Monday 31st May

First off this morning we decided to go to Dalkey. There was a castle there which was a “living history” museum as well, and the leaflet made it look really quite interesting. We arrived at around 10:30am and strolled in, only to find out that a bus tour had only just gone in - 52 people!! We were told the next tour would take place at 11:45 which left us with just over an hour to play with. We walked around and found a café called “Idlewild Café”, Mathew had a large pot of tea while I had a hot chocolate - which I must add, was really very nice!

So, 11:30 came round and we strolled around back to Dalkey Castle, only this time we were told that they were running late and the next tour would actually be at 12:15. The lady was very apologetic and polite about it, and she gave us a leaflet for a little walk along the coast where we could go to see Dalkey Island. Why she hadn’t given us this the first time around, I have no idea…! But still, we thanked her and strolled off to the coast, the first part of which was dominated by posh houses with massive gates, obviously owned by very rich people who were greedy enough to want a view of the Island to themselves, and probably - I would imagine - a path at the bottom of the garden onto a secluded beach or a cliff or something similar. We continued onward until we found a little seating area and a viewpoint, where we finally saw Dalkey Island which looked quite nice. There were “ferries” or rather, small boats you could get from the mainland to the island, as we saw local posters and a boat already coming from the Island itself. We went on further down to a little park where we were rewarded with a very nice view of the Island and part of the wild looking coastline where we were. Whilst admiring the island, I said to Mathew that perhaps we could go to the Island if we couldn’t get onto the next tour at the Castle.

Looking at my watch it was just before 12noon and the next tour was in 15 minutes! I didn’t think we were going to get there in time, so we really power-walked it! This was one of the rare occasions that I walk as fast as I can to get somewhere in time for something, and I ignore the protests my legs make. This does not happen very often, usually when I am very determined to do something can I do this. Mathew was trailing behind me, despite having a longer stride and walking pretty fast himself he remained at least 10 metres behind me as I powered off past the viewpoint, the posh houses, up the hill, round the corner.

We arrived at Dalkey Castle at exactly 12:15 and third time lucky we managed to get tickets. Mathew had to top up the car parking ticket while I paid and went to sit in the area where the introductory DVD was being shown. Mathew joined me just before the DVD started, and we were told a brief Medieval History of the Castle. Then we awaited the arrival of our first Tudor character in costume which was a ghost. She asked where we were from and other questions like if we were attending the King’s Feast that evening. She took us through the graveyard and told us about the Yew tree and its use as a poison, and showed us her gravestone, and asked if we could figure out who killed her because she couldn’t remember. Everyone seemed to think her own husband killed her, especially after she told us that he married her sister soon after her death!

She then introduced us to her husband, the second costumed character who spoke to us in the same manner. He took us up to the second level of the Castle where he told us about the practice of medicine. There was a chair in which he said the patient would sit, and he started showing us some of the equipment used and what it was used for. Mathew ended up being the victim for a “urine sample” - of course he didn’t give a real one, to which out turn guide responded with “You don’t have much Sir, do you?”

And he moved on to me, asking me to show him my teeth. Of course, he thought I needed a tooth taking out, so I had to sit in the chair! Various instruments were waved at my face as he demonstrated which tools would have been used to take out a tooth, scrape out the bits in the gum, cauterise the wound and waved a bottle of cloves under my nose and said I would have had them to rub on my gums to relieve the pain. When he asked me for a couple of coins to pay for “two burly men to take me out of the chair”, I would have given him some loose change but I had none on me, so like everyone else I pretended to give some money to him to which he responded with “Hmm. You’re not a very profitable customer!”. He then asked another guy to sit in the chair as he demonstrated blood letting, addressing the guy as “Lord Evil Monkey” as he had exactly those words on his T-shirt (Those who know the TV series Family Guy will recognise this!)

