Bunratty Castle

Stand still for a moment and listen. The Ratty River slides past, low and brown, on its way to the Shannon estuary. Gulls call overhead. Above you a tall grey tower of rough limestone rises against the Clare sky. The stone is cold and damp to the touch, patched with lichen in shades of rust and pale green. This is Bunratty Castle, and the building you see has watched over this river crossing for more than five centuries.

The site was chosen for a simple reason. Here, close to where the river meets the estuary, boats could land and people could cross. Whoever held this ground could watch traffic on the water and on the road. That is why several castles stood on or near this spot before the present one. Medieval lords fought over it, burned it, and rebuilt it. The tower in front of you is the last in that long line, and the only one still standing.

The present castle is generally dated to the first half of the fifteenth century. It was built by the MacNamara family, a powerful Gaelic clan in this part of Clare. Soon afterwards it passed to the O'Briens, one of the great dynasties of Munster, the southern province of Ireland. The O'Briens later became Earls of Thomond, a title linked to this region. Under them, Bunratty became one of the finest residences in the west of Ireland.

Look at the shape of the building. This is a tower house — a type of fortified home that Irish lords built in large numbers in the late Middle Ages. Most tower houses are simple square blocks. Bunratty is larger and more ambitious. It has a central block with a tower at each of its four corners. High up on two sides, wide stone arches span the gap between the towers. Few visitors notice them at first, but they are one of the castle's most unusual features.

Now look at the entrance. You do not walk in at ground level. The door sits one floor up, reached by a bridge. In a time of raids and feuds, this mattered. Attackers could not simply batter down a ground-floor door. Defenders inside could pull back, close the way in, and fight from above. Even the doorway itself is designed for defence. It is narrow, and it forces anyone entering to slow down.

Inside, the castle is a maze of narrow spiral stairs. The steps are worn smooth in the middle, polished by centuries of feet. Hold the rope and take your time. Spiral stairs like these were common in medieval towers. They save space, and a single defender could hold them against several attackers. As you climb, small windows throw thin shafts of daylight across the stone. Then the stair opens out into the larger rooms.

The Great Hall is the heart of the castle. Here the lord received guests, held court, and dined in public. The ceiling rises high above you, and the walls are hung with tapestries. Long tables and heavy chairs fill the floor. Notice how the light falls from the tall windows. In winter this room would have been smoky, crowded, and loud. Dogs, servants, musicians, and visitors all shared the same space beneath that lofty roof.

Here is a story that surprises many visitors. In the 1640s Ireland was caught up in war, and the castle was held for a time by forces loyal to the English Parliament. One of the men in the garrison was an English naval officer, William Penn. He was the father of the William Penn who later founded the American colony of Pennsylvania. So a thread runs from this damp Irish tower all the way to Philadelphia. The garrison was besieged and eventually gave up the castle.

After the O'Brien era, Bunratty slowly declined. Owners came and went. By the nineteenth century the roof was failing and parts of the building were close to ruin. For a long stretch, the castle was more of a landmark than a home. Then, in the 1950s, it was bought by Lord Gort, an Irish peer with a deep interest in medieval art. Working with the Irish state, he set out to restore the tower and bring it back to life.

That restoration is why the rooms look the way they do today. Lord Gort filled the castle with his collection of furniture, tapestries, and art, much of it from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The pieces were not all made for Bunratty. Instead they were chosen to give a sense of how a great medieval house might have felt. Look closely at the dark carved oak chests and cabinets. Many of them carry fine, intricate detail, cut by hand centuries ago.

In the evenings, the castle takes on a different life. Bunratty is known for its medieval-style banquets, held inside the tower. Guests eat by candlelight, and singers and musicians perform. It is theatre rather than history, and nobody pretends otherwise. Still, it gives a hint of the noise and warmth these rooms once held. If you hear music drifting down the stairs late in the day, that is probably the reason.

When you leave the tower, keep walking into the folk park next door. It recreates rural and village life in Ireland around a century or more ago. You will find thatched farmhouses, a small village street, shops, and a church. Many of the buildings were moved here or rebuilt in the style of the region. The smell of turf smoke often hangs in the air. After the stone and shadow of the castle, these low whitewashed cottages feel very human in scale.

Before you go, turn back and look at the tower once more. Find those high arches between the corner towers. Notice the small, deep windows, and the way the grey stone darkens when it rains. Listen again for the river. Five hundred years of lords, soldiers, and visitors have stood roughly where you are standing now. The castle has changed hands many times. The view of the water, though, has barely changed at all.