Day 8- Sep. 10- Ballyhannon Castle, Quin, Clare, co.

Today was castle day!!! Before we left for Ireland, we had rented a tower house castle called Ballyhannon, just outside of the little village of Quin in Clare county. So in the morning, after a very full breakfast at Ashville House, we headed out to the long awaited stay at our castle...

Shannon Bay

We were going to take the ferry over Shannon Bay to cut down on travel time as driving up around the bay by Limerick takes longer. Sadly, we didn't end up going over because the wind and waves were too strong for Mom's comfort. Oh, well... The drive around the bay was beautiful despite the rain, mist and fog!

Aldi!

Aidabm

I thought that Leon would like to see these name trains. :)

As we were driving through Bunratty village, we remembered that a famous tower house castle, Bunratty, was in that town. We'd been seeing signs for it, so were expecting it any minute. The castle was right on the edge of the road, and as it turned out, we were all looking in the wrong direction. We felt pretty stupid for almost missing it when it was basically under our very noses. :)

We stopped at Bunratty castle, but it was 15 euro a person to get in. Ouch. But the gift shop was neat! 

Ballyhannon Castle

It took us awhile to find the driveway. As we wound up the long lane, the castle just rose up out of the trees and hills. We were so excited!

Coach House

You could also rent the old coach house that was a little ways away from the castle. Even though it was cheaper to rent the coach house, we weren't going to be satisfied with a halfway castle, we wanted the real thing!

Backside

This is the back of the coach house. You can see the castle over to the left.

Inside the Fortress!

After our hostess arrived and turned all the lights on for us, she let us explore. We had so much fun running around laughing and giggling (even Gram!) like little kids. It was the moment we'd all been waiting for for a long time. This is Mom making a list. :)

Lady Patricia

Another dream come true!

Irish Laddie

Droll Jocularity

I wanted to have a photo shoot of all of us. While I was setting the camera up, I had to take some test pictures. This is one of them. :)

Down to Business

Ok, here's the real picture!

Aw...

Wow, that's bright!

This was another photo attempt, but this time it was in Gram's canopy bed. The pictures really didn't turn out very well. I thought that this picture was too funny to pass up. :)

Kitchen

Steamy Windows

Entry

Addition

The part that juts off the side of the castle is an addition. The kitchen is located in that part, along with a bathroom in the entry that was very, very cold!

Rose and Lichen 

Lane

Notice the castle over on the left?

Castle Gateway

Ponies

There were some ponies in the pasture next to the castle. 

Door of Mystery

This small door was padlocked. We could push it open just enough to see what lay beyond, only to be thrown into deeper curiosity. Some stone steps ascended and turned a corner to... where???

Shadows

Squares

Repose

This is in the "Great Room".

Keys

Irish Spiders...

... are HUGE! That's my hand beside one. jk :)

Who's Lying in Wait Around the Corner?

This castle was perfect for scaring each other, shadowy corners, spooky noises...

The Great Beyond

I don't think this door was supposed to be open. It led back to a sort of storage area.

Murder Hole

This is on the other side of the door from above. 

The castle had two murder holes. The second one was located on the floor right at the bottom of those steps. We were disappointed that they had it blocked off... There had been some plans brewing for dumping something on TJ.'s head... :)

Second Flight of Stairs

Twist

If you climbed up the whole flight of stairs in one fell swoop, you'd start to get dizzy. 

Silhouette

Great Room

The whole castle was quite damp and chilly so we brought all the heaters up to the great room and kept the door shut. It actually stayed fairly pleasant.

Sheepskin Rug

Balcony

There was a balcony that overlooked the great room. This door led onto it.

Majestic Gloom

The master bedroom was on the top story.

Dead End

Another disappointing locked door... This part was just across from the master bedroom, but several steps higher. It was the highest we could go in the castle.

Bathroom #1

None of us wanted to take a shower in these bathrooms. As ventilation, they just took a pane of glass out of the small window. Burr!

As Night Descended

These were the windows in Mom, Abi and my bedroom. They had both of the windows open. 

Stone Hall

Sound echoed off these walls very well. You could stand at the bottom of the first flight of stairs, raise your voice just a little and whoever was in the great room could hear you almost as if you were right there.

Gram's Room

Another dream come true! She got to sleep in a four-poster canopy bed! 

After we got settled in, we went back to Bunratty to do some shopping at yet another Blarney Woolen Mills. We were able to get quite a few little gifts for loved ones back home.

Supper!

Here's an excerpt from my journal about our first supper at Ballyhannon,

"Mom, Aunt Carol and Abi went to shop in Quin for some grocery items (this is a self catering castle, unless you want to pay for them to feed you!), while TJ., Gram and I stayed back to get ready for our medieval feast. They got grilled cheese fixings for us. So, we had grilled cheese and chips, on paper plates with china tea cups set at a medieval banquet table. :)"

Well, that concludes our first day as Lord and Ladies of our very own castle!

If you want to know more about the castle you can just click here.