There have been many phone calls and emails to The Avondhu in the past week following the interview with the woman about her ordeal at the hands of what she claimed was a supernatural presence in her home.

Readers will recall that she spoke of her family experiencing objects being thrown around, banging noises and an unexplained blowing in their faces whilst in the house which is only 5 years old in the heart of The Avondhu circulation area. She resorted to getting a priest to bless the house and then a medium who confirmed that there were indeed 2 spirits in the house who were not there to harm her and her family but to protect them.

She was informed that, in fact they were 2 people who had been good friends of theirs before they passed away in recent times. She also provided a photograph taken on her phone in which she claimed to have captured an image of the presence.

One group captivated by the story has been the Cobh Supernatural Investigators. They describe themselves as a non profit organization, established in 2011, with some of their team having been involved in other groups with a combined experience of over 20 years. Marguerite Roberts spoke to The Avondhu about their group and her take on last week's feature.

“We take it very seriously and consider this to be more than just a hobby. We are also are fully insured and have public liability. Our aim is to understand the world of the paranormal. We regularly invest new locations which we report on our page and we are also available to investigate private homes. However, most of the time the people request confidentiality so we do not give any details of these cases on our page.

"We have found that not all strange goings on are indeed paranormal activity. For instance, we had one case recently where a family were hearing strange noises at night and all it turned out to be was a family of mice in the attic. Our advice to anyone experiencing something unusual happening to them or in their home would be to firstly eliminate all other possibilities. Many noises that people have asked us to investigate have been just a cracked window which made a howling sound when the wind blew in or expanding floor boards reacting to the changes in temperature

"We approach any investigation with and open mind; we always speak to the people who are going through the experiences and gather some background information. If after speaking to them we feel it warrants a full investigation, we make sure the person is comfortable with us entering their home and using equipment. We use Trigger cameras with motion sensors, K2 meters (used to measure the electromagntetic field), thermometers and night vision cameras. We explain all aspects of what we plan to do and make sure that the person is comfortable with this. We usually like to inspect the premises in daylight first to get a feel for the place and then we would do a full invest in the evening/night time.

"On cases we have worked on with people experiencing paranormal activity, we have found that it is usually harmless and can be just a spirit who has lost its way and unable to cross over; or it can sometimes be a person's loved one trying to communicate and let a person know that they are still with them. Fortunately we have never encountered a home that has had a negative or dark energy. When it is a case that a spirit is trapped between this world and the next, we try to assist the spirit to cross over and will call on a Spiritualist to help us with this if needed."

Marguerite went on to explain that with the increased popularity of horror movies in today’s age, the group members  find that people's imaginations can run away on them. Also frighteningly, some younger people are attempting to host séances and play with Ouija Boards.

"Our advice on this is simply, don’t! People think it might be harmless fun but the risks involved in these games can be frightening. There are many cases documented over the years of poltergeist activity and possessions as a result of people interacting with spirits having little or no knowledge on what they are actually opening themselves up to.

"We love to investigate older properties where, over the years, people have had unexplained experiences. Knocklofty House in Clonmel, dating back to the 17th century, was a favourite of ours last year, when we were lucky enough to have stayed overnight there on two separate occasions. The first night we stayed there, it was a hub of activity. We recorded plenty of audio including footsteps and what sounded like a man walking with a cane. We also heard the front door open and close on its own. We were all in a separate part of the house and all six of us heard it. We were so sure that someone had entered the house, that two of the team went up to see who had come in. Obviously there was no one there. It was all captured on audio, plain as day and without a doubt or any other explanation that the door had been opened."

Marguerite said that further on in the night, three of the group's members went up to one of the rooms known as the bridal suite where there was 'a significant temperature change and uncomfortable feel to the room'. " When we went to the exit, the room door had been locked and we could not open the door. We tried with force to open the door but there was no way it would move; we had the key on the inside so it was not possible for it to have been locked from the outside. After several minutes the door just opened, we were all left mystified," she said.

The group visited the renowned Leap Castle in Roscrea which has the title of being one of Europe’s most haunted castles, in February. "We had a quiet night there however we did capture some unusual images which we are still looking for explanations on.

"With regards to the piece the Avondhu ran last week about the lady who was experiencing paranormal activity in her home, we felt she could be dealing with a shadow person and not a malevolent spirit. A shadow person is a spiritual being, unlike a ghost which would normally be a white apparition and can have facial detail. They take on a black appearance and people have often experienced seeing them 'from the corner of their eye'.

"Most shadow people tend to stay in the background of what is going on but have been known to also come forward when they want to be known. However, after reading the piece, it is good to know that she has confirmation of what is happening in her home but we would feel that it would be in her better interest to have these spirits cross over."

People can contact Marguerite and the group through Facebook - Cobh Supernatural Investigators.

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