On Monday the 30th of October over half of the MBA class decided to get out of Blackrock to see what life beyond the Pale had to offer. Loftus Hall located in the southern most point of County Wexford also known as the model county is a long way from Blackrock, so we decided to make the most of the trip and stop off at a few choice locations along the way, namely Glendalough and the Irish National Heritage Park. We got very lucky on the day as there were clear blue skies and plenty of sunshine, as anyone in Ireland knows so much of the good things we have to offer in this country is weather dependant. (Aside: Wexford is called the model county as we have a disproportionate number of models, supermodels and in generally beautiful people compared to the rest of the country).
The first stop on our extensive itinerary was Glendalough a beautiful monastic site set in a glaciated valley in County Wicklow. Wicklow is the most mountainous county we have on the east coast of Ireland, I relayed this information to my travel companions for the day who scoffed before bursting into laughter. Without naming names the offenders come from Venezuela and Greece, however shortly after our arrival in Glendalough they soon came around to the majesty of this ancient site. We took it easy compared to some of the groups who climbed the Spink. All that sightseeing, walking and hiking was hungry work so most of us took full advantage of the chipper vans on site, with the nutrition obtained from the Quarter Pounders and Garlic Cheese Chips setting us up for the rest of the day.
Next up was a guided tour around the Irish National Heritage Park which is located just outside Wexford town upon the banks of the imperious river Slaney. Upon arrival we were treated to a video which depicted life in medieval Ireland. The tour kicked off in prehistoric Ireland circa 7000 BC (Mesolithic era), through the Stone age, Bronze age and into the Iron age (coincidentally where we left off in Glendalough). On the tour we learned about pagan Ireland and how our ancestors worshipped multiple gods, how to cook a nice piece of ham in a fulacht fia, farming practices, Irish Kings, and how St Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland and chased out the snakes from the country while he was at it. At the end of the tour we found a playground for Spilios which he took full advantage of as our photgraphic evidence proves. All that learning, walking and playing proved to be thirsty work so we headed to one of Wexford’s finest pubs The Sky and the Ground to become suitably refreshed and also (*not for the designated drivers) to calm the nerves in anticipation of what lay ahead of us in Loftus Hall.
Loftus Hall, the main event, located down on the Hook Peninsula in the South of Wexford. Loftus Hall has a long and troubled history dating back to 1172. For those who don’t know the story the Charles Tottenham took over the mansion in 1666 with his second wife and daughter Anne from his first marriage. One night during a storm a ship unexpectedly arrived at the Hook Peninsula and seeking refuge from the storm a mysterious handsome young man arrived at Loftus Hall. Anne became smitten with the man and one night when playing cards Anne searching for a card bent down and looked on the floor only to see her mystery man had a cloven foot as per Lucifer himself. At that point the man shot through the ceiling leaving a hole there that could never be repaired. Poor Anne was very disturbed by this and became mentally ill. Anne died in 1675 and her ghost has said to have made frequent visits to Loftus Hall ever since. We got the chance to experience a live recreation of this event where I personally got the chance to play the role of Anne’s step mother and use my most feminine voice to address the crowd of 40 people which was very liberating I must admit. On the way out, we were chased by some very scary looking individuals with chainsaws towards the giftshop. I must say thank you to some of my braver classmates who held my hand when things got too scary, without you I don’t think I would be here writing this blog right now and could quite possibly have become another part of the Loftus Hall legacy.
To conclude I must give a big shout out to Laura Cunningham for initiating and organising the trip down to Loftus Hall for what was an unforgettable Halloween experience in Ireland’s most haunted house. The drivers Ian Ahern, Eoin Carroll and Laura for their efforts because I know for various reasons between, socialising, running marathons and coursework you all had a lot going on! Finally, thanks to everyone who made it down to Loftus Hall, it was great to spend time with you all outside the college and show off a bit of my county. For the rest of the class we hope to see you at our next outing!
James Kelly, Full-Time MBA 2017-2018