Original subtitles

[Heather] Do you see anything in this room?

Nothing.

I just heard a footstep come into this cell.

- [shuddering exhale] - [screaming]

[Josh] On this episode of "Expedition X."

- That is where we're going. - Oh, Lord.

[Josh] I join Heather for a terrifying investigation...

Oh, wow.

...of what's said to be

the most haunted place in all of Ireland,

Spike Island.

- [Heather gasping] - What the hell?

[Josh] This brutal prison saw centuries of

torture and torment.

[man grunts]

[Josh] Today, its abandoned cells reportedly hold

powerful paranormal activity.

From the ghost of a sadistic guard...

[pained screaming]

...to prisoners who try to make a literal deal with the devil.

[Josh] We'll discover that true horror...

Do you know what you contacted in this room?

Whoa!

...has broken free from the confines...

- [Heather] Hello? - ...of Spike Island.

That's a face.

[melodic bagpipe music]

Come on, look at that view. beautiful.

Stunning. It is so green.

All right, Gates, you got me to Ireland.

You got me in my first helicopter ride.

- High five by the way. - Where are we going?

Come on, what would the fun be if I just told you?

We're in Ireland. Where do you want to go?

Heather, we don't have time for tourist trips.

We are here to investigate.

Oh, dagger to my heart.

Phil is off with his brand-new baby,

so you're stuck with me this week.

You see that island in the harbor?

- [Heather] Yeah. - That is where we're going.

Oh, Lord. Is that a fort?

[Josh] It was built as a fort.

Later, it was converted into a notorious prison.

Thousands of people died there.

This is Spike Island,

the most haunted place in Ireland.

[Josh] A mile off the coast of Cork sits Ireland's own Alcatraz,

Spike Island.

Only half a mile wide,

it served as a remote island prison for centuries.

Infamous for its horrible conditions and human suffering.

In the 1650s, during England's violent conquest of Ireland,

British forces use Spike Island to hold thousands of prisoners

under cruel conditions.

The campaign is barbarically successful, dominating Ireland

while killing off 20% of its population.

In 1779, the British begin constructing Fort Westmoreland

on the island to protect their supply lines from

American and French attacks during the Revolutionary War.

But it's a different kind of attack that turns Spike

into a true island of death, the Great Famine.

From 1845 to 1852, blight ravages Ireland,

decimating crops and killing an estimated

one million people,

forcing the starving to steal food to survive.

The English have little sympathy.

Men, women, and even children are sent straight to jail for

crimes as minor as snatching a loaf of bread.

To accommodate the influx of inmates,

Spike Island's fortress is transformed into a prison.

At its peak, over 2,300 prisoners are held

on the tiny island, making it at the time,

the largest prison in the British Empire.

Every day, inmates undergo backbreaking labor while

receiving little food and pitiful medical care.

Brutal beatings and solitary confinement await anyone

who can't keep up.

Diseases like tuberculosis and cholera spread rapidly in

the overcrowded cells.

An estimated 1,200 people die on Spike Island during

the famine era.

They are still buried on the island in unmarked graves,

unable to escape the prison, even in death.

During World War II, Irish soldiers stationed in

Spike's fortress report seeing the apparition

of a British soldier with horrifying holes

where his eyes should be.

They call him the Gaunt Gunner.

Joining the list of the many frightening apparitions said to

haunt the island.

In 1985, Ireland's Alcatraz serves as a prison once again

before finally closing for good in 2004.

But its horrors will not stay locked up.

Today, visitors and staff regularly report

deeply disturbing paranormal activity.

Full-body apparitions in the decaying cells,

disembodied voices in the fortress's ancient tunnels,

and terrifying screams in the island's abandoned village.

[eerie screaming]

Recently, supernatural reports have been escalating,

leading many to wonder if the buried horrors

of Spike Island are finally breaking free.

- [Josh] Can you believe that place? - [Heather] No.

That place is incredibly intimidating from the air.

Absolutely. I mean, just look at it,

abandoned out in this harbor, and you can see these

old cell blocks, the old fort infrastructure.

