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Listen to
piper, fiddler, bodhran, singers, and watch
dancers weave
story of
tradition of
Celts. Enjoy home cooked food, excellent wine, and join in with song and dance. The Ceili is twice nightly (subject to demand), at 17:30 and 20:45. If you arrive at
Castle in early July you will see costumed knights on
grounds, cooking traditional foods, displaying superb swordsmanship, and fighting over
local and beautiful wenches.
Bunratty Castle and Folk Park represent a microcosm of Irish history. At one end is
Castle, built in 1425 by
MacNamara Clan;
history of this beautiful building stretches over 500 years of turbulence. However, it was
Vikings who first set up a trading post in Bunratty in 950 AD. There have been four castles on
site. The Castle was acquired by
Anglo-Irish Studdart family in 1720, which lived there until
19th century when they abandoned
Castle and built Bunratty House, which stands on a hill on
opposite end of
Folk Park.
It was in 1954 that Lord Gort purchased
Castle and restored it to its present and splendid condition. The huge stones under my feet in
Great Hall are not
original slabs, but imported from a villa in Italy, but from
same era. When Lord Gort purchased
Castle there was no roof and rain had pitted
floor. He also installed
finest collection of medieval furniture in
country, thereby preserving a vital part of
Celt past and heritage of County Clare. This is a living classic castle, with
period furniture, tapestries, and works of art on display. The reasons for tapestries were to cut down on
cold, winter draughts. In ancient days all merchants and noblemen filled their homes with wine, furniture, and iron from Spain and France, tapestries and bronze dishes from
Netherlands, leather and cloth from Germany and Italy, and spices from
Levant. Irish furniture and furnishings have vanished from castles and homes over
centuries. Only three or four Irish pieces dating to pre-1600 still exist, two of which are in Bunratty Castle.
Bunratty Castle stands on
former island of Tradaree, a spur of
beautiful Shannon River,
longest in Europe at 200 miles, still flowing in
vale in front of
Castle. During my afternoon visit to
Castle
views of
Shannon from
tower slit windows and battlements are magnificent, with cows grazing peacefully like they did hundreds of years ago in green lushness.
I think how great it would be to live in a castle, until I see one of
dank, smelly bedrooms, and think of
pests, lack of running water, and general unsanitary conditions. Even
Earl of Thomond slept on hay stuffed beds, so hence
term, hitting
hay!
Read this entire feature FREE with photos at: http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/food/ireland/bunratty/mead.html
By Kriss Hammond, Editor, Jetsetters Magazine – Visit www.jetsettersmagazine.com
