Leap Castle...Ireland's Most Haunted

[Cufflink]

Leap Castle...the most haunted castle in all of Ireland.

The History

The dark, brooding shell that is Leap Castle was once the seat of power of the hostile, warmongering O'Carrolls, The Princes of Ely. The castle sits on a huge, ancient rock, and recently, it has been suggested by some archaeologists, that this in turn may rest upon a ley line.

The O'Carrolls were the last of the big clans to surrender to the British in the seventeenth century, and they leave behind a fearsome reputation of murder, betrayal and power-struggles, as brother fought brother to control their large empire. One of the most brutal examples of this took place in the great tower. Situated above the main hall, the great tower, built in the fourteenth century, is also known as the bloody chapel. It is here that Teige O'Carroll (known as `one-eye') slew his brother while he was praying at the altar. Passers-by over the years, have seen the window of this empty tower illuminated with a strange light.

In one corner of this tower is an oubliette (a secret hole which people were thrown down and left to die). After the house was destroyed by fire, in 1922, three cartloads of bones were recovered from here. Below the keep stretch a maze of passages hewn from the rock itself, leading to a number of dank dungeons and strange bricked up chambers. Many, many skeletons, of all kinds, have been discovered here. The last owners of the castle, before it's partial destruction, were completely unaware of these dungeons.

The castle was acquired by the Darby family in the seventeenth century, when one of their daughters married into the O'Carrolls. Her husband, was a staunch Royalist member of the O'Carroll clan, and was nicknamed by his enemies as `The Wild Captain.' This violent, terrible man was said to have hidden a large fortune somewhere in the castle, with the help of two of his servants. To keep the secret, he then callously had them murdered. The captain was later arrested for treason, and by the time of his release had completely lost his mind, along with his memory of the treasure's whereabouts. It is said to remain in it's hiding place, somewhere in that terrible castle, to this day.

In later years, Lord Darby, so troubled and angered by continuing rumours of bricked up bodies, had a wall in the castle torn down, only to discover the skeletons of three unfortunate souls. The lord, to the surprise of others, had them bricked up again, claiming that his ancestors had probably put them there for a good reason.

Leap Castle was burnt down by the terrorist organisation, the IRA, in 1922, and then later ransacked by mobs. There have been various owners of the castle since then, and all, it seems, have suffered some form of misfortune or financial ruin.

The Ghosts

During the hall's years under the Darbys, overnight guests frequently experienced the terrifying spectre of a tall, gaunt woman, dressed in a red gown, seemingly illuminated from within, with her hand raised menacingly above her head. These poor unfortunate witnesses always awoke in the middle of the night prior to this vision, with a terrible and violent feeling of cold in their heart. The suggestions are she was a murdered O'Carroll princess, but whoever she was, the stateroom was always shunned by the castle's servants.

By far the worst of all the castle's ghosts, however, is a demonic, foul-smelling spectre. This hideous elemental, half-human, half-beast, lurks mainly on the tower stairs, and is believed to be the embodiment of all the evil and murderous deeds that have taken place there.

So......Leap Castle......fun place.

Cuff

[pappagooch]

The Elemental It! Elementals are nasty little suckers! I love the little piece that TLC did in their "Haunted Ireland" documentary.

Here is a little bit more detailed info on the lovely ubliet:

"Another source of evil was found at Leap Castle that may have compounded and nutured the spirt of the elemental. A hidden ubliet (a dungeon) was found off the bloody chapel. It was a small room with a drop floor. Those who were forgotten within this room suffered unimaginable pain and misery until their death. Prisoners would be pushed into the room to fall through the floor and land on a spike eight feet below. If you were not lucky enough to die quickly on the spike, you died of starvation in a doorless room while the aroma of food and the sounds of merriment drifted up from the rooms below. A narrow window would let you watch those who came and went in freedom from the castle. Around c.1900 workmen who where hired to clean out the ubliet made a hideous discovery, human skeletons laid piled on top of each other. It took three full cart loads to remove all of the bones. Among the bones workmen found a pocket watch made in the 1840's. It is not certain if the dungeon was still in use then."

[Cufflink]

Oooh...some lovely gory details, there.

Thanks Pappagooch. I was hoping more details would be added as the thread progressed.

A pocketwatch from the 1840's? That's particularly chilling. Just how recent was the bloodshed at the castle?

[pappagooch]

Thats a good question... I'm not sure, but in they think that the elemental spirt was released due to the mis use of "occult" activity:

"In the late 19th century descendants Johanthan and Mildred Darby were looking forward to raising their family here. The occult was the fashion of the day, and Mildred Darby did some innocent dabbling, despite the castle's history and reputation for being haunted. Mildred's dabbling with magic awakened the elemental with ferocious velocity."

"In 1909, Mildred Darby wrote an atricle for the Journal Occult Review, describing her terrifying ordeal. "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."

"The elemental is thought to be a premative ghost that attaches itself to a particular place. It is often malevolent, terrifying and unpredictable. After Mrs. Darby's experiments in the black arts, Leap Castle has never been the same. Hauntings plague Leap leaving a sinister air throughout the castle. The Darbys remained at Leap until 1922. Being the home of an English family, it became the target of the Irish struggle for independence. Destroyed by bombs, completely looted, nothing but a burned out shell remained. The Darby's were driven out."

pretty eerie stuff!

[Cufflink]

Very eerie!!

And what an incredibly stupid thing that Mildred Darby did.

