Let Us Hear from You…….. about Castles

We know there are special castles out there so let us hear from you about one.   Even if you are in the United States tell us about a different one.  We can look them up on the internet but we think it’s a lot more fun to have someone write on our blog about the castle and what makes it special to them.

You can’t add your own pictures in a comment but send Mrs. Todd a picture and she will add it to the site so everyone can see your castles.

 

Do you know the parts of a castle?  Have you read about different castles in books you’ve been reading?  You can even tell us about one of these if you don’t have a real one to write about.

 

 

7 thoughts on “Let Us Hear from You…….. about Castles

  1. There used be three castles in Greystones, County Wicklow, Ireland where we live.

    Now there are two ruins and some evidence that the third castle once existed.

    Let us tell you about our castles.

    1. The first one is Rathdown Castle

    The very first visitors to Greystones, came during the Stone Age. They didn’t stay where our town is today, but instead they stayed at a place now called Rathdown, just to the north.

    We think these early settlers chose to live north of Greystones because

    – it was more sheltered.

    – There were the advantages of living beside the sea and

    – having a fresh water spring nearby.

    – Woodland birds and animals could have been a source of food.

    Unlike ourselves, these early residents couldn’t afford to be too choosy.

    King Heremon during the Bronze Age came and built a fortification

    in this comfortable and convenient spot in 1699BC.

    Rath means fort in Irish. This is where Rathdown gets its name.

    The Normans built a proper castle at Rathdown soon after they arrived.

    But the wild Wicklow tribes, the O’Byrnes and O’Tooles burnt down the castle in 1301.

    But it was rebuilt again from 1308 under other Norman families.

    In 1534, a castle, 20 houses, a watermill and a creek was recorded at Rathdown.

    In the 19th century a crazy landowner started dismantling the castle to make walls and sheds on his farm. His name was Colonel Tarrant and he has a lot to answer for, as he destroyed our heritage.

    Finally the last stones of the castle were used to make a railway bridge in the 1850s.

    2. Kindlestown Castle:

    About fifty years before Rathdown Castle was built, Kindlestown Castle was built

    sometime around 1225. In 1377 the wild O’Byrnes captured the castle.

    It was taken back and in 1402 the O’Byrnes tried to capture the castle again

    but were defeated.

    3. Killincarrig Castle

    Killincarrig Castle was a manor house built slightly later again, about 1620. This manor seemed a popular place for both military and rebels to stay over the centuries.

    During the Eleven Years War (1641-1653) the castle became a stronghold by the Catholic Confederates.

    After that in 1649, Oliver Cromwell spent a night there and posted some troops there while he went south in search of his horse which had been stolen by the Irish rebels.

    Later in history, during the 1798 rebellion, the Irish rebels hid there after to avoid getting caught! Some of us have visited this ruin. It is in a lady’s back garden and is a protected structure.

    Evidence of Killincarrig’s past has been found such as old muskets, pistol balls, gunpowder measures and other such equipment which were found in and around the castle.

    We think we are lucky to live in a place that has such a rich history. However we are glad that all the war and fighting are over.

    • That you so much for your wonderful information. Sounds like a lot of wars in that area. You are very lucky to have such a rich history. Can you tell us a little more about your location? We are not familiar with your area. Is it near any other countries, close to a mountain or foot of the mountain (Piedmont it’s called here) or near a large city or in the country? What do people do in your area for work? We love learning about other schools, places and people! We’ll look at google maps to see if we find you next time we meet. We only come to this class once a week for 40 minutes. It’s one of our specials/related arts classes. The others are music, art, PE and media (library). Global Studies/Technology is fun. Are you able to Skype?

      We also have another question… Is it always green there? We see lots of pictures and everything is so green.

  2. Hello Roadrunners,

    Rumour has it you are not only interested in castles (yes, I have some photos of U.K. castles in my collection after a visit in 2010), I have heard you are interested in Outback Australia. I am starting writing a post about Outback Australia and will let you know when it is done, hopefully within a week.

    Ross Mannell
    Teacher (retired), N.S.W., Australia

  3. Hello Roadrunners,

    Thank you for sharing some questions on my Outback Australia post. I ahve given some answers for you in the post’s comment…
    http://rossmannellcomments.edublogs.org/2015/03/24/outback-australia/

    I have also posted the second part as promised. It’s entitled “Schools, Sheep and Cattle” and ahres information about School of the Air, outback school as well as sheep and cattle stations…
    http://rossmannellcomments.edublogs.org/2015/04/01/schools-sheep-and-cattle/

    Ross Mannell
    Teacher (retired), N.S.W., Australia

  4. Dear Roadrunners and Mrs. Todd,

    There was a lot of battles in our history from the time of the Vikings on. We were part of the United Kingdom for a number of centuries. The rebels used hide in the Wicklow Hills. So they could not hide in the forests, the trees were cut down. Great roads were built in out of the way and mountainous areas so that the soldiers could travel quickly when chasing the rebels. Luckily it is a very peaceful area now.

    Wicklow is on the East Coast of Ireland. Ireland is to the East of Great Britain. We are an island to the East of Europe.

    Wicklow is 27 kilometres (17 miles) to the south of Ireland’s capital city: Dublin. Greystones where we live is a small town. The area has a population of about 20,000 people. It is an urban area but it is more rural nearby.

    Many people travel into work in Dublin on the train. They work in shops and offices. They might work for the government or in technology. Greystones is a place that tourists come to. They like to get the train as far as Bray and walk the six kilometres along the cliff. When they reach Greystones they usually are hungry so we have a large number of restaurants and coffee shops in the town.

    Our country is very green. We are proud of that. We don’t really notice it until we go travelling to other places and then we realise how green Ireland is. Our visitors and tourists are usually amazed at how green our country is.

    In North Carolina, how do people earn their living?

    We will put some more information and some pictures up on our blog really soon.

    With every good wish

    Merry’s Class.

    • People work in offices, banks, factories, teaching (college and public/private schools)- education, doctors, veterinarians, nurses (hospitals and doctor offices), dentist, transportation, some areas have agriculture.

      Mrs. Todd’s Roadrunners

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