Days 3 & 4 of our marvelous adventure - Birr Town - It seems to be all about the castle, but there's more

We stayed in Birr, County Offaly, Ireland for two nights so we would have time to make a couple of trips out to the countryside too. But I was weary from the start of a head cold and so I needed more rest and only had so much energy each day. We ended up skipping some things we wanted to do, but managed to make two stops I planned specifically for DH (more on that later).

The "big" draw in Birr is the castle. But before I talk about the castle, I have to mention that there was also a workhouse in Birr.*1 So someone was living very well within sight of people starving, entering the workhouse, and leaving the country on coffin ships. Nothing new - we found that in many places. And nothing changes really. Does it?

Oh, and another thing about Birr. In most of the places we visited, the castle is no longer occupied by the English "transplants." Many castles are owned by the Irish people now. They are operated as historic sites and help the local economy by providing jobs. But in Birr, the castle is owned by the Earl of Ross.  They have quite the operation. There are extensive grounds, tours of the castle and a "killer" tree house and playground. Yes, this also provides jobs for the local economy. Still, it smacks of the occupiers remaining long after they should have been thrown out.*2

Whatever, Birr Castle is amazing.*3 We played in the tree house. We walked the gardens. We toured the first floor of the castle. We examined the telescope. We walked until we could walk no longer and we wanted more time! [And we discovered more about the current residents since coming home. They are focusing on science, among other things, in trying to keep the castle and property together and functioning. The current Earl seems a nice quy.]

We also wandered over to the monastic ruins near the castle. And we found the local churches along the main road. Our B&B was a block from the Church of Ireland, two blocks from the Wesley Chapel and down the road from the Catholic Church. They were all locked on our after supper stroll. Now, be prepared to be confused (as I was)  - Birr claims both St. Brandan's Church of Ireland AND St. Brandan's Catholic Church. I suppose this may be because of the early monastic settlement in the area attributed to St. Brandan.

At the Catholic church and convent we found a priests' cemetery, a nun's cemetery, and a garden of contemplation...and some interesting monuments. [DH always says that I spend a little too much time in cemeteries, but I find them fascinating. And, I skip a few. In Birr alone there are also to be found Quaker and Presbyterian cemeteries as well.*4

Church of Ireland, St. Brendan's Church:

Site of the first automobile fatality - ever. Really.

St. Brendan's Church of Ireland. Built in 1815 and extended in 1876.

Weirdest sign ever? At St. Brendan's Church find the sign indicating the location of the first automobile fatality...look, I cannot make this up.

The victim? Poor Mary Ward.

Wesley Chapel:

We were just a block from the Wesley Chapel (read that Methodist Church) built in 1820. I have attended Methodist services in Ireland before (with the children in Dublin in 1997). There is a small (maybe 50,000), but active population of Methodists in this country.*5 And they are always very welcoming - as we find with all of the Irish.

It may not be the most imposing spot, but it has the simplicity we would expect.

 The wayside message? Don't Wait For A Stroke of Luck: Seize Your Present Opportunities.

I loved the spiked fence and the arched windows on this humble building.

The gate to the Wesley Chapel.

St. Brendan's Roman Catholic Church:

The church may have been locked, but the churchyard was open as was the Garden of Tranquility in the back. We were able to look around as we were starting to lose the light (remember, it was daylight from about 4 a.m. to 11 p.m.).

I loved the monuments to the sacristans (read that sexton) AND Michael May, a very holy man. 
 

The gate was open...

And I loved the latch.

It was quite the impressive spire with a clock. I am surprised at myself when I realize I never checked if any of these church or town clocks was telling the correct time.

This impressive monument stands just to the side of the walk to the Catholic church.

Of your charity pray for the soul of Ellen, the beloved wife of John O'Neill of Birr, by whom this cross is erected to her memory. She died 22nd October 1888 aged 54 years. R.I.P.

