Burt Castle was built during the 16th century in
Ulster at the southern edge of the Inishowen Peninsula. Inishowen had been in
the hands of the O’Doherty Clan for more than a thousand years and Burt Castle
was only one of several castles that dotted the peninsula. It has seen its
share of conflicts, intrigue… and murder. And throughout the centuries there
have been numerous ghostly sightings, even today among the ruins.
Here is how I describe the castle in Clans and Castles,
the first book in the historical Checkmate
series—then keep reading for the stories behind the ghostly sightings:
Burt Castle rested
at the southern edge of the Inishowen Peninsula like a silent sentinel keeping
watch over the O’Doherty landholdings. It was constructed during the reign of Henry
VIII and was considered a more contemporary style than earlier Irish castles.
Built of the same limestone and rock that was found in abundance throughout
Ulster, it rose three stories above the ground and at two of its four corners
stood towers that reached another two stories before giving way to parapets
that afforded a spectacular view of the Irish countryside—and even Derry, which
was a only a few miles away.
Each wall was
between four and five feet thick, the towers dotted with perforations for
dozens of harkbus, along with larger openings for cannons.
There were two more stories below ground,
comprised of dungeons, an armory and soldiers’ barracks and offices, eventually
giving way to a stone wall that surrounded the castle and grounds, which was in
turn encircled by a mote. With Ireland’s violent history of invasion ranging
from the Vikings and Normans to the Spaniards and English—not to mention
battles between clans—it was a formidable fortress built to withstand assault.
During the 16th century when Burt Castle one of
the O’Doherty men seduced a young girl from the neighboring area—quite possibly
Derry, which was only a short distance away. The lovers met as lovers do, and
the girl gave up her heart and her body to the nobleman. Soon after, she
discovered she was pregnant but when she informed her lover, he absolved
himself from all responsibility.
She wanted marriage and all it meant for her unborn child:
legitimacy, protection and a place in the O’Doherty clan. When he refused to
marry her and turned his back on her, she became increasingly distraught. Over
the preceding century, Ireland had turned from its original pagan religions to
Catholicism and a bastard child would create a lifetime of hell for both the
mother and the child.
So on one night as the moon shone full and bright, she walked
along the shore of the Lough Swilly, eventually wading in and drowning herself
and her unborn child in its frigid waters.
Her father made a vow to avenge his daughter’s death and her
undoing by the O’Doherty kinsman and he discovered through workers at Burt
Castle exactly where her lover slept: in the vaulted, mural chamber on the
first floor near the southwest tower. On one dark, lonely night when the clouds
roiled and tumbled overhead, he tricked his way into the castle at the
southwest tower and climbed from the ground floor to the first elevated story by
way of the spiraled turnpike staircase and into the lover’s chamber where he
slept.
There, the father withdrew his long knife, sharpened for the
occasion of avenging his daughter’s death, and stabbed the O’Doherty kinsman repeatedly.
To ensure that he was beyond resuscitation, he then dragged his body to the
narrow window. Pushing it through, he tried to aim it for the craggy rocks at
the base of the castle but it fell instead on a patch of grass close to the
cold stone wall.
From that time forward, each time the moon is full, the
ghost of a young girl is seen walking the shoreline of the Lough Swilly, her
distraught wails caught on the winds and carried for miles, only fading when
the figure wades into the water and disappears under the waves.
And on those nights, the swans rise up from their positions
along the banks and fly to Burt Castle, where they begin wailing at the base of
the old southwest tower where her lover was plunged to his death, a patch that
even today grass will not grow…
Burt Castle figures prominently in Clans and Castles,
the first book in the Checkmate
series, and is haunted by more than one ghost… The book is a three-time award
nominee: 2018 International Book Awards, 2017 USA Best Book Awards and 2017
Readers Choice Awards. Click here to
read more and purchase the book with a free autograph or buy from amazon. It is
also available in all fine bookstores around the world.
p.m.terrell is the
internationally acclaimed author of more than 21 books, including the
award-winning River Passage, award-winning series Black Swamp Mysteries and award-winning Ryan O’Clery Mystery Series.
She is the Founder of Book ‘Em North Carolina Writers Conference and Book Fair and the Founder of The
Novel Business. She has been a
full-time author since 2002. Prior to that, she founded and operated two
computer companies in the Washington, DC area with specialties in defense and
intelligence. Her clients included the CIA, Secret Service and Department of
Defense. For more information, visit www.pmterrell.com.
