windswept coastal landscape, Loftus Hall looms over the surrounding landscape.
A chilling place for the mysteries it hides, the history of Loftus Hall and the land on which it stands dates back some 800 years.
However, the locals say it was sacred to the Druids as far back as thousands of years ago.
Loftus Hall was purchased in 2011 by the Quigleys who decided to make it a tourist stop for lovers of mystery, every year there are about 80 thousand curious people who stop here to visit the house in the hope of a supernatural encounter.
This house was also chosen as the location for the horror film “The Lodgers”.
Loftus Hall
The story of Loftus Hall begins around 1170 AD, when Raymond (Redmond) Fitzgerald, nicknamed Le Gros (“The Fat”), landed at Baginbun Head on the Hook Peninsula in what is now County Wexford in Ireland.
He acquired land in the area, on which he built a castle known as Houseland Castle.
Over the years, it fell into disrepair and in 1350 the descendants of Raymond Le Gros built a new manor called The Hall or ‘Redmond Hall’.
Upon Alexander Redmond’s death in 1651, the Redmond family was evicted from the castle and their home was auctioned off.
In 1666, Henry Loftus acquired the confiscated land and the mansion was renamed Loftus Hall.
In the mid-1600s, Charles Tottenham married Anne Loftus, daughter of the first Viscount Loftus, and they had six children, four boys and two girls: Elizabeth and Anne.
His wife became ill and died while the girls were still young. Two years later, Tottenham married his cousin Jane Cliffe and they lived together, along with Anne, in Loftus Hall.
But what is the story behind Loftus Hall?
One night in 1766, during a storm, a ship was driven into the rocks of the Hook Peninsula.
A man appeared at the door of the mansion asking for hospitality.
It was not uncommon for strangers to come knocking, as the rough waters around Wexford’s south shore often brought ships ashore on the shore or destroyed by rocks.
The man was housed and stayed in the house for several weeks.
Young Anne, after a short time became acquainted with him.
One night, while the Totthenam family and the mysterious man were sitting around the card table, Anne bent down to pick up a card that had fallen to the floor, looked under the table and discovered that the mysterious man had goat legs.
The young woman, visibly frightened, jumped up and told the man that he had a goat’s foot, at which point the mysterious guest disappeared, taking a quick flight across the roof and leaving behind a large hole in the ceiling.
The man’s disappearance left Anne in a state of trauma from which she could never recover.
Because of this trauma, the girl’s family locked her up in the Tapestry Room.
All the time Anne was huddled up, her head bent, looking out of the window, waiting for the man to return.
In 1775 Anne died, and it is said that they could not straighten her body because the muscles had taken a strange shape. She was buried in the same position in which she had died, curled up.
What young Anne saw was the devil himself, so much so that at Loftus Hall, house blessings and attempts at exorcism were futile for all the centuries to come.
Since that day poltergeists and apparitions have been occurring within those walls, in the darkness of the night lights are seen going out by themselves, suddenly, moans and sinister gasps.
Several members of the clergy were summoned by the family to exorcise the place, but none were able to rid the house of its ghosts.
What really lies behind Loftus Hall?
Many of the details in this account are likely fictionalized.
However, reports from over a century ago say that Anne was actually confined to a room in Loftus Hall until her death. So what really happened to her?
Was Anne really confined because of mental illness or was there another reason?
It is very likely that the tale of the devil was invented by the Loftus family to discourage other strangers from visiting the castle.
According to other accounts, the stranger had fallen in love with Anne and asked Charles Tottenham for her hand in marriage, but was denied permission. He was turned away from the house, leaving Anne heartbroken.
But there is another story as well!
During a renovation of Loftus Hall, the skeletal remains of a small child were found in what is believed to have been the room in which Anne had been confined.
Had Anne become pregnant by the stranger, shaming her family?
This could have provided a reason for her father to lock her up, never to be seen again.
Anne may have died in childbirth, after her father refused to let people know about her pregnancy, including the local doctor.
Anne Tottenham’s grave is located in a local cemetery in Wexford. But unlike the surrounding graves, the niche is completely cemented in place. Probably the people who buried her wanted to make sure that no one could ever access the grave and inspect her body.
What secrets did Anne take with her to the grave?
The ghost story of Loftus Hall was also covered in a documentary, after the last owners ran away, saying that the building’s service staff had seen Anne’s ghost coming down the stairs, and that horses could be heard pawing outside the building.
In 2014, a visitor taking a tour captured an eerie image on his camera.
Thomas Beavis reported that he was viewing photos on his camera when he noticed the ghostly figures of a young woman and an older woman in a window.
