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00:00Castles are our most dramatic landmarks from the Middle Ages, built as monuments to domination
00:09and power. Scattered all over the Irish landscape, these ancient buildings with their soaring
00:16walls and great towers leave you with no doubt about their military and defensive purpose.
00:21I just hope we brought a ladder. The Anglo-Norman aristocrats who invaded Ireland in the 12th
00:27century built their castles to control and intimidate the unruly Irish. As English rule was consolidated,
00:37the castles served as administrative centres, garrisons and jails, as well as lavish homes
00:43for the English lords. In this series I'll be telling you stories about dramatic sieges,
00:52bloody battles, lavish lifestyles, ghostly presences, warring families and feudal lords. After
01:01all, the history of Irish castles is the history of Ireland itself.
01:05The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169 had been swift and effective. Within two years,
01:24the majority of the Irish chieftains had submitted, in the short term anyway, to Henry II, their new ruler.
01:30All along the east coast in key locations around Dublin, they began their regime of castle building.
01:37This area known as the Pale would be the base from which they hoped to conquer the whole island.
01:43Many of these early castles were built by individual knights whose loyalty was always a concern for a king
01:49based in London. What Henry II now needed was a network of castles that he could control.
01:55And who better to oversee this important building scheme than his son, John?
02:00King Henry made his son, John, Lord of Ireland, sending him over here to bring them all to heel.
02:06John spent six months in Ireland establishing castles in the name of the crown at Carrickfergus,
02:12Limerick, Trim and Dublin, which was to become the centre of English rule in Ireland,
02:18home to the king's representative, who would be his eyes and ears, and of course his fist and his boot.
02:25Strongbow had shown that Ireland was rich pickings for an ambitious knight.
02:29With success came the possibility of independence, of being granted enough property to become at least a very minor lord,
02:36the ruler of a wealthy clan. Ireland was the land of opportunity, and the Anglo-Norman knight was a force to be reckoned with.
02:43Knights were the ultimate fighting machines. Trained from childhood, they were expert archers.
02:52They could ride horses, and they could sword fight. You really didn't want to pick a fight with a knight.
02:58Very fit, hugely fit, probably quite muscular. They would have trained to be knights from very small, maybe four or five.
03:11They would have started their training then, so they have huge upper body strength.
03:15You have the Crusades happening in the Middle East at the time. Cavalrymen, especially the lords, are seen as an elite,
03:23because it's not just about hopping on a horse and going to battle. It requires a lot of skill and a lot of training.
03:30So they were the ultimate fighting machine of medieval Europe. What would they be? Like gladiators, almost.
03:36And when these gladiators defeated an Irish lord, they built huge castles to control their lands.
03:43Ireland was about to experience its first building boom. And back in the 13th century, the same three rules apply as today.
03:50It's all about location, location, location.
03:53So these guys are looking at the local topography, and they're picking really good sites.
04:00Basically, administration is growing. Lords want more officials working for them. They need to be housed.
04:07So castles become more complex, residentially, defensively, and in terms of display.
04:13Much of the time, they just muscled in on sites already built on by the Irish lords or Vikings.
04:18But there were an awful lot of clans out there, and you didn't want to have to fight them all.
04:22So Plan B, or Boy Meets Gael, gave them a sweeter way into the local scene.
04:27The Irish had always been marrying their daughters off to attractive invaders as a way of getting some political protection.
04:34And with these marriages, great dynasties were established.
04:39So an Irish king might have several wives, and he might have dozens of children.
04:43So it's fairly easy for him to arrange lots of marriages with these new incomers.
04:47And then they, you know, they create family links.
04:50And it's quite interesting, because it's quite difficult for the Irish to go to war against their sister.
04:57One dynasty that established a strong power base in the Pale was the Luttrell family.
05:04By the banks of the River Liffey, and not far from the village of Lucan, lies the beautiful Luttrellstown castle.
05:11Now the castle was built in the 13th century by the Luttrells, who were another Anglo-Norman family, who'd been given the land as a reward for their loyalty to King John.
05:22Now the Irish Luttrells, well, you know what, they were a mixed bunch.
05:26I mean, the early lords were honourably involved in the Irish Catholic cause.
05:31But later, there's tales of treachery, court-martials, assassination attempts.
05:38Of course, that's all long before Posh and Becks arrived to get married here, with their pretend thrones.
05:45The plan may be Beckham and Adams, but the outcome on Sunday may be Barnham and Bailey,
05:49when the media circus descends on tranquil Luttrellstown.
05:53An army of British security heavies have taken over the grounds, and they don't like cameras.
