Oíche Shamhna is famously the night when the veil between our world and the spirit world is thin. The recent hypercommercialisation of Halloween may have distracted us, but a simple truth remains: we know little about the dead. Below is a list of eight places in Ireland where that veil is thinnest, revealing a world of trapped souls, banshees, demons and even, perhaps, the devil himself.
Leap Castle
Co Offaly
Leap Castle, Co Offaly. Photograph: Gareth McCormack
Hailed as the world’s most haunted castle, this intimidating fortress has a long and bloody history. Originally built in the early 1500s on a site used by druids for initiation ceremonies (surely the Irish equivalent to ancient Indian burial grounds), it has no shortage of horrifying stories and associated spirits. One of the most famous can be found within the walls of the Bloody Chapel. In the 16th century a power struggle between two brothers of the O’Carroll family resulted in a priest being slaughtered while he said Mass. It is said his ghost can sometimes be seen on the chapel stairwell.
leapcastle.net
Duckett’s Grove
Co Carlow
Duc
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