Now the place, it is historically preserved,

they bring tours out here.

[Heather] I can't imagine what it would have been like

to be in prison there.

Well, you're about to find out.

We are going to have this place all to ourselves.

We are both about to be locked up in Ireland's Alcatraz.

Ya outdid yourself this time, Gates.

I figured Phil wasn't here we should have some fun.

I'm kidding. I'm kidding-- Phil.

Congrats on the baby.

- All right, captain, take us in. - [pilot] Coming in to land.

Captain, thank you for the ride.

No problem.

[Josh] Now that we're back on terra firma,

we're meeting with tour guides Lorraine O'Mahony

and Noel McCarthy...

- Hey, how are you? - [Noel] Josh.

I'm Josh. Nice to meet you.

Hiya, Lorraine.

[Josh]...experts in Spike Island's dark past

and the paranormal activity that's reported today.

Thank you.

I'm kind of gobsmacked.

This is such an amazing-looking place.

And so over the years, it's been a prison, a fort.

A prison, a fort, back and forth.

So during its main use as a prison,

what was life like out here?

[Josh] Wow.

So, with all of this history here, it's maybe no surprise

that there are also paranormal reports.

- [Josh] Wow. - How long have these paranormal reports been going on for?

He actually shot at a ghost?

Wow-- this may be the first account I've ever heard

of a soldier shooting at a ghost.

And has he been seen since?

And what about the buildings themselves?

Where are the hotspots?

- [Josh] Wow. - [Lorraine speaking]

Just for horsing around?

I can't help but notice the building looks kind of

gutted, burned out. - [Noel speaking]

[Josh] Wow.

So it's kind of frozen in time there.

The punishment block. That's the place you didn't want to go?

[Noel speaking]

They would have worn hoods as well?

- Yes. - [Josh] Wow.

That's crazy.

How long were people kept in those cells?

- Years? - [Noel] Yes.

[Josh] Wow.

And what are the paranormal reports

from the punishment block?

[Lorraine speaking]

This was is submitted by, what, a visitor here?

[Lorraine speaking]

- Oh, on the stairs. - Oh, legs.

[Josh] Look at that. You can see two legs,

and it looks like the outline of an individual.

- [Heather] That's a good picture. - [Josh] It's scary,

- So this is a very active area. - [Lorraine speaking]

Sounds like we've got our work cut out for us.

[Noel] Yes.

[Josh] And the two of you, are you staying here?

- These are literally the keys? - [Noel speaking]

[Josh] OK.

What do you mean if all goes well?

We'll see you in the morning.

- [Lorraine speaking] - Hopefully?

- [Lorraine speaking] - [Josh] OK.

Thank you guys!

All right, look at this, we got the literal keys

to Spike Island here.

I mean, I have no idea what these open.

Well, we'll figure it out.

OK, should we do it?

- Heck yeah. - Come on.

[Josh] As the last ferry departs Spike Island

with Lorraine and Noel on board, Heather and I, and our crew,

are Spike's only residents until sunrise.

We get to work setting up our base camp

before fanning out with infrared cameras to cover

the prison's reported hotspots.

A-block-- where the spirit of murdered guard William Reddy is

said to keep watch through burned-out windows.

That looks pretty good.

The punishment block,

where prisoners were confined in total darkness for weeks,

and strange smells and shadow figures

have recently been reported.

And the courtyard...

Ah! Oh, it's Heather.

I thought you were the Gaunt Gunner for a second.

Came out of nowhere.

...where Spike's most infamous spirit, the Gaunt Gunner,

was first sighted.

- How we looking? - [Josh] We're looking great.

- I think we're in good shape. - So, what's the plan?

[Josh] Well, I don't know.

What would Phil do if he were here?

Probably fix his hair. Or talk about insects.

[Heather] Gates!

I'm kidding. I want to go to A-block.

That's where I want to go.

People say they see faces in the windows, they see shadows.

Plus, the place is a ruin. I love exploring a ruin.

Nobody's been in there since '85.

Like, the staff doesn't even go in there.

So, I want to check it out.