05:59We don't want to be on film, and we don't want to go to film either.
06:02Back in 1999, the wedding of Posh and Becks put Luttrellstown castle on the map.
06:08The world's paparazzi all wanted to get inside the walls for a snap of the famous couple.
06:12Now privately owned, Patti Smith is the caretaker, and has worked on the estate since he was a boy.
06:22How are you, Patti?
06:23How are you doing, Simon?
06:25You're like the lord of the manor.
06:26Well, you're very welcome.
06:28And you'll literally put out the red carpet for us, Patti.
06:30I'll have a red carpet for you.
06:31Look at the ceiling.
06:33Magnificent, isn't it?
06:34Yeah.
06:35I'd say it's a bugger to clean, Patti.
06:37I've never had to do it, and hopefully I'll never be asked.
06:39You know, I love the place and I love working here, but there's some little job that I wouldn't have to refuse.
06:45And there's a beautiful portrait of Mr Bean himself, Rowan Ankinson.
06:49King Charles II.
06:50Is that who it is?
06:52Do we know why he's up there?
06:53I don't know why he's up there.
06:54Obviously somebody fancied him, and you know.
06:57It's not a very butch pose, is it?
06:59It's not, no.
07:01Great hairdo, wasn't it?
07:02That was a wig, Patti.
07:03But the wedding didn't take place in the lavish house.
07:10Instead, Pottenbeck's chose a ruin.
07:13Beautiful setting, isn't it?
07:14Isn't it?
07:15Wonderful structure all day.
07:16So this was, back in the day, a gate lodge or something?
07:19It was a gate lodge originally built as part of the garden.
07:24It was, you know, it was fashionable about 300 years ago to have a hermit minding your woods.
07:32Right.
07:33And that was built for him to be here and check anybody, you know, keep an eye on what was happening down here.
07:38And it was lived in up until 1931.
07:41This was?
07:42This was, yeah.
07:43And it's built as a feature, but at the same time it was a security hut, if you know what I mean.
07:49This is actually where the magic happens.
07:50This is where the big ceremony took place, right in that little room over there.
07:54They got married in that room?
07:55They got married in that room.
07:56There was 24 guests.
07:58Is that all?
07:59That's all, yeah.
08:00How did they get up there?
08:01They made an artificial stairs, just, you know, and covered it and designed it with flowers and apples and oranges and all sorts to sort of make it look really well.
08:14Have a look.
08:16I can just imagine David saying, come on, Victoria.
08:19Come on, darling.
08:21Mind your heels, Vicky.
08:23Where's my mother?
08:25She's still in the car.
08:26I've got a great idea, Vicky.
08:28Won't get married in here.
08:29Look at this, buddy.
08:31Now, this is where the ceremony took place.
08:33That was the altar right there.
08:34Here?
08:35Yeah.
08:36And that's where they took their vows.
08:38And this, along here, there was 24 guests.
08:41Oh, David.
08:42And it was all, uh, take you, Victoria.
08:44Drapes.
08:45So it was all kitted out.
08:47All kitted out.
08:48And lit, you know.
08:49But what springs to mind is, right, they're internationally, you know, famous footballer and a rock star wife.
08:59How did they end up here in a gate lodge?
09:02Well, they would have had an agent looking for somewhere very, very...
09:07Special.
09:08Special.
09:09And secluded, you know.
09:10I mean, no one would find you in here.
09:13It is special.
09:14You know, traffic, none.
09:16Helicopters couldn't find it, you know.
09:18Secure, safe.
09:19So they couldn't take the photographs, you see.
09:20Yeah.
09:21Yeah.
09:22And it's also incredible to think, putting the Beckhams to one side.
09:26Somebody lived in here until 1931.
09:281931.
09:29Can you imagine that out there as your...
09:30This is your sitting room.
09:31Looking at a stream flowing under your sitting room.
09:34So Gary Neville would have stood about here.
09:36Or here, really.
09:38All right, Davey.
09:39Come on, mate.
09:40On you go.
09:41Shut up, Gary.
09:42You all right, Dicky?
09:43Yeah.
09:44Great.
09:45I can see it all.
09:46It was a great day, apparently.
09:47And the plan worked.
09:48No photographer got a shot of the wedding itself.
09:51800 years ago, a good marriage could also make a powerful alliance.
09:54And the rewards for being a sporting hero were pretty lucrative, too.
09:58The posh and becks of the 13th century were William Marshall and Isabel de Clare,
10:03who was the daughter of Strongbow and Aoife.
