Bunratty Castle & Folk Park

Okay, and now we hit one of my favorite parts of our time in Ireland. (Photography wise, at least.) After staying an extra day at the Moher Lodge Farmhouse because we loved it so much, our plan was to head north for Galway and Achill Island. But during our stay at the Farmhouse, the wonderful owner told us we’d probably really like Bunratty Castle & Folk Park. This is an all day event, and I’m glad we saved it and didn’t try to cram it in on one of the other days. First there’s the castle to go in and browse and snap a hundred billion photos of, and then there’s an entire folk park (which we didn’t even explore fully)- an entire village recreated as it was in the 18th century. (And then as you go further down it merges into the early 19th century.) It was like heaven for me, though most of the time I really really wished I had brought a wide angle lens. (More on that later.) As we’re walking around we’re hearing a rooster crow non-stop, and this is how city girl/theater girl I am, I honestly thought it was a CD or something hooked up to speakers. But no. It was the real thing. There was a rooster just roaming around the entire park (I can’t even begin to explain how massive it is) with a hen never far from his side, cock a doodle doo-ing his little heart out.

   



   

Photographs 9 & 10 taken by Tom