Castles, Castles Everywhere (and even some you can sleep in!)
Countless castles pepper Ireland’s landscape, some so crumbled and barren it’s clear they’ve stood for hundreds of winters, and some so thick with hanging tapestries and the wafting smell of mead, you’d expect to see a King’s carriage in the carpark.
Whether ruined or restored, you know those stone walls have seen some exciting things in the time they’ve been standing. Being a blog and not a building-sized book, though, we had to be selective when focusing on the fables of Ireland’s fortresses. So we decided to choose just one from each of the four corners of Ireland – with castles from film sets, album covers, medieval banquets and historic sciences. No better woman than our roving island visitor Sarah McNaughton to take us through them.
- Dunluce Castle perched on basalt cliffs Photo: Chris Hill
Rocks and Rockers in Northern Ireland: Dunluce Castle, County Antrim
The mystical Mermaid's Cave beneath Dunluce Castle Photo: Stephen Emerson
Dunluce Castle sits along the Causeway coastline of Giants, of mysterious rock formations and cliffs shrouded with as much myth as mist. You’ll find it at the end of a rock bridge teetering on basalt cliffs – and you’d be right to think the spot precarious. In 1639, well before planning permission, the castle had to be abandoned when the kitchen collapsed into the sea. Other victims of the surrounding Atlantic were the crew of the Spanish Armada Girona, many of whom were buried in the adjacent church ruins of St. Cuthbert’s. More interesting findings lie beneath the castle: 25 metres down lurks the gaping Mermaid’s Cave, a massive cavern accessible by land and sea. No surprise then that the castle found its place in popular culture when legendary rockers Led Zeppelin used a photo of it in the inner gatefold of their 1973 album, Houses of the Holy.
Fancy staying in a castle nearby? Try Ballygally Castle Hotel in Antrim, Culloden Estate and Spa in Down, Castle Leslie in Monaghan, Belle Isle Castle in Fermanagh, or Crom Castle West Wing in Fermanagh.
Huntington Castle and grounds Photo: fellowshipofisiscentral.org
Film Sets And Phantoms In The East: Huntington Castle, Carlow
The Shrine of Absent Friends in the Temple of Isis at Huntington Castle Photo: fellowshipofisiscentral.org
Film buffs might recognise this imposing granite castle from Stanley Kubrick’s flickering period drama Barry Lyndon. Huntington Castle has things you might expect of a 17th century castle: extensive gardens, palm trees over one hundred years old, an ancient Yew walk, and some you wouldn’t quite expect. Basement temple anyone? The temple, devoted to the Greek goddess Isis and consisting of 26 shrines, and was built by The Fellowship of Isis, whose founders actually still live in the castle. With a few resident ghosts haunting the place for good measure, it’s fair to bill Huntington as quite an eclectic example of Ireland’s castles.
Fancy staying in a castle nearby? Try Clontarf Castle in Dublin.
Feasting Your eyes in the South:
Bunratty Castle at night Photo: Shannon Development
Bunratty Castle, Clare
If living and eating like a king is what you’re really hankering after, Bunratty Castle and its famous feasts might well be your kingdom. The idea is that by wandering the stone halls of tapestries, suits of armour and acres of a living medieval village, you’ll get a great taste for what life was like in castle in the Middle Ages. The tasting continues at the Earl’s Medieval Banquet, held in the Great Hall and hosted by the Earl of Thomond himself. The evening starts with crossing a drawbridge (naturally!) to a mead reception, then a traditional four-course meal and live medieval music. Of course, it wouldn’t be medieval without someone being thrown into a dungeon, so expect one guest at your dinner to not require his or her dessert!
- One of the halls in Bunratty Castle Photo: Chris Hill 2006
Fancy staying in a castle nearby? Try Fanningstown Castle in Limerick or Lisheen Castle in Tipperary.
Starry Nights In The West
Birr Castle and grounds Photo: Chris Hill 2006
Birr Castle, Offaly
Science is king at this 19th century fort. In the stables of Birr Castle you’ll find a Science Centre for watching the stars, with astronomical instruments, cameras, and photographs from the 19th century. Most impressive of all is the Great Telescope; it was the largest telescope in the world for over 70 years and is thought to be the biggest historic scientific instrument still working today. The best combination of all this are the ‘Star Parties’ the castle hosts, where the public can listen to talks about the universe, have dinner and then engage in some stargazing. There’s plenty to see in daylight, too; the 125 acres of gardens include the world’s tallest box hedges and a massive collection of exotic trees and plants.
