Boathouse Hotel, Newry

The Boathouse is built on ground where there was once a farmhouse (complete with a priest hole!). Rooms are en-suite. There is a beer garden and also a conservatory. Visitors are encouraged - should they wish - to request one of the "haunted" bedrooms on the first floor. The corridor has reports of noises and murmurings and some reports of doors being knocked - but nobody outside. The bar area and kitchen has reports of apparitions, and the bell on the counter in the 'reception' bar and especially in the lounge/restaurant bar have been heard but when staff arrive there is nobody there. The restaurant bar where the bell is on the counter has a resident "cheeky" ghost who, it is claimed, trips up the unwary visitor. It is also claimed that the "cheeky" ghost may be responsible for the choice in music as the sound system has on occasions cut out or music been changed to what some believe is a selection the ghost prefers. The same or another "resident" has been known to switch off/ on televisions in rooms. In the corridor on the first floor, as well as the sound of knocking, someone/ something has been heard running, dark 'shadowy' figures have been seen (one in a cloak and wearing a hat who has also been seen in the kitchen). The smell of tobacco has also been reported in the corridor and in the lounge, and visitors have reported playful tugs to their hair and sightly more sinister, being scratched. The owners and staff welcome visitors who intend to trek over to South Stack (Ynys Lawd) lighthouse either for the superb photogenic views or to visit the "haunted" lighthouse. All they ask is upon your return is to catch your breath and warm yourselves in the bar with either a hot drink and sandwich, or peruse the menu. For the less energetic why not walk round to the now-deserted Newry Castle, (complete with repurposed towers that were used as pillboxes during the Second World War) passing by the now derelict large mansion that was once the residence of the harbour's Customs Officer. For the braver/ more foolhardy visitors, the owners and staff are more than happy to answer questions of phenomena and will accommodate any specific requests to book a room in one of the haunted rooms.