10:05Now, Marshall, well, he was described as the greatest knight that ever lived.
10:09He was a crusader.
10:11He was a jousting champion and a brilliant tactician.
10:14In fact, he was to bring so much glory to King Richard I
10:18that he was to be rewarded with a wealthy bride.
10:21When William waltzed Isabel up the aisle in 1189, both her parents were dead
10:27and she had just inherited a huge estate in both Wales and Leinster.
10:32He was a landless sports hero and she was a wealthy heiress.
10:37And together, they were to become a powerful match.
10:41They got married.
10:42He was at least 20 years older than her.
10:43She was only 17 or 18.
10:45They got married in London.
10:46And it seems to have been a love match.
10:48And William Marshall had, in fact, unhorsed Richard the Lionheart in a jousting bout.
10:56Insofar that part of Marshall's fame was his jousting ability.
11:01So his sporting ability, his bravery in the tournaments was the making of them as a young man.
11:08So he comes across as one hell of a person in terms of his military ability, his administrative ability and also his integrity.
11:21And she knew she had done well in the man that she'd married
11:25because Marshall was a very energetic character.
11:28He seemed to be a very robust physical man, you know, with a background in the military arts and so on.
11:36But he also seemed to have had a very good head for business, for politics, for administration.
11:42So all in all, a good catch.
11:45If you're peopling castles, somebody like William Marshall, basically in the parlance of my children, was a good guy.
11:54William Marshall was the greatest knight that ever lived.
12:02And with his marriage to Isabel de Clare, he married into a mighty and symbolic lineage.
12:09They tied the knot in London with dew pomp and ceremony, before crossing the channel for Ireland.
12:15On their arrival, the annals refer to Isabel establishing a lovely city on the banks of the Barrow,
12:22transforming Old Ross into New Ross, before later moving the capital of Leinster to its new base in Kilkenny.
12:29No couple would change the landscape of Ireland more than Isabel and Marshall.
12:34Well, they established a power base in Kilkenny. They started building the castle there.
12:47You know, they're both credited with that. I mean, a lot of the time an heiress would marry and then would be very concerned with homely duties, with the children especially.
12:56So they kind of drop out. But Isabel seems different.
13:00Marshall had spent two years on the Crusades in the Holy Land.
13:03And the castle building technologies that he used in Ireland were probably learned there.
13:08Kilkenny Castle would be their most lasting monument.
13:11In the history of William Marshall, which is the great poem about them, William Marshall explicitly says at one point,
13:20I claim everything through her to his knights. So she's a living link to him, to the great strongbow,
13:26to this tradition of kind of strong men who governed well.
13:31With its curtain wall and four towers, the castle resembled the royal castles of Dublin and Limerick.
13:38And the couple weren't just responsible for the impressive castle.
13:41They rebuilt the city, its walls protecting the merchants of the new Norman town,
13:46as well as paying for abbeys and churches around the south-east.
13:51They seemed to be operating to the same game plan as a couple.
13:56And Isabella, no doubt, would have had a strong notion of herself.
14:03I mean, after all, she's the granddaughter of the King of Leinster,
14:06with a lineage going back a thousand years, you know.
14:10There's a very famous incident with Isabella.
14:13She was besieged in a castle in Kilkenny when her husband had to go back to England.
14:18And she very successfully held off the besiegers while very heavily pregnant.
14:23She lowered a man down the battlements to go and get help at great personal risk to herself and the men inside.
14:29And he brought back her allies and they lifted the siege.
14:32And afterwards, it's described, she took hostages from all the men involved
14:37and was quite severe in her punishments of them.
14:41And when her husband came back, he overturned many of her punishments.
14:45And she's noted in the poem as being quite displeased about it, that she felt they needed to be punished.
14:54But you've got to hand it to them.
14:56It's a pretty impressive castle that wasn't just used to house soldiers.
15:00You can actually imagine living in it.
15:02So he came over here and it wasn't a bed of roses.
15:05Marshall wasn't part of the original invasion and the other knights apparently weren't delighted to see him.
15:11They had a rough time when they came over here
15:13because they weren't welcomed by the older Anglo-Normans who had been here for some time.
15:18But they were tough nuts.
15:20She was a tough feisty lady and he was a tough knight.
15:23So from what we can see, as we stand here today, what can we see that Marshall built?
15:30He built this great circular tower, which is basically the keep, the west tower, the north tower and there was another tower here.
15:39And those towers were linked by what we call a curtain wall.
15:43The wall on this side of the castle was taken down in the 18th century.
