Join us on a journey from North antrim to the Mizen Peninsula as we explore the history of Irish Castles and their use today,Ireland Travel information from the local perspective
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#ireland #irelandinview #dublin #Castles #travelvlog
#dublinvlog
#Irelandvlog
#irelandtravelguide #irelandroadtrip
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TravelTranscript
00:00Welcome back to Ireland in view. Where do we find Irish castles? Well, that's a question lots of folks ask.
00:07We will also show you where. St. Patrick is reputed to have landed in Ireland from England and the castle that stands on the site today.
00:15Some will be beautiful buildings. Others will be piles of stone, but with superb locations and views.
00:22With stories of money, madness and mayhem based on greed, deceit and incest.
00:28First, a little bit of history. Many strategic castles were built on higher ground with spectacular views of the countryside and seas, as was Dunloose and Dunlop, which are at opposite ends of the island.
00:41Most were built under Anglo-Norman rule in the 12th century, and Dunloose Castle in County Antrim was built in 1500s on an old round fort site.
00:50It was the original home of the Macdonald clan. Some castles are in ruins, but the magnificently preserved castles we see today, scattered across Ireland north and south, have become well-known hotels, such as Ashford Castle Hotel, County Mayo, and Ballygally Castle Hotel in County Antrim.
01:10Ashford, of course, was made famous by the 1952 film by John Ford, The Quiet Man, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara.
01:18One of our favourite castles is the lived-in home of the Macdonald family in Glenarm County Antrim.
01:24This castle was built in 1636 by the first Earl of Antrim, Randall Macdonald, when the original Castle Dunloose started to fall into the sea.
01:33The present occupier of the castle is Randall Alexander St. John Macdonald.
01:38The estate is a working farm and tourist attraction where you can even stay in a pod on the estate.
01:44The castle is open to visitors with a very interesting tour. As always, we will put links in the description below.
01:52The next favourite castle is Clontarf Castle Hotel.
01:56The castle is in Dublin on the site of the famous Battle of Clontarf of 1014 between Brian Boru and the Vikings, and this battle is credited with breaking the Viking stranglehold on Ireland.
02:08Clontarf Castle, now a famous four-star hotel, stands on the battle site.
02:13The castle, originally built in 1172, has long disappeared, and the current castle was opened as a hotel in 1997 after passing through many owners.
02:24It's plush, welcoming, and one of the busiest hotels in Dublin.
02:29Brian Boru was the head of the O'Brien clan, and they celebrate their clan there every few years.
02:34With the Irish dancers, we will leave the fabulous Clontarf Castle, and journey a short distance into Dublin City, where we will see inside Dublin Castle.
02:44Built on the orders of King John of England in 1204, sometime after the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169,
02:53King John ordered that a castle be built to strengthen control and administration of Dublin and Ireland.
02:59Built between the River Pottle and the River Liffey.
03:02It was a strategic site at the time, hence it was the start of British rule in Ireland proper.
03:10It has been used since as an intelligence centre for the British administration prior to independence.
03:17The castle's opulent inside hides a brutal history, epitomised by Bloody Sunday on the 21st of November 1920,
03:25when 14 British army intelligence officers were shot dead by the Irish Republican army.
03:30And in reprisal, the British army murdered many at a Gaelic football match at Croke Park that afternoon.
03:38The building was also used as a courthouse after 1922, as the four courts, the law courts, had been burnt to the ground in the Civil War.
03:48Today, it is a ceremonial building used for various state functions, including state banquets and the installation of Irish presidents since Douglas Hyde in 1938.
03:57While Dublin Castle is now used for various state functions, it is also a living museum of artefacts from Ireland's history.
04:05And much of what you see today is a result of the historic events that this building has seen from kings to queens.
04:11Most recently, the state visit of Queen Elizabeth II in 2011.
04:18Now we are leaving Dublin Castle for our next stop.
04:22Malahide Castle, the home of the Talbot family, for nearly 800 years until the untimely death of Milo Talbot at the age of 60 in 1973.
04:31His sister, Rose, sold the 250-acre estate to the Irish government in 1976.
04:39Neither Milo or Rose had any children.
04:42Milo, the seventh Baron Talbot, was said to be gay and was great friends with Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess,
04:49the notorious Russian spies who fled to Russia when exposed in 1951.
04:54The estate was granted to Richard Talbot by King Henry II in 1174.
05:02Milo Talbot was a diplomat.
05:04Being gay in the period that he lived and hiding his sexuality, particularly as a diplomat in the British Foreign Service, would not have been easy.
05:13Given the treatment of Alan Turing, the English man who helped break the wartime Enigma code, who was also gay and chemically castrated because of his sexuality, would have made Talbot open to blackmail and extortion.
05:28Perhaps indirectly, the stress caused his early death.
05:32We will never know.
05:33Now let's take you to Dunlop Castle and Three Castle Head on the Mizzen Peninsula.
05:39It's not easy to get to, but well worth the effort.
05:42It's a walk of perhaps a kilometre over farmland, which is closed off to the public from January to the 1st of April.
05:51The sheep are lambing, you see.
05:52They get priority.
05:54But this castle has views over the Atlantic that are breathtaking.
05:59It was built in 1207 by Donna Omani.
06:02The clan fled there to avoid the Normans and built the castle in 1207.
06:06There are some pretty dark tales associated with Dunlop and Three Castle Head.
06:12It is said that the O'Donohus, who were the last family to live there, all died by suicide or murder.
06:18Now, as a result, a drop of blood falls from one of the towers every day.
06:23Others claim that a mysterious white lady haunts the lake and anyone who sees her will die soon after.
06:29So if you're very superstitious, you might want to think twice before you pay a visit here.
06:36Finally, this castle is where it's reputed that St. Patrick set foot in Ireland in 433 to banish the snakes.
06:45He failed.
06:46There are still two-legged ones still here.
06:49Cue laughter.
06:50It's the Black Castle in Wicklow Town on the Irish East Coast.
06:53Yes, it's a pile of stones, but that's history, we suppose.
06:59See you in the next one up there.
07:01Finally, if you are still here, thanks for watching.
07:04We hope you found it informative and entertaining.
07:07Please follow us and we hope to see you in the next video.
07:10Give us a thumbs up and hit the bell.
07:13Take care.