How Cool to Spend the Night in a Castle!
October/16/2007 Ireland Journal
I swore I would stick to photographing today, as we are about to leave for our last stop, the Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, before heading home. But I just had to post some pictures of the incredible placed we have stayed for the past two nights: The Castle, at Castletownshend, County Cork. Jim found it on the Internet, and I'm so glad he did.
The Castle is the ancestral home of the proprietors, Anne and Malcolm Cochrane Townshend. The massive stone edifice has been the seat of the Townshend family in Ireland for many generations. The center part was built around 1650. The origintal castle towers were destroyed in the 17th and 18th centuries, but they have been restored, using stones from the ruins. The Castle contains much of the original furniture, portraits of Townshend family members, and gorgeous oak panelling.
A place like this can make your imagination work overtime. At breakfast before we left, we compared notes with two English couples, who also swore they heard steps on the ancient staircases below our rooms, but none of us saw anyone arrive on the second or third floor landings.
Speaking of breakfast, check out the dining room: It was big enough for eight tables, and it was full of family portraits. Wouldn't the Townshends be good clients to have!
The portrait below hangs in the drawing room. Its subjects are the current owner's great-grandfather and his two sisters. As you can see, it is huge! These folks are definitely not into 8x10s. Isn't the posing wonderful! A great reminder that classics never go out of style.
Here's The Castle exterior . . . well guarded by the Townshend family watchdog.
And can you believe that I actually drafted and emailed a blog post while sitting in front of a 17th century building? Amazing.
The Castle overlooks Castletownshend Harbor. I took the shot below, just after sunrise, from our bedroom window on the third floor . . . no doubt where household servants used to stay. The room was spacious, but homey, and quite comfortable.
Jim also was right at home in The Castle. It was really fun to turn back the clock . . . way back!
The Castle is the ancestral home of the proprietors, Anne and Malcolm Cochrane Townshend. The massive stone edifice has been the seat of the Townshend family in Ireland for many generations. The center part was built around 1650. The origintal castle towers were destroyed in the 17th and 18th centuries, but they have been restored, using stones from the ruins. The Castle contains much of the original furniture, portraits of Townshend family members, and gorgeous oak panelling.
A place like this can make your imagination work overtime. At breakfast before we left, we compared notes with two English couples, who also swore they heard steps on the ancient staircases below our rooms, but none of us saw anyone arrive on the second or third floor landings.
Speaking of breakfast, check out the dining room: It was big enough for eight tables, and it was full of family portraits. Wouldn't the Townshends be good clients to have!
The portrait below hangs in the drawing room. Its subjects are the current owner's great-grandfather and his two sisters. As you can see, it is huge! These folks are definitely not into 8x10s. Isn't the posing wonderful! A great reminder that classics never go out of style.
Here's The Castle exterior . . . well guarded by the Townshend family watchdog.
And can you believe that I actually drafted and emailed a blog post while sitting in front of a 17th century building? Amazing.
The Castle overlooks Castletownshend Harbor. I took the shot below, just after sunrise, from our bedroom window on the third floor . . . no doubt where household servants used to stay. The room was spacious, but homey, and quite comfortable.
Jim also was right at home in The Castle. It was really fun to turn back the clock . . . way back!