Leap Castle.

Leap Castle.

Location : Roscrea,
Co. Offaly.

Country : Ireland
Latitude : 53.027
Longitude : -7.808

HISTORY :

It was built in the 14th or 15th century to guard the pass from Slieve Bloom into Munster.The Galic name for the castle is "Leim ui Bhanain", which means the Leap of the O'Bannons. Under the O'Carroll Chiefs, the O'Bannon Clan were the first owners of Leap Castle, later occupied by the O'Carroll's themselves. From here the O'Carroll's would set out for victory and defeat, and here they would bring their brides and there captives.

Leap was an impregnable fortress impervious to attack। In 1513, Leap Castle was attacked by Gerald Fitzgerald , but was not taken. Gerald Og Fitzgerald of Kildore attacked the castle in 1516. In 1557 during an attack led by the Earl of Sussex, the O'Carroll's made a successful escape.

In 1604 or 1605, some of Ely O'Carroll's territory was attached to Kings County which is now Offaly। It is rumored that the daughter of an O'Carroll helped the escape of a Darby from Leap Castle and later married him।

After the failure of the Revolt of the Earls, in 1619 the plantation of Ely O'Carroll took place. Along with the English rulers, loyal Protestant Scots and Englishmen settled into the area depriving the local Galic population of their land. Leap Castle then passed into the hands of the Darby family. After this many Darbys became high sheriff of Kings County. The most famous Darby is Admiral Sir Henry Darby who fought at the Battle of the Nile and escorted Nepolean Bonaparte into exile after leaving France.


This fortress is considered Ireland's most haunted castle, haunted by the type of spirit called an "elemental"। It is a frighting and horrifying apparition, it's hauntings bring on an overwhelming sense of dread and deep rooted fear. Those who have experienced it describe a hideous looking "thing" with almost human looking eyes and reeks of the most ghastly odor.

The Ghost of a young girl has also been seen on numerous occasions। She is thought to be the spirit of a daughter of a one-time owner of the Castle. Her father wanted her to marry the son of a wealthy gentleman but she was in love with a poor farming lad. When her father discovered this he killed the boy she loved. One night when he was sleeping his daugher came in and killed him. The following day as the girl was standing at the top of the castle an invisible hand pushed her and she fell to her death. It is believed her father's ghostly hand pushed her, and every night her spirit roams the castle mourning her lost love. Many visitors to Leap have heard eerie moaning and weeping at night, and lights are seen at the top of the Castle.

Mildred Darby was an occultist who is accredited with creating one of the more frightful spirits that roam the halls of Leap Castle: the elemental। In occultism, an elemental is any spiritual creature who is created to accomplish a certain task, as they are also called servitors, fetches and familiar spirits. The latter of which was personified as animal companions in medieval times and were believed by witch hunters to be demons in disguise that would do a witches bidding.

In Leap Castle, however, the elemental was the embodiment of all the misery and woe that occurred in the castle walls। Her description of the creature was submitted to the Journal Occult Review in 1909:

"I was standing in the Gallery looking down at the main floor, when I felt somebody put a hand on my shoulder। The thing was about the size of a sheep. Thin guanting shadowy, it's face was human, to be more accurate inhuman. Its lust in its eyes, which seemed half decomposed in black cavities stared into mine. The horrible smell one hundred times intensified came up into my face, giving me a deadly nausea. It was the smell of a decomposing corpse."

In the 1970s, an Australian bought the castle and employed a Curanderismo (a spiritual healer) from Mexico to exorcise the estate. The woman spent most of her time in the Bloody Chapel convincing the heinous spirits to be benevolent, which they apparently agreed to.
In the 1990s, the current owner, traditional Irish musician Sean Ryan bought the castle and began restoration। People love to circulate rumors about the few mishaps that occurred while he was working, blaming the mischievous spirits for all the accidents.

On November 15, 2006, Leap Castle was featured in an episode of the reality television show Ghost Hunters.

INVESTIGATIONS :

DCMAG was the first, and only American paranormal group to conduct an official investigation at Leap Castle। Sean Ryan hosted a banquet/investigation for Al, Barry and their team. Al will tell you Leap is the scariest place he's ever investigated, yet a warm and hospitable experience at the same time!Some of the pictures you will see here are from the "Bloody Chapel" where a priest was stabbed to death by his brother while he was saying mass. You'll also see the uvulette, a deep shapt filled with long spikes that people were thrown into. The lucky ones died quickly.