HELLFIRE CLUB

 Have you ever wondered WHY the Hellfire club is so spooky? You probably think it's because of the Devil, isn't it? Well you're not entirely right. This structure has more to it than that....     

There was a prehistoric burial site at the summit of Montpelier Hill and stones from it were used in the construction of the lodge. A nearby standing stone was also used for the lintel over the fireplace. Shortly after its completion, a great storm blew the original slate roof off. Local superstition held that this was the work of the Devil, an act of revenge for disturbing the ancient cairn.Conolly had the roof replaced with an arched stone roof constructed in a similar fashion to that of a bridge. This roof has remained intact to the present day, even though the building has been abandoned for over two centuries and despite the roof being set alight with tar barrels during the visit of Queen Victoria to Ireland in 1849.

The remains of the prehistoric monument that originally stood at the summit can be seen to the rear of the Hell Fire Club building. Austin Cooper, on his visit in 1779, described it thus: "behind the house are still the remains of the cairn, the limits of which were composed of large stones set edgeways which made a sort of wall or boundary about 18 inches (46 centimetres) high and withinside these were the small stones heaped up. It is 34 yards (31 metres) diameter or 102 yards (93 metres) in circumference. In the very centre is a large stone 9 feet (2.7 metres) long and 6 feet (1.8 metres) broad and about 3 feet (0.91 metres) thick not raised upon large stones but lying low with the stones cleared away from about it. There are several other large stones lying upon the heap."It appears from this description that the central chamber of the monument – which was a passage grave – survived intact even after Mount Pelier was constructed. The historian Peter J. O'Keefe has suggested that many of the stones were taken away and used in the construction of the Military Road at the start of the nineteenth century. Today, all that remains is a circular mound 15 metres (49 feet) in diameter and up to 2 metres (6.6 feet) high with a dip at the centre where the chamber was located. The four large stones at the edge are all that survive of the kerbstones that formed the boundary of the monument. In close proximity is a second mound, 1 metre (3.3 feet) high, on which an Ordnance Survey trig pillar stands. Close to the monument is a fallen standing stone, a pointed rock 1 metre (3.3 feet) high.

William Conolly

There is not much of an interest attached to the Hellfire except some folklore and ghostlore. The house was erected in 1720 for the Rt. Hon. William Connolly, the speaker, as a summer residence or shooting lodg. The stones used were from the old cabin that stood on the same spot.It is a solid stone structure, consisting of a 2 story building. Soon after it's erection the roof was torn off by a storm.it was James Wordsdale,the painter,and Richard Parsons,first earl of Rosse,who made it the headquarters of the Hellfire club in Ireland.It was a great place for gambling.One of the rules of the club, one had to drink 10 glasses of whiskey before dinner and 4 glasses after and failure to do this meant being expelled. There are a lot of weird tales told. Satan was supposed to preside at the meetings. Some people claimed to have seen him returning from these meetings, but word has it, it was one of the members dressed in the skin, tail and horns of a cow who would roam about at night terrifying the local people.

Alleged members of the Hellfire Club

Another story goes that to be member you had to drink this brew made by churning whiskey and butter together, known as Scaltheen. A special man was hired to make it but he got to know too much about the Club. Worst has it the poor man was forced to drink till he was stupid and that the members tossed him into a blazing fire and the poor unfortunate man was burnt to death. The club carried on for some years after but was eventually abandoned in Ireland.
The old house remains a ruin and is a great landmark today.

To the rear of the Hell Fire Club building is a circular mound with a dip in the centre. This is all that remains of the Neolithic passage tomb that once stood at the summit of the hill. A few surviving kerbstones can be seen around the base of the mound.

Local legend has it that the stones from the tomb were used to build the Hell Fire Club. Shortly after building work was completed, a great storm blew the roof of the building off. According to local superstition this was revenge from the spirit of the cairn for the desecration of the tomb.

An account of a visit by the antiquarian Austin Cooper in 1779 suggests, in fact, that the tomb was left largely intact by the construction of the Hell Fire Club. It is speculated that the stones from the tomb were  used as building materials for the Military Road.

The duke of Wharton - Hellfire founder

The entrance from the car park leads to the main forest road, which goes around the top of the mountain. Making your way up the southern slopes of the hill you can enjoy a beautiful view of the Piperstown Gap. You can follow the right fork in the road through coniferous forest where heathers, grouse and furze grow in abundance. Alternatively, the northern slope of the hill offers a view of the valley with ruins of the Montpelier House. The difficulty of walking paths is moderate with the main forest road easily accessible for children and people with lower level of fitness.

