Visiting The Hellfire Club, Dublin
Table of Contents
The Hellfire Club is located on top of Montpellier Hill in the Dublin Mountains. The beauty of the forest and the view of Dublin Bay hides a dark past filled with stories of murders, exorcisms and ancient tombs. If you’re traveling to Dublin, you should not miss this awesome destination.
William Connolly created The Hellfire Club in 1725. At the time of his death in 1729 he was said to be the richest man in Ireland. He built several buildings around Ireland and the Hellfire Club was believed to be his hunting lodge.
However, he ignored warnings about the ancient passage tomb he was building. The lodge was troubled from the start, with a storm blowing off the roof just weeks after construction was completed. Locals whispered that this was a sign that the spirits were angry for lack of respect for the ancient gods.
Connolly, who was a strong believer in the Anglican faith, decided to assert his authority over these spirits. He used stones from the passage tomb to build a stone roof.
Hellfire Club moved in
Connolly could not use his hunting lodge as planned. When he died in 1729, it was rumored that his actions on the Hill of Montpellier caused his death.
These rumors about the supernatural attracted the interest of a group of young elites. They were controversial at best and perhaps even demonized. And so, the Hellfire Club was founded in the hills of Montpellier.
There are many stories about this youth club, so it is difficult to know the truth.
They gambled here and drank “scalthin”, a strong mixture of whiskey and butter. It is said that they always left a chair empty, inviting Satan to join them.
A local priest claims that he visited the lodge one night and sacrificed a black cat to members of the Hellfire Club. He said that he intervened, performed an exorcism and exorcised a demon from the cat.
An unexpected visitor
As the story goes, one night, a lonely man knocked on the door to seek shelter. They welcome him, and during a card game, a member of the Hellfire Club drops his card. As he bent down to pick it up, he noticed that the man had hooves.
Suddenly, the man burst into flames, and the fire quickly spread through the lodge, leaving charred walls that can still be seen today.
Interestingly, a similar story is told about Loftus Hall in Wexford, known as one of the most haunted places in Ireland.
Another story describes a sermon for Satan, in which a servant accidentally spills a drink on the infamous Thomas “Burn-Chapel” whale. Enraged, Whale pours brandy over the servant and sets him on fire, causing a deadly fire that engulfs the building and claims several lives.
The Decline of the Hellfire Club
After the fire, the club moved to nearby Killacky Stewards House. Over time, the club’s activities declined, but the myths and stories surrounding the Hellfire Club remained popular.
Despite being a monopoly, the land and building are now owned by Coillte, Ireland’s state forestry company, so everyone can see.
The most popular time to visit is Halloween, a night in Irish mythology when the line between the living and the dead is thin.
At night the atmosphere around the Hellfire Club is dark, but during the day, it’s a popular walk through a beautiful forest. In fact, this short hike was included in a list of the best hikes in Ireland.
If you’re looking for one of the most unusual (and free!) things to do in Dublin, this is it. Click here to find Montpellier Hill and Hellfire Club on a map. Have you been to Hellfire Club? Let us know your thoughts.