Tag Archives: Castle

Jan22

A trip into legend – The Cave of the Cats in Rathcrogan, and the origin of Samhain (Halloween)

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Thursday, 24-October-2024

It’s pronounced “Sell-Win”, by the way. Not “Sam-Hay-ne”.

I learned that pretty quickly, as we drove out into the Irish countryside, on our mission to find the roots of Halloween, buried beneath the earth of the Emerald Isle. I was on the road with my friends Brian and Megan, heading West toward the midlands of Ireland, enjoying the quiet and good conversation as the highway passed beneath the wheels of our rental car.

Megan had invited us out to explore the Cave of the Cats, or Oweynagat Cave in its native Irish, in the town of Rathcrogan. She’d first heard about it years back, when she was first getting interested in Ireland, as the origin of Halloween – according to myth, this cave was where the spirits of the otherworld would enter ours one evening per year. That evening, people would stay indoors, or dress up to avoid being taken captive and dragged back underground to the otherworld… an evening that evolved over time into what we call Halloween.

It was an excellent adventure – I can’t say that we passed into the otherworld, or that we did battle with any ancient spirits… but we did get an excellent tour of the land, heard stories about its history, and even had the chance to step foot into the cave itself. We didn’t go particularly deep, of course, as who knows how long it could have taken us to get out…

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On the way out, we stopped in for lunch, and a bit of exploration, in a town called Roscommon. We grabbed a bite to eat, explored Roscommon castle, and I even flew the drone around a bit!

Nothing of major note, but definitely one of the fun parts of Ireland – being able to stop into small towns, tour a castle, and then get back on the road. Good times!

Rathcrogan itself found us stopped at the visitor’s center, meeting our tour guide, and then descending into history and myth of Samhain. Our guide was absolutely amazing – as the guy who literally wrote the book on the area (we definitively got copies), he regaled us with myth and story from all across Ireland, focused on those tied in with the cave that we were exploring. We listened, absorbed, learned, and let ourselves be transported back in time… to the days of Celtic heroes and monsters.



Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathcroghan#Oweynagat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathcroghan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain

Aug2

Belvedere Castle – Schloss Belvedere

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Wednesday, 03-July-2024


Yesterday, I’d had the opportunity to wander the gardens of Belvedere Castle – enjoying the views, the air, and the lovely sounds of the water features burbling away.

Today, I wanted to tour the castle itself.


I’ll admit that, after the emotional tribulation of the Vienna Museum, I was feeling a bit overstimulated and burnt out. Cafe Central had helped, since chocolates and hazelnuts always help, but… well, sweets and lattes could only carry the day so much.

They did give me the energy to forge onward, though, and so onward I forged into the heart of the castle. Perusing art, history, paintings and carvings. Modern and ancient, from the exhibit on the top floor dedicated to contemporary art to the tiny crucifix from the 12th century that is the oldest piece in the collection…

It was neat, but honestly not that much of a standout of a gallery. I enjoyed it, to be sure, but… Well, I’d go back to the Art History museum, or Natural History museum, in a heartbeat. But the Belvedere Castle… I think I’m good on, now.

Mar21

Christmas and New Years break, 2016 into 2017: Dunnotter Castle

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Christmas and New Years break, 2016 into 2017: Dunnotter Castle

Starting 2017 off historically – by exploring Dunnotter Castle!

Sunday, 01-Jan-2017

Dunnotter Castle. We’d learned about it back at Edinburgh Castle, since Dunnotter had protected the Scottish crown jewels against a siege by the English. And I’d seen it before as well, from Henry’s rather epic pictures that he’d taken before Sarah and I had arrived.

But getting to see it in person… This castle is straight out of Game of Thrones. It sits perched on a cliff, right up against the North Sea. The only approach is a thin causeway of dirt, leading up to a sheer fortified wall in the rock.

Unfortunately, it was fortified against us too. New Years Day isn’t a day to go sightseeing, we learned, since most locations are closed for the day. And if the castle could hold out against an entire English siege, it sure could hold out against our merry little band.

So we explored around the castle. We didn’t really have any rush for the day… everyone had slept in, thanks to the revels of the previous night, and no one was feeling particularly energetic. We’d made plans for an adventure the next day, of course, so New Years Day was our day to relax and enjoy ourselves.

So we explored. Dipped our toes in the North Sea. Scrambled around the cliffs, and slipped and slid on the mud and grass. I even got a short geology lesson from Sarah and Greta, learning about the rocks around the coast, and some of the geologic history of the area. Interspersed with finding really cool stones on the beach, of course.

The rest of the day kept to the tradition – relaxing and low key. Us kids made a gingerbread house, we had an excellent dinner, and we watched a traditional Scottish movie (Brave… probably not so traditional in all honesty).