Limerick

Guide Limerick; King John's Castle; Swords, Battles and Feisty Women

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• published: 09 Dec 2013
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Take our walking guide to King Johns Castle Limerick and meet the merry blacksmith, strong knight, rebel woman, rebel soldier and more.. Transcription: So behind me is King John's castle and it's a major asset to Limerick city because it has 800 years of history in these walls. It marks the site where the Vikings first came. And they used this area to pillage the whole countryside. They went to all the religious settlements and they wreaked havoc in this area. And then they were overtaken by the other Vikings, the Dublin Vikings. And then eventually the Normans came along around the 12th century. And in 1200 the Lord of Limerick, his name was John, he decided to build this castle and that's where it got its name We're going to be exploring what happened then and after that when we go inside this beautiful piece of history. So, what's your name? Igor Sparks is my name. I'm the village blacksmith here. In King John's Castle. Here we are. And so blacksmithing would have been important back then ....Well t'was very important if you wanted to go into battle and have a good old sword like. Because if you went in with a very bad sword, your sword could crack. You could be stabbed to death. Okay. So it was my job to make sure they got a good quality sword. So this would have been a typical helmet. It's Viking times. Viking Times. Right. Like that idea about the horns coming out of it, that's only Hollywood. I thought you said normal, Normans. I'm not good at the names either. That's if you're on horseback. It's not easy to see there. No its not. So they have a little padding in it. Can you see? Your hair is in the way. My hair is in the way. You're not allowed have long hair in the Norman days. No, t'would be all tied back. So you'd have your sword. And you'd be fighting away. And you'd be stabbing. Like they used to stop. You couldn't really chop his head off with this. You'd do stabbing with it, like. Stabbing in the arms. Till the blood came out. I don't think I'd be able to stab anyone with this on my head. No, you wouldn't. You'd need the Viking one probably. Yeah. I think I prefer the Viking style. Yes. Feels pretty safe though Yes, it is. Not easy to walk around if you're scared, you know. Still, if I was going to the shop now late at night and I was wearing one of these, they'd be afraid to come after me. True. Or one of these as well. Now if you were caught. Do you see that big round building over there. Don't know if I can point it to you. That was the mint. That's where they made their money years ago. They were so poor that time they used to shave little bits of the coins to make their own money and they'd bring it to the forge here and I'd melt it down. Do you know? Well what would happen is, if you were caught doing that, right, your arm was cut off if you were a man. Wow. And your arm was cut off if you were a woman. But if you were a man, you were brought up here as well and they'd heat up these hot tongs here. And the family jewels of a man would be removed with these. They'd be snipped off. God. Yeah. I hate telling that story but I have to tell the truth as well like. There's no point in painting it as a romantic age. Not to get caught. I wonder would it work today? Hi Simon, could you tell us your role here? I'm portraying a Norman Knight and I talk and interact with the visitors. Behind me is my campaign tent which is typical of where a Norman soldier of high rank and status would have pitched tent, maybe drawn maps, planned battle, planned strategies for the day. So my name is Conor and a 1642 Siege soldier. I'm here defending the castle walls during the sieges of Limerick in the 1640s. I'm Ailish and I'm a siege woman during the 1642 siege. And during the siege the women were remembered for fighting alongside the men but not in the conventional way. We would have gotten big stones or rocks and boiling water and boiling oil and we would have made our way up to the castle walls and thrown it down at people. We were pretty feisty. The English won in the end. Cromwell and his armies eventually conquered Ireland and the English authority and the crown was fully restored to a certain extent. So, with a thousand years of history behind us, its good bye from King John's Castle.