Hellfire Club Ruins

At the summit of Montpelier Hill in Rathfarnham Dublin are the stone ruins of a building constructed in 1725 for the then Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, William Connolly.  Intended and designed as a hunting lodge, the building was sold after Connolly’s death in 1729 and was later used as a meeting place for the Irish Hellfire Club. 

The summit of Montpelier Hill originally held a passage grave topped by a cairn of stones.  Connolly ordered the cairn dismantled and its stones used as building materials for the lodge.  One of the grave’s standing stones became the lintel for the fireplace.     

The Hellfire Club was founded in 1735 by Richard Parsons, a notorious aficionado of the dark arts and black magic.  The Club became known for lascivious and immoral behavior involving quantities of alcohol and sex.  The Club’s president was called “The King of Hell,” and he reportedly dressed like a winged Satan.  The Hellfire Club’s members were of such unsavory reputation that writer Jonathan Swift described them as “a brace of monsters, blasphemers and Bacchanalians.” 

It was rumored that the Club held black masses in the lodge during which black cats – and perhaps servants – were sacrificed.  William Connolly’s grandson, Thomas, claimed to have met the Devil during a card game in the Lodge, where he watched Satan burst into flames and fly out the gable window. 

In 1741, the roof of the Lodge caught fire and was completely destroyed.  Some claim the roof was intentionally set alight to give the building a more Hellish appearance.  The most sensational rumor was that the Club lured a victim to the Lodge, intoxicated him, and set him on fire.  The fire spread, killed several members, and destroyed the building.  Rather than repair it, the Hellfire Club's members moved their meetings, but Club membership declined thereafter.  Given the dark stories associated with the Hellfire Club, it was no surprise that rumors spread that the ruins were haunted, and those rumors persist today.