Ballinlough Castle Is Booked With Ghosts
The Real Housewives of New Jersey is no stranger to ghosts. Their entire franchise has been haunted by a tortured family history nearly since its inception. The house of horrors created by the monstrous fracture between the Gorgas and Giudices has scared away fans — and even a season 15 renewal — if only temporarily. While Teresa and Joe breed rumors of a wisely timed reconciliation, there are other untamed spirits from the halls of RHONJ history that come to mind this time of year, when the leaves turn brown.
Back in season 13, right before grounds for a total casting shakeup had reached critical mass, the Jersey girls ventured to visit the homeland of Dolores' Irish prince, Paulie. For Teresa's second marriage, Dolores wanted to give her friend a bachelorette party that didn't involve shots down the shore. So she invited the women to Ballinlough Castle, an hour outside the bustle of Dublin. But over the shrill howl of Danielle Cabral, Rachel Fuda, and Jennifer Aydin debating Margaret's arsenal, it was too hard to hear the whispers of lore seeping out of the walls.
Melissa Gorga instantly felt something different about their coastal refuge. "I'm scared as shit in this house, bro," was how she elegantly decried the eerie feeling in the pit of her stomach to Margaret after a sleepless night (in her assigned room). Melissa's astute eye couldn't ignore "the typical haunted-type artwork." And — nobody tell Teresa — Melissa actually wasn't wrong.
Ballinlough Castle is a 300-acre, nine-bedroom, seven-bathroom woodsy affair. It has been passed down for 12 generations to Sir Nicholas and Lady Nugent, names so historical that it feels imperative to note they are modern tangential royals and not Victorian ghosts. The original owner, Sir Hugh O'Reilly, described the moment he fell in love with the investment property at first sight in words slightly more articulate than Mrs. Gorga's: "The appearance of the trees, and even the dusky colour of the gate and walls, as you enter, contribute to give the whole scenery an appearance of antiquity."
For a little less than 17,000 pounds, guests from Jersey to New Jersey can secure a three-night stay with up to 18 housemates. But despite the spacious and dreamy countryside appeal of the lakeside 17th-century estate, the castle's reputation could be more fitting for an episode of Ghost Adventures than becoming the primary location of a hypothetical Love Island: Ireland.
The castle, from the bedrooms to the Old Hay Shed, has been remodeled with traditional integrity over the years. Yet some of the sleeping chambers haven't been touched since the 1930s. This might be why so many recurring specters from centuries past reportedly remain within the chambers' walls. A young girl with long hair has made a repeat appearance during visitors' vacations, according to legend. She is seen grooming herself by the vanity, looking hopelessly sad, according to the current owner, Sir Nick (who hasn't witnessed her presence in his home himself). As Dolores put it on The Aftershow, "the story is that people who have stayed at the house see a woman sitting at the edge of the bed in this one room, where Danielle stayed, crying and brushing her hair…why is she crying?" To be fair, most of the Jersey Wives would openly weep if they were tasked with managing their own blowouts for all of eternity, too. Still, Danielle starfished all night to try and keep the relatable apparition at bay from her bedside.
The disembodied sound of horse hooves and carriage wheels on stone has been said to immerse modern-day guests in the old times of Sir Nick's ancestors; a time when death by horse racing (the fate of founder Sir Hugh's great-grandson) was on the table. Maybe the infamous clacking comes from what remains of Hugh's son, Charles, who was a racehorse trainer and father of the aforementioned deceased by horse. Maybe the witching hour encourages Charles' spirit to return to his stomping grounds to posthumously continue gambling his family's fortune away.
But not all of Ballinlough's nuisances are seen and not felt. According to Jennifer, she preferred her "castle" in Paramus, New Jersey, because her Irish retreat was "infested with bugs." It's easier to believe the tales of overnight witnesses who say they've experienced the frightening sensation of 600-count-thread luxury sheets being ripped off of them in the middle of the night. It's not too surprising that even a supernatural being knew spooking Teresa Giudice out of left field would be a job better left to her future husband.
