March 8th, 2020
Ok, I have to share a funny story with you about how my day started. First off, last night when I checked into my Bed and Breakfast, Launard House. The gentleman asked me to fill out a time that I might have breakfast and what I wanted to eat. So the earliest time they have for breakfast is 8:30 and I had a put in an order for a Irish Big Breakfast.
This morning I woke up at 7:50, got cleaned up and all packed up ready to go. I went down at 8:25am and waited for breakfast in the dining room. I waited till 9am and no one showed up with any food! I thought what was going on? I was a little upset and I wrote a message in their guest book about my disappointment. So I dropped off the key, grabbef my stuff and headed into town to take a few pictures of the Kilkenny Castle before heading out. I walked up to the castle gate, which opens at 9am ... I got there at 5 after 9 and the gates are locked! What's going on?!
And then this lady walked by in front of the castle, and I asked her, " Excuse me ma'am, can you tell me what time it is?"
She said, "Yes, it's 8:20."
I couldn't believe it! Somehow my phone clock set back one hour and so while I was waiting at 8:30am at the table it was actually 730am that I was waiting for breakfast.
I had to go back to apologise for my message left in their booklet. I opened the door and knocked on his private quarters. He came out with a big smile. I apologised to him. He just laughed when I told him what happened and he said for me to have a seating... that he will make me breakfast. He was very nice about it. He told me that he had sent me an email message to say that I got the wrong time. Hahaha! Anyway, a very nice man and it was an awesome breakfast ... I'm glad I didn't miss it. Hahaha
This is a quaint little street across the bridge from Kilkenny Castle.
After having such a fine breakfast, I drove about 15 minutes to Dunmore Cave. This is a unique cave in the way of history. Although like in most caves they have stalactites and stalagmites.
Alongside the story of such curious rock formations, your guide also reveals the dark tale recorded by the historic Annals of the Four Masters: how, in 928 AD, Vikings massacred a thousand local people who had sought refuge at the cave. It is a chilling episode backed up by modern archaeological discoveries.
While the human remains found in the cave are thought to be victims of the Viking massacre, this has not been reliably confirmed. Many of the remains belong to women and children, and it is hypothesised that they are the bodies of people hiding in the cave who were unable to leave when the Vikings tried to smoke them out, dying from asphyxiation.
In 1999, a hoard of over 43 silver and bronze items was discovered in a rocky cleft deep in the cave. A guide was sent down to clean up a mess from a young tour group they had taken down. The guide, thinking it was garbage in this hole, reached in and pulled out some silver ... he had discovered a significant find.
Archaeologists dated this hoard, consisting of silver, ingots and conical buttons woven from fine silver, to 970 AD. The conical buttons have never been discovered any where else in the world. All of the treasures are on display at the Dublin Museum.
I was on my way to my next destination when I went around a bend and saw this abandoned structure. I looked on my map and it indicated that this is called ThreeCastles Motte. I stopped and took a walk around it. A lovely place.
I was approaching Loughmore Castle and was having a hard time finding the entrance to it. In the meantime, I came across Loughmore Abbey. This is definitely used as a spiritual site as they have a lot of ancient tombstones in and around the Abbey.
From the Abbey you can see Loughmore Castle in the background and no road to it, or so it seems.
After speaking with a couple of locals and then I was fortunate as a farmer than owns the land, was getting on a tractor and said that I could go through the gate to have a look around. He eas very nice and friendly and asked me to watch out for falling rock. Such a lovely place and people.
I really enjoyed my walk around and through this ancient Castle. This castle was first built in the 15th century.
What I can't get over was how many floors were in Loughmore castle and how difficult it must have been to keep it warm in the winter.
Nenagh Castle massive Tower, or donjon, was originally one of three Towers that were interspersed in the wall of the strong Norman Castle. The Castle was founded in the first 20 years of the 13th century.
I then drove to visit Leap Castle which is about 35 minutes from Nenagh Castle. There are varied account as to when exactly the main tower or keep was constructed; ranging anywhere from the 13th century to the late 15th century but most likely around 1250.
There is evidence that it was constructed on the same site as another ancient stone structure perhaps ceremonial in nature and that that area has been occupied consistently since at least the Iron Age and possibly since neolithic times.
I went to the gates and saw a sign on a door of a house. It said to go down to the castle to enquire about it. I did go down to the castle and rang the doorbell but no one answered. So I just took the couple pictures and left.
When I got to the town of Birr, I checked into my bed and breakfast room. I asked the hostess what abandoned buildings or structures would be around the area. She mentioned going to Lorrha and there was an abandoned Church, Saint Ruadhain's Church.
Using my Google Maps I discovered two nearby castles that I thought I would try to visit before it got dark. Ballyquirk Castle was a close castle to visit.
This is a mostly collapsed ivy-covered castle with a three-storey vaulted room remaining. Some wooden floor beams for the first and second floors are still present. A straight mural stairway now ends at the top of the pile of rubble from the collapsed section of the castle.
The driveway with the wall on each side is about half a kilometre to a farm and back there it looks like another Tower. The beautiful buildingsseem to be part of the active farm. I didn't continue going up the road.
Walking back down the road there was a section of wall that had a steel gate. I looked in and saw a rectangular tall wall that surrounded a tree garden. It almost looked like a secret garden that has not been looked after. But I was intrigued by the two trees that joined together which is in the centre of the picture below.
The last Castle I visited was Redwood Castle. A sign that said it was open from 3 till 6 and upon closer inspection I realised that it was May to August but only certain days. Then in further detail noticed that the year was 2019 on the sign, so obviously they're not opened yet this year.
The castle was built by the Normans around 1200 AD, and was occupied by them until c.1350.
I took a nice stroll through the town of Birr and came across this narrow alley. Made for a nice evening shot.
