It was kind of a
foul day today; gray, gloomy, and off and on showers. So, we decided to hang around town and see
some of the attractions on offer around here.
We started with Bunratty Castle and Folk Village. This was the first time I have ever been in a
real castle (or caislein as it’s said in Irish), and I was very impressed. It was just as cool as you see in the
movies…from big drafty rooms to extremely narrow staircases…from a dungeon to
murder holes…from a private chapel and solars to cannon towers. And the best part was that you got to walk
through and experience them all up close.
I was even able to climb all the way to the top of the castle towers and
look out at the countryside in all directions.
I imagined a soldier standing guard up here looking out at the river in
one direction or the endless green fields with sheep and other livestock in the
other, constantly vigilant for an enemy force.
As I mentioned, the
staircases were extremely narrow and incredibly steep. While touring around, we ran into a man doing
some painting in one of the rooms. He
was eager for a break, so he stopped and talked to us about the history of the
castle and the significance of some of the features. When my wife made a comment about the
staircases, he replied, “They were easier to defend. You only had to fight one man at a time. And the way they wind, the man coming up had
to be left-handed. If you were
right-handed, then you’d hit the wall.
So, they’d call down to ask if anyone was left-handed. That would be the first man to get it.” He also told us about a tiny little window in
one of the walls looking down into the Great Hall. He said that women were not allowed to sit in
the Great Hall during castle business, so they were sent upstairs to the
solar. However, they could watch the
proceedings through this tiny window and thus know what was going on.
After the castle, we
toured around the folk village. The
village consisted of various buildings from different time periods throughout
Ireland’s history, such as fisherman huts and chapels. It displayed the different architecture on
display during different times. In one
farmhouse, we ran into a woman named Mrs. O’Kennedy. She was a feisty old woman with opinions
about everything…and I mean everything.
She had a very heavy accent and was the first person I have ever heard
actually use the word “feck.”
We decided to head
back to Limerick to have lunch and tour King John’s Castle. We ate at a café called Jack Monday’s, which
was a pretty nice place near the castle.
Unfortunately, it started raining pretty steadily while we were walking,
so we were soaked by the time we got there.
It was still raining when we headed on to the castle. For some stupid reason the castle was closed
for some exhibit, so we couldn’t even go in.
We decided to walk on down the street and visit St. Mary’s Cathedral,
which is a 900 year old Catholic church.
It was a large, stoic church with much of the features you’d expect in a
Catholic church.
We ended the evening
by heading into town and doing some shopping and getting some hot chocolate at
Costa Coffee. But it started raining
badly again, so we just headed back to the hotel, eating dinner in the Absolute
Bar & Grill. My wife had a fried
chicken dish, and I had a tagliatelle dish…both were excellent. I was fortunate enough to also get to watch
Chelsea defeat Porto to move on in the Champions League…so all in all, a good
night.
