The amount of castles and fortresses dotting the Irish landscape is immense. Drive down just about any road, whether highway or backroad, and you are bound to see a few.
They are literally everywhere. Sticking up on private farm land, tucked into tree-covered corners, and literally two steps from the side of the road.
Rob and I stopped at just about every castle we could. Sure, by the end of our 9 days we were slightly castled-out, but it didn’t stop us from seeing as much as we could. After all, who knows when, or if, we will ever be back.
Almost every single one is explorable. Whether it’s through a guided (free or paid) tour, walking through on your own, or trespassing slightly on the farms.
Some are extremely well taken care of with immaculate gardens and interiors. While others have been left to the elements.
Our favorite? Muckruss House. Though technically an estate, we labeled it in our minds as a castle. We arrived just as the last tour was beginning and managed to get the last two tickets to join. Seeing the interior of such an extravagant, Irish-style castle was one of the highlights of our trip. I highly recommend it even if just to learn more about Irish family history and geography.
However you decide to explore the castles and fortresses of Ireland, do your best not to get stuck in the spiral staircases! Rob is a little too broad shouldered for some spaces, Irish castles included!
RQ: Have you ever explored a castle or fortress? Would you prefer to trespass a bit or pay to see one?
I’m Brooke Selb, a Personal Trainer and Health Coach specializing in helping busy moms and moms to be to easily juggle mom life with family friendly recipes, and easy exercise routines to help you achieve your fitness goals that fit in with your already busy life with sound nutritional advice.
Prior to visiting London this year I had never seen a castle before – they are incredible! I love learning the history behind them, however gory some of it may be!
Wow that spiral staircase is so narrow!! That’s crazy!
Sometimes the gory history is the part I like learning about best, just because I can’t believe that it actually happened!
Did you do a banquet at any of the castles? It was super touristy, but my friends and I did that when we were there and loved it! Ah-I love all the stone castles in Europe. And so many are easy to just hop in and explore. Fun-thanks for posting 🙂
No, we didn’t, but we heard they were awesome!
My fiance had the same problem ha! When we were there we even made the jump over walls into farm pastures to explore some castles and grave sites. Probably unwelcome, but we never got yelled at, and the sheep hardly moved.
There really isn’t anyone around to yell at all! It makes exploring so much fun.
I have been loving reading your recaps of Ireland. My dear friend is going there at the end of the month and I have been telling her about your posts! 🙂
Let me know if she needs any help planning her trip!