Leap Castle

 castle, castle ruins, archaeological site, haunted place, listed building / architectural heritage, tower house

Detached sixteenth-century three-storey tower house with remains of Jacobean house constructed to north. Altered and enlarged by the Darby Family, c.1760, to include flanking Neo-Gothic two-storey castellated blocks and door surround. Tower house and flanking bay to south in use as a private dwelling. Two and three-storey castellated bays to north of tower house are derelict.

Located in an elevated site with views sweeping down and across the valley to the Fuarawn River, Leap Castle was the principal seat of the O'Carrolls of Ely. Built in the late fifteenth/early sixteenth century, Leap Castle was burnt to prevent Elizabethan forces taking it in 1558. Having been rebuilt to include a Jacobean house to the north of the castle, of which the diagonal chimneystack is still visible, it became the property of the Darby Family by the mid seventeenth century through John Darby, an English officer, marrying Finnola O'Carroll.The castle lay in ruins until it was bought approximately thirty years ago and it being restored at present. The tower house contributes an archaeological significance to the site while the striking door surround is of artistic interest. Leap Castle and associated structures are important features in the architectural heritage of County Offaly.

There is a popular legend which states that Leap Castle is haunted by a supernatural entity known as an Elemental. The alleged entity is known as "It".[3]
It has been visited by paranormal investigators from ABC Family's Scariest Places on Earth and Living TV's Most Haunted in its first season, as well as taps from the third season of Syfy's Ghost Hunters. Most recently in August 2014, Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures filmed their tenth season Halloween special at the castle