The side of this monument says, She died at the foot of the Mission Cross having received the last rites of the church. Her remains are interred in Kilcolman Grave Yard the burial place of her family. I have done a little research, but can find nothing more on this woman. I will likely keep looking.

The priests' graveyard.

Of your charity, pray for the eternal rest of the priests whose remains lie here awaiting the resurrection.

In your charity pray for the soul of John Mahon who died 15 November 1862 aged 87 years For more than 30 years he was the faithful and edifying sacristan of this church. Also for the soul of Michael May a very holy man who died 12 December 1847 aged 88 years

Of your charity pray for the soul of Patrick Vaughan who was for some years Sacristan of this church. He was most efficient and edifying in the discharge of his duties. He was respected by all for his sterling worth and unaffected piety. He died 5th April, 1888, aged 49 years. His remains are interred...

The sisters' cemetery behind the church/convent.

View from the Garden of Tranquility.

The Garden of Tranquility

There were stations of the cross plaques in the garden. This is Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.

A bloom drew our attention.

Then we saw the seeds and realized - yes, a clematis - cousin of the purple leatherflower and old man's beard. We find clematis in every place we visit, it seems.

There was no question it was a clematis.

Some of the plants were trimmed, but others a little wild.

A view from the "altar"

A view towards the back of the church.

I have totally forgotten what this was, but I suspect an entry into the garden.

OK. Now for Caesar - THE CASTLE:

I know you have been waiting for the castle.

You don't go in this gate...you walk down the street to another gate.

A welcome in boxwood (in both English and Irish) We had some time to waste before our castle tour and we didn't want to go too far...so we went to the playground.

One of the best treehouses I have seen. We arrived early - before the kids who were swarming as we left the castle property.

While I was taking pictures, DH was scrambling up the ladder. We both tried the slide, but only DH used the fireman's pole.

DH exploring.

We found the fairy house, but saw no fairies.

Time to go to the castle

Yes, there is a moat.

Plaque on gate at the castle: In Memory of William Conroy, aged 20 years, Patrick Cunningham, aged 22 years, Colum Kelly, aged 18 years, executed here 28th January 1923 following summary court marshal during the civil war, Rest In Peace. This stone erected on the eightieth anniversary of their deaths, 2003. *6

While we were told the motto for the House of Rosse says something like "For God and the Stars" (because of the family history of interest in astronomy),  I believe this gate says "For God and King"

I didn't really understand this little passage near the larger gate until I saw the original North Gate in the city wall at Fethard. I believe the small passage is for safe foot traffic leaving the larger gate for carriages and carts.

One view of the castle

During the tour we were shown a grandfather clock that is supposed to be haunted (it falls over when a family member dies - so it is now fastened to the wall), a secret passage, a brunch table (that is actually the table where the dead were laid out in the house), and a large chandelier or two. The music room is incredible. Then we were told about the ghost that haunts the place. [There have to be some hauntings, no?] She is a governess/servant who wanders the children's rooms. Only children see her. And one of the current live occupants has reported contacts.

From a slightly different angle, with wildflowers.

Some of the most impressive flowers.

A horse chestnut...looking for a little boy, running to touch the tree!

The telescope.

Another view of the telescope.

The grounds were beautiful.

After wandering the grounds for a while, we found the formal gardens.

I felt a little under-dressed here. I needed a flowing dress...

Of course, I love wallflowers more than anything, maybe.

Raindrops still cling to the petals of this wallflower.

Moving towards the greenhouse(s).

Daylilies

Inside the greenhouse were some interesting things...and I could see maybe 4 more greenhouses.

We had seen so many fuchsia all over Ireland...and here found some interesting hybrids.

I have no idea what this is.

Another hybrid Fuchsia.

Another "what is it"?

I have this in my garden.

Photo of the green house showing more beyond.

Back into the formal garden. I was impressed with the boxwood.

In one topiary I found a fairy house...no fairies at home.

