One of the spirits encountered from the time of the Darbys is known as The Red Lady. She has been described as a very tall woman clothed in a red dress. She has been seen carrying a dagger in her hand, raised in a menacing manner. A strange luminescence is seen radiating within her. People encountering this spirit have commented on an immense cold filling the room and permeating into their heart. It is thought that the woman was captured by an O’Carroll and subsequently raped. The baby born as a result was then killed by the O’Carroll, reasoning that they could not afford to feed the child. Distraught, the woman then killed herself with the same blade.
A guest of the Darbys submitted their account to The Occult Review:
On the 31st of October I went to my bedroom about 11pm………………During the night, the time was 12.45am, as I subsequently saw by my watch, I felt that I was awakened by somebody in my room. It was pitch dark and at first I could see nothing: I was wide awake with an extraordinary cold feeling at my heart that rapidly increased in intensity. Almost immediately I felt, as much as saw that there was a tall figure in the middle of the room. My first impression was that O’Connoll himself was there, as no other member of the household would correspond to the height. “What is it?” I asked. There was no answer, but now I could see, dimly at first and with increasing distinctness, that the tall figure was clothed from head to foot in red, and with its right hand raised menacingly in the air. To my utter astonishment I could see that the light which illuminated the figure was from within, having very much the effect of the dark lantern used in a photographer’s room. As the figure advanced towards me the light increased, and I could see distinctly that the form was that of a very tall woman holding some sort of a weapon, knife or dagger in her hand. “What is it?” I asked again, adding “Who is it?” and then hurriedly struck a match and lit my candle. As the flame of the match and candle illuminated the room I looked all around. The room was empty. Note that the name O’Connoll was used by the author of the letter, obviously to preserve the anonymity of the castle with Mildred Darby’s wishes.
Mildred Darby makes mention of this spirit in her article Kilman Castle: The House of Horror:
There is a tall, dark woman, in the historic scarlet silk dress that rustles. She haunts the blue room, which always used to be the nursery, and sobs at the foot of the children’s beds.