[Heather] Well, I want to go to the punishment block.

It's a no-brainer.

You're a glutton for punishment.

No, I'm a glutton for paranormal activity.

OK. Should we divide and conquer?

- [Heather] I think so. - [Josh] Stay in touch by walkie-talkie?

- See what we see. - All right.

- Good luck out there. - Thanks.

So, here we go. The infamous A-block.

I gotta say, this place takes on a totally different

character now that the sun is down.

Let's see if I can see anything on that thermal imager.

OK, so...

If people are seeing something in these windows, could it be

that some animal is living in this place, right?

I mean, this is abandoned.

Nobody set foot in this place in 40 years.

Or, if it is something otherworldly,

maybe it creates heat. Who knows?

Right now, it looks very cold and dark.

[Heather] OK.

Is there anyone there?

We saw the picture.

It was taken right here at these stairs.

Can you show yourself to me?

So far, I got nothing.

Whole lot of cold, dark building.

Oh, oh, oh! Right there, look.

There is a heat signature inside this window.

What the hell? What the hell is that?

[Josh] There is a clear heat signature in this window.

Oh, oh. It's gone.

It was there for a split second, and it's gone.

We gotta get inside this place, see what's going on in there,

come on.

How do you get into this place?

OK.

This might take a second.

Oh boy.

You might wanna cut to Heather.

My name's Heather.

Trying to communicate.

You can make a sound.

You can use this device.

[gasping]

Got a hit.

Were you imprisoned in here? Wave your arm if you were.

There he is, there he is, waving his arm,

waving both arms, OK.

All right. It looks like...

you're kicking the walls, pushing at the walls.

just trying to get out.

Holy [bleep], he's gone.

This cell is so small.

That's, like, a, what, two-by-two-foot cell?

I would call it a closet.

Can you imagine being stuck in here for 23 hours of the day?

I mean, I would go absolutely crazy.

[metallic rattling]

Did y'all hear that?

Is there anyone there?

[distant thud]

Hello?

Is anyone here with me?

[echoing tap]

Is that you?

Are you the one that was just on my camera?

I feel like you're leading me somewhere.

[Josh] Come on.

Bingo.

Here we go.

Wow, this is totally crumbling back here.

Let's get the thermal back up.

This is the first time anybody's explored back here

in 40 years.

Whatever I saw in that window

was directly across from this side of the building.

So let's see what's going on in here.

Holy [bleep], look at this.

You can totally see why this is closed off.

This place is literally falling in on itself.

Look at the destruction in here.

Let's go further.

- [clicking] - Oh!

What was that?

Hello?

[clicking]

- Hear that? - [clicking]

It's like a clicking noise.

Is somebody here?

[clicking]

What the hell is that?

[exhales sharply]

You could see up into that second floor.

- [rustling] - Whoa, what the?

OK, I think we might've found

what was in the window.

Good Lord.

Those are pigeons that are roosting in the room

into this building. Oh my word.

That's probably what was in that window, right?

A bird saw my light, it moved off.

It certainly scared the hell out of me.

[Heather] This... definitely feels different.

This feels a lot more oppressive.

[gasping] We got one.

It looks like he's curled in the fetal position.

Were you tortured here?

Is that why you're in a fetal position?

Oh [bleep], it's gone.

[distant screaming]

Holy [bleep]. The [bleep]?

Did you hear that?

- Gates, do you copy? - Go for Josh.

[Heather over radio] Did you hear that?

[Josh over radio] Hear what?

It sounded like this wailing of agony.

Sorry, it sounded like a person wailing?

Yes, like they were in pain or something.

[Josh over radio] I did not hear that at all,

but I'm really far from your location.

[Heather over radio] Look, I've been hearing things all over this building.

My SLS has been going off. You gotta get over here.

OK. We're on our way over to you.

- Stand by. - Copy that.

Let's head over to her, come on.

- Hey. - [Heather] Hey.

[Josh] What's going on? Are you OK?

Yeah.

I got so much activity on my SLS.

It looks like one spirit

was pushing and kicking against the walls.

