Roscrea Castle.

Clonown N.S.

When we went to Roscrea castle on our school tour we saw a model of the castle. It was built in 1280 on an ancient roadway called Sli Dala, at a crossroads of other ancient routes.There had been a Motte and Bailey on the same site before the castle was built.

We saw the drawbridge which led into the gatehouse.The drawbridge was supported by heavy chains. On top was a portcullis, which could drop down and kill unwanted guests in an instant.

When archaeologists were excavating twenty or thirty years ago they found an underground dungeon underneath the gatehouse. It had no window or door. Prisoners were thrown into the dungeon from a trap door in the floor of the gatehouse. It looked muddy because the dungeon flooded.

The hole over the entrance was called a murder hole. The murder hole was used for killing people. If the guard, above on the second floor didn’t like the person who was trying to enter he could throw down stones or hot oil and the person would be killed straight away.

Over the main gate there was a machicolation.

Soldiers how guarded the battlements poured boiling oil and water down the machicolation at any unwanted guests!

The soldiers are guarding the battlements!

This is the great hall on the second floor. There is a huge tapestry of Alexander the Great on the stonewall. The roof is built of vaulted stone to protect the castle against fire. There was a big open fire in the room.

There are thirty-two steps up a spiral staircase to the next floor where the kitchen was situated.

Usually in a Norman castle Great hall was on the third floor and the kitchen underneath but in Roscrea castle the opposite was true.

There was a little alcove high up in the wall of the great hall. Our guide, Linda explained that while the Lord and his guests were dining poets or minstrels entertained them from this gallery. They were kept apart from the guests because they often had diseases which they had caught travelling the countryside in search of people who would like to e entertained. Linda asked if anyone would like to sing a song from the gallery and we said that Rachael would. Rachael was very surprised but she sang anyways. She was excellent.

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This is called the latrine. It was used as a toilet in olden times. When latrines were invented first enemies discovered that it was possible to shoot up at someone who was sitting the toilet, from below. The design was changed quickly! The channel from the latrine was now curved to guard against arrows in the bum! The room next door was where the soldiers slept. They had to sleep sitting up because they had bad chests due to the cold and damp conditions in the castle.