15:47And the people who lived in the castle at that time, the butlers, they wanted a clear view out to the park.
15:52Well, in fairness, yeah, look at the view, I mean, yeah.
15:55Now you have to remember there was an outer courtyard to the castle that's underneath the park.
15:59Right.
16:00All that was just swept away to lay out this lovely park.
16:03So they could get a better view.
16:04Exactly.
16:05And it just gives you an impression of the kind of wealth that he had access to.
16:09What was his relationship like with the people in the town?
16:11Well, he brought over people when he laid out this new town known as High Town or the English Town.
16:16He brought over people from England and he brought over Flemish people, Dutch-speaking people.
16:20And they had their own town.
16:21Over on the other side of the castle.
16:23Right.
16:24So you're dealing with a lot of a fairly multi-cultural grouping.
16:28But for all the fine architecture, William Marshall built his castle first and foremost as a defensive structure.
16:36The big thick walls.
16:41This is where the lads defended the castle.
16:44This circular room is surrounded by all these little niches.
16:47And these gave access to the plunging arrow loops that defended the castle.
16:53Yes.
16:54The boys will be sitting.
16:56The sentries have a spot each.
16:58Sentries south into these.
17:00Okay.
17:01So I can see from here that I've got a great view of...
17:03Out to the moat.
17:04Yeah.
17:05Okay.
17:06Now this is called a plunging arrow loop.
17:07It was state-of-the-art type of defensive ope.
17:12So the archer can stand up.
17:14Exactly.
17:15You can get someone coming up to the gate or you can also get down there.
17:19Yes.
17:20So you really are snookered if you're caught on that moat.
17:22You're caught out there.
17:23You're in a dead zone.
17:24Okay.
17:25So they would have sat here for hours.
17:27They would have.
17:28Guarding.
17:29Guarding.
17:30Board.
17:31As guard duty usually is.
17:32Yeah.
17:33Until something happens.
17:34Then the action starts.
17:36And when something happens, something really happens, isn't it?
17:38Exactly.
17:43You fought a lot.
17:44I mean, if you wanted to see action, you could come to Ireland.
17:47You know, you would have...
17:49People did engage in battle.
17:51You would be raided by a neighbour, whether they were Irish or Anglo-Norman,
17:55and you would get your own back.
17:57And you would go and fight them and often come off the worst for it.
18:05All the Anglo-Norman castles were fortresses.
18:08And they were built on strategic positions
18:10so that they could control and dominate their newly acquired territories.
18:14And none more dramatically than Dunamays.
18:17It could be seen for miles.
18:19So any soldiers that were garrisoned there
18:22had total control over the surrounding countryside.
18:25And when Isabel, the daughter of Strongbow and Aoife,
18:28married William Marshall,
18:30Dunamays was part of her dowry.
18:32So Dunamays passed from the Kings of Leinster
18:34to the Declares and onto the Marshals.
18:41Dunamays was the seat of power of the Kings of Leith.
18:46This site was then seized by William Marshall as part of his inheritance
18:53when he married the daughter of Strongbow.
18:56And the site was fortified by him.
19:02This would have been one of the important Irish lordships
19:04that he needed to nail down.
19:07The thing that's interesting about William Marshall,
19:11when we look at his castles at Kilkenny
19:13and his rebuilding of places like Dunamays,
19:16you can see that Marshall is bringing in the newest ideas in castle design.
19:24Overlooking the surrounding landscape, Dunamays was a formidable fortress.
19:28The huge structure included a great hall on the top of the peak,
19:31protected on three sides by steep cliffs.
19:34It would have been some job to make it to the top.
19:37The only accessible side was protected by a double layer of defensive walls,
19:41each with its own barbican or fortified gateway,
19:44both with their own murder holes and other clever tricks,
19:47and everything guarded by the archers up on the encircling curtain walls.
19:52So basically then, if you've managed by a stroke of luck
19:55to get through the outer bailey, across that ditch and the drawbridge,
19:58under the murder hole, past the two levels of archers that are here.
20:02Yeah.
20:03You've then got to here, and then...
20:05I'd imagine you're greeted by any more archers.
20:07Yes.
20:08You've got to imagine that this is a square-fronted gatehouse.
20:12First of all, there are arrow loops firing in on either side.
20:20So there would have been archers either side?
20:22Here we have a portcullis slot, which is the sliding sort of grille,
20:28so basically people on the inside can poke spears through at anybody on the outside.
20:34Then as we walk back, then we have two arrow loops.
20:38I like these two because they're not directly opposite each other,
20:42so that the man who's in that chamber there
20:44doesn't accidentally shoot the man in the opposite chamber.
