King John's Castle

I have always had a keen interest in the history of Ireland and have visited many castle's around the country in the last few years but had not yet been to one in County Limerick. When I first heard about King John's Castle on a website my friend found http://www.limericktourist.com/details/king_johns_castle.shtml i was very interested as it was a beautiful 13th century Castle on King’s Island in the heart of medieval Limerick City and was easily accessed from the city centre. I decided during a week in september to stay down one weekend in college with my friend Steph to explore the castle. We set off from the university at 11a.m on the Saturday morning and arrived at King John's Castle at about 11.35a.m. It was a lovely sunny day which made the experience even more enjoyable. Admission to enter the castle was six euro and 65 cent for student's.

The Castle overlooks the majestic River Shannon offering wonderful views of Limerick City. King John’s Castle is divided into four areas. The first offers an informational, if not high quality, slide show of the history of the castle. The second area outlines the battles of the castle, including the Siege of Limerick in 1691. The third area is the castle courtyard showing the trades and traditions of the 16th century, including an interesting demonstration of coin making given by a real man in a period costume. The fourth area is the archaeological site, which exposes the earlier pre-Norman levels. I particularly enjoyed the visit to King John's castle as it was a self-guided tour. We were allowed to stroll around the castle at our ease and take in the beautiful scenery which was seen at the top of the castle. It is a relatively small castle but nevertheless, it was entertaining. There was a cool little movie about the castle and a talking King John statuette.

You can experience 800 years of history brought to life through song and music. The Music Of King John's Castle can be ordered online at the following website - http://www.steamboatmusic.net/index.php/vmchk/Five-Line-Music-Albums-/The-Music-of-King-John-s-Castle/Detailed-product-flyer.html for fourteen euro and four cent. It includes many old irish songs and is very easy to listen to. I would really recommend this C.D to anyone who has an interest for irish music.

Lisa Fahy (10138889)