The Great Telescope at Birr Castle Photo: Birr Scientific and Heritage Foundation
Fancy staying in a castle nearby? Try Ashford Castle in Mayo or Cloghan Castle in Galway.
Now, while we head off to metamorphasise our blog into a building-sized book, here’s just a taster of other historic buildings and castles in Ireland to keep you going! Enjoy!
If you are planning to come over there are some apps for your smartphone that’ll make picking a hotel, restaurant and things to do in Ireland a lot easier! In this blog post we pick the best apps for visiting Ireland.
[...] castles from each corner of the isle with some pretty stunning pictures, and you can find that here. The almighty [...]
Been to Bunratty Castle and loved all the old castle’s I got to tour.
Just brilliant. Makes me “homesick”, even though I only lived there 25+ years.
I remember when I was a little girl girl on thirdteeth birthday, my grandparents took me to ireland. It was beautiful, coming from this city girl. he had a farm in woodlawn, an there was a castles across the way. everything was great, the food, the way of life, an the people where just so lovely. It was the best birthday I ever had. I got to meet cousins I never knew, aunt & uncles too! I always wished I could go back with my kids one day. Just to show them there heritage and roots. maybe one day, I pray.
Dunluce Castle is my favorite. A picture I took of it is the wallpaper on my computer.
I look at it every day and remember the castle, the Giant Causeway and the rope bridge in beautiful Antrim. I recently read a novel by Erin Quinn that was set in Antrim. A lot of the action was at the Mermaid’s cave under Dunluce castle. Until my next trip to beautiful Ireland I will enjoy my photo of Dunluce Castle.
My favorite castle is Malahide Castle with his great view outside with the fine lawn and it looks beautiful inside too. I’ve been there for a few days in Dublin and we saw the whole bunch of castles on our way around there. Hope to see it on a new trip to Dublin in a few years.
You did not show a picture of the Dillon Castle. I would love to go there and see the one that is still standing. I know there is one that is not.
My favorite is Waterford Castle, on an island..stayed there 2 nights..fantastic place..beautiful setting..drserved to be named 1 of the best!!..Also stayed at Clontarf..has been remodelled so that mostly all is fairly new..but still an experience,
My daughter really wants to visit Ireland, she is researching her ancestry and would love to coninue her research there. Please help me get her there.
I would love to visit Trim Castle, which was not accessible the last two times I was at the site.
Pictures are so awesome. Hope to go there some day. Its looks so beautiful there.
My dream vacation
Would like to see pictures and information on Cahersiveene, County Kerry
Do you know, your comments about how many places we left out is exactly what we expected, but we really couldn’t fit them all in! It was with major restraint that we selected just four (and then some you could stay in in the area) to make up this blog! But in all honesty, we really could have gone on and on and on listing out some of the most amazing places. I love Leap Castle, for example – it has a smelly ghost that kind of makes you want to run out of the place as fast as possible!!! Love to hear your recommendations, though, as that helps us and, more importantly, you to decide where you’d like to go when you get here!
Thanks so much for reading our blogs, by the way – it’s really appreciated here!
Cheers
lisag
My favourite is Dunluce — it’s so barren and forlorn out there on the edge of the sea. For habitable castles, I do like Kilkenny.
Your blogs are very interesting and informative and I like your beautiful pictures. We went to Ireland this summer for 2 weeks, it was not long enough. Many places you talk about we didn’t have time to see, so I really appreciate reading about them here. Thank you.
We took our first trip to Ireland in October, 2010–it was wonderful. We visited Bunratty Castle and stayed at Dromoland Castle, would highly recommend both !
Really loved Dunluce castle when we were there in November 2009. We stayed in Ashford Castle and it was simply magical, especially the falconing school and the leisurely walk into Cong. I would *not* recommend Clontarf Castle near Dublin as they canceled our reservation and moved us to a tourist-level hotel and were completely unapologetic about it. Terrible customer service.
Hi Casacaudill!
