Cabra Castle

There are also the ruins of Fleming’s Castle in Dun A Ree, which records show was constructed in 1607 by a Gerald Fleming, but which is also believed to have been the site of an earlier castle built by the famous Hugh De Lacy in the 12th century.

Another nice little spot to rest your feet in the woods is what locals call the Wishing Well, likely to have been the site of a holy well and a place of pilgrimage in much earlier times.

To get to Cabra Castle Hotel from Dublin, first of all ignore any signs you may see for Cavan Town, which is quite a bit away from the hotel, and take the M1 as far as Ardee, Co.Louth, then the N2 to Carrickmacross Co. Monaghan and then the R179 towards Kingscourt Co. Cavan, but turning off to the left about 3km before Kingscourt.

From Belfast take the A1 down through Newry to Dundalk, from there take the R179 from Dundalk to Carrickmacross, and from there take the R179 towards Kingscourt, but turning off, as mentioned above, around 3km outside the town.

Cabra was from then on to become synonymous with the Pratt surname, with their son, Mervyn Pratt, being the first to have the estate under his name upon the death of his grandfather Thomas Hooch.

The site of the castle hotel wasn’t actually part of today’s Cabra Estate or the Pratt lands until 1813.

It had, since the 17th century, belonged to the Foster family and was the site of an earlier round tower castle, known as Cormy Castle, which had also been destroyed in Cromwellian times.

In 1808 Henry Foster set about restoring the castle, though in the end the project became more like building a new castle from scratch inspired by, and on the same site as, the old.

The castle was a very impressive sight, built in a rather unusual for the time, Neo-Norman style, but it proved to be costly work for the already cash-strapped Fosters.

Not long after completion, in 1813, they were forced to sell both their new castle and the 400 acres of land surrounding it.

The buyers were their neighbours, the Pratts, who saw an opportunity to expand the Cabra Estate while also getting an incredible new showpiece home in the process.

The head of the family, Colonel Joseph Pratt, moved in straight away from his existing manor house, which he had previously named Cabra Castle.

He then also named his new abode Cabra Castle, so he had now two Cabra Castles, before the original manor house slowly faded into obscurity.

When the last direct heir, Mervyn Pratt, a former Major in the British army, died childless in 1950 he passed the castle and the estate on to his nearest male heir Mervyn Sheppard.

By that stage though it had been left virtually unoccupied since the turn of the century with Mervyn Pratt having spent most of his life in his mother’s, the Jackson’s, family estate in Enniscoe, Co. Mayo.

The castle was now in a state of some disrepair, and by 1964, with Mervyn Sheppard having no inclination to indulge in costly repairs nor to live there himself, it was sold.

The buyers were a local family the Brennans who renovated the building and converted it into a 22-room hotel. They in turn sold it on in 1986 when it was bought by Ahmad Mansour, a politician and businessman from the U.A.E.

He had plans to convert it back to a private home but, before he could even start the work, a downturn in his political and economic fortunes put paid to the idea and it effectively lay idle again for the next five years.

In 1991 it was bought by the current owners, the Corscadden Hotel Group, owners of a number of other castle hotels around Ireland, who extensively upgraded the building and have been running it successfully as a hotel ever since.

Cabra Castle Hotel has gained something of a reputation over the years for spooky goings on. Various ghosts of unknown origin have been reported and there is the story of Sarah, a servant girl who allegedly fell in love with the owner’s son and was murdered by his father.

This was thought to have happened by a bridge on the estate sometimes known locally as ‘Sarah’s Bridge’ and though is not known when exactly the story dates from, or even whether it is actually true or not, it hasn’t stopped imaginations running wild.

It was once voted the world’s second most haunted hotel due to the number of guests reporting sightings and experiences.