20:47Very clever design.
20:49And we're still not there yet?
20:52No, no, no, we've still got to get up to the top there, the hall.
20:56Right. Off we go.
20:58As far as I'm concerned, it's martial work dating to about 1210.
21:02You see this movement that we see right across Europe from relatively simple castles before about 1200
21:11to much more complex castles in terms of their defence, in terms of display, after about 1200.
21:18So to me, you know, as an archaeologist, that would be my feeling that William Marshall was at the forefront of castle design in,
21:27well, you could say in Western Europe, and he brought many of those ideas to Ireland.
21:31strategically looking out here, Brian, it's so easy to see why they're big here.
21:36So castles were being built, okay, for defence, as homes, but also for display.
21:42But we also seem to have, certainly in the 13th century, some sort of designed landscape around places like Dunhamace.
21:50So it's also telling you something about the power and wealth of the castle owner.
21:56While Dunhamace seemed to be impregnable, by the mid-14th century, it had been abandoned.
22:04Quite why remains a mystery.
22:09Its brooding silhouette above the lowlands of Leish make it one of the most romantic historic sites in the country.
22:15Both Isabella and William Marshall seemed to have been a very effective couple.
22:31And I think she knew she had done well in the man that she'd married.
22:38Marshall served four successive kings as Lord Marshall of England.
22:42And when he died aged 72, he was not only Earl of Pembroke and the Lord of Leinster,
22:48he was also the richest man in the British Isles.
22:51He and Isabella had five boys and five girls, but the five boys all died childish.
22:56Now, some people say it was because of a curse placed on them by the Bishop of Ferns,
23:01so the Marshall name died out.
23:03However, as successor to Strongbow and Aoife,
23:06William arguably did more to establish Anglo-Norman control in Leinster than any other man.
23:12When the Anglo-Normans arrived, they quickly established themselves along the East Coast before moving out around the country.
23:22Their secret weapon was the knight.
23:24Powerful, well-trained and hopefully loyal subject who would conquer and hold lands on behalf of the king.
23:29And, of course, the Normans, they captured England before they ever got to Ireland.
23:35So, I mean, these guys were extraordinarily effective as military adventurers,
23:40but also making a go of the lands that they had captured.
23:44And boy, did they have a lot of land.
23:47The Anglo-Normans were past masters at invasions.
23:49Well, the Anglo-Normans, basically, what their idea was to come in, take over what had been the local power structure and replace it with their own.
23:58They just simply exchanged one master for another one.
24:01In that way, there was no great difference for the Irish.
24:05They were still paying taxes.
24:09All these changes were very dramatic for the kings and high kings of Ireland, but for the ordinary decent Joe Soap, it was just a case of same old tune, just a different piper.
24:19You know, you needed a license from the king to build walls with crenellations in it like this, because that's what they are, apparently.
24:28So not just anybody could have aspirations to live in a castle. Oh, no.
24:33The only way you could really take out these castles was by siege.
24:39And, as we know, the Irish weren't that good at siege warfare.
24:45You know, the hit and run, guerrilla war, the cattle raid, that really was where the Irish were best able.
24:56So you've got to say to yourself, well then, okay, well, how were the Irish maintaining a certain degree, depending on the area of independence?
25:05That's one question that comes to mind, and it would be my feeling that instead of using fixed defence...
25:10They tended to abandon their centres, move off and use the landscape as a means of stopping attack from the outside.
25:25And they did that very, very successfully, not just in the late 12th century, 13th century, but right down to the 17th century.
25:32So you actually use your landscape, the landscape of your territory, against an invading force.
25:38And it can be, in my opinion, they did it very successfully.
25:42Although the Irish didn't build castles, they weren't without their defensive strategies.
25:46In fact, the Irish were to develop possibly the only way to defeat a Norman knight, channeling.
25:53Using the geography of the land to their advantage, they would channel the English into what we would now call a kill zone.
26:00And you can only imagine what happened in there.
26:02It was a technique that the Irish were to use successfully for hundreds of years.
26:06They never had enough equipment to defeat an invading force with the Anglo-Normans.
26:11So what they would do is they would create barriers, either use trenches or they would use undergrowth and build up walls of impenetrable undergrowth.
26:19So the invading force were being brought into an area that the Irish wanted them to fight in.
26:24And once that happened, then they had the advantage because they knew the area.
26:27But by channeling the enemy into what they call nowadays in modern parlance a kill zone, that allowed them to have the advantage to ambush them.
