Haunted Irish Castles

Leap Castle

Leap Castle was built in 1250 in County Offaly by the O’Bannon family. Just like many Irish castles Leap Castle is steeped in rich bloody history with it being at the centre of many battles and has even had its fare share of murders. One of these massacres took place in 1532 during a feud between the O’Carroll family, who lived in the castle at the time and another neighboring clan. This feud caused two brothers within the family to turn against each other. One of these brothers was a priest. One night the priest was hold mass for the family in the castle chapel. While he was praying his brother walked up the alter and plunged his sword into his brothers chest. the priest fell to the floor before dying in front of the his own family. It was not only family members who died in Leap Castle; many people were imprisoned and executed in the castle and within the castle grounds.

During a reconstruction of the castle grounds workers discovered an oubliette; a dungeon that was used to lock people away in order to forget about them. At the bottom of the shaft was a wall of spikes with such a large collection of human bones that it took three cartloads to carry out all of the bodies. But one of the most chilling things found amongst the bones at the bottom of the shaft was a pocket-watch dating to the 1840’s, which rose the question; was the oubliette in use right up until the 19th century?

Leap Castle is reported to be haunted by several ghosts and spirits.  Most of which were brought to light by the misuse of magic by some of the castle’s inhabitants. The most prominent of these ghosts is known as the Elemental. It appears as a small hunched creature and is followed by the stench of a decomposing corpse and the sickening scent of sulphur. The Elemental is a malevolent spirit and is often unpredictable and terrifying.

Charleville Forest Castle

Charleville Castle is a picturesque castle built in the 6th century and it grew further in the 18th century from designs created by the Earl of Charleville. In total it took fourteen years to create the beautiful gothic castle that stands today. Over the centuries the castle has been many battles and wars, most of which were in the protection of Dublin city.