07-08-2025
Capturing the haunting beauty of Ireland's abandoned castles
Ahead of National Heritage Week (16-24 Aug), we spoke with the Irish TikTok creator behind @historicireland, an account that captures the country's abandoned castles through breathtaking drone footage.
Collecting lesser-known stories from our past - like the remarkable story of Moore Hall in Mayo, where a landlord used prize money from a horse race to feed his tenants during the Famine - Hugh Wright has created a cinematic archive of Irish life.
The work, he says, came about because of his own incredible story.
Despite growing up with a love for film-making (as a child, armed with a camcorder, he created movies that he describes as "a cross between Father Ted and Killinaskully"), Hugh pursued a career in Science, studying at University College Cork before landing a job in Ringaskiddy.
Then, while the world locked down during the COVID-19 pandemic, he was diagnosed with a degenerative medical condition, leading him to "reevaluate everything".
Ditching the day job, he returned to his love of history and passion for film-making, capturing the ruins that had fascinated him throughout his childhood.
With so many of the ruins sitting on private land, however, drone shots operated from public roads seemed like his best bet. Particularly because Hugh has a background in flying and knew just how beautiful those aerial shots could be.
"I was given out to by the flight instructor for day-dreaming out the window," he laughs.
At the start of 2024, Hugh downloaded TikTok and began uploading his videos, playing around with editing and music. One day, he decided to lend his voice as narrator, and the results were immediate.
"It actually exploded," he says. "People really liked it, so I kept doing that for weeks and weeks. I was putting up a video every day to really push it. I suppose I just got better and better and made some great contacts."
Before long, farmers and estate owners were getting in touch to ask Hugh to document the ageing buildings on their lands, preserving them for future generations.
"I do a lot of research using these old OS [Ordnance Survey] maps online from the 1800s," he explains, "so you can look back and see every major house and castle that was in Ireland. You can flick onto satellite and it will immediately show you the state of it now."
"It is heartbreaking," he continues. "It's sad and nostalgic, but I find it beautiful as well. They're untouched in a way. They've been left in silence and taken over by nature."
Describing it as "the closest thing to time travel", Hugh enjoys discovering the stories of each building, unearthing the lives once lived within the now crumbling walls.
"There was one in North Cork called Old Court. It's completely in ruin; it's in really bad shape. With all the trees, it's really hard to find the house with the drone.
"When I went home to research it, I realised it was owned by an ancestor of Princess Diana. It was her great-grand-uncle. Things like that are incredible to come across."
The stories that resonate with people most, of course, are the ones involving ghosts. And despite a career in science, being raised on stories of banshees and fairy forts means that an eerie feeling may linger when he visits these abandoned grounds.
"People just love a ghost story," he laughs. "I suppose I'm drawn to them in a way. These abandoned houses do feel haunted; sometimes you get a good vibe, but sometimes you get a bad vibe."
"There's a lesser-known story of the Woodlawn House in Galway," he continues. "It's completely in the middle of nowhere in bog land. It's this massive, dark, grey mansion with a roof on it, still. It's in pretty good condition. The locals claim that's the most haunted place in Ireland."
"Even when I was on the road next to it, there was no one around, and I heard a massive bang. I don't believe in that stuff, but being in Ireland, there is a part of you that's like... mmm, maybe?"
As for his own favourites, Hugh has a place in his heart for the homes he gets to explore inside and out.
"I think my favourite was Coolattin House in Wicklow. It was abandoned for years, but several people have bought it now, and I got invited to do a huge tour. There was all sorts of crazy things, like a room with no windows and lots of great material for stories."
Once home to the Earls Fitzwilliam - a powerful family who once owned the biggest private estates in both England and Ireland - Coolattin House has a fascinating and tragic history.
Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, the eighth Earl Fitzwilliam, was said to have had an affair with the sister of John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States.
Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy's relationship with Fitzwilliam stirred controversy due to her being a Catholic and he a Protestant (and married).
Their story ended tragically when the two died in a plane crash in 1948, adding to the ream of untimely deaths and misfortunes afflicting the Kennedy family, fuelling rumours of a 'Kennedy curse'.
"That was the end of the house," Hugh says of their passing. "That was the end of Coolattin."
Beautiful, tragic, steeped in history and intrigue, this is just one of many fascinating stories captured by the pilot-turned-scientist-turned-filmmaker.
