Tragic love story ends in haunting of lakeside castle

This Halloween, enter a world of haunted houses, castles and lakes where you will encounter ghosts, witches, banshees and other monstrous creatures in a new children’s book, ‘Haunted Ireland: An Atlas of Ghost Stories from Every County' by Kieran Fanning, who lives in Navan and teaches in Skryne. The Meath entry - Kieran's favourite - surrounds Ross Castle at Lough Sheelin.

The tale concerns the Norman lord, Richard Nugent, who controlled much of the land around Mountnugent (which is named after the Nugent family). Known as the Black Baron, he was said to have been a particularly heartless man and was not much liked by the locals.

One famous story tells of how the baron hanged a beggar from a tree for stealing a loaf of bread, which was actually later discovered in the jaws of a stray dog. The locals may have hated Nugent, but he hated them equally, especially the O’Reillys from the neighbouring county of Cavan, who were always stealing his cattle.

If the Black Baron had a soft side, he reserved it for his daughter, Sabina, who he loved very much. He was, however, very protective of her, and refused to let her play with the local children. She was especially warned to stay off the lake, on the other side of which lay the O’Reilly land.

Poor Sabina grew up to be a lonely child. As a teenager, she defied her father’s orders by going out on the lake, where she met Orwin O’Reilly. The teenagers grew friendly, and over time, fell in love.

Disaster struck when Sabina’s father went to war against the O’Reilly’s and young Orwin was called up to fight. Every day, Sabina waited for him on the lake but he never showed. Fearing that he had been injured in the fighting, she went to look for him on the O’Reilly side of the lake and found him bleeding to death in Crover Castle.

After bandaging his wounds, she returned to her boat to fetch him medicine. Halfway across the lake she got caught in a terrible storm, and by the time she reached Ross Castle she was soaked to the skin and shivering violently.

She had only taken a few steps into the castle when she collapsed with exhaustion and fever.

When she awoke in her bed, she realised that days had passed. Remembering Orwin, she rushed back to the lake in panic and rowed to Crover Castle, but she was too late. Her nurse found her weeping over Orwin’s body and took her home.

Sabina was so upset over the loss of her sweetheart, that she locked herself in her bedroom and refused to eat or drink. By the time her father returned from war, she had died.

Heart-broken, he made peace with the O’Reillys but never found peace for himself. The teenage lovers are said to be buried together standing up inside a mound near Lough Sheelin, with Sabina facing Ross Castle, and Orwin facing Crover Castle. Sabina’s ghost is said to haunt Ross Castle.

This is Kieran Fanning’s eighth book, in bookshops from 3rd October. It is published by Gill and illustrated by Dublin artist, Mark Hill.