Things to Do: King John's Castle
Dec. 4th, 2007 09:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellefliesLimerick, Ireland is not what I would call a happening tourist destination. It’s very much a working city: rough around the edges and not at all pretentious. I’ve spent many a layover prowling its streets and shops and trying not to get wet from the downpours that seem to be a fact of Irish life. This trip I did something different, I visited King John’s Castle.
King John’s Castle, happily located on King’s Island overlooking the River Shannon, is a Medieval 13th Century Castle built on the orders of King John and bearing his name (although the Castles’ namesake never stopped by). Like most great structures in a prime location the castle was built on top of a much older Viking settlement, the ruins of which can still be seen beneath the Castle.
The Castle has been an integral part of the city since it was built. Any historical event that affected Limerick affected the Castle and vice versa. I won’t go into the nitty-gritty details, as that would take far too long and probably end up being far to boring: but the basic gist was that as an important fortification in Ireland it was a coveted possession for any invading army, or defending army.
The museum attached to the castle does an admirable job of presenting the Castles’ history, and by proxy: the history of Limerick, in a clear and concise manner: with an added helping of cheese at times. The history is laid out in maps, artwork, carvings, artifacts and my favorite of all: multimedia presentations. Most particularly a video account of the various sieges the Castle underwent during the 17th Century.
I’ve found that most museum video presentations are either very slick or very cheesy. This video fell firmly on the side of cheesy and wouldn’t know the meaning of the word “slick” if it sashayed up and smacked it. Besides a few “sieges” carried out by Irish schoolchildren during the course of the film I was left alone to enjoy the film by myself. Actors, pretending to be historical figures involved in the Siege of Limerick, presented the material and did so with great gusto and seriousness. I particularly loved the French soldier being cradled by a Doctor as his commanding officers talked about historical events above him: completely unmoved when he finally “died.”
The best part of King John’s Castle is not the museum or the multimedia presentations. The best part is wandering the grounds and climbing up stairs to walk along the walls and look out over the River Shannon from its turrets. The river flows beside it, sedate and grey and it’s easy to see why this was such a coveted spot. The beauty of the Castle isn’t in the museum: it’s in the stones itself and the history it embodies. Just be sure to ignore the creepy mannequins set up in different places to provide context and educational insight into the history of the castle. Personally I think they could do without trying to turn King John’s Castle into a weird version of a Renaissance Fair staffed by dummies.
For more photos from Ireland, please visit my Flickr site. For some reason I update more there then I do here.
King John’s Castle, happily located on King’s Island overlooking the River Shannon, is a Medieval 13th Century Castle built on the orders of King John and bearing his name (although the Castles’ namesake never stopped by). Like most great structures in a prime location the castle was built on top of a much older Viking settlement, the ruins of which can still be seen beneath the Castle.
The Castle has been an integral part of the city since it was built. Any historical event that affected Limerick affected the Castle and vice versa. I won’t go into the nitty-gritty details, as that would take far too long and probably end up being far to boring: but the basic gist was that as an important fortification in Ireland it was a coveted possession for any invading army, or defending army.
The museum attached to the castle does an admirable job of presenting the Castles’ history, and by proxy: the history of Limerick, in a clear and concise manner: with an added helping of cheese at times. The history is laid out in maps, artwork, carvings, artifacts and my favorite of all: multimedia presentations. Most particularly a video account of the various sieges the Castle underwent during the 17th Century.
I’ve found that most museum video presentations are either very slick or very cheesy. This video fell firmly on the side of cheesy and wouldn’t know the meaning of the word “slick” if it sashayed up and smacked it. Besides a few “sieges” carried out by Irish schoolchildren during the course of the film I was left alone to enjoy the film by myself. Actors, pretending to be historical figures involved in the Siege of Limerick, presented the material and did so with great gusto and seriousness. I particularly loved the French soldier being cradled by a Doctor as his commanding officers talked about historical events above him: completely unmoved when he finally “died.”
The best part of King John’s Castle is not the museum or the multimedia presentations. The best part is wandering the grounds and climbing up stairs to walk along the walls and look out over the River Shannon from its turrets. The river flows beside it, sedate and grey and it’s easy to see why this was such a coveted spot. The beauty of the Castle isn’t in the museum: it’s in the stones itself and the history it embodies. Just be sure to ignore the creepy mannequins set up in different places to provide context and educational insight into the history of the castle. Personally I think they could do without trying to turn King John’s Castle into a weird version of a Renaissance Fair staffed by dummies.
For more photos from Ireland, please visit my Flickr site. For some reason I update more there then I do here.
