"Ooh, maybe Banshee Bones crisps, or you know those Halloween pasta shapes in tomato sauce you can get. . ." she thinks aloud.

It's going to be a long weekend. I'm not particularly scared given that I don't believe in ghosts, the afterlife, or any of its trimmings, but Corina has been more or less a nervous wreck all week. The taxi driver who meets us at Mallow Station doesn't allay any of our increasing fears as he drives us to Blackwater Castle in Castletownroche. "I wouldn't go up there after dark, " he says forebodingly.

The castle looks extremely spooky. There's an old stone tower at the side and crows rise and fall out of the low cloud that surrounds the grounds of hidden gardens and forests. We check in and are told to find a bedroom somewhere to make our base. We wander around tentatively. If there was ever going to be a haunted building, it's this. Eventually, we climb to the top floor and are drawn to a bedroom at the corner of the landing. After cracking open a bottle of vino to calm our nerves, we survey our quarters.

Heading downstairs, I lock the bedroom door and spot a small plaque: "Lady Roche".

"Who the hell is Lady Roche?" Corina says almost hysterically. "That's weird, " I say, "I didn't see that sign when we were going in." Corina opens her welcome pack and reads that Lady Roche was the woman of the castle who was hanged in the 18th century. "You had to pick that bloody room!" she says, glowering.

When we get downstairs, a man, who later transpires to be the owner of the castle, is telling a story about Lady Roche haunting the castle. Hmm. Not a good start.

Things take a while to kick off and, after dinner, we're introduced to the team. There are ghostbuster types who have scientific equipment to track the movements of spirits but the really interesting folk are the psychic mediums.

The rest of the people in the group . . . mostly female, mostly Dubs . . . are well into it. It's pitch dark and we stumble around the grounds as the psychics pick up on some wandering spirits. When we head down to the ancient well in the grounds, one of the psychics starts to freak us out. "Something bad happened here, " she begins, and suddenly all the psychics in the group piece together an elaborate tale of a bombardment where numerous soldiers died and were thrown over a wall. "Do you smell blood?" they ask. It's time for another glass of wine.

Inside the castle, a medium, Carol, is giving an incredibly accurate reading for one woman.

I like her, she seems normal and nice. Corina and I decide to keep with her group and eventually a small group of us wander off to an old tree in the grounds where Carol says she picked up a strong sense of activity. We hold hands and meditate. It's a mild night, but when Carol says, "If there are any spirits here, please make yourselves known, we mean you no harm, " the temperature drops immediately. All of a sudden, despite no wind, it's freezing. I grip Corina's hands and we stare at each other in fright. "I'm getting a name, Joseph, Joe, " one psychic says. "Joe, if that's you, can you give us a sign, " Carol says. A branch snaps off the tree and thuds to the ground. Ok, this is a bit weird. We leave after a while, the whole experience being a bit draining and surreal. Time for another glass.

Later I ask Carol if she could give me a reading. She agrees and we adjourn to the breakfast room as the owner of the castle is telling stories about Michael Jackson's stay here last year. Carol begins to summon any spirits who want to talk to me. I'm pretty relaxed about the whole thing. This is all a load of rubbish, I think. Then the reading begins, and she says things no one could possibly know. She says she's talking to my grandmother, and relays messages and memories that are unbelievably specific and that nearly all make sense.

They're detailed and accurate. But I don't feel scared; it is kind of relaxing. Now I don't know what to believe.

The last part of the evening (it's now about 4am) is a seance. We gather in a dark but candlelit room and begin to chant. It's one of those giggly school moments and I think I'm going to ruin the whole thing by bursting into a fit of laughter. So I put my head down. A psychic summons spirits. Occasionally I feel a draught rush across my hands. A bottle of water on the table begins to vibrate. "I see a woman before me in a high-necked dress, " one psychic says, "Lady Roche, " another calls out, "it's Lady Roche." This is not the kind of thing you want to hear when you're sleeping in Lady Roche's bedroom. Nothing much else happens. Some people claim they see the chandelier swinging, others say something is brushing their face, another psychic says she is seeing orbs of light and flashes of colour. Sometimes you feel a rush of energy between our closed hands.

But most of the time, I'm just trying to control myself from laughing. I see Corina, who is holding the hand of the psychic, move her hand slightly: "Did you feel that vibration?" the psychic yells. "Eh, yeah, " Corina says.

In the morning, everything looks different.

Outside, Corina says, "You know what? I'm not scared of ghosts anymore." "Me neither, " I say, still wondering whether I ever believed in any of it at all.

OTHER SPOOKY SPOTS

1 Leap Castle, Co Offaly. 400 years of blood and gore make this the most haunted place in the country.

2 Kinnitty Castle, Co Offaly. Haunted by a tall monk dressed in black.

3 Charleville Castle, Co Offaly. A spooky building set in an oak woods.

4 Castle Leslie, Co Monaghan. The ghosts of Lady Constance Leslie and Captain Norman Leslie roam this castle.

5 Ballygally Castle, Co Antrim. The resident ghost here lives in a room at the top of the castle.