It looks like another one was curled up in the fetal position

inside the cell.

This is, like, the exact opposite of

my experience. I got birds over there.

So, it sounds like we should focus our efforts here.

Oh, yeah.

It seems like whatever is here is still being punished.

I want to try to put myself in the same headspace

that these prisoners were in when they were locked up

in these cells.

You mean you want to actually, what, sit in one of these cells?

Yeah, I want to experience that isolation and see if that

triggers something. - [Josh] OK.

In here.

[Josh] After capturing multiple figures on her SLS,

Heather thinks getting into the headspace of an inmate

could help her communicate with whatever may still be

imprisoned in the punishment block.

Using REM pods and an audio recorder,

she'll undertake a call and response session

while I monitor her on the infrared cameras

back at base camp.

- OK, you ready for this? - [Heather] Yeah.

Where'd you get these from?

[Josh] I got them from the museum.

They are replicas, but they are accurate to the period.

So this is what prisoners here would have worn.

OK.

All right, so you are locked in.

- I have the key. - Now the hood.

Are you sure you really want to do this?

This is the way the prisoners were held, and I want to get as

close as I possibly can to their headspace.

OK. You ready?

- Can you see anything at all? - [Heather] No.

[Josh] OK, we've got an open walkie so I can hear your audio.

I'm gonna go back to the command center and monitor

you from there, OK? - OK.

[Josh] All right, good luck. Here we go.

[Heather] OK.

OK, we got good picture from here.

Heather, can you hear me through the audio?

[Heather] Yeah, I can hear you loud and clear.

[Josh over speaker] OK, great. I got it here as well.

I'm turning off my mic for a minute, and good luck.

[Heather] This is Heather.

I'm in the dark cell.

Is there anyone here with me?

Feel free to use these REM pods,

feel free to make a noise.

[light thud]

Was that tap you?

[louder thud]

I just heard a tap on one side.

And a tap on the other side of me.

Who's there?

Are you a prisoner that was kept in the punishment block?

[light tap]

What'd you hear?

[Heather] I heard the tap closer, right outside of the cell.

Maybe try to move one of those REM pods, if you can feel it,

closer to the doorway. - OK.

OK.

Are you standing in the doorway right now?

- [REM pod chiming] - Whoa! OK.

Were you a prisoner?

Were you a guard?

Is that why you're in the doorway?

[REM pod chiming]

OK.

Maybe William Reddy, the notorious guard?

[Heather] Are you William Reddy?

- [sustained chiming] - [bleep]

Still going.

[light tap]

[heavy tap]

Oh.

[Heather] Do you see anything in this room?

Nothing, I can see that you're reacting to something, but...

the cameras are totally clear.

There's nothing in there with you-- wh-- what's happening?

[Heather] I just heard a footstep come into this cell.

[distant creaking]

- [shuddering exhale] - [screaming]

Ah!

What's up? Are you OK?

[Heather] I think I'm done. I think I want out.

OK, hold on. I'll be right there.

I'll be right there.

- Heather? - [Heather] Yeah?

[Josh] Hold on.

Hey, are you OK? What happened?

Let me turn this off. What the hell is going on?

It-- it felt like something was in the doorway.

And then I heard this noise, this noise it was like--

[shuddering exhale]

[Josh] In the room, you heard that?

- Do you think it was a person? - Yeah.

You know, the REM pods were going off when I was asking if

it was a guard, if it was William Reddy,

and then that noise.

[distant creaking]

- [shuddering exhale] - [screaming]

[Josh] Look, the audio recorder's still running, so hopefully,

if that noise was in this room, we got it.

- [Heather] Yeah. - [Josh] Are you OK?

I'm a little shook up.

It is very uncomfortable being in this room

by yourself. - [Josh] Yeah-- let's get you out of these,

come on. - [Heather] OK.

OK, come on, let's get out of here.

- Let's get some fresh air. - OK, yeah.

[Josh] Handcuffs.

[Josh] We keep watch on our cameras in the solitary confinement cell

and throughout Spike's other hotspots.

