It has wenty-two bedrooms, 97 windows, and the mantle of Ireland's most haunted house, and now Loftus Hall, on the Hook Head peninsula in Wexford, has sold after a year on the market.
Loftus Hall, which was previously featured in horror movies and ghost-hunters TV shows, as well as literally being a tourist attraction as a "haunted house", has sold after a year on the market.
The vast mansion, located in Fethard-on-Sea, in County Wexford, has been famed for generations for its ghostly sightings, including testimonies that the devil was once hosted at the house. The 22-bedroom grand house sits on 63 acres of land, with access to a private beach.
The owner Aidan Quigley, who bought the house for €625,000 in 2011, told the Irish Independent that the house sold earlier in August.
Read more
He said "We can confirm that Loftus Hall is sold. This is my last day in the hall. I have to reflect on ten very happy years here."
Speaking from the famed main hall staircase to American documentary makers on Friday, Aug 13th, Quigley said that over the past decade almost 500k visitors had come to the hall for ghostly tours and paranormal nights.
He also revealed that the house would move on "to bigger and greater things".
‘It’s in safe hands and the new custodian to take over from us, I truly believe they will do a fantastic job."
He added that "It's a happy exit".
Loftus Hall, in Fethard-on-Sea, in County Wexford.
The devil playing cards
The legend of Loftus Hall begins during the 18th century when a man called Charles Tottenham lived at the Wexford mansion. The story goes that a stranger came to the Hall looking for a place to stay on a stormy night. He was invited in by the Tottenhams and they all sat down to play cards.
During the game, one of the ladies bent down to pick up a card. She was shocked when she saw, underneath the table, a cloven foot. All at once, the stranger vanished through the ceiling with a puff of smoke.
Loftus Hall was then exorcized by Father Thomas Broaders whose powers worked. Fr Boarders went on to become Parish Priest of the parishes of the Hook and Ramsgrange for almost 50 years.
The building in which the legend is associated was leveled to the ground in 1870 and the present-day mansion was erected.
Love Irish history? Share your favorite stories with other history buffs in the IrishCentral History Facebook group.
History of Loftus Hall
The 22-bedroom house we see today was built on Hook Peninsula between 1865 and 1875.
It was built by the Marquis of Ely, on the ruins of Redmond Hall, which was in existence since 1350, and was purchased by the Loftus family in the 1600s.
Loftus Hall (photographed in Aug 2013), Loftus Hall, in Fethard-on-Sea, in County Wexford.
A local historian, Liam Ryan, told the Sunday Times, the Loftus family were English planters who left their mark on the area.
“There are no monuments erected to them because they were landed in and put out the Redmonds, who were Catholics, but you can see their impact in the lovely stone walls in the area,” he said. “Loftus Hall is one of the most recognized buildings in the country.”
Over the years Loftus Hall has been run as a country hotel and a convent run by the Benedictine or Sisters of Providence order of nuns in the 20th century.
In fact, Loftus Hall is featured in Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl books as Fowl Manor. The Wexford author worked at Loftus Hall when it was a hotel, as a teenager and it left its mark.
Here's a short snippet on Loftus Hall's history and its hauntings:
Comments