Our last character was a bowman who spoke to us about the Tudor dining experience, the food which would have been eaten, where fleas were living on his body, how plates were cleaned with spit because the water was tainted with raw sewage, how clothes were cleaned with urine, and he passed his long-bow around, Mathew volunteering to draw it and impressing the tour guide who said he wouldn’t want to be in his way if he got angry! He took us up onto the tower and showed us how bowmen would have shot their arrows, and the difference of the power of an arrow if it were used on a long bow or a cross bow.

He took us all back down and asked us if we had figured out how the lady had been killed - we all still thought it was the husband, and it tuned out the bowman had accidentally shot her with an arrow when fighting invaders, and her husband, in giving her a potion made of yew bark or leaf to make her feel better, ended up killing her instead! All in all this was a very enjoyable place to visit, unfortunately we had to hang around a little, but if anyone else is thinking of visiting and has to wait for an hour, ask about the coastal walk and you’ll get a leaflet with a map and an hour will be plenty of time to go on the walk - which is very pleasant - and come back in time without having to rush. If the tour is delayed again like ours, go for a coffee nearby!

Next up we went to Powerscourt Gardens. We had a late lunch in the café before heading out to the gardens, which turned out to be very Italian in style and were really quite extensive. The place must have taken considerable landscaping skills, as there were walled gardens, a Japanese garden, and a very very large pond (among several small ones). There was even a little “Pepperpot Tower” which was said to have been built by the owner as a tribute to his actual pepper pot. Yes, he had a pepper pot he loved so much, he decided to build himself his own tower in the same shape. Hmmm. What’s going on there?!

The shops at Powerscourt were very small and cute, boutique in style and in the clothes department, very expensive. 120 Euros for a waterproof coat which wasn't from an outdoor specialist company - I don’t think so! It was nice…..but not THAT nice….! Included in this little arcade of shops was a clothes shop, book shop, an Irish souvenir shop, children’s toys and clothes shop, food shop and a perfume and soap shop. Before we left I decided to buy some Irish made soaps as souvenirs for a couple of family members and a friend, and we drove back home. We drove through Garristown to see if there were any nice looking place to eat, but it was a small place and had 2 pubs, one of which had a place for a menu outside, but there was nothing in it. There was a little supermarket however, so it was useful to know that was there. The went back to Ardcath for a nice cup of tea!

The same evening, I ended up falling down the staircase at our cottage - I just lost my footing, possibly because of smooth socks, smooth wood and long trousers. These steps - if I haven’t already explained - are unusual because they are half-steps and one-sided, they look a little like paddles. It’s a quirk of the cottage and if they had been normal steps, the entire staircase would not have fit into the room. These stairs are quite steep, so I suddenly stumbled a couple of steps down and fell the rest of the way, seeing the floor coming towards me as I missed the last 6 steps and landing at the bottom on my front. I was winded so I couldn’t speak properly as I landed, and Mathew was immediately over me asking me questions which I couldn’t answer until I got my breath back! I felt a stinging sensation in my right knee and hip, otherwise everything seemed fine. Mathew checked me over everywhere else until I was happy to turn onto my back, at which point Mathew helped me stand. My hip felt very sore, and there was a deep graze on it, probably from a small cable which I was coming down the stairs with, which promptly got dropped the minute I knew I was about to fall. The rest of the evening, Mathew and I were checking over everything making sure I wasn’t swelling up too badly.

Miraculously, my leg was moving absolutely fine, whilst the sorest part of me was up in the ribs on the right hand side, front and back. My right arm felt strange, but that was because I had landed more heavily on my right, arms outstretched to break the fall. I did not hit my head or anything else, it seemed I landed fairly flat on my front, and I think my arms may have taken the full force of it, which meant my ribs took in a lot of the shockwave. Pretty much straight away I was walking around just fine, although with a sore hip, sore knee and very sore ribs.

That night I slept on my back and partly on my left side which was more comfortable than I thought it was going to be, considering. I didn’t get much sleep possibly because I was still in shock about the fall and worrying about any swelling and possibly having to go to hospital the next morning. The rain didn’t help either - I usually like rain falling on the window at night, but it was raining pretty hard out there! I got some sleep but I have no idea how much I got.