City LivingThere are ways to rid your house of bad vibes, says Edel Morgan

The only ghosts many of us have encountered in our homes are the miniature ones that appear at the front door demanding treats at Halloween. For those who believe they have the kind of eerie presence in their home that can't be bought off with a bag of Tayto and a few Curly Wurlys, there are a number of routes you can take to banish the problem.

The cynics amongst you might snigger but many of us have at some time entered a house we were viewing or visiting socially and immediately felt uncomfortable. When I lived in Tuam in Co Galway, a family member hated visiting the house I rented because she said she could sense a chilling and sinister atmosphere downstairs. The fact that there was no central heating and I had two scowling 18-year-old flat mates might have had something to do with it but I have to admit there were certain rooms in the house that I tended to avoid.

Wicklow estate agent Ann Lait remembers showing an old cottage 25 years ago that had a feeling "so nasty and strange" that on one occasion she had to go home. "The cottage was close to the sea and was built by a lady who left her husband and was ostracised by the local community. She built the house with her own hands and nobody helped her." Lait handled the sale of the cottage to a university lecturer who bought it as a summer house "but his wife never liked it and felt it had an uncomfortable feeling. It has since been knocked down and another house built in its place."

Lait says she doesn't believe in ghosts as such "but you can get a sense of whether a house is happy or not. You can get a bad feeling if the décor is miserable or no-one has ever cooked in the kitchen but, in most cases, you can usually fix that with a few nice touches."

She says some people will ask at a viewing if anyone has died on the property. "Some won't like it if a house is next to a graveyard but I'll tell them they'll get no trouble from the inhabitants."

Another Wicklow agent estate agent, Breda Bermingham of Sherry FitzGerald Myles Doyle, says she sold an occupied house in Aughavannagh years ago with a resident ghost. "It was a seriously beautiful old house but, when I was meeting people there at viewings, I would prefer to wait outside in the car because I didn't feel comfortable going in. The owner was an elderly gent who lived in Dublin. When it was sale agreed, the lady who bought it told me she was down on Sunday and the saw the owner, a very distinguished man who was reading a book sitting in the garden, but who she didn't like to approach. I later found out that it wasn't him, because he was in hospital."

Rather than pulling out of the sale immediately when she learned she'd seen a ghost "the buyer thought it was fabulous and was very open to the idea".

Bermingham says that since then the only bad vibes she's got in a property have been the result of it being dirty, abandoned or crammed with too much religious iconography. "A dark place with red lights and the curtains drawn can create a really eerie atmosphere but, if a house is sparkling clean with flowers, it usually feels welcoming."

If a murder has been committed in a house it can seriously affect its resale value. One Dublin agent who recently sold a house where there was a grisly happening says it can take five-to-10 years for a house to shake off a traumatic history. Bermingham believes it can take even longer "in a strong community where people know each other".

There are a number of ways of purging a house of a presence. While some call in a psychic, or a paranormal consultant as many prefer to call themselves these days, others prefer a more traditional approach.

Church of Ireland clergywoman canon Virginia Kennerley knows of a few cases where the clergy were called in to put a spirit to rest. "We did have a reported experience where a woman in a parish had a horrific presence in a bedroom. Anyone who went in couldn't sleep and had a sense of being smothered. I rang a friend of mine in England who had a lot of experience with exorcisms and does distant exorcisms. It was better for a time, but it happened again. They got a new rector locally and he went and conducted a eucharist in the place and that seemed to deal with it. It appears someone with emphysema had previously lived there and had a strong emotional tie holding them to the house. My perception is that certain things aren't dealt with in this life and they somehow need permission to be released and move on."

Feng Shui consultant Edel Cleary doesn't so much deal in clearing spirits as atmospheres. She says it's important to find out as much about the previous occupants of a house as you can before buying.

"Just like you can walk into the house after an argument you feel it hanging in the air, an experience in a house can create a heavy energy that needs lifting.

"Often sea salt is used which draws moisture from the air which carries the essence of energy. You sprinkle it around the circumference of a space, leave it overnight and then hoover it up in the morning. It can cleanse and uplift if you feel stuck in a rut or are suffering form couch potato syndrome."

- emorgan@irish-times.ie