Donegal Castle

           On the twenty third of March, we added to our list of places we have travelled to in order to obtain a better understanding of Ireland. This time, although we were still in the Republic of Ireland, we were in the northern county of Donegal exploring the Donegal Castle. Hugh O’Donnell, ruler of Tirconnell, built it in the fifteenth century. The O’Donnell family ruled the Kingdom of Tirconnell from 1200 to 1601. Predictably, since by the sixteenth century England had significant power in Ireland due to the works of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, this castle was doomed to enter conflict with the English affairs. The Ulster province was doing quite well in keeping Gaelic power—O’Neills of Tyrone, O’Donnells of Tirconnell, and the Maguires of Fermanagh were still flourishing until conflict arose. O’Donnell supported Maguire in his resistance to English rule and, in 1595 O’Neill joined their forces as well, commencing the Nine Years War. The Gaelic forces had to use quick ambush and retreat tactics because of the military strength of England. Still, Lord Mountjoy arrived in 1600 forcing O’Donnell to flee the town of Donegal. Before leaving, however, O’Donnell destroyed the castle rendering it useless to the English. Eventually, O’Donnell died in Spain in 1602 and his successor, along with O’Neill and Maguire fled to Spain in 1607 in what is known as the “Flight of the Earls.” Ultimately, the English took control of the castle, which was granted to Captain Basil Brooke. It remained in the Brooke family for sometime, but was abandoned by the eighteenth century and granted to the Office of Public Works in 1898. Restoration has taken place since, as recently as the 1990s.

            Donegal Castle is beside the River Eske in the town of Donegal. Strategically positioned, it was a superb defensive structure as the river protected it on two sides. The castle is composed of a fifteenth century rectangular keep and a seventeenth century Jacobean—named after King James I—style wing. It is a typical castle made of limestone and some sandstone. The inside is beautifully furnished with Persian rugs and French tapestries. The exquisite fireplace inside the Banqueting Hall dates from the seventeenth century and is regarded as one of the finest of its kind in Ireland. It contains elaborate carvings and many symbols that tell the story of whose hands the castle has been in. The carvings are also echoed in the furniture. Despite the strategic position, exquisite carvings, and pleasant furnishings, the castle is much more compact than other castles. Indeed, the appearance and the history of the castle contribute to the construction of historical Ireland.

            Donegal Castle is a symbol of change in Ireland. Ulster was resisting the English power, but it was inevitable that England would eventually ascend in Ulster as they already had in much of Ireland. After the English Crown took control of the castle, no more significant Gaelic forces would rule the town of Donegal. The Nine Years War not only changed this part of Ireland, but also essentially wiped out the last of the strongest Gaelic lords. England would go on to ravage Ireland with Cromwellian affairs, Ulster plantations, Catholic suppression, and peasant exploitation. As this castle is relevant to historical Ireland, so it is also relevant to modern Ireland.

            Modern Ireland seems to be lost in its culture and foundations. We can even see how to be Irish to some people, means, essentially, to hate English. Our group does not see how a culture and a people can successfully thrive and grown based on a hatred of a particular people. But, it is stories like that of Donegal Castle that give substantial merit to this hatred. Years of strife with a foreign nation will, undoubtedly, render feelings of hatred and confusion. People may become so focused on this hatred and resentment that they become nearsighted and blind to a more altruistic outlook on life. Irish people are great and funny and intelligent, but some seem to be apathetic in relation to pursuing healing and relationship. Early on, Ireland was a powerful Christian nation and had a significant hand in ministering to people within Ireland as well as foreigners in other countries. But, the historical events that have taken place render Ireland disconnected with this past. This is why even an Irish artist and speaker who spoke to us describes the culture of Ireland as atheistic and lost. Today, the Irish do not seem to be as much in a state of hatred, as they are indifferent to a wholeness of life.

            Our personal reactions to the castle were relatively indifferent. We did not have a tour guide and it was much smaller than other castles we have visited. Additionally, it was at the end of a long day and many students rushed through the exhibits. Consequently, the place did not seem to come alive to us. But, we were impressed with the stone carvings of the fireplace as described above. We were surprised with its closeness to the town of Donegal. The castle and the town center are adjacent rendering a contrast between a modern living structure with a historic dead structure. Perhaps, this helps us reflect on our view of Ireland. Ireland seems to be dead to the world in which so much is happening. Upon leaving the castle, the man in the office even commanded me to “have a pint and shed a tear for Ireland.” The man continued to criticize the banking crisis and other issues of modern Ireland. There was no sense of hope in his voice. The castle of Donegal, indeed, tells the story of a people with a difficult history. 

Fireplace in Banqueting Hall

Donegal Castle: Jacobean wing (left) and rectangular keep (right)

Inside Jacobean wing

Donegal Castle

These are the lovely people behind the Keep Calm and Frolic On blog.
(From left) Toby, Cassandra, Josh, Val, Holly, and Beth. We are all on the Irish Studies Program and are staying in Greystones at the YWCA with 25 other students. We love traveling around Ireland and getting the chance to experience a different culture and learn more about the country as a whole. We hope you are enjoying our blogs on some of the sites that we have been visiting :).