Little wonder, if the stories of the elemental are true, that a creature summoned up at that terrible place would be so unpleasant.

[pappagooch]

Yes, she was quite irresponsible to say the least! And I agree, if there really is a such thing as an "elemental it" , then it would make a lot of sense that it's existence is a combination of all those poor tortured souls who suffered such a tragic and painful death in that ubliet!

Did you hear about the strange things that happened to the current owner?

"In the 1990's the castle was sold to the current owners. They were aware of the castle's troubled history. Shortly after moving in they began restoration of the castle. During which time a "freak accident" left the owner with a broken kneecap delaying restoration work on the castle for nearly a year. One year after his "accident" the owner was back at work restoring his castle when the ladder he was standing on suddenly tilted backwards away from the wall causing him to jump several stories resulting in a broken ankle. Both were strange accidents"

Very strange indeed!

[saxcatz]

:shiver:

[Thistle]

Ooooooh thanks Cuffy, I'd forgotten most of the gory details of Leap. Does anyone know if the current owners are still living there because I think I'd have packed up very quickly if any of that happened to me lol

[Cufflink]

You're very welcome, Thistle.

I'm afraid my knowledge of the current owners is limited to what Pappagooch posted in his earlier thread. That in the '90's, the current owners had moved in and begun restoration. And suffered for it!

[pappagooch]

Here is something on a lighter note regarding the current owners:

"In 1991, in Leap Castle's Bloody Chapel was the christening of the owner's baby daughter. For the first time in centuries the "Bloody Chapel" was filled with music, dancing, laughter, and most of all love. The day had been a "happy, pleasant, wonderful day". If the troubled spirits of Leap Castle did not leave, maybe they have finally found some peace."

[dancin'hamster]

Thsi was featured quite recently on Most Haunted...........apparantly, a wrist-watch was found in the pit where they threw their prisoners.........so goodness knows how recent that was.......*shudder*

[algernon the 3rd]

A wristwatch! I'm pretty sure they didn't start making watches that small until victorian times! Could always be a watch someone lost somehow.

[dancin'hamster]

exactly Algie........but I'm sure that it found around an ulna & radius...

[algernon the 3rd]

oh... didn't know that...

[Naveed]

This is one that I saw on TLC to. Although they never covered the red lady. I'd be interested to hear an update on the family that was living there when the show was filmed.

[pappagooch]

The Oubliette, where people were thrown down onto spikes.

Here is an interesting account from The Atlantic Paranormal Society's venture at Leap Castle last month:

An Evening at Leap Castle

Sit back and listen to the story of Leap. The year was 1532. A Catholic priest was saying Mass in the chapel located on the top floor of Leap Castle. As the Rites were being read by the priest, a dark figure could be seen behind him. Without warning a man sprung up behind the priest and plunged a dagger deep into his back, causing the priest to bleed to death on the altar. The man who killed him was his own brother. The bloodshed over a sacred mass caused the first haunting of Leap Castle, and the room has since been called the “Bloody Chapel”. It is believed this act paved the way for twenty more ghosts to wreak havoc on curious guests at Leap, including American paranormal investigation groups.

We were invited to investigate the castle to see what the ghosts were up to. In my opinion, the ghosts of Leap are the master haunters. It’s hard to explain, but we knew these guys weren’t happy with a bunch of Americans poking around hoping they will show us why Leap is the second most haunted place in the world. They fulfilled our request.

Click the link for the rest of the account:

Leap Castle

[Mekorig]

Very interesting...maybe some day, whit a little luck, i could investigate the castle (i am studing archeology)

[Cufflink]

If only someone would throw the charlatans and squealers of Most Haunted down there.

*Cuff strolls away, wearing agent provocateur's hat*

[Agent_21]

*Cuff strolls away, wearing agent provocateur's hat*

No relation of mine!

[Cufflink]

No relation of mine!

I thought he might be the black sheep of the family.

[Thistle]

Blimey Cuff !!!!!!!! You wear Agent Provocateur ??????

now THAT I would pay to see....ok I gotta go lie down now

[Cufflink]

Blimey Cuff !!!!!!!! You wear Agent Provocateur ??????

now THAT I would pay to see....ok I gotta go lie down now

Imagine sweet, innocent, ikkle Cuff's surprise when he found out what Thistle was refering to.

Listen, my dear. You pay me enough, I'll wear it.

[Agent_21]

Well I've no idea....all I know is someone (unrelated to me) wants 'is hat back.

[Lady Sabrina]

"In 1991, in Leap Castle's Bloody Chapel was the christening of the owner's baby daughter. For the first time in centuries the "Bloody Chapel" was filled with music, dancing, laughter, and most of all love. The day had been a "happy, pleasant, wonderful day". If the troubled spirits of Leap Castle did not leave, maybe they have finally found some peace."

I remember seeing something on TV about that & they talked about how they were trying to restore the castle. I love the history on castles & would love to go visit a few someday & get pictures & so on...but I'm not so sure I would want to live in one though... lol It's un telling what kind of wrestles souls linger in them.

[Thistle]

Imagine sweet, innocent, ikkle Cuff's surprise when he found out what Thistle was refering to.

Listen, my dear. You pay me enough, I'll wear it.

sweet !!!!!!! innocent !!!!!!!!! * cough cough *

So what would you consider a fair price ?........ £2 enough ????

Hmmmmm * note to self * New Year's resolution......must try to stay on topic more often