Sean Ryan playing the whistle Ireland has any number of castles and we could visit one or two everyday, if we were that obsessed. Portmna Castle and Priory in Co Galway has a typical Norman history of the clan Ricard de Burgh. It’s a fabulously grand manor house but with an extraordinary level of defences – great wall, sometimes double built, large gun emplacements, musket slits, iron grills and a machicolation overhang for defending the front door. As you might guess they were a hated and oppressive family that had to constantly defend themselves from local people. The 15th Earl was a classic absentee landlord, squeezing every penny from local tenant farmers and pissing it away with high living in London’s Belgravia.
Leap castle in Co Offaly was a totally different experience. The O'Carroll’s build the original stone castle in the 1300s, it was extended with additional wings in the 1600s and was burned down in 1922 during Ireland’s Civil War. It has the reputation of being the most haunted building in Europe but I’m sure there’s dispute about that claim. If you want to know more listen to a Radio 4 Excess Baggage programme made in 2004.
Sean Ryan bought the castle ruins in 1991 and renovated it sufficiently so he and his family now live there. He’s a great story teller as well as being a marvellous whistle player of international repute.
Leap castle in Co Offaly was a totally different experience. The O'Carroll’s build the original stone castle in the 1300s, it was extended with additional wings in the 1600s and was burned down in 1922 during Ireland’s Civil War. It has the reputation of being the most haunted building in Europe but I’m sure there’s dispute about that claim. If you want to know more listen to a Radio 4 Excess Baggage programme made in 2004.
Sean Ryan bought the castle ruins in 1991 and renovated it sufficiently so he and his family now live there. He’s a great story teller as well as being a marvellous whistle player of international repute.
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