Bunratty bimbling about

 

Sunday 19 May

Woke up to glorious sunshine in the country pile of Turret Lodge 

and after a good breakfast we drove for about half an hour into Limerick and parked up near the riverside on Harvey Quay, near the spot where Terry Wogan has been immortalised in bronze (somewhat badly - for a start he's not wearing a tie)

Limerick was very pleasant if somewhat closed. We walked along the riverside, took a look at the outside of the castle and the cathedral ( the latter was a bit busy with Sunday Mass, which not being Catholics we declined to partake), admired varying pieces of street art, strolled around the People's Park with a Nelson's-column type memorial to an MP from long ago, and spent some time looking at the rather eclectic (Neily called it a rummage) art collection at the Limerick Art Gallery. It presented no challenge to Tate Modern., but I liked the tall block covered in Aran knitwear, and I enjoyed the street art in the city and the way that wild flowers grow out of the limestone cracks.

 

We had a little lunch there before going back to Bunratty, parking the car back at base and setting out on foot down the road to Bunratty castle and Folk Park - still in beautiful sunshine. After an ice cream at Jilly & Joe's mahoosive food court across the road from the castle, we went inside the complex. 

We were concerned that it might be a bit of a tourist trap, though a couple of people had recommended it to me - and there were quite a few tour groups there, lots of French and Danish folks! - but apart from the castle bit itself where there are the usual narrow staircases with people trying to go up and come down at the same time - it was actually fine and considering it was a Sunday, not too crowded at all. The castle itself has had lots of additions of appropriate period decorations to liven it up and make it look more lived in - all very well done.

The folk park bit is "immersive" - farmer/fisherman/blacksmith cottages, schoolroom etc have been transplanted from other parts of Ireland and rebuilt, again with authentic decoration and furnishings. All reeked of woodsmoke, and there were a couple of lovely ladies who demonstrated making butter and apple pie in a traditional kitchen (sadly we missed that bit, but we had a chat!) The shops also contain authentic signage and artefacts as well as selling contemporary merchandise - there was a lot of loving recreation going on.

There was also a lovely walled garden, and the view of the adjoining countryside from the end of the estate was beautiful. I also really enjoyed the eccentric and bonkers Medieval Fight Club, where teams of 3 blokes dressed up in proper armour and brandishing fake weapons and shields, briefly beat the living daylights out of each other. I say briefly because the fights didn't last long - as soon as a man was down he was out, so there was quite a lot of wrestling as well as bashing. Such fun (sorry photos taken over/through a very high fence). And there were baby goats, in the next enclosure, obvs. 

As we were leaving there was a whole crowd of people lining up to enjoy the famed Bunratty Medieval Banquet - we'd given it a miss as it was quite pricey. We had a quick poke around the very tasteful gift shop and then headed for the nearby, very ancient pub Durty Nelly's for some dinner. The food was hearty and relatively cheap, and we also enjoyed a nice bottle of rose as the sun was still shining.

A couple of old geezers (our age of course) strummed guitars and sang were what appeared to be the entire Eagles back catalogue from a vantage point above the outdoor dining area so we couldn't really avoid them, though it was pleasant enough background music until they switched to Oasis covers.

We then walked/staggered briskly back to Turret Lodge (how come it took so much longer??), drank some more wine, caught up on blog (well at least to be only one day behind) and ate cake. Having walked 22000+ steps that day, an early night was beckoning.