Ardgillan Castle — the Lady's Stairs

OVERVIEW

Ardgillan Castle is a country house near Balbriggan in north County Dublin, built in 1738 by the Reverend Robert Taylor, son of Sir Thomas Taylor, 1st Baronet. It stands in a 200-acre demesne owned by Fingal County Council and open to the public as a park, with walled gardens, a rose garden and long views over the sea to the Mourne Mountains. The Dublin–Belfast railway line runs along the foot of the demesne.

HISTORY

The bridge over the railway at the sea end of the property is known locally as the Lady's Stairs. Two versions of the story are told. In the older one a woman's husband swam regularly and did not come back one night; she went to the bridge to wait, he had drowned, and she stayed there waiting until she died. In the version more usually given, Lord Langford of Summerhill House in County Meath brought his new wife to Ardgillan and went hunting in Scotland; against the household's advice she went swimming in November and was drowned, and he died a short while after.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

The ghost reported on the bridge is Lady Langford in her wedding dress, coming up from the sea to look for her husband at the castle. It is recorded as local folklore in the standard accounts of the demesne. The entry is a piece of place-lore attached to a named structure in a public park, and is presented as that.

VISITING

The demesne and gardens are open free of charge every day; the castle itself by guided tour, with a tea room. The Lady's Stairs is at the seaward end of the park, over the railway — a live main line; do not go onto the track.