Leap Castle was built in 1250 by the O'Bannon family and was originally called "Lim U Bhanin," or "Leap of the O'Bannons." The O'Bannons were the "secondary chieftains" of the territory, and were subject to the ruling O'Carroll clan.
The Annals of the Four Masters record that the Earl of Kildare, Gerald FitzGerald, tried unsuccessfully to seize the castle in 1513. Three years later, he attacked the castle again and managed to partially demolish it. However, by 1557 the O'Carrolls had regained possession.
Following the death of Mulrooney O'Carroll in 1532, family struggles plagued the O'Carroll clan. A fierce rivalry for the leadership erupted within the family. The bitter fight for power turned brother against brother. One of the brothers was a priest. The O'Carroll priest was holding mass for a group of his family (in what is now called the "Bloody Chapel"). While he was chanting the holy rites, his rival brother burst into the chapel, plunged his sword into his brother and fatally wounded him. The butchered priest fell across the altar and died in front of his family.
In 1659, the castle passed by marriage into the ownership of the Darby family, notable members of which included Vice-Admiral George Darby, Admiral Sir Henry D'Esterre Darby and John Nelson Darby. The central keep was later expanded with significant extensions. However in order to pay for these extensions, rents were raised and much of the land accompanying the castle was sold. This is one theorised motivation for the burning of the castle during the Irish Civil War in 1922.
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400 years ago a power struggle at the heart of the O'Carroll family, drove a man to murder his brother. The victim was a priest and died in the 'Bloody Chapel'. Another source of evil is the oubliettes which were found leading from the bloody chapel.
Prisoners would be pushed into the room to fall through the floor and land on a spike eight feet below. The survivors would starve to death. Early last century, workmen who where hired to clean out the oubliettes made a hideous discovery, human skeletons laid piled on top of each other.
Its bloody past has earned Leap Castle a reputation as an evil haunted place. In 1909, Mildred Darby who lived there wrote, "I was standing in the Gallery when I felt somebody put a hand on my shoulder. The thing was about the size of a sheep. It's face was inhuman with a 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."
In the 1970's Leap Castle was bought by an Australian, who had a white witch from Mexico exorcise the castle. In the 1990's the castle was sold to the current owners. Despite knowing the about the Castle's history, the family settled in planning to restore it to its previous glory. It wasn't long before a "freak accident" left the owner with a broken kneecap delaying restoration.
BRINGING TWO WORLDS TOGETHER