Jerpoint Abbey

On March 7, we visited Jerpoint Abbey on the first stop of our weekend stay in Kilkenny. Jerpoint Abbey was established in the 12th century in County Kilkenny and was constructed by the king of Ossory, Mac Gill Patraic. This abbey was abandoned in the wake of Henry VIII’s dissolution commission. It was a Cistercian abbey, meaning that the living style of the environment was a communal one so much of the focus of the lives of the monks living there was on isolation and their strict regiment of a prayer schedule.
On our visit to Jerpoint, we had a short tour as well as a good amount of time to explore the grounds ourselves. We were able to take notice of some of the physical characteristics of the abbey during this time. One of the main descriptions our group came up with when talking about the grounds was that the abbey had a large courtyard and high ceilings, all of this being enclosed. When walking through the abbey, we could see that the people who lived at the abbey were gifted with artistic skill. On the walls we saw faded paintings and on the pillars and tombs there were many different creative carvings. A couple of the carvings that we looked at on the pillars in particular appeared to have represented some of the deadly sins, specifically gluttony and sloth. There was only one heated room in the entire abbey, the calefactory, which the monks were only allowed to be in for one hour each day, exemplifying the lives of self-denial and self-discipline that they lived. Also, there were no settlers allowed nearby the abbey, displaying the isolated nature of the monks.
In considering the role that Jerpoint played historically in Ireland, we saw that it represented a shift to a way of Roman hierarchy in the context of monasticism, starting to replace traditional Celtic monasticism and thus contributing to the development of the Church of Ireland in the context of modern Ireland.
        As our group reflected further on our visit to Jerpoint, we all had the desire to be able to visualize somehow what the abbey really looked like when the monks were living in it. Despite the fact that all of the remnants themselves were intriguing, we felt that we wanted to understand it in its reality more. One thing that did help us visualize this to a certain extent were the details about day-to-day life that we were given during the tour, we found that this helped the place come alive for us a little bit more. Throughout this and other visits to monasteries and abbeys, we have developed a curiosity about the reasoning and the motivation behind this extreme monastic way of living that was so common during this time in Ireland.

Jerpoint remains

The courtyard at remains of Jerpoint

Part of the courtyard at Jerpoint

Dunbrody Famine Ship

Last weekend my group, along with the entire ISP group, went to see the Dunbrody Famine Ship (a replica of the real ship) in New Ross, Kilkenny to learn more on the history of Ireland.  The Dunbrody ship is known as the famine ship for Ireland and is very important to Ireland’s history during the 1840’s. The history of the Dunrody ship begins with the ship being built in a Quebec City shipyard during 1845; it was originally built for the transportation of timber, manure, cotton, and grains from the USA to Ireland. However, during the great Potato Famine, the ship soon began to transport people from Ireland to the United States. Landlords eventually bought tickets for their tenants to leave the land and take the ship to America to start a new life; most were very willing to leave Ireland since starvation and death were the only things that the future seemed to hold in Ireland during 1840-1845. Others who had relatives or friends living in the States left to either become richer or start a brand new life in America for fun. The Dunbrody ship could barely hold around 200 passengers, and the majority of its passengers were 2^nd class passengers who were cramped under the ship. The 2^nd class passengers were only allowed around 30 minutes of deck time a day for a bathroom break, to bake food, and to get some fresh air. They were only given bread and old porridge, while the 1^st class passengers were given what the crew ate, a diet of fish, meat, and grains.

Since the Dunbrody ship was originally meant for the transportation of timber, cotton, and grain, the ship was not meant for the transportation of passengers. Since the ship was meant only for the transportation of goods, the passengers were forced to live in very cramped quarters for 2 months until they reached America. The 2^nd class passengers lived in one section of the ship, which held wide bunks that could barely hold more than 3 people, but 7-8 people were forced to fit on the wide bunks.  The 2^nd class passengers, along with the captain and crew, took up about 90% of the ship's population while the first class passengers took up only 10%. 1^st class passengers, being the minority, would live in “suites,” which would have nice-sized bunks and a door for privacy; they also lived on the opposite side from the 2^nd class passengers. Since the 1^st class passengers were seen as being more important than 2^nd class, they were able to be on the tiny deck as often as they pleased. The crew had their own sleeping quarters with stacked bunks, and was underneath the front of the ship where they stored the animals at the wooden hull. The unfortunate part about this for the crew was that when the animals were slaughtered for food, the organs, blood, and other unpleasant parts would rain down on the crew and the crew’s quarters.  More than 15% of the passengers, mainly the 2^nd class passengers, would die on the voyage due to lack of hygiene and nutrition that they would receive on the voyage.

The Dunbrody ship itself was not meant for more than the crew and captain, so the bathroom and cooking area for the passengers was not exactly ideal. They had little wooden buckets on board for defecation, along with a fire pit on the deck for cooking bread, which isn’t exactly the smartest idea if you ask me. The ship was in service for around 30 years, but was very popular during the great Potato Famine. During the time when the ship was used for the transportation of emigrants to the States, over 1 million Irish men, women, and children fled the country to start a better life in America. This caused a population decrease in Ireland and a significant increase of Irishmen and women in Canada and America. Many of the Irish were bitter, and still are, towards the British government for not helping the country of Ireland as much as they could during this time.

The group had numerous reactions of the Dunbrody site visit. Our first reaction was that the ship was very small, and not equipped to hold over 200 passengers. We were amazed that 200 passengers, along with the captain and crew, were able to fit on the ship. The ship looked as if it could hold only about 50 people. We were also amazed at the deplorable conditions on board the ship. The sanitation of the ship was indescribable, the limited deck time for the 2^nd class passengers was outrageous, and the lack of nutrition was disgusting. The passengers would at times be living in their own fecal matter and have no opportunity to freshen up or have room to walk around and stretch their legs. It reminded us all of the Middle Passage slave ships, on which captured Africans were packed together like sardines and had no visible sunlight or anywhere to go to the bathroom. Needless to say, we were all very inspired by the hope the men and women displayed when they went on the Dunbrody ship to begin a new life in America.  The people had no clue what would happen as soon as they stepped off the ship and entered into America, and they left everything they knew behind in order that their children and themselves might live. The Dunbrody ship is a very important part of Irish history, and so are the men and women who went on the ship to America. 

the Dunbrody in its place at the harbor

examples of second-class bunks

bunking with an Irish family