The Ham Nomads

06 Jun 2014. <IE> Adare, & Rathkeale, Co. Limerick —

Adare Heritage Centre

Woke up bright and refreshed. Got ready, then drove down to the Adare Heritage Centre — all of 400 metres. Booked in for the 10am tour of Desmond Castle (yes, another Desmond!), then went in for a leisurely breakfast in the restaurant.

Susie's got the key of the door!

At 10am we were collected by Sandra, the tour guide, and all three of us boarded the bus out to the castle. The site is kept secure, and there is no parking nearby, so this is the best way to run things. Once again, a private tour, and we were able to simply chat with Sandra all the way round. She gave us the run-down on the castle, and its development over the years from when the early 13th century Norman castle replaced an earlier Irish ring-fort. Sandra is obviously in love with the castle, and regaled us with tales of a medieval banquet held there only last year, with everyone in medieval costume, and entertainment by musicians and by a jester who performed from the top of the castle walls in spite of his fear of heights!

The castle itself came into OPW hands in the 1970s, but was not developed in any way (other than for a basic clean-up) until a full archaeological survey was carried out. During this dig, in the inner moat, they found a partial skull and jawbone of a 20-year-old Norman male, identified as Norman by definitive grooving in the teeth.

River Maigue running by castle

Yew in courtyard

The development of the site included the reconstruction of the portcullis, making good of some of the walls, replacement of timber and limestone flooring to allow safe access, the construction of a light steel bridge to provide access into the inner keep where a drawbridge would have been, and the partial reconstruction - only the first few courses of stone — of some of the inner walls where the archaeologists had determined a wall had stood. This last is primarily to allow visitors an idea of the layout of the buildings. There is a moat about three sides of the outer wall, the fourth side being protected by the River Maigue (which would have been twice its present width at that time) and, as mentioned, an inner moat round the keep, now full of very healthy reeds. In the courtyard, there are two magnificent yews growing that are known to be over 500 years old.

Anyway, we enjoyed our sojourn at the castle, but after an hour we had to return to the Heritage Centre, where we took our leave from Sandra and went in to our usual coffee and scones!

Van 'in hospital'

Keyhole surgery?

Susie in the 'Waiting Room'

Next item on our agenda was a massive piece of housekeeping. The gas heating in the van has never functioned properly, the fridge cut out last night, there is a leak in the rear above the toilet — not a problem, as it is into a wet area, but still annoying. In a book we had picked up, the Caravan Camping & Motorhome Guide, Ireland 2014 we found an advert for Cara Motor Homes, near Limerick, so we made our way there. Actually, they are in Rathkeale (which we found using our GPS), slightly out from Adare (where we were!) on the road to Limerick. We got there in about 20 minutes, and they were most accommodating, particularly as we had just landed on their doorstep. They worked on the van for about 3 hours, resolved all the problems — but the leak only temporarily, as that job needed more time than they could find that day. After a temporary fix on the leak, we departed Cara Motor Homes, but with a booking to return on June 20 to have the leak finally resolved.

We then went to the Rathkeale Hotel for dinner, and asked them if we could park in their vast parking area overnight. Have we told you yet that the Irish are most friendly and accommodating? Camping here tonight, then towards Limerick and perhaps further north tomorrow — our plan is now to do our loop through Galway and the Conamarras, back to Limerick and to Rathkeale for our June 20 appointment, then across to Dublin.

Distance driven — today, 10 miles ( 16 km ); to date, 2,060 miles ( 3,316 km )