What happens at a World Ghost Convention? Brian O'Connell takes a look behind the scenes.
For all things that go bump in the night, the place to be Halloween weekend is the eerie setting of the 19th-century jail in Cork, for the fifth annual World Ghost Convention.
In what promises to be a highly spirited affair, guest speakers including witches, wizards, psychics and academics, will gather to swap ghost stories and break through to the other side, with hundreds of attendees from throughout the world. The convention will be opened by Cork's lord mayor on Friday, October 27th. Over the course of a week, events include An Audience with the Spirits, The Other Side and the devilishly decadent Halloween Night Fright Night.
Prof Margaret Humphreys of the folklore and ethnology department in UCC will be giving a lecture entitled emigrant ghosts and Michael Anthony, spiritual cleanser and healer, will discuss his work.
What started out as an informal discussion between a group of friends some years back is now promoting itself as the leading ghost seminar in the world, and attracting experts from as far a field as Australia and Canada.
The convention is the brainchild of Cork writer and folklorist Richard T Cooke, who is usually the man to call if there's something strange going on in your neighbourhood. Born and reared in the North Mall area of Cork, Cooke says that from a young age he became aware of supernatural happenings around him. In particular, a benevolent presence continually appeared during times of peril.
"My first experience was when I was about nine years old and fell off a bridge into the River Lee during a fishing trip," recalls Cooke. "There was a heavy flowing tide and I saw a face. I didn't know anything else until I woke up on a slip about 600 yards from where I fell. A few years later, I was in a boat by Blackrock Castle in Cork, and the boat capsized. I was sinking like a stone as I had big boots on me and I saw the face again. It made me become aware and calmed me down and I managed to get to safety."
There were other instances, yet Cooke didn't feel comfortable relating his experiences to those around him for fear of ridicule. It was only years later when he began hearing of other people's stories, that he felt comfortable acknowledging his supernatural companions. He says a chance meeting with a wizard in the late 1980s proved to be the turning point.
"I met a man called Michael Campbell, a wizard and a psychic. He told me he could see things around me, and that made me more aware of my own existence.
"Over the years, I met various people out of the blue who shared their experiences with me. I remember one man, who worked in business, saying, 'Richard imagine me going into a board meeting to discuss a €10 million contract and telling them I saw a ghost last night. They'd put a question mark over my sanity. It was at that point I decided to organise an annual public event where people could address these issues."
The Cork City Gaol was chosen as the ideal venue because of the number of reported sightings which have included 19th-century prisoners and guards mingling with tourists.
Cooke says he receives, on average, two calls a week from members of the public who have a supernatural experience they need advice on. Often it is from people who have just moved into a house and are witnessing strange noises or sightings.
Communication, he says, remains the best way to exorcise the demons.
"I get calls from all over the country. Normally what I do is address the family or whoever is seeing the experience, and I say let's talk about it. That is the first step, and they can sense relief instantly because you have another person who can understand, and won't respond to what you are saying by mocking facial expressions.
"There are often underlying reasons for spirits to appear. For instance, I remember two years ago a man came to me with a drink problem. He was in a public building queueing for a lift. He couldn't get in because it was full and he was seething with rage and began walking down the stairs.
"Next thing he slipped on a step and fell, and on his way down saw his son who had passed away, looking at him. He never drank again, so there was a profound reason for that sighting."
Spirits are our next-door neighbours, says Cooke, and there's no reason why we can't embrace our ghostly communities.
"I believe we are all going to where they are some day," he addss. "But in my experience there is always a profound reason for seeing a supernatural occurrence. They are not here to hurt us at all. In fact, in many cases, the opposite is the case."
The World Ghost Convention runs from Oct 27 to Nov 3. For tickets call 021-4271659 or e-mail irishghostfestival@yahoo.com