Leap Castle

Leap was built by the O'Carrolls, probably in the fifteenth century, in a strategic gap in the Slieve Bloom Mountains. Its reputation rests on two things. The first is documented: during renovation in the early twentieth century, workmen opened a small chamber behind the chapel - an oubliette, a drop pit with spikes at the bottom - and reportedly removed several cartloads of human bone from it. The second is the accumulated folklore, including an entity described by the Anglo-Irish occultist Mildred Darby, who lived here and wrote about the castle in the 1900s under a pen name; that account is the source of most of what circulates now. The castle burned in 1922 and stood roofless for decades until the musician Sean Ryan bought it in 1974 and restored it as a family home. He and his family show it by appointment, in person, which is very much part of the visit.

What you actually see

• The oubliette - the drop chamber behind the chapel, opened in the 1900s.
• The tower house - fifteenth-century O'Carroll work in a mountain gap.
• The restoration - a private home rebuilt from a 1922 burnout.
• The owner's tour - shown personally rather than by staff or panels.

When to go

April to October is easiest. Visits are by prior arrangement only - contact the owners rather than arriving unannounced. Group tours and evening events run at times.

Honest expectations

A private home; there are no set opening hours and no facilities. Arrangement in advance is essential. Much of the ghost material is folklore built on one Edwardian author's writing, and the castle does not pretend otherwise.

Nearby

Birr Castle is west; Roscrea and the Slieve Blooms are close.