More honeysuckle.

Pink on one side...

...and yellow on the other.

The gate to the formal garden.

We walked back into the park.

I loved that great swaths of wildflowers remained in places. Apparently there is one field that is never cut.

Bees.

Wildflowers on one side and perennial garden on the other in places.

A better view of the castle.

Poppies

Daylilies

Bees

A view of the castle from the riverside garden. We stopped to talk to the gardeners - only 2 full time gardeners and 3 part-time gardeners (and currently 2 summer interns).

The Camcor is a "spate" river. That means it is a river at the whim of the weather!

Waterfall

The oldest suspension bridge in Ireland (?) - a footbridge over the Camcor (no one may pass).

The Camcor and that wretched false rhubarb that is taking over.

Thistles and such.

And a butterfly.

DH waiting for me. He wore a hat. I got sunburn.

This fallen poplar tree was in competition for European tree of the year. It fell just before the award was announced.*7

The Camcor River.

I made DH stand next to this flower to show it was six feet tall.

I'm pretty sure this was a redbud tree or relative.

We saw this huge bird fly over...

And recognized it as a heron.

The path along the river.

And a few more photos from the town:

We took a couple of walks and saw some lovely and interesting things. There is more to Birr than we knew in planning and while we were there.

Look at this lovely place - very Georgian style (as was much of the neighborhood. I loved the honeysuckle vine.

The car park gate matches the one for the front walk.

There's always room for a shamrock or two.

Unobtrusive sidewalk signs directed pedestrians to the library and shopping. I missed them entirely, but DH was paying attention.

For some reason Declan Phelan's shop "Drapery" and "Footware" struck me as odd. However, after all the pub and mortician establishments we saw (apparently this was common in the old days) I shouldn't be surprised at much of anything.

This was where a poster of our new friend, John Spillane's poster stared out at us from a home.

A local shop decorated the "loading zone" with bubbles.

I believe this was our only "yarn bombing" of the trip.*8

Gorgeous color selection.

This door is missing its upper window.

Window intact, we need white paint here. Great door!

A sign of Birr's history as a market town is this street sign on a more modern house - Cornmarket Street.

If it was this dark, we were out entirely too late.

Ruins:

An early Christian monastic site*9 can be found near the castle. It is locked away (and the field was entirely too covered with high weeds to be tempted to hop over the wall (no poisonous snakes in Ireland, but there are ticks -with lime disease - and other crawlers we don't need).*10 Monastic heritage here in this area is important. St. Brandon founded a monastery here in the 6th century. It is believed there was an important scriptorium here (one of a group of scriptoria creating illuminated manuscripts, some of which survive in museums and other remain to be discovered*11).

Ruins with flowers

We kept flowers in our room.

NOTES:

*1The Workhouse - Our Australian friends now believe their ancestor may have been at the Birr workhouse. http://www.birrhistsoc.com/Workhouse.htm

*2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantations_of_Ireland

*3 The Castle - http://birrcastle.com/ AND
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pnvJGfkB6k (a great video about the castle).

*4 http://www.heritagetowns.com/birrhistory.shtml

*5 http://www.irishmethodist.org/history
         http://methodisthistoryireland.org/

*6 http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/ireland.html

*7 http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/european-tree-of-the-year-contender-blows-over-in-storms-1.1692428

*8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarn_bombing

*9 http://www.offalytourism.com/businessdirectory/birr

*10 I must admit that my sweet DH keeps me out of trouble by regularly calling out, "You cannot go in there. You will be trespassing. We don't know any lawyers here!" I do know a lawyer - soliciter in Ireland, but he was once my parish priest and I would have a hard time (at 60) to confess such stupidity.

*11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faddan_More_Psalter
              Also see - How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill [While criticized, the theme of
              education and enlightenment being safeguarded in monasteries has some credence.]

 This is a great video about Birr Castle -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pnvJGfkB6k