Dalky Castle: A Nightmare

Italians students climbing their way up the castle.

Bow and arrow.

Punishment in Medieval times.

Cart of some sort.

The town of Dalky.

Window in the castle.

Food in Medieval times.

Cemetery

The ocean!

Beautiful day!

Map of Dalky town during Medieval times.

In the cemetery.

The Italian students listening to a "dead" person.

Inside small chapel in the cemetery.

Chapel in cemetery.

Medieval doctor curing one of the Italian students.

To say that today was a horrible day, would be an understatement.

Liam, Geradline and myself took a large group of Italian students to Dalky Castle.

I knew nothing about this trip and had to ask my boss for more information. Dalky Castle is 30 minutes outside of Dublin. It surprised me that we could go that far with the students for just an afternoon trip.

We split the group into three smaller groups. We then took our groups to the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) Station. That was the easy part.

Geradline was the first to get to the station and I was the second. We had to wait for Liam because he had all the money to pay for the tickets. The teachers really didn't like this. They were really concerned about the time and I would be too if I was them. Our appointment time was for 3:45 pm and there was no way we would make that on time. It takes forever to get into town and now we had a 25 minute DART ride and then a walk to get to the castle.

The teachers became furious that Liam was running "late". When he did come they all yelled at him. I could not believe it. Liam handled it very well. He basically said that they had to talk to Aoife about it. Aoife was the one who organized the trip; we, as activity leaders, just do what we are told. I felt so sorry for Liam! I wanted to say something to help him out because I know what it is like to get yelled at and no one is there to stand with you. But I didn't. I then thought that if I did jump in, I would probably say something and just add fuel to the fire.

Liam, Geradline and I got the tickets for the group and we loaded onto the DART. I was glad that we were all in the same area so I knew when to get off.

I really liked the DART ride because I saw the ocean! They have a beach! I was so glad to finally see the ocean!

Geradline also pointed out a very posh area near Dublin. It was called Blackrock and was around 15 minutes outside of Dublin. It was by the beach as well.

When we got to our stop we got everyone off the DART. The next step was to find where the castle was. None of us activity leaders knew where to go, so Geradline asked a man on the street and he said that we just had to keep walking straight and we could come to it. Don't know why our boss could not just tell us that.

To get to the castle, we had to walk through a small town. The town was really cute and still had its Medieval influence. Though the town was really cute, I would not want to live there. There seemed to be not much to do and I am more of a city girl anyways.

We were half an hour late to our appointment and the ladies that worked at the castle were not happy about this. They were 4 older ladies that were "helping" us. They were very short with us and I didn't like that, so I was short with them. They were barking at me all this crap and I eventually just said where do you want the students.

The students piled into this large room to start the tour. Liam, Geradline and I didn't want to join the students on this trip. We were fed up with the whole situation, but we ended up going on the tour anyways.

Dalky Castle is a very small "castle". I would not really classify it has a castle. It is more like one of the towers of the original castle survived, and they have turned it into a heritage center. The outside might date back to the Medieval ages, but the interior is all modern, which is kind of sad.

Our group took a tour of the castle. In each room there was an actor who told us some information about Medieval times. For example, the first room we went into, the actor pretended to be a worker who was an archer and prepared food and other items around the castle. I learned that they had different types of arrow heads to use in battle. One was made to harm a horse, but not kill it because horses were very valuable. He also told us that they would have a plate and on the plate were two holes where salt and pepper were stored in. The actor also told us how to make mead.

Next, we headed to the graveyard where a "dead" woman told us about social life in Medieval times. She asked the girls in our group if they were looking for a husband and was "shocked" when they all replied no. She even taught us a simple Medieval dance.

The tour ended with an actor doctor telling us how to cure certain aches and other aliments. I am so glad that I did not live back then! I would not want to be put under the knife with nothing to take the pain away! What I found most interesting was that they would reuse the same towels for surgery. To let them dry, they would put the white cloth, stained with blood, on a wooden pole. The wind would wrap the white and red cloth around the pole. Eventually the pole was red and white. This is where the barber shop pole originated. Usually barbers were also surgeons back in those times.

I really didn't like the tour. I hate dramatized tours. I just want facts, not lame acting. The tour was only an hour and it was so not worth the money and all the hassle that we had to put up with from the teachers.

After the tour we had to leave to get back to the center. I really had to go to the bathroom and Geradline said that I could stay behind with the other girls that needed to go to the bathroom and we would be able to catch up with the rest of the group. Funny thing was, when we were all done the group still hadn't left.

Geradline and I told the group that we were leaving, but no one was moving. I looked at Geradline, who was trying to lead everyone, to see why no one was moving. Geradline was just as confused as I was.

I told everyone again that we were leaving and this time everyone started to move. As we continued to walk to the DART station, I noticed that Liam was ahead of us with a group.

We got to the DART station and just when our tram was pulling up, we see the half of our group is just getting to the station and making their way over to our side of the tracks. Where did they come from? I was the last person to leave the castle and even Gerdaline waited for the stragglers. How were they not with us? We almost missed our tram because of them.

I had enough of this group. After they yelled at Liam, I lost a lot of respect for them.

When we finally got back to the college I was so glad to get rid of my group!

I would not recommend Dalky Castle as a tourists destination. If you have young children, then it would be a great way to learn about Medieval history, but if you are older, then it is really not that great. Instead, take the tram and get off at the beach!