The dead hate to be forgotten. That's the message that an Irish medium gave after spending a night in a historic gaol in County Wicklow.

Dublin medium Declan Flynn claimed that he came in contact with a deceased president of Ireland. (It's never the cleaning lady, is it?) Flynn said he had communicated with Erskine Childers, who died in 1974 aged 68, just over a year after taking office.

Childers was apparently anxious that his portrait be restored to its original place of honor in the gaol.

"Erskine Childers came through because he was a prisoner in the jail for one night, I think," Flynn told the press. "I wasn't expecting him to come through at all.

Flynn is the only spookologist with his eyes on the gaol. Thousands of other ghost busters have applied for the chance to witness the gaol's many troubled spirits with an overnight stay.

In response the gaol will host a special psychic investigation evening in coming months, will be led by Flynn with help from psychic couple Keith and Angie Freeland.

Tickets will include a VIP limo pick-up, a gourmet four-course meal and a night at the nearby 19 century hotel.