Bunratty Castle, Ireland

I had a great time at the Bunratty Medieval Castle dinner. I discovered I REALLY like mead! Upon entering the great hall, a cup of mead was handed to each visitor. There was music from a fantastic (and terribly shy) fiddler and a beautiful harpist. Then we were taken down to the dining hall for dinner. Do bring an appetite! There was enough food, wine and mead for an army. It began with a wonderful bowl of soup, then a plate of pork ribs, then roasted chicken and vegetables and finally a dessert. The entertainment was fun and good natured. If you are a cynic or a grouch, you will not enjoy this evening, but, if you enjoy clean jokes and good music, you will have a great time.

This castle was built in 1425. It's the most complete and autenthic Mediaevil Castle in Ireland. It has been plundered on many occasions and has been restored in the 50s to it orginal slendour. Mediaeval banquets are held here as well.

Adjacent is the Bunratty Folk Park. It's rather commercialized but still worth visiting ( if you don't mind all the coaches, I guess). The folk park will give you a nice outlook on rural and urban lifeat the end of the 19th Century in Ireland at .

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We really wanted to attend a Medieval or Irish evening here at the castle, but nothing was on offer for the two nights that we were in the area. A lovely place to visit, but remember that it is not only the castle, they also have the open air museum with homes from the various parts of Ireland etc that you can see. So allow at least 4 -5 hours visiting time when you come here.

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The Castle, last of a series on the same site, was built around 1425. During the 16th and 17th centuries it was an important stronghold of the O’Briens - Kings and later Earls of Thomond (North Munster). The Castle was restored in the early 1960's and is considered the best example of its type.

The Castle holds a twice-nightly Banquet. We thought it was going to be rather cheesy - kinda like Medieval Times - but we were happily mistaken! We entered the castle and were greeted by costumed "Ladies of the Castle" serving a delicious mead. Beware - that sweet drink will sneak up on you! We listened to the musicians in the great hall before we were lead into the dining hall. The rest of the evening we listened to wonderful music and beautiful voices lifted in song. I especially loved when they would sing in Gaelic.

The food was delicious and plentiful. On the expensive side, but we thought it was worth it for the experience of dining in an authentic castle. Others may classify this as a tourist trap, but I would file it under "must do at least once".

We didnt go inside Bunratty Castle. I know it does a banquet in the evening, which to me seemed a little overpriced for what it offered, or atleast cost more than what we would want to pay :) So we just stopped to take a picture and carried on our way to Limerick.

Both the castle and the park are, without any doubt, worth a visit. Entering the castle is a step into the past and gives you a precise idea how the 16th century life in the castle must have been. Visitors are admitted into 14 rooms of the castle. Most impressive are the private apartment of the Earl and his family, the Earl's kitchen, the main guard and last but not least the great hall. In this great hall medieval banquets are still held twice every evening (at 17h30 and 20h45) These are very popular and need to be booked in advance.

Bunratty Folk Park is a reconstruction of the homes and environment of Ireland in the 19th century. The main village street consists of very charming shops, pubs and houses, furnished as they would have appeared at that time. Some of them are still 'inhabited' by villagers who gladly demonstrate how life and work was organised. If you are lucky enough, you will be able to taste some freshly baked pie or other home made products (Cahill's Grocery), feed the pigs (Golden Vale Farmhouse) or have yourself photographed in a 19th century costume and setting.

Bunratty Castle was one of my wife's favorited, because the inside of it still looked like someone could live there. Reproductions of the rooms and their furniture, as well as a village through time outside makes this one of the better castles in Ireland. Seeing the furniture is better than imagining it, I suppose.

As one of the larger tourist attractions, it can get crowded, but at least it is well signposted and easy to find off of one of the larger motorways.

We attended a Traditional Irish Night at the Corn Barn at Bunratty Castle in County Clare. There is traditional music which is played all during the meal. Emma, shown in the photo, sang ballads which were beautiful. They serve traditional food such as Irish stew made with lamb, potatoes, carrots, onions and celery. It's served with jugs of red and white wine by girls in medieval costumes. I didn't think the food was very good, especially the Irish stew, but the entertainment was wonderful. After the meal, there was Irish comedy, then more songs and then dancers. One of the dances was done in a gorgeous costume based on designs from the Book of Kells. Another dance was the story of immigrants leaving Ireland. They danced in coats and shawls. Then the dancers selected men from the audience to come up and dance which was quite funny. The Masters of Ceremony told one fellow, "Don't give up your day job!". They came around and took your photo with the girls in the costumes. All in all, it was a fun evening.