Craggaunowen–a reenactment village

After breakfast, we took our lives into our hands and ventured toward Craggaunowen, a Celtic reenactment village. We were introduced to the most narrow roads I’ve ever seen in my life. Barely one-and-a-half cars wide, we drove with a stone wall to our left and oncoming cars to the right. My hands were gripping the seat the entire time. Not to mention that the roads weren’t marked. I didn’t have a clue which road we were on, but we valiantly followed the little brown tourist attraction signs to Craggaunowen. I was a bit nervous about it, since the tour book called it overrated. I knew I needed the research for my Irish medievals (and I’d like to try an ancient Celtic book, too), so I dragged the men there.

Alright–fair warning. I’m going to go into a lot of detail on Craggaunowen over the next few days because I personally thought it was the coolest place ever. It was exactly what I’d hoped for. Today, I’ll talk about the tower house.

Most Irish tower houses were owned by either a chieftain, petty king, or an Anglo-Norman invader who decided to set up house. In your mind, picture a townhouse-sized castle, and that’s what they are. This particular tower house was built in the 16th century. Most tower houses were from the later medieval period, along with stone castles. Before that, the Irish used ring forts. They did have earth and timber structures similar to castles, however. When the Normans invaded in 1169 and brought over their castle architecture, the Irish eventually copied them and tower houses evolved from then on.

The tower house at Craggaunowen sits atop a hill, and it’s covered with blackberry bushes, ivy, and underbrush. When you walk in the main entrance (which would have had a large wooden door), tortoise shells about the size of a shield were mounted on the wall as decoration. The furnishings were not at all what I pictured. For example, these were the types of chairs used. The furnishings were fairly sparse (and likely all brought in to give it flavor, rather than the originals), but they were 16th century pieces.

This one is an example of a lord’s chair.

Remember the bride’s chest I told you about at Bunratty? Here is an example of that from Craggaunowen. The inlaid wood carvings were so intricate. I can imagine how it would take a carver 12-13 years to finish such a piece for a woman’s dowry.

I also saw numerous examples of weaving and naturally-dyed wool. In the common chair picture shown above, you can see a small hand loom they would have used, and here is a basket of some of the materials.

Another fascinating part of the tower house was looking at where people slept. Like Bunratty, the stairs were incredibly treacherous. They were made of stone and wound in a spiral, straight up. The common folk, would have slept on the floor, on a pallet. In my mind, I think I held a more romantic view of a pallet, rather than the reality shown here. The straw mattress is covered in burlap. The Irish learned (the hard way) to sleep in a seated position rather than lying flat. Superstition has it that demons could steal your soul while you slept. In reality, many were sleeping not far from a fireplace, and in the winter time, they would seal off the windows and cover the doors to keep in the heat. Sealed area plus a fireplace = carbon monoxide poisoning. Those who slept upright tended to get more fresh air and subsequently lived.

Last, here’s an example of the lord’s bed. He may have slept partially sitting up, but people were of shorter stature then. If I were sleeping in a bed that small, I’d roll over and knock my husband to the opposite side of the room. It’s barely wider than a twin bed. But I suppose if you compare it to a pallet, it’s fairly luxurious!

Tomorrow–a visit to a crannog, an artificial island!