Irish Thought for August 11...

Irish Fest News

Halloween, Ireland - the Ghostwatch began on 30 October 1998 the day before Halloween. The watch had been planned as a one-week investigation in Ireland, over the Halloween period, into the mysterious events in a former mill in the linen conservation area in Belfast . Visitors were invited to watch the livecam on Halloween and later in rooms in the linen mill (now a print workshop) in Ireland and report any unusual sightings. We are still ghostwatching because of the amount of interest from visitors over that Halloween period and the sheer volume of observations. Many thousands of visitors have contacted us with reports that nothing unusual occurred but a significant number have sent us accounts of truly inexplicable events: describing a woman who is certainly not an employee today in the building in Ireland; commenting on patterns on a wall or a floor or noticing objects move in the warehouse. Some visitors, at Halloween and other times, have reported seeing a mysterious man in the storeroom.


..Join us at Irish Fest pm August 31, for our own Ghost Watch in the Children's Area as we welcome the watcher himself, International Ghost Watcher,  Barry Fitzgerald.

I was going to save talking about one of my favorite people who will be at Irish Fest this year because...well...I am so excited for him to be at our festival that I was letting the excitement build.  But, with a day of stress both behind and still ahead of me today, I decided I would relax and write about Barry FitzGerald.

Before I talk about Barry, I think it is important to mention that I remember ghosts as being scary but fun to hear about when I was younger.  Although I am still not sure that I am a solid believer in ghosts, the Ghost Hunters' investigations have provided me with insight as to new ways to think about the events.  Sometimes, unseen energy causing strange noises or movements might be as simple as the person who died's energy repeating familiar actions that might be what that person did when alive, like an echo.  I have never seen an episode where anyone was afraid of what might be lurking.  Instead, they try and find rational reasons for an occurrence.  If that fails, they try talking to a spirit that might be present.  They search for clues as to who is causing the occurrences and why that spirit might be performing them.  There is no fear of danger (although who doesn't jump when something unexpected happens), just a mission to understand or verify what is happening.

I have been watching Barry on Sy-Fy's Ghost Hunters International for as long as he has been on the show.  I remember seeing him introduced because of his research he had been doing on a castle in Ireland when the original GHI team arrived to investigate.  Even when he was first introduced, Barry was well on the road of using different types of cameras to find spirits, like a camera that sees hot and cold spots.  He was determined to show that what might not be seen with our eyes might not be able to hide from cameras that see with a different view.  His knowledge of the cameras led to him starting on the GHI team as a tech expert.  However, it was not long before his expertise led him to be one of the two main investigators on the team.  One of the reasons that I am such a fan is because Barry often stops and just listens relying on his own senses to lead him in the direction that might provide evidence or answers.  I respect one who has such a dual respect for technology and his own experience to guide him.  And...girl-y as it might be...who can help but be warmed and calmed by an Irish accent?!?!!

Also, speaking from the experience of the last time Barry was at Kansas City Irish Fest, the man knows his Irish history.  He was just as ready to talk about the history as he was about his experiences on his ghost adventures, both of which I find exciting to follow.