The Irish woman who 'formally wed' the ghost of a 300-year-old pirate has hit out at her critics, saying their religious beliefs are as valid as 'her marriage'.

Drogheda native Amanda Teague (45) hit the headlines around the world after reports of her unorthodox wedding to long-dead pirate Jack Teague spread.

Amanda, who used to work as a Jack Sparrow impersonator, said she has been inundated with messages from people around the world, with a lot of negative critique.

A video of her recent interview with TV3's Ireland AM has been viewed on Facebook more than 500k times.

"A lot of these people who are calling me crazy and a lot of these people who find it so hard to grasp will go and get their tarot cards read or they'll go to a medium to try and get a message from a loved one, so I don't understand why they see it such a big difference to get a message from someone who has been dead 300 years and someone who is dead two or three years," she told Independent.ie.

"To me it's the same thing. You either believe that you can communicate with the dead or you can't.

Expand Close Aye, Aye, captain: Amanda Teague (left), a Jack Sparrow impersonator, had almost given up the ghost when she met her love interest, a 300-year-old Haitian pirate ghost / Facebook

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Whatsapp Aye, Aye, captain: Amanda Teague (left), a Jack Sparrow impersonator, had almost given up the ghost when she met her love interest, a 300-year-old Haitian pirate ghost

"Even people who don't believe in such things as spirits, these people believe in God. What's the difference?

"God is an invisible energy. I mean, there's no more proof that God exists than [my husband] John Robert Teague exists. I think it's a little bit hypocritical, shall we say."

Amanda claims that she knew the Haitian pirate, who had been killed on the open seas during the 18th Century, in a previous life.

"You get up, you get the kids organised, you do whatever work you got to do, so it's really not a lot different," she said.

"The only difference is that my husband doesn't have a physical body.

"I'm quite an independent person anyway, so having a man I'd have to nag to do jobs is not something that would appeal to me anyway. I'd rather just get it done my way."

The couple got married on a boat on international waters so the marriage would be considered legal. A medium was on hand to interpret Jack's vows. That medium has since begun a relationship with one of Jack Teague's spirit friends, according to Amanda.

The relationship came to public light after her book 'A Life You Will Remember' was published. Amanda, who in 2015 spent €6k to transform herself into Disney character Jack Sparrow, is now working on two new books.

The first to be released will be a collection of stories that Amanda claims are true stories of spirits, while the next book details how she is still spiritually connected to a recently deceased pet, with all funds raised by the latter going to various charities.

In recent years, 'posthumous marriages' have taken place in France America, Germany, South Africa and America.

Online Editors