0 Ireland! Cahir Castle

 Cahir Castle sits proudly on the River Suir in County Tipperary.  Built between the 13th-15th centuries, the layout is an impressive defensive fortress. It was the long term home of the Butler family and, while it did fall to ruins during the 1700s, it was somewhat restored to family home status in the mid-1800s.
My personal note?  If you've not got all the time (and who does, with so much to see on the island!), skip Bunratty and go to Cahir- it's a much more pleasing site to visit.

 Like many strong defensive structures, Cahir grows right out of the rock it's built upon.

 Sometimes he gets in the way of my pictures.

 The Portcullis and Gatehouse.

 The view over Cahir from the tower.

 River Suir.

 The really cool thing about castles in Ireland is their lack of obsessive safety features.  I'm being serious- you're allowed to climb pretty much any stairs and go through most nooks and doors.  There are some rails and some signs, but it's interesting to see the small closets and servants' pathways that are deemed unsafe for public passage in most U.K. sites.

 In one of the buildings there is a detailed display of the history of Cahir.  I believe this is the siege on the castle by Queen Elizabeth's forces led by the Earl of Essex in 1599.  I really liked the miniature display.

 Me, demonstrating the portcullis. Ha!

 Cahir Cottage, which I believe is now a resource center.

 The grounds.

 I love this weathervane!

 There are eagles everywhere in Ireland.  Whichever of our Founding Fathers chose that as the USA symbol must have been Irish.  

 Just a little ways from the castle is the Swiss Cottage, a pristine example of a cottage orné, or an ornamental cottage. This is the River Suir in the gardens around the cottage. While it's a fascinating, unique site and not very pricey (especially compared to other sites in Ireland), we opted not to take the time to go there as we were headed to the Dingle Peninsula!