First, of course, came a yummy snack. On the tables, they had these lovely jars of sugar lumps and, by now, we all know of my fascination with sugar lumps!
Noah obviously made our guide a bit nervous- I could practically see visions of asking us to remove Noah from the draperies, couches, and other antiques running through her head. But, the children all did quite well. I spent rather a lot of time looking out windows commenting on waving flags, clouds, and passing tourists but I did get the gist of things. (you weren't allowed to take pictures inside the castle)
Noah checking his shadow is keeping up
Daniel O'Connell was nursed back to health in the castle before being put to death (it was illegal to execute an injured or ill person). So, they had a display of pictures of the 16 men who were executed for their part in instigating the Easter Rebellion. Some of those men were so very young!
Megan and Noah about to hug
even though it may look otherwise
In lighter news, we also got to see the room the girls would wait in before being presented to the nobility. They had special angled mirrors under the benches so that the girls could check that their ankles and petticoats were hidden. There was also a special needlework screen mounted on a pole that the girls could use to protect their faces from the warmth of the fire. Makeup was waxed based so if their faces got too warm they would quite literally lose face.
Charlie
We then made our way down to the excavation area where you see the moat and back entrance to the castle. Noah was very impressed with the great many rocks.
The children were delighted to have a bit of running around time on the Dubh Linn Gardens. The name means dark pool. The Gardens (really just the one garden) were built on top of the pool as it filled in over time. The Vikings used it to hold their boats as it was easily reachable via the Liffey. The pronunciation evolved into Dublin and provided the name for the city.
The Dubh Linn Gardens are right next to a large Garda station and the Castle is still used for official functions. They are currently doing some updating so that they can host the EU Parliment starting in January. So, of course they need a helipad and guess where it is...
picture source google earth
The tour guide said that there are 6 readily discernible landing sites within the traditional Celtic design.
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