Killarney day 1, Ross Castle

So, waking up this morning in a swelteringly hot room with a headache from last night and a full-blown sore throat that's been developing over the last couple of days I decided not to take the 8:30 bus to Killarney, but the one later at 9:30. Upon arrival I decided the best way to get rid of my hangover was to walk it off, which I did with a trip to nearby Ross castle, about 3 kilometres away.
Just the walk itself is very pretty, passing through part of Killarney national park. Walking down the winding path between groves of trees and rolling meadows, suddenly the castle emerges round a corner on the edge of Lough Leane. Incredibly picturesque, it looks exactly like you imagine a medieval castle to look. This one is a so-called tower house, which were very popular throughout Ireland in this period with over 3000 having been built. Seriously, they're like a plague. I've seen old abandoned ones just hanging out in farmers' back paddocks, getting in the way and making the place look untidy. This one, however, has been beautifully restored. It slowly became a ruin in the 19th century. At the time there was a particular tax which estate owners had to pay for any properties they own apart from their primary residence known as a roof tax. It means exactly what it sounds like: a property only counts if it has a roof. The then owners, not having any use for the castle as they lived elsewhere, didn't want to pay the tax and so they simply burned the roof down. There is now only one original roof of that style in existence, this one being a replica of the other which is in Dublin. Open to the elements the castle fell into decay until finally it was bought by the state a few decades ago and painstakingly restored. Seriously, taking the tour you are amazed by the attention to detail put into it, from the hand-planed timber of the floors to the exact replication of the two unique roof styles employed by the castle.


As most such buildings it had been repurposed many times in its existence, but originally it had been built to protect against cattle raids. That's right, they built a tower-house to stop people pinching their cows. This was in the 1400s. And the many defense features are surprisingly ingenious, especially the staircase with its deliberately uneven steps to make it difficult to run up without going arse over tit. They even though to chose a clockwise direction for the spiralling stairs to run, because it makes the use of a sword for attackers awkward if they are right-handed.
Overall it was a good tour, even the second time as I did it 4 years ago on my last visit to Ireland. I even impressed the guide with a remembered piece of trivia I had learned the last time!