26:34It's when they have the surprise that the Irish are able to win and beat the Anglo-Normans.
26:40In medieval Ireland, quite a lot of the time, the Anglo-Norman mode of battle wasn't suited to quite a lot of the countryside.
26:48You know, it wouldn't be suited to woodland areas and things like that.
26:52So they would often be picked off by the Irish, what were later called the woodcurn.
26:57So the Irish would hide and simply just take them down as they passed.
27:00It's a small scale, you know, and it's probably over fairly fast because if you unseat a knight, you can finish him off fairly quickly.
27:09Ireland was just very, very difficult to capture as a whole unit.
27:16The Romans didn't come to Ireland because I think the Romans looked at the place and said,
27:20no, we wouldn't be able to take it all, it's not worth the investment.
27:26And maybe the Romans were right.
27:29Because while the invaders had successfully captured the east of the country, vast areas were still held by the Irish chieftains,
27:36who were now beginning to get the measure of their invaders.
27:40Families like the McCarthy's of Munster, one of Ireland's great medieval dynasties, would build their own castle,
27:47and it would become one of the best known castles in the world.
27:49Approaching Blarney Castle, you can only be impressed by its towering monolith perched on its rocky outcrop,
28:05its limestone walls, all giving this impression of a dark, foreboding building that must have been a really dank place to live in.
28:12However, this was the lordly residence of the McCarthy family, who in late medieval times fought both the Anglo-Normans and other warring natives
28:22in order to maintain their hold over the Lee Valley, right up to the end of the 17th century.
28:27And this, this was their lavish and stately home.
28:33Well, it would have been quite imposing.
28:35McCarthy's were the main chieftains of the Munster region, and I think, I'm right in the centre, were three main McCarthy branches.
28:45And we have the muskery McCarthy's here, and they were the main chieftains of the region.
28:52To the best of my knowledge then, Blarney Castle was regarded as a very solid place for having their main fortification,
29:01on top of the limestone outcrop. So that was built by Cormac the Strong.
29:08The castle originally dates from before 1200, when a wooden structure was built on the site.
29:14About ten years later, it was replaced by a stone fortification,
29:18the first incarnation being considerably smaller than the massive keep we see now.
29:22I think in the early days of any of these places there would have been quite a lot of skirmishes and quite a lot of deaths.
29:34But forget all that history. The castle at Blarney is known worldwide for just one thing.
29:39I mean, the story of the stone, I mean, the legend, and we have to go by legend because that's what Blarney is,
29:46is that the stone is either half of the Stone of Scone, given by Robert the Bruce for the men of Munster producing 10,000 men to fight at the Battle of Bannetburn,
29:58or it was Jacob's pillow that was referred to in the Bible that was brought back by the Crusaders,
30:06or even McCarthy saved a girl from drowning, locally, and he didn't know it but she was a witch.
30:14And she was a friendly witch and he saved her life and she said there's a stone up there that whoever touches it,
30:20I think it was touching actually in those days, rather than kissing, will always be blessed.
30:24For 200 years now, all sorts of people have climbed to the ramparts to kiss the fabled slab of bluestone.
30:35Well, we're going up the right-handed spiral stone staircase, which as you mentioned you're familiar with,
30:41every sort of seventh step is slightly different measurements, so that if you were running down your trip...
30:47The great and good have been up these stairs, haven't they Charles?
30:49Quite a few, including Laurel and Hardy.
30:51Really?
30:52My memory's a bit bad, but one of them made it and one of them didn't.
30:55I'm going to guess which one of them is.
30:57I'm going to say Ollie stayed down there and says, Dan you go ahead kid, I'll wait down here and have an ice cream.
31:08Bloody hell, what a lot of steps.
31:09You know something?
31:10I'm starting to feel an affinity with Oliver Hardy.
31:11I'm going to see why you wanted to stay down there.
31:12How many steps are there Charles?
31:13There's over 120.
31:14How many have we done?
31:15I'd say you're nearly there.
31:16Right.
31:17Well actually come out and there's another interlude here where you can look down.
31:18And then you can see there's two floors missing.
31:19Right.
31:20And the roof is gone.
31:21It's a real higgledy-piggledy bunch of rooms though isn't it?
31:22Well not the main centre, the main key.
31:23But this is where the stairs is and it shoots off the staircase.
31:24It's wonderful.
31:25So we've still got a few more steps to go.
31:26Yes.
31:27And then we're upstairs.
31:28That's the old kitchen apparently.
31:29In here.
31:30And I'll lead on.
31:31Up.
31:32Up.
31:33Up.
