Irish names are so fun!. We had heard about an activity called the Bunratty Castle and Folk Park and decided last minute to spend the day there. This turned out to be a great move. We arrived around 10:30 in the morning and just beat the tour buses. Bunratty Castle is the most complete and authentic castle in Ireland and the grounds have been turned into a folk park. It is designed to give visitors a taste of medieval Ireland. The castle was small and only took about 45 minutes to explore but it ended up being one of the best castles we have ever been in. Prague castle is still my favorite and Heidelberg has sentimental value as it’s a memory I have of me and my Dads first trip together but this castle is a close runner up. The grounds surrounding the castle were the biggest surprise to us. There are over 30 houses from the 1700’s, 1800’s and 1900’s as well as a restored medieval village and you could roam freely through all of them. It was a fun way to learn about the country’s history. There were also animals all around the grounds that are now endangered but at the time were the norm for the area. Most of them you can’t find anywhere else. And as you walked the grounds there were paths that led into the forest and each path had different folk lore stories about fairies and different myths from Irish history. The way it was set up was so much fun. We arrived in a silly mood and ended up just walking around the grounds for over 3 hours acting like children reading all the stories and playing in all the building. The video should be a lot of fun. I think this will end up being one of our fondest memories of Ireland. Afterwards we headed to the city of Limerick where we spent the evening walking the city, eating and sharing a hookah.
When we were researching this trip we decided we wanted to spend one night in one of Irelands many castles. These stays range from $200 a night up to $1500 per night. In some cases you stay in the castle and in others you just get to explore the castle but end up staying in a hotel on the same property. We found one that was built in the 1500’s and renovated into a luxury hotel so you got to stay in the actual castle. We couldn’t check in until 4pm so we had the entire day to kill. This gave us a chance to sleep in, hit the gym and do some laundry.
When we finished up there we headed to the Ballyseede Castle for our one night of luxury. Some of the other castles offered activities like archery or falconry but we choose this one as it was more of a romantic vibe. The only activity here was to walk the 30 acre grounds exploring the forest. The grounds were beautiful and the room was authentic and luxurious. We paid extra for a 5 course gourmet dinner that was amazing but a bit too fancy for my unpolished taste buds. Alyssa enjoyed her food more than I did which is what matters most. This was a mellow relaxing night on what has been a whirlwind adventure around Ireland.
