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"Hunched over an outcrop of the Slieve Bloom Mountains in County Offaly, this is among Ireland’s most haunted castles, rooted in a founding legend of two O’Bannon brothers leaping from the site to settle a chieftainship, and later marked by centuries of bloodshed before burning to its shell in 1922; today, the Ryan family continues restoration. Reports center on The Elemental, a presence some tie to pre-castle druid initiation rites and others to an occult-leaning former owner’s wife who may have summoned it. Visits are welcomed by owner Sean Ryan Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a donation requested to support the work." - Nicole Kliest