Love story and tragedy behind Kinsale’s famous white ghost features in new children's book

Charles Fort in Kinsale is one of the spooky locations featured in a new children’s book called Haunted Ireland: An Atlas Of Ghost Stories From Every County.

The story in question is that of Wilful Warender, the daughter of Colonel Warender, who commanded the fort with an iron fist. As an example of how strict he was, the punishment for any sentry that fell asleep on duty was death!

Colonel Warender was extremely protective of his daughter, even when she became an adult. Because of this, the soldiers posted at the fort steered well clear of her, but one young officer called Sir Trevor Ashurst plucked up the courage to ask her out on a date.

The pair grew friendly and, over time, Colonel Warender grew fond of the young man.

Sir Trevor proposed to Wilful and they got married and had a lavish party in the normally stark confines of the fort.

During the celebrations, Wilful and Trevor stepped out onto the battlements for some time alone and fresh air. While walking along the star-shaped boundary wall, they professed their love for each other. Wilful gazed down at the sea, thinking that she was the luckiest girl in the world. She spotted some flowers growing on the rocks below and told her new husband.

“Isn’t it amazing how something so beautiful can grow somewhere so austere,” she said.

“Just like our love,” replied Sir Trevor, kissing her.

When Wilful returned to the party, her new husband stayed outside. He planned on surprising her by climbing down to pick the flowers for her.

However, when he clambered up on the boundary wall, he felt dizzy from the wine he’d drunk earlier, and asked a nearby sentry to climb down for the flowers instead.

The sentry, who was aware of the punishment for leaving his post, was reluctant to agree, even if it meant refusing a commanding officer like Sir Trevor.

The groom, however, convinced the sentry by telling him that he’d take his place as sentry while the flowers were being picked.

The sentry agreed, and gave Sir Trevor his coat and rifle and climbed over the wall. Sir Trevor stood in the sentry’s place but soon started to feel sleepy, perhaps from the busy day, or perhaps from the wine, or a combination of both.

Meanwhile, back inside the party, Colonel Warender had rounded up some of his friends to bring them on a tour of the fort to show them how well run it was.

At each sentry point, the colonel called out to the man on duty and the sentry would reply, allowing the tour group to move on.

When Colonel Warender called out at the point where his new son-in-law was standing in for the sentry, he received no reply. Again, he called out but go no answer. He could see that the sentry on duty was fast asleep.

Colonel Warender had just been telling his guests that the punishment for sleeping on the job was death. Drawing his pistol, the colonel called out a third time. When he got no reply, he fired a shot at the sentry, who slumped to the ground.

When the colonel pulled the dead sentry out of the shadows, he was shocked to see that it was Sir Trevor. He’d killed his own son-in-law!

The gunshot brought the wedding guests running to see what had happened.

Wilful cried out in sorrow at the sight of her sweetheart lying dead on the ground. As she cradled his lifeless body, her father tried to explain but Wilful was too distraught to listen.

She stood and ran to the boundary wall, where she flung herself over it and to her death on the sharp rocks below. Colonel Warender walked inside and closed the door. A single shot rang out as he took his own life.

The ghost of Wilful Warender has reputedly been seen on many occasions at Charles Fort over the years, where she is referred to as ‘The White Lady’.

At times, she has been known to be violent and angry, but mostly she seems forlorn and distant, as if searching for her long-lost husband or flowers on the rocks below.

This is just one of 32 ghost stories from a new book for children by Meath author Kieran Fanning and illustrated by Dublin artist Mark Hill, called Haunted Ireland: An Atlas Of Ghost Stories From Every County, in which the reader takes a tour of Ireland’s most haunted sites from the comfort of their armchair.

It is available in all good bookshops from October 3.

Other stories include The Ghost of Loftus Hall, The Black Pig of Kiltrustan, and Father Hegarty’s Phantom Horse.