Loftus Hall is a three story mansion that sits on the Hook Peninsula and overlooks the Celtic Sea at the southeastern tip of Ireland. Originally called just The Hall, the manor was built circa 1170 by Richard de Clare, the 2nd Earl of Pembroke. Around 1350, this building was replaced by another and was later known as Redmond Hall. It fell under siege by English forces during the Irish Confederate Wars in 1641 because the owner, Alexander Redmond, was an Irish rebel sympathizer. The Redmond Family was able to barricade the castle and keep the English at bay. When the fog fell, the Irish Confederate Army snuck in, after hearing of the attack, and ambushed the English, fighting them off and protecting the estate.
More battles took place through the years, and the home fell out of the Redmond Family possession. It became Loftus hall in the middle 1600s when the Loftus Family bought it and restored much of the damage. In the 1870s, that building was torn down by John Henry Wellington Graham Loftus and the foundation was used to erect the current house.
Though Loftus Hall saw its share of battles and bloodshed--and no doubt family deaths--the ghost story that comes out of it stems not from anything related to these topics, but from a simple game of cards.
On a stormy night in 1666, an unexpected vessel docked on the shore of the Hook Peninsula, carrying a handsome young stranger who was granted sanctuary inside Loftus Hall. The daughter of the family, Anne, became close with the man during the time he was there. One night, he and the family were playing cards and Anne dropped one of hers on the floor. When she bent to retrieve it, she saw the man had a cloven hoof instead of a foot. She then stood and pointed this out and the man vanished through the roof in a fiery haze, leaving behind a gaping hole.
Nice hoof, eh? Sorry 'bout your roof, by the way.
Soon after, Anne began to slowly lose her mind. It is rumored that the family then locked her away in her favorite room known as the Tapestry Room. Anne refused to eat or drink and she only sat in the corner with her knees tucked under her chin while awaiting the return of her abominable mystery man. But, he did not come back and she died in 1675. She was buried curled up because her legs would have broken if anyone tried to straighten them out.
After Anne's death, it is believed that the man with the cloven hoof returned and began haunting Loftus Hall. Loud clopping footsteps were heard echoing in stairwells and along corridors. Menacing laughter would ring out in the night. Items would be thrown across rooms and smashed to the floor. The smell of smoke was soon noticed in certain areas. These events became so intense that exorcisms were performed, but they only made things worse. Soon, the presence of two spirits were heard and felt as a woman's cries and also laughter joined the fray. The pale apparition of who people believe is Anne began to appear in the room where she died, as well as running along the halls. The shadow of a strange man started to appear in rays of sunlight and also candlelight, moving eerily along the walls. Some think that this devilish man and the tragic Anne Loftus are now locked in an eternal contest of Hide-and-Seek.
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