Bunratty Castle, Adare

Friday, July 12, 2019

We left Ennis this morning, and drove to Bunratty Castle, a remarkably renovated and preserved relic of the end of the 13^th c.

The only ground floor entrance is a trap, going into a dead-end room with a “murder hole” over the space between the two entrance doors:

  

Today one climbs a wooden ramp up to the main entrance well above the courtyard below, but in the original days there was a drawbridge to a steep ramp which made for good defenses.  We entered the great hall with its wonderful Belgian King David tapestry dating from about 1500:

The Earl’s bedroom was up in  one of the towers which was a narrow difficult climb up and down, again making for good protection:

There was no explanation of these ceiling fixtures which require some research.  They appeared to be mermaids on antlers.  There’s got to be a story, but I don’t have time to research it now:

Gil and I climbed to the top of two of the towers; the views were magnificent:

We saw the kitchen:

The Earl (with his secretary alongside) held court from this chair, high-backed to foil potential stabbing:

After leaving the castle proper, we visited an adjacent park where the buildings and the animals reflected the time when the castle was active:

After lunch we drove to the town of Adare, where we’ll spend the next three nights.  Adare has won the “Tidy-town” competition many times and has been awarded the designation of the prettiest town in Ireland.  It’s easy to see why, as beautiful flowers and plantings and wonderful buildings are everywhere:

Trinity Abbey is striking:

And we took a walk in a truly lovely park where we heard some of the history of the town:

After checking in and having dinner, we had a genealogy program during which the children quizzed their grandparents from an extensive questionnaire.  I’m sure Gil learned some facts from us which he had not known.  Another great day!