Throughout my unusual visit, the subject of ghosts or spirits never came up, and all I have garnered about this has come from online sources, predominantly the castles own website. With that Sean then took to telling me the castles history. He asked me my interest in the place, and rather than blurt out about the castles infamous history I conservatively said I had read some stories online. With that Sean stirrer the wood in the hearth and took a seat by the fire, as he has done for the last 25 years. This room was Sean’s family’s living room. The walls and tables were a ramshackle collection of memorabilia.

Logs crackled in a large hearth to the left. To my further surprise the room that followed was far more homely than I expected. The first thing that caught my eye was the rather intriguing knocker on the door. I was quite startled to hear this, having only heard of the ghost stories of the house. The gentleman I met was Sean Ryan, who along with his wife and children called Leap Castle home. The main keep with ruin of the priests house on the leftĪs I turned out I was in his home. To my surprise, an offer to take me to see it was the reply. Was I trespassing in his home? I apologised if I was being an imposition and asked if the castle was open. My first impressions were that he appeared a little like a Druid, with a long grey beard, and a unruly mane. Just then an elderly gent walked out from a cottage. My hopes weren’t high as all looked deserted. I parked the car in on the hard shoulder and walked inside, in the unexpected hope that I could visit.

As I pulled up outside the gate house of the castle I couldn’t even tell if it was open.

Leap castle