From haunted castles and ghostly encounters to chilling legends and mysterious happenings, Friday Night Frights explores the spooky stories and folklore hidden in towns, castles and countryside across Ireland.
Discover the tales that have been passed down through generations, the places that still send shivers down visitors’ spines, and the mysteries that refuse to be forgotten.
Tap any video to watch. If you dare… A new tale arrives every Friday night.
Our first tale goes live on Friday 23 October, with a new one every Friday night after that. Subscribe on YouTube so you don’t miss it — if you dare…
Perched high above the Laois countryside, these ruins have seen bloody battles and Viking raids. Local folklore tells of treasure buried by the O’Moore clan, guarded by a terrifying black hound known as the Bandog — and of mischievous fairies too.
In 1324, wealthy Dame Alice Kyteler, married four times, was accused by her stepchildren of using dark magic to murder her husbands. Alice escaped, but her servant Petronilla de Meath was burned at the stake — the first recorded execution for witchcraft in Ireland.
High on Montpelier Hill, this 18th-century hunting lodge was linked to a notorious club rumoured to dabble in black magic. Its most famous legend? A stranger at the card table who turned out to have a cloven hoof.
Thousands of ancient circular earthworks dot the countryside, long believed to be home to the Aos Sí. Farmers still won’t disturb them — legend warns that anyone who does risks terrible misfortune.
Ireland’s headless horseman rides through the night with his own head under his arm, and when he stops, someone is destined to die. No locked gate can stop him — but even a tiny piece of gold will send him fleeing.
The Gothic ruins of this once-grand estate are tied to tales of a family curse and a Banshee whose cries foretold death. Fire gutted the house in 1933, leaving the eerie towers and crumbling walls you see today.
Turned into swans by their jealous stepmother Aoife, the four children of King Lir spent 900 years on Ireland’s waters, from Lough Derravaragh to the Sea of Moyle. One of Ireland’s most beautiful — and heartbreaking — legends.
This 13th-century Norman fortress beside the River Barrow survived centuries of conflict, only to be brought down in 1814 by a doctor using explosives to turn it into an asylum. Some castles fall to armies…
Legend says a Carlow witch, feuding with her Wexford neighbour, hurled an enormous boulder — then tumbled down the mountain, carving the tracks still known as the Witch’s Slide. The boulder is said to stand in Clonee to this day.
The Bean Sí, “woman of the fairy mound”, is said to wail before a death in certain Irish families — sometimes a young woman with silver hair, sometimes an old hag in grey. And never pick up a mysterious silver comb…
A shape-shifter that might appear as a black horse with glowing golden eyes, tricking travellers into a wild ride through the night. Closely tied to Samhain, the festival that gave us Halloween.
Puck, a 16th-century court jester, was found stabbed outside the castle walls after falling for a noblewoman. He swore to haunt Malahide until a master of the house married a woman of common birth.
A charming stranger, a game of cards, a dropped card — and a cloven hoof. The legend of Anne Tottenham has made Loftus Hall one of Ireland’s most infamous haunted houses.
A haunted ruin near you, a local legend, a ghost story your granny swore was true — we want to hear it.
📧 Send us your tale →