Thanks so much for coming on board the blog post! Love Dunluce myself, so dramatic hanging over the cliff! I’m so sorry, though, that you had a disappointing experience while here, too. Feedback is always welcome and also very helpful, so what I’ve done is passed your comment over to my colleagues who will hand it over to the guys at Clontarf Castle.
Keep watching!
Cheers
lisag
I’ve been to Ireland twice and have got to tour a few castles : ) Trim has beautiful grounds. Bunratty IS Ireland to me lol because both of my trips were with a tour group and there is plenty of room for those tour buses to park and I have actually been to Bunratty and the Folk Park 4 times on two visits…..it’s like looking at a photo of my neighborhood <3 Kilkenny Castle though I think was most impressive. I really felt a part of history walking though the castle during the tour. I am headed back to Ireland soon and hope to find a new castle to tour.
Hey Jojo…lots of castles left for you to visit, so don’t think you’ll run short here! I particularly like the stone walls leading to, say, the kitchens, where you can just imagine the hustle and bustle without a mere hint of modern day life savers, such as microwaves and even gas stoves! Did you look at the FB thread – http://www.facebook.com/DiscoverIreland#!/DiscoverIreland/posts/133946966661646 – the guys have all come on board with their recommendations! Could give you a few more ideas for your next trip!
Cheers
lisag
Enjoyed the blog. Visited 10 years ago, would love to return, maybe next year. The telescope is awesome, didn’t know about it when we visted. What is the exchange rate now to US dollars??
[...] you want to stay in a B&B, a castle or a hotel we’ve got accommodation options to suit everyone Things to See & Do [...]
does anyone know the name of the castle they visit in the movie Leap Year? Valla Cavery? Balla Camery? I can’t seem to find it anywhere?
Looking for Information and Picture of “Kilymore Castle” It’s in Cookstown, Ireland! I’d like to know a bit of History to it and if theres any pic’s of it! Thanks Writting a book and one of the Charactor’s is from Northern Ireland Cookstown area! I need research for this book. The time will be 1920′s & early 30′s…
I think Bunratty castle will always be my favorite. It was the first castle i explored the first time i was in Ireland. I do want to go to the haunted ones. So many castles so little time.
This is all really fabulous! I’ve been to Ireland and loved it! My question is: Are there any properties such as these that are suited to less-abled persons with mobility difficulties? I would love the experience, but as a person with mobility difficulties, I find most historical places simply were not or cannot be adapted to less-abled people.
Hi Carrie. We’re sorry to hear that your enjoyment of historic places is restricted like that.
I made some calls to the castles mentioned in the post and it’s true that many of them, as they are ancient buildings, are not that suitable for those with reduced mobility. The good news is that many of them are well able to accommodate those who are, as you said, ‘less abled’. Birr Castle for example has tracks surrounding all the grounds which makes the giant telescope, gardens and museum easily accessible. The museum is on two floors but it features an elevator so that the second floor is easily accessible. There is also a buggy tour around the grounds to you can take a weight off and see all of the grounds without moving a muscle.
And if you like the idea of staying somewhere historic Clontarf Castle is totally wheelchair accessible with elevators and ramps.
Really hope this helps and be sure to get back to us with any other queries.
All the best,
David
OMG!!! I never new you could sleep in these I can’t wait to go to Ireland! Wweeee
I will be going in October this year with a group. May be staying at Cabra Castle one night. Can anyone tell me about it?
Well, it’s closing in on 300 years of history, it’s located in County Cavan famous for its lakelands (think fishing, canoeing, river/lakeside walks etc).
The rooms are utterly and completely beautiful and I could imagine spending hour after hour playing cards by the fire in the bar.
We’re very, very, jealous.
http://www.cabracastle.com/
Thank you David for your information. I have always wanted to see Ireland and now I have a chance to go. Our trip is planned out by the travel agency and we are staying there the last night.
greetings, my name is Scott Davis. I hale from Buffao N.Y. U.S.A. I was wondering if there is a castle cottrell in killkenny county, as I may be a decendent. and have been unable to locate it. can anyone help me? thank you.
[...] Castles, Castles Everywhere (and even some you can sleep in!) [...]
Cabra Castle is wonderful, plus it has a resident Irish Wolfhound to greet visitors — you can actually see that wonderful dog in Google Earth street view at the castle.