Exploring the paranormal at Cobh’s former Convent of Mercy
Pictured is an old wheelchair within the Convent of Mercy in Cobh. Picture: Rachel Lysaght
Since 2013, the Cork Supernatural Society has been conducting paranormal investigations at haunted sites across the city and county.
Ahead of Halloween, joined the society on one of their investigations at the Convent of Mercy in Cobh.
The historic building, which dates back to 1850, was once home to the Sisters of Mercy who, down through the decades, oversaw its operation as not only a convent, but an orphanage, a school, and a laundry.
The four-storey property, which overlooks Cobh from atop Spy Hill, operated as a convent until its closure in 2009.
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It later went to market in 2012, for a price of €1.2m. It is now privately owned by a couple who live on-site, with renovations underway.
Throughout the years since its closure, many people have shared their paranormal experiences from the building.
These include instances of doors closing of their own accord, footsteps heard from unoccupied hallways, and workers being scratched by unseen assailants.
From speaking to Matthew Clarke, co-founder of the Cork Supernatural Society, it was clear that the building holds vast supernatural potential.
The group was founded by Matthew and his sister 13 years ago following their own paranormal experiences at Nano Nagle Place in Cork city.
Matthew said his interest in the paranormal only grew from then, leading him on a more than decade-long quest to explore the beyond.
Joined on our tour by society member, Louise Keane, and Aidan Murphy of podcast, we spent four hours inside the convent attempting to contact spirits.
On stepping inside the building, there was an immediate air of suspense as Matthew led our group from room to room, giving us insight into the lives of those who grew up within its walls.
The central building, which maintains much of its original character, is sectioned into four areas — the orphanage, the nun’s quarters, the chapel, and the laundry.
Behind it is a separate building, a garden, and an onsite graveyard, which is the resting place of many who lost their lives due to a tuberculosis outbreak in the 1800s.
Starting in the nun’s quarters, we set up shop in one of the former bedrooms and got to work using paranormal investigative equipment.
Among the equipment were K2 meters, devices that audibly and visually identify a fluctuation in electromagnetic fields (EMF).
The small walkie-talkie looking machines use a row of coloured LED lights and beeping sounds to indicate the strength of nearby EMF changes.
Once he had placed the K2 meters in different positions around the room, Matthew began by calling out across the veil, summoning ghosts by name.
From previous investigations, Matthew and his team identified one particular spirit who is allegedly more active than others — a nun who lived and worked at the convent in the 1980s and ’90s.
Going into the investigation as a sceptic, I was eager to ask her some pointed questions — ones which couldn’t be fabricated or expected in advance of my visit.
Sitting in the small attic room, we called out to the woman who sounded the K2 meters to indicate her presence.
Something, according to Matthew, that “hasn’t happened in a long time”.
Among my questions were her memories of the former , the Echo boys, and if she had ever featured in the pages of the paper — something which could be fact-checked in the Irish Newspaper Archives (INA).
An enthusiastic response came through the K2 machines upon my questioning, with all of the lights illuminating to indicate that she was once an Echo reader.
While it took some time to assess when and where she had featured in the paper, calling out years and dates one by one, we concluded she had been photographed in the in the late 1980s — having alerted to only that year via the K2 machine.
This was later checked via the INA, where one article mentioning her name was found in April 1989.
However, no photograph of her was found.
Moving from that room, we set up in the laundry, a large outbuilding connected to the orphanage that still housed some of the convent’s original tiles and wash stations.
In this room, using heat cameras, voice recorders, K2 meters and a range of other devices, we sat in a circle and repeated the process — calling out to those who may be present beyond the grave.
A short time into this process, the voice recorder flashed to indicate it had been paused — without interference from anyone in the room.
When the recording was played back, a male voice could be heard — one that didn’t come from Matthew or Aidan — saying “hello”, however, no further communication was gathered after this one instance.
Following this, our investigation led us to the chapel, which was home to numerous previous paranormal experiences.
Upon entering the empty chapel we heard a loud banging sound, with a small piece of brick found discarded on the floor near metal piping.
Matthew said they had contacted the spirits of a small child and a former Bishop in this area previously, who may have been a culprit for the sound.
During our time in the chapel, I volunteered to use a spirit box, also known as an Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) radio.
The EVP radio is a modified device that sweeps through AM and FM frequencies to capture voices.
To use this machine, I sat inside an old confessional box, blindfolded with loud earphones on to drown out surrounding noises from the team walking around the chapel.
Whilst visually inhibited, I heard several voices come through the machine, the loudest of which said “get out”.
While this investigation could not prove the absolute existence of paranormal beings, it certainly opens the floor for discussion.
As Irish people, we are deeply connected to the tradition of Halloween, and one could argue we are intrinsically connected to the beyond.
Leaving this experience, I was unsure of my conviction on the existence of ghosts, but I am certainly less of a sceptic.
Other sceptics are encouraged to draw their own conclusions by joining The Cork Supernatural Society on one of their public paranormal investigations, with one taking place at the Convent of Mercy this Halloween.
To book a place on this investigation, contact: corksupernatural.society@yahoo.ie.
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