Jan
18
Russell Shortt asked:
Leap Castle is sometimes dubbed as the most haunted place in Ireland, it certainly possesses a particularly bloody history. It is located in Co. Offaly, just outside the town of Roscrea. It was built in the middle of the thirteenth century by the O’Bannon clan and it became known as Leim Ui Bhanain or Leap of the O’Bannon’s. The O’Bannon’s were subject to the ruling O’Carroll clan. It is recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters that in the early sixteenth century the Earl of Kildare, Gerald Fitzgerald attempted to seize the castle but was beaten back by the O’Carroll’s. Around the same time a fierce and bitter battle for succession ensued amongst the O’Carroll’s which turned them against one another. One brother murdered another, who was a priest, in what has since become known as the ‘Bloody Chapel’ while he was conducting a ceremony. Another source of evil which may have contributed to the present existence of spirits was discovered in the late nineteenth century. It was an oubliette which is a dungeon which was only accessible from a high hatch in the ceiling. There were spikes at the bottom of the shaft, prisoners were flung in there, if not killed instantly they lay gored on the spikes or were left to die of starvation. It took workers three cartloads to carry out all the human bones at the bottom. As a result of it’s bloody history, the castle gained a reputation of being haunted, it was eventually gutted by fire, boarded up and locals completely avoided it. In 1659, the castle passed into the ownership of the Darby family, many Darby’s became high sheriff’s of King’s County (present day, Co. Offaly). In the late 1800s, Mildred Darby became involved with the occult and it said released one of the most vile, evil and disturbing of spirits - the elemental. It is said to be a small, hunched figure who appears accompanied by a rotting stench and a smell of sulphur. In the 1970s the castle was sold to an Australian who had it exorcised, the exorcist stated that she could not rid the spirits but she ensured that they would no longer be malevolent. In 1991 the castle was purchased by Sean Ryan who is undertaking restoration work on it.
DEXTER
Leap Castle is sometimes dubbed as the most haunted place in Ireland, it certainly possesses a particularly bloody history. It is located in Co. Offaly, just outside the town of Roscrea. It was built in the middle of the thirteenth century by the O’Bannon clan and it became known as Leim Ui Bhanain or Leap of the O’Bannon’s. The O’Bannon’s were subject to the ruling O’Carroll clan. It is recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters that in the early sixteenth century the Earl of Kildare, Gerald Fitzgerald attempted to seize the castle but was beaten back by the O’Carroll’s. Around the same time a fierce and bitter battle for succession ensued amongst the O’Carroll’s which turned them against one another. One brother murdered another, who was a priest, in what has since become known as the ‘Bloody Chapel’ while he was conducting a ceremony. Another source of evil which may have contributed to the present existence of spirits was discovered in the late nineteenth century. It was an oubliette which is a dungeon which was only accessible from a high hatch in the ceiling. There were spikes at the bottom of the shaft, prisoners were flung in there, if not killed instantly they lay gored on the spikes or were left to die of starvation. It took workers three cartloads to carry out all the human bones at the bottom. As a result of it’s bloody history, the castle gained a reputation of being haunted, it was eventually gutted by fire, boarded up and locals completely avoided it. In 1659, the castle passed into the ownership of the Darby family, many Darby’s became high sheriff’s of King’s County (present day, Co. Offaly). In the late 1800s, Mildred Darby became involved with the occult and it said released one of the most vile, evil and disturbing of spirits - the elemental. It is said to be a small, hunched figure who appears accompanied by a rotting stench and a smell of sulphur. In the 1970s the castle was sold to an Australian who had it exorcised, the exorcist stated that she could not rid the spirits but she ensured that they would no longer be malevolent. In 1991 the castle was purchased by Sean Ryan who is undertaking restoration work on it.
DEXTER
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