St. Comgall’s Primary School on West Belfast’s Divis Street and Falls Road has had a rich and varied history since first opening its doors in the early 1950s.
As a hub of the community it has provided a rich education for its children for many generations, creating many fond memories and stories of teachers and students which have since become folklore.
Equally important was its role as a venue for dances and carnivals, referred to by one former Divis Resident as “Happy Times Indeed”.
The building, which continued to service the local area until the mid-nineties has seen its fair share of tragedy though, bearing witness to the Divis Street Riots of 1964 and a spate of sectarian attacks in 1969, one of which saw two of its teachers shot, one later losing his life as a result.
It is little wonder then that with such a rich tapestry of memories both good and bad being part of the very fabric of the building, that it would come to be widely accepted in paranormal circles, as Ireland’s Most Haunted Building.
This was a fact that had escaped former student and local author, James Murphy as he was writing the debut novel of a crime thriller series in which the building is used as the fictionalised headquarters of a Belfast Investigations agency, Farset Investigations.
The first in the series heavily features the old school and ironically has an associate of the building murdered at the same spot where a former teacher was killed, another fact that Murphy was unaware of until later.
It also features a supernatural association and a visit from a Psychic Medium, two other things that made him realise that Art definitely does imitate life.
Nearly 31 years after leaving the school as a former student, Murphy returned to St. Comgall’s last Friday, on a research mission and seeking some further inspiration from a building that he has come to hold dear.
“I’ve always had fond memories of the place and now through the creation of Farset Investigations, it has now become even more important to me” Murphy said when asked of his return.
Eoin and Deirdre Mc Cauley, founder members of the group, Paranormal Searchers & Investigators Ireland accompanied Murphy, much to his relief. They too hold a special place in their hearts for the premises, though for very different reasons.
Having conducted many investigations of the building, they have built up a bank of evidence of supernatural phenomena, including a ghostly EVP growling at them to, “Get Out” and video of the ghostly figure of a young girl, with an ominous looking figure in black behind her.
With close associations to TV’s, Most Haunted Team, the PSII have gained a well deserved reputation as being Ireland’s go to Ghost Hunters, receiving accolades for both the integrity of their investigations and the charity work they do.
Their investigation this weekend may be their most important to date, as not only will it be the last opportunity to visit the former school before it undergoes a £7 million refurbishment into a Community, Tourist and Conflict Resolution Centre, it is also one year to the day since they caught the ghostly figure of the girl and her dark oppressor behind her.
The team have reason to believe that at least part of this picture may be a residual haunting and hope to prove this or otherwise before they say their goodbyes to “her” as they have affectionately dubbed the old building.
Having accompanied them on a walk through of the building, Murphy was happy to leave them to their investigation, having seen shadows move out of the corners of his eyes and have unseen entities physically pull at his jacket and sleeves as they proceeded through to walk through.
He later noticed the possible capture of an entity resembling a lady in a cloak, which has been submitted to the PSII for analysis, as well as a picture of a dark, Demonic Figure, which on analysis proved to be merely a trick of the light.
Since leaving the building, a conversation with a friend who is a Psychic Medium confirmed that he had indeed been surrounded by some very dark forces.
We look forward to catching up with team PSII when they have had time to analyse their findings.
“The Rise of Terror #Famousforallthewrongreasons” by James Murphy is soon to be released by Excalibur Press.