31:34Up.
31:35Up.
31:36Up.
31:37Up.
31:38Up.
31:39Up.
31:40Up.
31:41Up.
31:42Up.
31:43Up.
31:45Up.
31:46Up.
31:47Up.
31:48Up.
31:49Up.
31:50Up.
31:51Up.
31:52Up.
31:53Up.
31:54Up.
31:55Up.
31:56Up.
31:57Up.
31:58Up.
31:59Up.
32:00Up.
32:01Up.
32:02Up.
32:03Up.
32:04Up.
32:05Up.
32:06Up.
32:07Up.
32:08Up.
32:09Up.
32:10Up.
32:11Up.
32:12Up.
32:13Up.
32:14Up.
32:15Up.
32:16Up.
32:17Up.
32:18Up.
32:19Up.
32:20Up.
32:21Up.
32:22Up.
32:23Up.
32:24Up.
32:25Right, so we're leaving there, at the point of it all.
32:29They're approaching the famous stone now,
32:31which is embedded in the south side of the battlements, as you can see.
32:35But I would imagine that a lot of the tourists that come over to Ireland,
32:38do they know where it is?
32:40And they say, well, we'll have a kiss of Blarningstown, Harry.
32:42It's great, it's in a little room.
32:43It's amazing how many of them...
32:45Do they see where it is?
32:45It's a stone on the ground.
32:47Really?
32:47They don't realise it's embedded up in the battlements, 120 feet up.
32:50So when they get up here, they go, you know what?
32:52And my father and his brother, years ago,
32:55used to tell me they'd wait under the castle for the coins to drop down.
32:59But nowadays, nowadays you'd be catching iPads and iPhones.
33:02You would, you would.
33:03Yeah, hotel, kids.
33:04Want to get further back?
33:05Yeah.
33:06And bring, bring a kiss.
33:11Right, top me up for another while.
33:14The moment's arrived now.
33:14You're quite safe.
33:15Make sure you go down far enough, because it's got to be a memorable experience.
33:19And if you really feel comfortable, open your eyes and you'll see the world upside down.
33:24OK, tell my kids I love them.
33:28Right.
33:28Same again.
33:29So we'll just sit down there.
33:30Right.
33:31Lay back.
33:32Grab the two bears.
33:33Grab the two bears.
33:34This one.
33:34Head back.
33:35OK.
33:36Straight down for the bottom floor.
33:37And kiss.
33:38Watch your head on the way up.
33:40All right.
33:42I don't know whether I've seen the world upside down.
33:45I thought I saw my lunch there for a minute.
33:47Did you open your eyes?
33:47I did, yeah, yeah.
33:49It's good, isn't it?
33:49So the myth is that's apparently going to give me the gift of the gaff.
33:52The gift of elephants.
33:53Some people might say that I already have the gift of the gaff.
33:55That's fine, then it just tops it up.
33:57So I'm good for another few years.
33:59It's like topping up your phone.
33:59You might have to come back in a couple of years' time.
34:01Despite their initial successes, mostly in Leinster, the English conquerors were struggling
34:11to maintain control.
34:13Beyond the pale, Ireland was still bandit country.
34:18You're not wanted, essentially, quite a lot of the time.
34:22And there are raids deep into the pale, even as late as the 15th century.
34:27So you can still be got at.
34:29But it's not an us versus them.
34:32It's a lot more complex than that.
34:35At the initial period, you would have had adventurers coming to Ireland on the basis that lands were available
34:44if you could take and hold them.
34:48But as the Anglo-Norman period went on, there were less and less who appeared to be willing
34:57to come to Ireland because of the continuing enmity of the native Irish.
35:05It was regarded as a very dangerous place to go.
35:08And no more dangerous than the north of the country, where the native clans refused to entertain
35:15the invaders on any terms.
35:19Kings of their own terrain and operating at the furthest reaches from Dublin, the clans
35:24of the north would always be uniquely independent.
35:26When the Anglo-Normans arrived, John de Corsi did make inroads into Ulster, there's no doubt
35:35about it, but it didn't catch on, it didn't hold on.
35:40And families like the O'Neill and the O'Donnells were fiercely independent.
35:45There's plenty of references to how lawless it was.
35:55Now, when something is referred to as lawless in the English records, all that means is it's
35:59not culturally English.
36:02In 1315, Donal O'Neill, King of Tyrone, decided to take advantage of long-standing contacts
36:08across the sea in Scotland.
36:09The King of Northern O'Neill decided it would be a good idea to invite in Edward Bruce, the
36:21brother of the Scottish King, Robert Bruce, because the King of Scotland was doing extremely
36:25well against the English.