But no new activity surfaces.

The next morning, we get a welcome visitor

from the mainland.

Someone who knew Spike Island well, when it was still

an active prison. - [Heather] You must be Liam.

Hi, Heather. Great to meet you.

- Nice to meet you. - Hey, I'm Josh.

[Josh] Liam Warner worked as a prison officer on Spike Island

for 18 years, right up until its official closure in 2004.

Yeah.

- A lot of activity. - It was crazy.

It was a crazy night.

Even when you were here, working?

[Josh] Wow.

[Liam speaking]

And did you ever see anything down in the moat?

[Liam speaking]

- Chains? - [Liam speaking]

Wait a minute, this guy escaped Spike Island twice?

[Josh] And was what, he was caught?

[Josh] Wow.

[Heather] The entire time?

[Liam speaking]

And so, this sound of chains down in the moat,

may be old Henry Sweers?

[Liam speaking]

Along with the moat,

where else did you work on the island?

And there are paranormal accounts associated with

the abandoned cells?

By the prisoners?

Where were they getting spirit boards from?

[Liam speaking]

I've never heard of that kind of contraband

in a prison before. Spirit board contraband.

The prisoners were trying to communicate with ghosts.

[Liam speaking]

So they were so frightened by what they saw there,

that they demanded to be let out?

[Liam speaking]

Did they say what they had conjured up in the cell?

[Liam speaking]

Where did this happen?

[Liam speaking]

[Josh] And my understanding is these abandoned cells

are still considered a real paranormal hotspot.

[Liam speaking]

Do you have them?

[Josh] Yes, very much.

- Oh, yeah. - Oh, yes.

[Josh] It looks like a head right there and a body.

[Heather] That's tall.

[Josh] And this is taken inside a cell?

OK.

- Ooh! - Ooh.

[Heather] That's freaking huge.

[Josh] That looks like Nosferatu.

It really does.

You can see an arm and a body. That is terrifying.

[Heather] That is incredibly shocking.

So, all the time you spent out here, did you leave...

believing this place was haunted yourself?

[Josh] Liam, thank you so much for the time.

I really appreciate it.

[Josh] It was a pleasure.

Thanks so much, Liam.

[Josh] As the sun sets over Spike Island,

Heather and I head to

the abandoned cells, where prisoners believe

they communicated with a demonic presence.

OK, into the abandoned cells.

Pretty foreboding.

[Heather] Yeah. What could go wrong?

Ooh.

[Josh] Wow, this place is...

abandoned, all right. Look at it.

Oh, my word.

It just goes on in both directions.

Wow.

Let's try to find that really notorious cell-- B9, right?

- [Heather] Yeah. - Let's check it out.

Oh, wow!

These aren't numbered.

OK, these must be the old cells.

[Heather] This is definitely creepy.

Take a couple pictures.

[camera shutter clicking]

[Josh] How creepy is this place?

- [Heather] Hey, Gates. - Yeah?

[Heather] Come here, check this out.

You know that one picture that Liam showed us that

kind of looked like a person?

- [Josh] Yeah, with like a head at the top? - [Heather] Yeah.

Well, when you were looking at the cell across the way,

your reflection was on the plexiglass.

- Oh, really? - I snapped a picture of it.

Check it out.

[Josh] Oh, look at that.

It totally reflects off of this plexi.

So maybe that's what somebody snapped in their image?

[Heather] Yeah, that may be able to explain it.

Totally, right? If you were taking a picture

against this highly reflective plexi,

and somebody he was standing out in the hall

or across the hall... - [Heather] Mm-hmm.

...it would look like a ghost.

- So that's me. - [Heather] Yeah.

[Josh] And then, this big shadow is you.

Yeah.

- Who's this? - [Heather] What do you mean?

[Josh] The hell is this?

That's not me or you.

That's a face.

Spike Island has seen more than its fair share of sorrow.

And sadly, its closest harbor, named Cove,

has seen it as well, playing a pivotal role

in two of history's most horrifying maritime disasters.

Cove's waters were the Titanic's last port of call.