There are many legends associated with this place showing the Hellfire house as an object of occult activities and brief appearances of the Devil. The building was, in fact, erected by R.H. Connolly, Speaker of the Irish House of Parliament, as a shooting lodge, about the year 1725. Tradition tells of its occupation by a club of "wild young gentlemen" who used a tavern in Cork Hill (by Dublin Castle) as their meeting place, but were dismissed for bad behaviour hence the name "Hellfire Club".

One story tells of a massive black cat that had been seen prowling the property night after night. A priest made his way up to the hill to catch it; when he grabbed the cat and said a prayer over it, the cat turned back into its true demon form and fled. Another story tells of a local farmer who grew too curious about what was going on at the lodge to resist taking a look. He did look, but he was found the next morning, wandering the countryside, unable to speak and in a sorry state that he never emerged from.

It was also said that the head of the Hellfire Club would dress up as a devil, and during every gathering of the club, one chair would be left empty for the devil himself.

The infamous Hellfire Club building was built in 1725 by William Connolly, speaker of the Irish parliament in Dublin, Ireland. He chose a site on Montpelier Hill in the Dublin Mountains, with a spectacular view over the city, which is still enjoyed by hill-walkers and hikers today. The building was supposed to be a hunting lodge, but it soon took on a more sinister role as a base for the Dublin branch of The Hellfire Club – an association of young aristocrats dedicated to a life of debauchery.

The building was cursed from the start, having been built on the site of an ancient Stone Age burial cairn – rocks from the cairn were allegedly used in the construction of The Hellfire Club building. It seems that this desecration has truly damned the place; even people living in modern housing estates at the foot of the mountains report an unusually high level of paranormal activity in their houses.

The members of The Hellfire Club used the lodge for holding black masses, and it is believed that both animal and human sacrifices took place there. In particular, they were known to sacrifice cats. Legend has it that the Devil himself visited his loyal followers in this building, and even today many visitors are troubled by an odd smell of brimstone.

Perched atop various grassy knolls near Dublin, Ireland is Montpelier Hill, one of the most haunted locales in all of Ireland’s history. Throughout its nearly three-century long existence, the home has been the subject of many hauntings and other speculated supernatural events.

The hunting lodge was originally built atop the now-famous hill by William Conolly, the speaker of the Irish House of Commons, sometime around 1725. Originally called Mount Pelier, the hill has carried a variation of this name: Montpelier Hill. Toward the beginning of the lodge’s construction, workers came across an ancient grave passage and cairn, which would aid substantially in Mount Pelier’s construction–and to some, contribute to its demise.
       Eager to “recycle” these newly-found resources, workers took a large number of the cairn’s stones and re-implemented them in the lodge. Bad move. Many mark the cairn’s destruction as the beginning of Mount Pelier’s paranormal history, as shortly after the lodge’s completion, its slate roof was blown clean off. Some say it was simply a storm’s doing; others speculate that the devil, incensed at Conolly and co’s actions, tore it off in a moment of pure rage. Much to the devil’s chagrin–should you believe that narrative–Conolly had the roof rebuilt with arched stones, again using ones from the ancient cairn. That rebuilt roof continues to stand to this day, as do the tales of the many perceived ‘supernatural’ events that have occurred on the hill.

         William Conolly died in 1729, and in the coming years his family would lend the lodge for use to the Hell Fire Club. With roots in the 18th century, the Hell Fire Club consisted of and was founded by self-described “persons of quality”, many of whom were involved with politics or high culture. Feeling safe and sound among other so-called sophisticates, rumor has it that it was here where Ireland’s elites gathered to engage in some of the most immoral and degenerative acts known to man. The club’s motto was “Fais ce que tu voudras”, or “Do what thou wilt”, a motto later adopted by Aleister Crowley, the infamous English occultist. And with persistent rumors about widespread drunkenness, indiscriminate orgies, black masses, devil worship, sacrifices and murder within Montpelier’s walls, it seems pretty clear that Hell Fire Club members truly took their credo to heart.

Surprisingly, one of the best-known tales is not about one of the club’s seedy members, but an unknown visitor. One night, said visitor entered the club’s doors and joined its members in a game of poker. At one point, one of the members dropped something (presumably a playing card) and bent over to pick it up. While his eyes were fixed on the ground, he noticed that the stranger did not have normal feet, but instead had cloven hooves. Soon after, the stranger is said to have disappeared in a burst of flames.

It gets even weirder from there. At some time during the black masses and sacrifices (one of which included a dwarf) the lodge caught fire and several members were killed, prompting the club to change locations.

Hell Fire’s new home was the Killakee Stewards House, a short jaunt from Montpelier Hill. By this point, the club’s activities had sharply declined; that is, until 1771 when Thomas “Buck” Whaley revived the group. In its revitalized form, Hell Fire became “The Holy Fathers”, and its decidedly unholy activities thrived for another 30 years. One of the worst legends from this period involves the kidnapping, murder and then eating of a local farmer’s daughter. Repentant at the end, Whaley died in 1800, and took with him the remains of the Hell Fire Club and the lodge’s livelihood.

