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The castle was at least partly demolished in the process.īy 1557 the O'Carroll clan was back in charge, but it was a clan divided.

In 1516 Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare, took Leap for King Henry VIII as part of his invasion of the O'Carroll clan's territory. Leap Castle was attacked on numerous occasions. A machicolation hung out from the tower over the entrance, part of which still survives and there is a bartizan on the north-west corner. The tower stands 13 metres high and has 2 metre thick walls. The core of the castle is the four storey 14th Century tower. The earliest recorded name for the place was Leim Ui Bhanain (O'Bannon's Leap). One of the brothers was killed and with the argument settled, the other built the castle. They decided to settle the argument by jumping off the rock here. Local folklore tells of two brothers who both wanted to build a castle. It later became the principal seat for the O'Carroll clan. Leap Castle was built by the O'Bannon clan who were subject to the ruling O'Carroll clan. It stands guard over the pass from the Slieve Bloom Mountains into Munster and it would have defended the fertile lands around the castle. It is possible that the site has been occupied in some form since Neolithic times. Leap Castle was built on top of an existing stone structure.

Leap is a 14th Century tower house with (now ruinous) 18th Century wings. Situated just four miles north of the heritage town of Roscrea, Leap Castle has a reputation of being the most haunted castle in Ireland.