On April 11, 1912, the vessel boarded

its final 123 passengers at Cove.

Four days later, those passengers would drown

alongside the 1,500 others who perished when the Titanic

hit an iceberg.

Just three years later,

more tragedy would return to Cove's waters.

On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat sunk the Lusitania,

killing almost 1,200 souls.

Many of the bodies were washed back onto the Irish shore,

laid to rest in mass graves.

Today, memorials still stand in Cove Harbor,

marking the enduring tragedies

of the two vessels that never returned.

- That is a face. - That is a face.

[Josh] Look at it.

You can see the bridge of the nose, the mouth.

- You can almost see, like, hair. - The eyes.

[Josh] Black sockets for eyes.

[Heather] You know what it looks like?

- Like the Gaunt Gunner. - Right.

There's nothing in the window itself.

No smears, no-- no...

[Josh] No, I mean, it's a dirty old piece of plexiglass,

but there's nothing in there that, if you just take

a picture of it, it doesn't reflect back as a face.

Let's try to find that really notorious cell, B9.

- Right? - Yeah, yeah.

That's where these prisoners said they thought something

demonic showed up.

- Let's go. - OK.

Nine. B9, right there.

[door creaks open]

Oh, boy.

Oh.

This place is so off-the-charts scary.

- I got a surprise for you. - [Heather] What?

- No. - Come on.

I mean, this is exactly what we shouldn't be doing.

- You're always talking about trigger objects. - Yeah, but--

This is the trigger object of all trigger objects for

this room. - This is incredibly dangerous.

You shouldn't be doing this.

And who knows what the hell they brought up in here.

- You think this works? - [Heather] Yeah.

- This is not a game. - It literally is.

they sell it at Target.

Just because they do doesn't mean that they should.

We know there were prisoners in this room using homemade

spirit boards,

and that they contacted something.

Isn't that why we're here, trying to figure out what's in

this room? - I--I-- I don't disagree.

We just need to be extremely careful while using this.

- We'll be careful. - OK.

Let's do it. Come on.

- [Heather] You ready? - [Josh] I'm ready.

[Heather] OK-- the most important detail is, when we are done,

we have to close the session down.

We are not gonna do what these prisoners potentially may have

done and left something open.

We move the planchette to "goodbye," we say "goodbye."

And then we remove the planchette from the board.

[Josh] OK. So, it's one hand, two hands?

- Two. - [Josh] Two hands.

- One finger? - [Heather] Yep.

- Ready? - OK.

[Heather] OK.

If there's anyone here with us...

can you move the planchette?

[Josh] Oh.

It's moving, it's moving, it's moving.

[Heather] G?

Are you trying to communicate with us?

Oh my God.

Yes.

- You're not pushing it? - No, I'm not pushing it.

I'm not pushing it either.

Were you the face in the window?

- [Josh] No. - [Heather] No.

Were you a prisoner in this room?

- Four? - [Heather] Four prisoners.

Four prisoners in here.

[Josh] When you were a prisoner here,

did you use a spirit board like this?

And did that spirit board work?

- [Josh] Yes. - [Heather] Yes.

OK.

Do you know what you contacted in this room?

H.

E.

L. Hell?

Hell, as in, they thought there was

a demonic presence in this room?

[Heather] Yeah.

Is there anything that you want to tell us?

[Josh] R.

U.

- N. - [Heather] Run.

- Run? - [clattering]

- [screaming] - [bleep]

[Josh] Whoa, what the [bleep] was that?

Next time on "Expedition X..."

- You ready for this? - Yeah.

Over here.

...we discover the shocking hidden history

of Spike Island...

Both dead and the room locked from the inside?

...exploring the former home of a twisted surgeon

known as Dr. Death...

- It said "Help." - What do you need help with?

...and venturing into secret tunnels

below the fortress walls...

It's getting colder.

48, 47.

- What the [bleep]. - [Heather] It's dropping.

- It's dropping. - What is happening?

There's a passage down here.

...as we try to solve the mystery

of the most haunted place in Ireland.

What the [bleep]. What is that?

[screaming]