This account is taken from my mother's diary where she recorded many paranormal experiences through her life. This is an accurate account. On the 11th May 1971 my mother was staying at her aunt's house in County Sligo with her toddler sister. This was my mother's birthday. Before I begin to narrate this story I must give some information about the house in which she was staying. It is in the Lissadell Estate which was owned by the Gore Booth family.
The place is riddled with spirits from the Irish Famine which wiped out the majority of the local tenants. This particular house was lived in by an unknown Irish family of tenant farmers. All the information that was known about them is that their five children died of starvation in the house and their parent's immigrated to America.
The following is a commonly believed tale about the house. An English aristocrat visited the estate and died suddenly (presumed heart failure) in the kitchen of the house. Why an aristocrat would want to visit a tenant farmers house is a mystery. With these two legends in mind, I begin my narrative. After the small celebration which was held for my mother's birthday; she and her sister were sent to bed. The room in which they slept in is now nicknamed "The Cold Room..."
The walls were not decorated with anything other than fading pink wall paper and picture which gave the ominous impression that its eyes followed you as you walked past. The pair shared a double bed for the night. Her young sister, since she was so young; fell asleep quickly. My mother did not sleep but stayed awake; thinking of the history and legends associated with the house. Eventually she fell into a light slumber.
She was awakened by soft footsteps which beat with a loud, steady rhythm. My mother knew immediately that the footsteps were created by someone wearing boots. She thought it was her aunt since she always wore boots so she was not scared. The sounds approached the bed where she and her sister lay. My mother shut her eyes to pretend she was asleep because she knew that her aunt would scold her for not being awake. A strange coldness saturated the air and she heard whispers. The words were illegible but the voice was not her aunt's but it was a woman's voice. She heard the unknown woman kiss her sleeping sister. My mother claimed she felt nauseous with terror. The footsteps seemed to turn and leave in the same style of rhythm as they had came. My mother awoke her sister and asked her had she felt or seen anything? She said no.
The same thing happened three times during the one night, the third time my mother looked at the woman. She was just a blurred shadow like figure but looked very solid. The cold emanated from the human shaped form. She watched her kiss her sister on the forehead and walked out with long strides.
My mother thoroughly questioned her aunt about whether she came into her room that night. Her aunt swore by the bible (swearing by the bible meant a lot to people at that time) that she did not once enter the room that night.
My mother never again had to sleep in that room so she has seen nothing more of the "motherly ghost" which she named it. She was rather perplexed that she did not see any spirits relating to the aforesaid legends which she was expecting to encounter.
Thirty nine years later my mother and I visited the old house. It was completely refurbished with many building extensions added on to the original structure but the room was still the same. Not in appearance but in its sinister atmosphere. It was terribly cold and dark even though the summer sun was shining through the wide window. Her cousin who now owns the house said "No matter what we do the room never heats up..."
I was impressed by this account especially since I had the opportunity to inspect the scene of the event many years after the incident happened. It certainly seems a place where a haunting could be in operation.
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