Paranormal investigation into Wake Museum in Waterford
A séance will be held in the Museum of the Irish Wake next month.
Waterford will be the site of a forthcoming paranormal investigation to held, fittingly, at the Irish Wake Museum in Cathedral Square.
Anthony Kerrigan of Ghost Éire met with Waterford News and Star at the museum to talk paranormal activity, ghosts, séances, and more.
"We travel all over Ireland, delving into the unknown. Mainly supernatural phenomena but also psy, which is related to clairvoyance, pre-cognition and telepathy," he said.
Anthony contacted Waterford Museums head curator Cliona Purcell as he was conducting a study on séances, commenting: "The most common phenomena associated with seances is draughts, changes in temperature, so I am coming around with my team in around the end of November to do a study, conduct a séance, sit in and monitor the changes in the atmosphere in relation to temperature and draughts."
For this séance there will be a team of three and Anthony said there will be no talking in between it.
"The common thing with supernatural phenomena, is change of temperature and drafts so we'd be monitoring the environment around us as well," he said.
The environment of a location is integral to a séance.
The Irish Wake Museum is located on the grounds of an almshouse that was constructed in 1478. The almshouse was referred to as 'God's waiting room' as it sheltered men and women who were coming to the end of their lives and there may be one or two spirits dwelling within its walls!
Anthony noted: "Because of the way this building is, there are probably artefacts that go back to Victorian times. Traditional séances had been done in that time, opening up the occult, which is magic as well, the likes of James Joyce, WB Yeats, Bram Stoker, Maud Gonne were all involved in that. People may have lived in this area that may have known them so we're trying to connect to that area."
Anthony grew up listening to the ghost tales told by his Galway father.
He said one of his most memorable experiences with the paranormal happened in the Déise: "Probably about four years ago, I was in a location in Waterford and one of my un-easiest encounters was in there. I won't mention."
However, after some cajoling he said: "It was probably a similar style building, and probably a similar style kind of history. There's a lot of history that's kind of unknown, but not put out there. We did a séance earlier, before that, we did a talking board session, which is the Ouija board, and it said 'in you I will come through'. Now, I didn't take any notice with it, and afterwards, I was doing the sounds, I got this experience in the car. It was a meditation kind of state. I experienced a kind of euphoria, you know, and my vocals, I lost control my physical body and the vocals seem to come through and in it was: 'I'm a slave boy'."
Asked if there was a danger in engaging in the spirit world, Anthony replied: "When we go to church, when we go to worship, whoever we worship, whatever faith we're in, we're committing ourselves. But what we're doing with seances, with spiritualism, is kind of more open. So [we're] asking actually for contact to come back.
"As we say, Lord, hear us in the common prayer."
