BUNRATTY CASTLE
Caisleán Bhun Raithe (Castle at the Mouth of the Ratty River)
Bunratty Village, County Clare

Lord Gort bought Bunratty Castle in the 1950's in complete ruin. He went by historical documents and rebuilt the castle to what he imagined it looked like back in the 15th century when it was originally built. In the last decade he added the Folk Park that you see today.

The castle has had few residents but its most important were the O'Brien's, the Earls of Thomond, from 1500 until 1624, when the so-called "Great Earl" died. The castle was finally abandon in the last century and left to ruin until Lord Gort saw its potential.

Bunratty Castle's most distinguishable feature is its double façade. Twin arches, front and back, were meant to confuse would be invaders looking for the front door, thus giving the castle guard more time to prepare for battle.

Visitors planning to see Bunratty Castle and/or interested in medieval history may be interested to view the Bunratty Castle Medieval Collection, which is managed by the Gort Funirture Trust. This collection of outstanding medieval

furnishing is housed through Bunratty Castle in all public areas, some of which are listed below.

The first room you'll see when you enter through the ground floor door is the Main Guard. The castle guards originally used this room. This is where they ate, slept and were kept entertained. In this room there is the Minstrel's Gallery where musicians could play during meals. Because of the location of this room in the keep it allowed the guards to better protect their lord.

The first floor of the castle is the Banqueting Hall. This is where the castle hosts its medieval styled banquets from April to October every year.

The Great Hall is on the next floor and is the room where the Lord of the keep would do business, spend time with his family, and any other duties that needed attending. There are four prominent features of this room.

The long table at the far end of the room is called the dais (prononced day-iz) and is where the lord would sit to conduct business. Quite often during important business it's here where he would sit with his wife, lead guards and the castle priest.
Above the main entrance is a small window. This window looks down from the North Solar, which would have been the lord's private apartments. This window came in handy for spying into the Great Hall as well as protection in the event that the guards failed to keep an intruder out. Arrows and other weapons could be launched from this window.
The pit in the middle of the floor is called a brazier (pronounced bray-sher) and is a type of fireplace. Directly above, the chimney would draw out the smoke. The one you see is a timber replica of the original one that would have been made of stone.
The Standard, known as a Tudor Standard in the 15th century, would have been used to hang the family banner from when the lord was home. These are rare finds today and this one is exceptionally lovely and a wonderful example of carving intricacy. Not only did they serve a purpose there was also decorative.

Another highlight in the castle is the South Solar. The doorway is gated to visitors but you can see the splendor in the room. This room would have been used as guest quarters. Today's decoration is a fine recreation of how the chamber would have looked in Tudor times.

Each of the four corners of the castle have circular stone stairwells. Each is accessible to visitors and two of them will lead you to the roof where you can look out over the land, as a guard would have.

The Folk Park was meticulously created by salvaging many cottages and village shop ruins from around Ireland. Many cottages are real stores or models and some allow you to buy some of what is on display. Others have local country folks in them telling you about their trade and how they benefited the castle and its lord.

The Park is made up of two general areas, country and town.

The country end of the park is near the castle and is where you'll find the thatch cottages. The fisherman's cottage has a man inside showing you how to make fishing nets. The blacksmith shows you how to make nails and other metal items. The weavers cottage offers fine woven goods and the shopkeeper will show you how the loom works. The farmhouse has a woman inside baking traditional soda bread and churning her own butter (stick around and she'll offer you a taste). And the farmhouse garage has the farmer in it telling you about farming…unless he's inside the farmhouse scoffing some bread and butter for his tea!

The town end of the park has several period buildings that are open for trade as well. The camera store will take an old fashioned photo of you, the confectionery will cater to your sweet tooth and the restaurant will serve you wonderful traditional fare. There is also a working post office where you can mail your post cards and a pub to quench your thirst.

Park employees dress in period costume and wander the streets demonstrating traditional crafts.

Farm

Town

The rest of the park is open for wandering. There is a small petting zoo, a flock of red deer and several other buildings, including a Georgian house and chapel. And throughout the park you will see pens of domestic animals, some of which won't turn down a pat or two.

Near the main entrance you'll find the tearoom, which is a simple little café for coffee, tea and colas as well as pastry, scones and other light meals. Across the way is a small restaurant for more substantial meals. And in the village is a traditional restaurant and pub.