Haunted Dublin Hellfire Club History

Dublin Hellfire Club, Ireland

Overlooking Dublin and its surroundings, upon the crest of Montpelier Hill, sits an ominous ruin. This structure commonly referred to as the Dublin Hellfire Club, has a dark history and many spooky and mysterious stories to tell.

Its beginnings were in the early 1700s as a hunting lodge, being built by an extremely wealthy Irish man. He had determined the tip of Montpelier Hill the perfect spot for his new lodge. Proceeding to build directly over an ancient burial ground and even allegedly using some of the burial stones in the construction of his new building. Soon after the lodge’s completion, the roof of the building was said to have blown clean off during a freak, heavy storm. This led many locals to claim the new building cursed under the belief that disgruntled spirits who’d had their graves disturbed now haunted the premises.

Not too much time passed before new ownership saw the lodge become a meeting spot for the infamous Hellfire Club. This association was formed during the early 1700s by a man obsessed with black magic. It was best known for its members engaging in debauchery and misbehaviour, which usually involved alcohol, sex and of course a little devil worship/Satanism. This became so prevalent within the club that its president even resorted to wearing Satan like costumes with horns and hooves and was referred to by his nickname ‘The King of Hell.’

Rumours that animals and even some humans were sacrificed within the Dublin Hellfire Club soon followed. These are made even more sinister by the many ghost stories and creepy legends that revolve around the Dublin Hellfire Club.

Haunted Dublin Hellfire Club

Perhaps the creepiest and best known scary story of the Dublin Hellfire Club involves the Devil, himself. The legend states that two men were playing cards late one night within the club. After answering a knock on the door by a vagrant they welcomed the stranger into the club to spend the night. They soon found themselves playing cards with him. Apparently, there was a certain strangeness to this man that neither of the card players could describe. Though, after one of them dropped a card on the ground and noticed the stranger had cloven hooves in place of feet, the legend that Satan had visited the Dublin Hellfire Club was born.

Other sinister stories about the Dublin Hellfire club history exist. One of these tells of a curious young man who indulged his desire to check out what went on each night within the club. Supposedly he witnessed such great atrocities that he lost his mind. He was in such a bad mental state that he could not recall what he had experienced the prior night within the club, let alone his own name for the remainder of his life.

Another curious young man is said to have made the pilgrimage to suss out the Dublin Hellfire Club activities one night. His fate was much worse as he turned up dead the very next day. This event triggered one man to accompany a priest on an investigation of the club the following day. They found the building to be empty besides an overly large black cat with horns for ears patrolling the grounds, where an apparent feast had just taken place. The cat proceeded to attack one of the men, leaving him mortally injured with deep scratch wounds all over. Thankfully the priest had holy water on his person, which he used to shower the demonic black cat, causing it to be torn apart.

Many people who have been brave enough to visit the Dublin Hellfire Club have reported encountering various forms of paranormal activity. Could this spooky location be one of the most haunted places in Ireland?

Visiting the Haunted Hellfire Club

The Dublin Hellfire Club is an interesting place to visit and is free to enter. During the day the hike up to the ruin is quite popular, though the area takes on a far more ominous feel during the night. That is if you can brave the hordes of teenagers that flock to the structure to pass time.

If you enjoyed this article and are looking for other haunted places to check out, I recommend the very spooky Glasgow Necropolis. If you’re interested in other places with ties to the Hellfire Club, check out the Hellfire Club Caves in West Wycombe, England.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo