Little Caroline Travels The Big World: Exploring Dunamase Castle

The last stop on the Paddy Wagon Tour was to Dunamase Castle, which is located in county Laois. It wasn't a long drive from the Rock of Cashel to Dunamase Castle.

A structure, of some form, existed before 843 AD because in that year Vikings plundered the castle and killed the abbot of Terryglass.

When Normans arrived in Ireland during the 12th century, the structure grew to what we would call a castle and included the great hall and a gate tower. During this time, it is believed that Strongbow inherited the castle and was even married there.

There is evidence to suggest that by 1350, the castle was not being used and that is when it started to go into decay.

Our guide told us that there was not too much to see up at the castle, so once we were done, we would head back to Dublin.

We parked off to the side of the road, where there was a small church. We had a short walk up the hill to the castle.

If I have learned one thing from this experience in Ireland, is that I am a fast walker. I noticed the Italian couple was walking slowly and I didn't want to make them feel as if they needed to rush. So, I just walked very slowly and took many pictures! It was actually nice to walk at a slow pace. I was able to enjoy everything; able to explore every nook and cranny. At one point the Italian couple was in front of me! haha!

Though most of the castle is in ruins, it is a great place to explore! There is a path that circles around the castle and at many points there are places where you can go inside the castle.

I was surprised that we were the only ones at the castle. It doesn't cost anything to enter. What made me really enjoy the castle was the thought that if I lived in the area, I know my dad would take my sister, brother and me to this site every weekend to explore. When I was younger, my dad would take me to this fort by the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco every weekend. Though I had been there multiple times, every time there was some thing new to explore. And exploring never gets old. So I was surprised that there were no Irish families when we were there. Grant it, it was later in the day.

After our exploring was done, it was a short ride back into the busy life of Dublin. It is so nice to escape from the busy, city life.