Eerie Galway house found abandoned as dark history emerges

A viral Tiktok video detailing the sinister history of a Co. Galway landmark has left social media users intrigued and freaked out by the building.

Woodlawn House halfway between Ballinasloe and Athenry is said to be one of the most haunted buildings in Ireland and was the former seat of the Trench family.

The large Italianate building was built in the late 18th Century by Frederic Trench, 1st Baron Ashtown and extended and remodelled in the mid-19th Century.

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Tiktok user ‘HistoricIreland’ delved into the estate’s dark past, explaining: “The Trenches were known to treat the people that worked at the house very badly.”

“When other lords would visit, it is said that they would abuse the staff physically and sexually, and many of the female servants ended up becoming pregnant.

“It is rumoured that some of these babies were killed and others were sent away for adoption. Due to this trauma, coupled with the very poor living conditions, a lot of these women took their own lives.”

The house is on a massive 11,000 acre estate and it’s said that the Trench family were so powerful that they had a railway station built on their land.

The Tiktoker explained that he felt an intimidating presence from the building far out in the middle of nowhere. He wasn’t the only one who felt uneasy.

“When I was on the road across the building, at one point, there was a very loud bang that came from the direction of the house. There wasn’t anyone to be seen around the place, so this was kind of strange,” HistoricIreland said.

“Funnily enough, a number of the crew who produced the indie horror movie The Blair Witch Project were touring around Ireland a number of years ago and they were trying to put a list together of the most haunted places in Ireland.”

“They decided that Woodlawn House was the most haunted, and they didn’t even manage to stay the full night in the house.”

It must be an intense vibe if the Blair Witch crew couldn’t handle it.

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