... by Trip · Castle · Christmas in Ireland · County Clare · Damp, Muddy & Happy · Ireland December 2012 · Tourist Sites

Bunratty Castle, County Clare

After arriving in Ireland, I had a few hours to fill before I could check into the cottage. A few minutes outside of Shannon is a town called Bunratty that has a castle … Bunratty Castle. Sara and I stopped there on our last day in June. But we were tired, it was getting late; we simply took a few photos and headed to the hotel.

My day started out cold and rainy. After 20 hours of traveling, it was a good way to walk away the fog. In addition to the castle, there is also a village attached to it with a variety of houses, a farm, etc.

The castle was interesting. They allow you to go in and walk around. While they have added indoor plumbing in a few places, they have not altered most of the architecture. I anticipated that they would have widened or straightened out the steps, but they didn’t. In the US, they would have simply blocked them off and not permitted access. I love the fact that we can be trusted to climb the circular, narrow, stone steps. I walked up to the North Solaris at the top and explored multiple floors.

From there, it was walking the grounds. I have decided to take photos of windows and doors during this trip. Hmmm … some possibility there. At the very end, there was a mini village. It was decorated for Christmas, obviously for a weekend mini festival. They even used white batting; cutting it to make it look like snow patches on the roofs. Ingenuity!

Here are photos for the day:

Bunratty Castle
Bunratty Castle

 

Bunratty Castle
Bunratty Castle
Entrance to Bunratty Castle
Entrance to Bunratty Castle

 

Christmas Decorations!
Christmas Decorations!

 

Stained Glass Windows
Stained Glass Windows

 

Village Door and ...
Village Door and …

 

Farmhouse Window
Farmhouse Window

 

Post Box
Post Box

 

Farmhouse Replica
Farmhouse Replica

 

The Vertical Mill
The Vertical Mill

 

Golden Vale Farmhouse
Golden Vale Farmhouse

 

Notice the "Snow"?
Notice the “Snow”?

Location via Google Maps: