The Elemental and other real life ghost sightings at Leap Castle

Among the many ghosts said to haunt Ireland’s Leap Castle, perhaps the scariest is the elemental. This infamous entity has been seen numerous times in the central keep of Offaly Castle, the oldest part of the old Irish fortress. A primitive apparition, as opposed to the ghost of a specific person, elementals are believed to reside in remote rural locations.

One of the witnesses to the Leap elemental was Mildred Darby, who lived in the castle at the turn of the 20th century. Mildred had an interest in the occult and often held séances at Leap. She had a terrifying encounter with the castle elemental, also known as ‘It’, in the gallery leading to the main hall. In an article for The hidden reviewMildred described the elemental as bestial in appearance and smelling like a rotting corpse.

Some researchers in the field of parapsychology speculate that Mildred’s foray into the dark arts may have helped bring this terrifying entity temporarily into the material world. Others suspect, however, that buildings that once served as backdrops for scenes of immense cruelty and brutality may occasionally act as a catalyst for ancient, evil spirits. Regarding this theory, a cursory look at Leap Castle’s blood-soaked history could possibly explain the existence of the building’s elemental.

In the 16th century, the castle was the seat of the O’Carroll clan, ruthless Irish chieftains feared throughout the country. The O’Carrolls regularly disposed of their enemies in a hidden dungeon or dungeon, which they entered through a trapdoor just off the castle chapel. The clan’s enemies were regularly thrown into this dungeon, some dying instantly from being impaled by the massive pike protruding from the ground, others not reaching it completely and therefore suffering a longer death.

The chapel itself became known as the ‘Bloody Chapel’, after it was the scene of a horrendous crime when Teige O’Carroll murdered her own brother while the latter was celebrating Mass. This heinous act formed the climax of a dispute between the two brothers over clan supremacy after the death in 1532 of chieftain Mulrooney O’Carroll.

One of the other appearances in Leap is the ‘Red Lady’, who supposedly terrorized several guests sleeping in the State Bedroom. These guests have told how they woke up in the dead of night with an ominous chill in the region of their hearts. Turning around, they were met with an eerie sight of a tall woman in a long red dress, her right arm raised and a knife drawn, ready to attack. As they watched her approach her bed, they noted how she seemed to be lit from within. However, turning on the light, she quickly disappeared.

The eerie castle is also home to a pair of ghostly girls who apparently lived there in the 17th century, as well as a ghostly monk and the restless spirits of an elderly couple believed to have once worked there as servants. A specter known as ‘Captain Wild’ also haunts the castle, searching for a long-lost treasure believed to have misplaced somewhere within the ancient fortress centuries ago.