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Kilkea Castle is Ireland's oldest continuously inhabited castle,
dating back to 1180. The immediate builder and the first occupier
was Sir Walter de Riddlesford, a young knight who had accompanied
Richard "Strongbow" de Clare on the first invasion
into Ireland of Anglo/Normans in 1170. While his name was probably
Anglo/Saxon rather than Anglo/Norman, it's said that Sir Walter
was a relation to King Henry II who first ordered his troops
into Ireland at the behest of King MacMurrough of Leinster.
Today the castle has been completely modernized and offers
all the creature comforts one comes to expect in a hotel yet
the castle offers guests a more relaxed stay. All rooms are
en-suite yet each unique and has been carefully decorated in
rich, colorful schemes that actually promote more of a Georgian
atmosphere than a medieval one, but stunning nonetheless. Amenities
include coffee/tea making facilities, direct dial phones, satellite
TV, as well as in-room safes, hairdryers, laundry service and
room service. Guest may take advantage of large formal gardens,
which is famous for the rose garden. On-site amenities include
an 18-hole golf course and full leisure center, and the hotel
offers a full-service restaurant and bar. And if you'd rather
fly than drive, there is a helicopter pad.
As with most castles, Kilkea boasts its own ghosts. In fact,
there is a wing where many spirits have been seen in the halls.
Also worth note are two stone carvings, one called the Evil
Eye Stone Carving, probably a form of sheela-na-gig, and the
other is the Monkey Carving, which dates back to a 13th century
tale of an infant called John Fitzthomas Fitzgerald who went
missing when a fire alarm was sounded through the keep. After
the commotion, the family's pet monkey, usually kept on a chain,
was found in the infants destroyed room cradling the baby in
its arms. Precisely the same story is also told about the Desmond
branch in 1261 with infant Thomas Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald. This
earned the child the nickname of Thomas of the Apes.
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