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ajholdsamb · 6 years

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Ruins, Rocks, & Tiny Roads

Our first really exploring day in Ireland was a jam packed one. Guy AJ has very kindly planned this trip for us so you can bet there is a ton of cool features for the archaeologically and geologically inclined. After a fuel stop where we had to use charades even though we were both speaking English (our accents were so incomprehensible to each other) we were ready to go.

Our first stop was the Dysert O’Dea Castle (pronounced diesert o dee) and archaeological park. Located at the edge of the Burren, this was a tower house built in the late 15th century by the local ruling family. Tower houses are all over the country, and their design and condition reflect Ireland’s tumultuous past. Unlike the large castles of England or the fairytale fortresses of Germany, Irish tower houses are small and unadorned, built only to protect the family inside. Ireland was never really ruled by a central government, so each local ruler built a tower house to defend himself against his neighbors. In the 16th century, England doubled down on its efforts to add Ireland to the empire, and many tower houses were destroyed from this violence, including part of the castle we saw. The Irish put up fight after fight, and the murder hole above the entrance, where defenders would drop boiling water and stones on the attackers, was a gruesome reminder of the death to occur here before it became such a picturesque tourist location. Seeing sites like this, and the many other ruined forts that dot the countryside, make you appreciate the raw feelings here toward England.

It was rebuilt in the 1980’s and 90s by a descendant of O’Dea- an American from Ohio with the last name O’Day. It was really well done for a private archaeological site. I particularly enjoyed pursuing the top tower and looking out at the rolling green hills. In the surrounding fields there are several other sites you can walk to. The first site we saw was the High Cross or “St. Tola’s cross.” It was created by monks in the 12th century, and local people would make pilgrimages out to it. One side has a relief of a Bishop (possibly St. Tola) and the other side has a crucifixion scene. For centuries locals would remove and use the head of Jesus to cure tooth aches until one of the later owners cemented it on to prevent theft. We could also explore the overgrown Victorian Synge lodge (this family got their name after Henry VIII heard them sing in church), and peer at the Dysert church from 734 ad. We couldn’t enter there because there was a funeral taking place. This highlighted how alive the history is here- the ruins are public places that are still in use.

Next we went on a hike in the Burren National Park. We didn’t much know what to expect from this area because we couldn’t find much online but it was BEAUTIFUL. Otherworldly, with grey limestone rock jutting out at odd angles like a lunar landscape with a serene pale blue lake at the bottom of the hill. It didn’t look much like my mental image of Ireland, no rolling green hills, forests or pastures, but if you’re in the area I’d highly recommend it. My only recommendation would be to drive past the first trail head, to where you can see the mountain. There is plenty of parking on the side of the road and it saves you about a 3/4s mile walk on the gravel road without much of a view.

While on this hike AJ taught me about the histories of the Irish people, the Scottish people, and the English people and how they diverged. I knew they didn’t like each other, but from an American’s perspective I feel like they often get lumped together and I wasn’t sure why England was the one to eventually take over both Ireland and Scotland. AJ explained that England was conquered by Romans, who were obsessed with order and as such they turned into a more cohesive entity with a central ruling government. On the other hand, Ireland and Scotland remained more or less unconquered with smaller local clans. Then they battled for centuries, and when the English did overtake Ireland and Scotland they tried to stamp out a lot of culture as well as people. An example of this is how they made it illegal to speak Irish or hold office if you were Catholic. It reminds me somewhat of what white American settlers did to Native Americans, although we would kidnap children. This conversation helped highlight some of the remaining animosity. An much less intense analogy could be if people thought that all the people who went to school in LA got along, when in reality USC and UCLA hate each other.

Up next we went to

Poulnabrone dolmen, a Neolithic portal tomb. I had actually heard about this from one of my good friends from here visit to Ireland. She had mentioned being disappointed by it because all the marketing material make it appear 45 feet tall, when in reality it is only 6 feet. Since it was on our way anyways we stopped by and having our expectations appropriately lowered, it was cool to see the evidence of people occupying this area between 4200 BC and 2900 BC .

Next was Ailwee cave, which was well marketed and well staffed (our tour guide had a PhD in Paleontology). It was in the news recently for the discovery of a 10,000 year old Bear Skull. My favorite part was the Goonies like cave waterfall and AJs might have been all the fossils.

Last but not least were the Cliffs of Moher. These are one of the most famous sites in Ireland, and as such I was glad AJ had planned ahead. He had gotten us tickets online the day before (which is cheaper), with a visiting window of 4-9 and the idea that it might be slightly less crowded and have nice light later in the day. It was still crowded, but we were able to get some good unobstructed views by hiking to the right along the cliff, past the official site. There is a trail there, but I still had a couple of mini heart attacks just seeing AJ so close to a 700 foot cliff. However it did live up to the hype, and it was STUNNING- dramatic sheer golden faces going straight into the sea and extending for 5 miles. It would be easy to believe in magic with views such as that.

