If any castle has ghosts in residence, it's Leap Castle.
Dubbed the most haunted castle in Ireland, Leap Castle truly lives up to its title. In fact, even the name speaks to its blood-soaked history. Leap Castle, or Leap of the O'Bannons, a fierce clan second only to the powerful O'Carrolls. In the early 1500s, two O'Bannons were locked in conflict over who should be the chief. The only way to settle the score was through a death-defying feat of bravery: the brothers would leap from the outcrop where the castle's foundation was laid, and the survivor would become chief.
And so, blood was spilled at Leap Castle before the ground was even broken. Things only got bloodier. The castle's website has a separate section for hauntings; these are just a fraction of its spooky tales.
Brother Against Brother
Infighting amongst the clans lead to the O'Carrolls overtaking the castle for a blood-soaked century. While ownership may have changed, rivalry between brothers didn't. The death of the O'Carroll patriarch in 1532 turned brother against brother. Nobody was safe, not even men of the cloth.
When Thaddeus O'Carroll, who happened to be a priest, started mass before his brother's arrival, it was seen as a grave insult. The Teige O'Carroll flew into a rage, plunging his sword into his brother's chest in front of the whole family. Thaddeus bled out on the altar within minutes. and his spirit has been trapped in limbo for the ensuring five centuries. Today, Thaddeus can be found lurking on the stairway below the Bloody Chapel, which he occasionally infuses with otherworldly light.
But the story doesn't end there.
In the northeast corner of the chapel is an oubliette, a sort of dungeon, derived from the French word for "to forget". Typically, an oubliette is a small chamber accessible only by trapdoor. Oubliettes could be used to hide or store valuables during a siege, but the O'Carrolls had a far more sinister purpose in mind. Dead or dying prisoners were thrown in the oubliette, then forgotten about.
Many of the unfortunate souls thrown into the oubliette were members of rival clans, who have stuck around long after their bodies decayed, unable to move on from this world. When the castle changed hands yet again, three cartloads of skeletons were removed from the oubliette.
When dealing with hauntings, you aren't supposed to disturb the dead, even if it's to give them a proper burial. This disturbance sent a paranormal shockwave through the castle, awakening many spirits who otherwise would have lain dormant.
The Red Lady
One such spirit was the Red Lady.
Clothed from head to toe in vibrant scarlet, the Red Lady wanders the former nursery, dagger in hand. She is believed to be the ghost of a woman who was captured by the O'Carrolls as a war prize. After she was assaulted, the Red Lady fell pregnant and gave birth. Soon after, the O'Carrolls dispatched of the baby, not wanting to feed another mouth. Sick with rage and grief, she threw herself onto the same blade that was still wet with her child's blood. Generations of children have reported sleepless dreams thanks to a haunting figure watching over the foot of their beds.
Leap Castle, like so many others, was burned during the Irish Civil War in 1922. Since then, restoration efforts have been marred by malevolent spirits and unexplained events. Tools have been moved, employees vanished without explanation, and the castle's current owner has been injured multiple times during the restoration process. It is almost as though the unhappy spirits trapped on the castle's grounds do not wish it to be rebuilt.
Still don't believe me? Go see the ghosts for yourself. A two-hour drive west of Dublin, Leap Castle is open for tours Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm. All admissions go towards ongoing restoration.