Like the lodge, The Stewards House is also believed to be haunted, specifically by an immense black cat with burning eyes. This spirit is thought to have originated from one of two incidents that occurred in the days of the Hell Fire Club. One story tells of a priest who exorcised the cat’s soul during a ritualistic sacrifice, and that it now restlessly inhabits the area. The other is of Hell Fire members dousing a helpless cat in whiskey and setting it on fire and then releasing it into the wild, where the cat is slated to have run ablaze until it presumably died.

In the 1960’s, workers renovating a nearby derelict house started to experience unusual events, including the appearance of the demonic black cat in question. Artist Tom McAssey, who was overseeing the Stewards House’s renovation into an art house, said that a locked door swung open, revealing a hideous black cat with blazing red eyes. He would later paint a portrait of that apparition, which would hang above the dining table in the Stewards House for several years.

Sightings like McAssey’s continued for the foreseeable future, as many others have reported sightings of an Indian and two nuns known as Blessed Margaret and Holy Mary. The female spirits are thought to be those of nuns, or women dressed as nuns, who had taken part in black masses upon Montpelier Hill.

In 1971, a plumber working on the Stewards House dug up a small skeleton, which some claim is the body of the dwarf that had been sacrificed so many years earlier by the members of the Hell Fire Club.
In the 1990’s, the Stewards House operated for a period as a restaurant, but ultimately closed its doors to the public in 2001. It is now a private residence. However, a walkthrough of Mount Pelier lodge in its entirety can be experienced through the following video.

Other tales recount numerous drinking sessions and black masses at which animal sacrifices, and on one occasion the sacrifice of a dwarf, took place.

At some point during this period, the building was damaged by fire. There are several stories connected with this incident. One holds that the club set fire to the building when William Conolly's son refused to renew the lease on the lodge. An alternative story claims the club members did it to give the building a hellish appearance. Another story recounts that, following a black mass, a footman spilled a drink on "Burn-Chapel" Whaley's coat. Whaley retaliated by pouring brandy over the man and setting him alight. The fire spread around the building and killed many members. Following the fire, the club relocated further down the hill to Killakee Stewards House. However, the club's activities declined after this incident........
The Irish Hell Fire Club was revived in 1771 and was active for a further thirty years. Its most notorious member was Thomas "Buck" Whaley, son of Richard Chappell Whaley. This new incarnation was known as "The Holy Fathers". Meetings once again took place at Mount Pelier lodge and, according to one story, the members kidnapped, murdered and ate a farmer's daughter. Whaley eventually repented and, when he died in 1800, the Irish Hell Fire Club passed away with him..........Joseph Holt, a general of the Society of the United Irishmen recorded in his memoirs that he spent a night in the ruin of Mount Pelier while on the run following the 1798 Rebellion.Holt wrote of his experience, "I lay down in the arched room of that remarkable building. I felt confident of the protection of the Almighty that the name of enchantment and the idle stories that were told of the place had but a slight hold of my mind."

Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita

Amanita pantherina var. pantherina, also known as the panther cap and false blusher

Rubroboletus satanas, commonly known as the Devil's bolete or Satan's mushroom

                              Nature

There is a lot of nature in the forest consisting of mushrooms,(see above) trees,herbs,raptors,(birds of prey)owls,deer and other plants and wildlife.
    This is a very popular site for Dubliners and offers a variety of short forest walks through the plantation of Sitka spruce, larch and beech. The site is located on Montpelier Hill, overlooking Dublin city from the south west, at an altitude of 383m (1264 ft). There are about 4.5 km of forest roads and tracks.                                                      There are many smaller forest tracks and shortcuts crossing the forest. All these paths lead either to the main road or to the top of the mountain where a foreboding ruined hunting lodge stands with a breathtaking view over the Dublin Bay.
     

                              Orbs

   Orbs,which are known to be spirits in the form of all sorts of shapes and sizes, have often been caught in pictures of the club. They are mostly spotted  around old and historical areas and some people are frightened when spotting them for the first time. But orbs cannot harm you as they are just checking out what's going on because they may find you interesting. Orbs are not visible to the naked eye but if you take a picture of an old place with the flash setting on your camera then you may catch them. I'm not saying you'll always get them on the photograph as you're most likely to get them when you least expect it but if you want it pretty bad then your wish may be granted. When I first saw a picture with them on it I was terrified that they were ghosts "out to get me" but I soon found out that they weren't scary at all.. just interesting. Nobody should be scared of them because they are quite cute actually, the way they float around, sometimes as if guarding someone.