Here is where County Clare is:
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First we went to Bunratty Castle which is in County Clare. It is within a larger village called Bunratty Village. The castle was built in the mid 1200s by Thomas De Clare, but the castle is currently how it would have looked when the O'Brien clan (the Earls of Thomond) owned it in 1475.
This castle's interior is made to look like it is still the 1400s. All of the furniture is authentic 15th century furniture, although none of it is actually original to the castle. When you walk into the castle, there are several security features that are notable. First, the castle is surrounded on all sides by water. This was a measure to protect it from potential attacks. Next, the main door is not on ground level, but one level higher. You need to walk up stairs in order to get to the door. This gives the defense a bit more time to shoot arrows at them. The arrows are shot through small slits in the castle walls. You can see the stairs to the castle as well as the narrow slits in the wall in this picture (look in the archway just above the door):
Another security feature (which was impossible to take a picture of) is called a "murder hole," and it is about as unpleasant as it sounds. At Bunratty Castle (which is typical of most medieval castles), there are two murder holes. One is on the outside of the castle just over the door (in the ceiling above), and the other is in the ceiling just above the inside of the door. When the castle was under attack, the defenders of the castle poured things such as boiling oil, hot tar, and boiling water through these holes to scorch the person (people) trying to break in. They could also drop sharp objects, rocks, etc. through these holes.
A final security feature is the staircases. All staircases in the castle are spiral staircases. Not only that, but they spiral to the right. This, to me, was the most interesting of all of the security features! Most people (in fact, about 90%) are right-handed. These staircases are so narrow that when the attackers are running up them with their swords in their dominant hands, the swords would get held up against the walls. There was no range of motion for their arms as they were ascending the stairs. HOWEVER, as the defense was coming down the stairs, their right hands are on the outside of the spiral, and therefore, they have plenty of room to use their swords. Here is a picture looking down the stairs:
As a leftie, I would be the offense's secret weapon!! (However, I can't see myself ever being able to run up or down these steep, narrow stairs.)
This is the great hall. It is the main room of the castle. It is where the Earl would sit with his secretary and see his subjects. (The smaller chair is unfortunately not for the Queen. In fact, ladies were not allowed in the great hall at all.) The great hall is also where important matters were discussed and meetings were held. Next to the lady in the picture (our tourguide) look for the fireplace. This served as a divider of the room. Subjects who came to speak with the Earl were not allowed to pass the fireplace. (These next pictures are going to be a little bit blurry and dark because we were not able to use flash photography to preserve the tapestries.)
Here is where the Earl of Thomond used to sit with his secretary. I took the picture from right behind the fireplace. This is as close as people were allowed to get to him. Also, look at the Earl's chair (the biggest one). The reason that the chairs were so tall in the back was so that the King or Earl could not get (literally) stabbed in the back!
This next picture may seem a bit odd to you, but it is not of nothing. Look at the big square on the left hand side. Since ladies were not allowed IN the great hall, this was their window if they wanted to witness the happenings of the hall. Now, look to the right-most corner about a half inch down. It is a little bit unclear, but there is a small hole in the wall about the diameter of a cup. This was a spy hole. It was important to be sure that no one plotted against the Earl so when the Earl was not in the great hall, a trusted individual would spy on the hall to make sure that there were no problems in the hall. He would report the happenings of the hall to the Earl. If you look in the picture before this one, on the top left, there is a set of antlers. The priest had a spy hole which was located right behind these antlers.
Here I am peeking out of the lady's window!
And here's the view of the great hall through the lady's window.
This was my (and I believe most people's) favorite room in the castle. It functioned as the lounge of the guest's apartment.
This one is the Earl's bedroom. Notice the intricate carving of the bed (it was beautiful in real life). Also, on the bed is a dress that would have been worn by her ladyship.
Finally (because I don't want to bring you to every one of the castles twenty-something rooms in the entire six stories of the castle), here is a picture of (part of) the kitchen:
Now, we will walk around Bunratty Village for a bit! The village is a bit more modern (if you can call it that) than the castle. It is typical of housing in the 1800s. There is everything there from the poorest of the poor (a one roomed home of a landless laborer) to very rich (a large, Georgian house built by the Studdarts, the last family to live in the castle). This was a rural farming and fishing village. If any of you have been to Plymouth Plantation or Sturbridge Village, it is a lot like that. Actually it does not look like either of those places even a little bit, but the way that it is set up historically accurate is similar.
The houses have thatch roofs with clay floors (unless they had a bit of money, then they were wooden or tile). This was a tiny, two-room house that probably belonged to a fisherman. I loved this one because of the color!
It had a kitchen/dining room as you first walked in, and a small bedroom to the left. (Doesn't the fire extinguisher really add to the authentic, 19th century atmosphere?)
This one was my favorite house. It probably belonged to a poor farmer, but to me it had so much charm! I kind enjoyed the simplicity of it.
You walked into the kitchen upon arrival, and to the left, there was a loft which held a single bed. (The girl in the picture kinda ruins it, doesn't she? My fault...oops.)
Through that little gate was a bedroom.
And to the left of the kitchen was a quaint little dining room.
BUT, in the dining room (to the left of this picture) was something that appeared to be a cabinet, but was, in fact, a spare, pull out bed.
The parents and babies would have slept in the master bedroom, and the children would have slept either on the loft or in this pull out bed. It would have been a pretty crowded home for more than two children (and most families typically had more than two children!). There were larger houses than this one at the village, but I did not take pictures of them because I didn't like them as much.
I thought this boat was very interesting. It is made of wood, but on the bottom to keep it from leaking are animal hides stretched over the wood. This was the way that they waterproofed their boats.
Here is the town center. It is the place where fishermen, farmers, and craftsmen would come to trade and sell their goods. Also, it was the place to come for any supplies, food, or clothing that was needed. (Or for a pint from the pub!)
This is the inside of the post office in town:
Here is the Georgian house built by the Studdarts in 1804. They were the last people to reside in Bunratty Castle. They were sick of the cold, moist feeling of the castle so they built their own home across town. They were by far the richest people in town at that point. This was a magnificant home for them at the time (even if it does not seem so impressive to us now).
Well that was Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. This was not my entire County Clare tour so I promise I will update about the rest of that tonight. I am going to the Ring of Kerry this weekend so I cannot fall too far behind!
Oh and by the way, if for some reason you have an interest in learning more about Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, there are some fun facts on this page!
Shannon Heritage: Bunratty Castle and Folk Park
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