Anyway, the big fairy tale-looking castles that one might associate with the Middle Ages aren't where we are in Ireland. When the Anglo-Normans started to invade Ireland in the early 12th century, they brought their large scale stone castle building with them - before them, the Irish had fortified ringforts. And since the Anglo-Normans came from England and France, the bulk of the large castles are in the east of Ireland.
In County Clare - on the west coast - we have lots of tower houses, which are L-shaped compact fortified stone houses with usually more than one level. Here are a few that we've seen so far.
Gleninagh Castle
 |
| Gleninagh Castle, 16th century, overlooking Galway Bay |
 |
| Well of the Holy Cross, right next to the castle |
 |
| interior of tower at Gleninagh |
 |
| Leamaneh has two parts to it - the tower on the right is from the 15th century while the house was added alongside in 1648. |
Dunguaire Castle
 |
| Dunguaire Castle in Kinvarra, built in 1520 |
 |
| view of Kinvarra from atop Dunguaire Castle (sorry for the crappy weather but hey, it's Ireland) |
 |
| the woman who purchased Dunguaire in the 60's made herself a nice little nest on the top floor of the castle. This would be my idea of heaven. |
 |
| our very own castle at the Burren College of Art, Newtown Castle is a lovingly restored 16th century tower |
 |
| Newtown is open to the public M-F and the school often has exhibits inside |
No comments:
Post a Comment