We stayed until it closed at 9:00, and despite our worries actually made the hour drive home without our gps(aka my phone, whose battery had died) because Ireland has surprisingly good signage. The only problem was all the restaurants had stopped serving food. I normally eat at 5:30 pm and fall asleep by 8:30, so this usually wouldn’t be a problem. But lots of people were still out and about and the sun wasn’t fully set so this was a surprise. Luckily we were able to find an open Chinese take out spot, and after several runs through the Dromoland inn’s labyrinth like halls due to a demagnetized key card we were able to eat and crash. It was a wonderful exploring day.

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castellsipalaus · 7 years

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Caisleán Bhun Raithe

El lloc on es situa actualment el castell de Bunratty (Caisleán Bhun Raithe, en gaèlic) és conegut des de la segona meitat del segle X. Va ser un assentament de víkings que van començar a comerciar amb la població local. Es troba a la costa oest d'Irlanda, no gaire lluny de la ciutat de Limerick.

Després de l’arribada dels normands a Anglaterra el segle XI, que va suposar la caiguda de la monarquia anglosaxona a l’illa veïna, els nous reis anglesos van posar els seus ulls en noves terres per enfortir el seu sistema feudal importat de França.

Els anglonormands van arribar a la regió irlandesa de Munster al segle XII. I a mitjans del segle XIII els primers senyors normands van ocupar el territori. El 1250 Robert de Muscegros va construir-hi el primer castell, una elevació al camp coronada per una torre de fusta.

En els primers anys del segle XIV, Richard de Clare, primer senyor de Clare, va morir en la batalla de Dysert O’Dea, prop de la ciutat d’Ennis. Els seus soldats van ser derrotats per un exèrcit irlandès que també va destruir el castell, que poc abans havia estat reforçat pel seu pare amb bastiments de pedra.

Durant aquell mateix segle, el rei d'Anglaterra i els senyors de Thomond -pertanyents a la família De Clare– van lluitar en diverses ocasions, i el castell va ser reconstruït i destruït de nou diverses vegades. En els últims anys del segle XIV va ser restaurat una vegada més, però forces irlandeses van tornar a prendre'l als anglesos.

El castell que es pot visitar en l'actualitat té l'estructura que la família MacNamara li va donar quan es va construir de nou al voltant de 1425. Cinquanta anys més tard, s'havia convertit en la fortalesa de la família O'Brien.

Al segle XVI, els O'Brien eren comtes de Thomond sota l'autoritat del rei Henry VIII d'Anglaterra. Al segle XVII, l'exèrcit de Cromwell va arribar fins a Bunratty. Els O'Brien van lliurar la fortalesa als anglesos.

El 1945 va començar un extens pla de restauració que va acabar el 1962, quan el castell i el seu parc popular es van obrir al públic per mostrar com els irlandesos havien viscut al país durant el segle XIX i com havien viscut els successius senyors de la fortalesa des de l’Edat Mitjana.

Ara és un destí turístic familiar, tant pels irlandesos com pels nombrosos turistes que arriben a aquesta zona del comtat de Clare per apropar-se a la imponent costa plena de penyasegats, on els Cliffs of Moher són el principal atractiu de la costa oest de l'Eire.

#castell #irlanda #munster #county-clare

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eviltwinbobworld · 4 years

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Marius Goring had a habit of wearing the same clothes and accessories in different films. The first two photos are of him as Julian Craster in The Red Shoes (1948) wearing a green wool jacket (impoverished music student) which he is seen wearing again in the next two photos as Dr Henry Dysert (impoverished junior doctor) in Rx Murder (1958).

In the fifth & sixth photos, he is seen wearing a dark scarf with a coin pattern, first as Sholto Lewis (ex-commando ballet impresario) in Circle of Danger (1951) and then again in the last two photos as Dr Henry Dysert (now a wealthy private doctor) in Rx Murder (1958).

I’ve just got a DVD copy of Rx Murder the other day and immediately noticed that he’d been up to his usual recycling tricks in it. If you go back and look at some of my previous Marius posts, you’ll find plenty of other instances where he rewore clothes, scarves, ties and rings across a whole range of his film and television productions over the decades. I suppose he probably got to keep them from the original productions he was in. There’s one particular scarf that he first wore in The Red Shoes that keeps popping up again & again in other films he later did.

mariusgoring.com

#marius goring #julian craster #sholto lewis #doctor henry dysert #the red shoes #rx murder #Circle of Danger

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