36:27The administration in Dublin really wasn't being held in high respect.
36:33So Bruce was invited over to become King of Ireland by the native Irish.
36:39And he pretty well devastated the country.
36:46After defeating the English at the Battle of Bannockburn, Robert Bruce of Scotland looked
36:51west to Ireland, knowing that opening a second front would strengthen his hand.
36:56As well as a common enemy, Ireland and Scotland had plenty of ties, and he easily gathered support
37:02from his Gaelic brothers.
37:04That May, Robert's brother Edward landed 6,000 men on the coast at Larne, before marching
37:10onto the English garrison castle at Carrickfergus.
37:12This would be the first test of the castle, and the siege would last 12 months.
37:22During the siege, there was no way out for the defending garrison, forcing them to think
37:26of clever methods to use what scarce resources they had.
37:29What must life have been like for those 12 months inside the walls of this castle?
37:36When you know you're utterly surrounded, you're running out of food, you've got water, which
37:43is huge, but you've got water, but that's it.
37:45You have water, and after you've hunted down the last few vermin, or cats or dogs, or any
37:50mice that are there, or any of the vegetation, whether it be weeds growing on the walls that
37:55you can eat, you start looking at your neighbours.
37:59You're sort of sleeping with one eye open then, aren't you?
38:01Basically.
38:01And in terms of the soldiers that were in here at that time, I mean, right down here behind
38:06us, that's where they lived.
38:07That's where they lived.
38:07So there would have been wooden houses and construction.
38:09Wooden houses, but I suspect that most of them would have slept on the walls, because
38:13when you're under siege, you have to have one eye on the enemy the whole time, and
38:17they try and climb over the walls.
38:18And the other eye on your pal looking at you.
38:20The garrison could drop things on top of you, and they could drop boiling oil that would
38:23scald you, they could set you on fire, and one of the...
38:27They could shoot you with the arrows.
38:27They could shoot you with arrows, but one of the particular things that they also did,
38:30which was very cost-effective for a garrison, was to heat up sand, so it was red hot.
38:35Then they would drop it down onto you, and the red hot sand would get into your armour, and
38:39it would actually burn you to bits.
38:41I mean, it's utterly brutal, but it's actually very, very clever, because you're looking for
38:45a natural resource, sand.
38:46Where'll we get some sand?
38:48Down to the beach, lads.
38:49After a 12-month standoff, the defenders of the castle offered to negotiate terms.
38:54Bruce sent in 30 troops for the talks.
38:57The garrison closed the doors behind them.
38:59So the food is gone, so the story goes, Dad, that they ate eight of their Scottish prisoners.
39:05The S.
39:06That's what the story goes, and that's how desperate the garrison would have been.
39:09They would have had water, but they wouldn't have had any food.
39:11They would have eaten any animal or weed that was growing in the castle, but no food for
39:16a month.
39:17They've eaten eight of the soldiers.
39:18Yes.
39:19They're basically, they're down to nothing now.
39:21The food runs out, and in September 1316, the garrison actually surrender on conditions
39:26that their lives are spared, and that appears to have happened.
39:28They were allowed leave with their loads.
39:30They were allowed to leave, but Edward Bruce stayed in Ireland until he was killed at the
39:34Battle of Fawcourt in 1318.
39:35And see, there was lots of disruption to population of the crops, there was lots of starvation, and Ireland was left in a wrecked place after he left, after he was killed.
39:45Although the Bruce campaign was a failure, the English realised that they didn't have the firepower to rule the whole island.
39:51In a colonial sense, the Norman invasion failed, and it didn't win over the whole island.
39:59In fact, many of the Anglo-Norman families went over to the Gaelic side, they became Gaelicised.
40:05There's a saying for them, it's hiberniores ipsis hibernum, which is more Irish than the Irish themselves.
40:10So they became Irish, and they spoke Irish.
40:14They married Irish women, their children were Irish, and they forgot their Anglo-Norman background.
40:20I think the Irish fight back begins in the 13th century.
40:24It accelerates in the 14th century, partly as a consequence to the Bruce Wars.
40:29The Irish were in the ascendancy, and Irish culture, Irish language laws and so on were expanding their area of use.
40:40So Ireland had to be effectively reconquered again.
40:51With all to fight for, the building of castles would continue all around the country.
40:56So much so, that the 15th century would see us become the most castellated country in all of Europe.
41:10Well, to be sure.
41:28Ah!
41:29Ah!
41:39You