(Malahide, Ireland)
Visiting castles is something easier to do in Europe than in other parts of the world. We continue to be amazed at the huge variety of styles (from medieval to gothic) and the various stages of preservation they are in (ranging from a pile of rocks to “move-in tomorrow” livable).
One such castle that stands out on the livable end of the spectrum is Malahide Castle, located in the coastal village of Malahide north of Dublin. We easily got there by bus and walked down a shady lane, the main entrance to the grounds, to get to the castle. We bought our tickets and made our way outside towards the butterfly nursery. We had some free time as you are only allowed to see the inside of the castle with a scheduled group tour and ours wasn’t meeting for another hour. This gave us time to explore the grounds and no matter, I found the grounds to be even more impressive than the castle.
Just outside the doors of the visitor’s center we saw a male peacock and two peahens. We were there just in time to see him get frisky and show off his bright plumage (see video). I’d never seen a peacock do this before. It was pretty funny.
The butterfly nursery is a greenhouse filled with butterflies of all different colors of the rainbow (like a butterfly United Nations). As soon as we entered, butterflies started flocking towards me. In hindsight, I think the hot-magenta jacket I had on probably made me look like a giant flower filled with nectar. As hindsight is a vantage point received after the fact, I panicked and ran out of the greenhouse. In the moment, I couldn’t get it out of my head that butterflies are bugs with big, colorful wings. This sort of creeped me out. I gladly watched Grant enjoy the butterfly nursery from the outside.
Our tour inside Malahide castle was fun. This castle is very well preserved and feels cozy, although our guide mentioned that certain rooms are really haunted. This castle was home to the Talbot family for close to 800 years and was recently sold to the Irish state by one of the last remaining Talbots who couldn’t afford the full inheritance tax.
When our tour was done, we decided to explore the grounds. The castle stands on 268 acres of woodland, park, and walled Gardens. The walled Gardens were first created by Lord Milo Talbot when he inherited the estate from his cousin in 1948. His hobby was botany and he took particular interest in Southern Hemisphere plants, especially those from Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. The walled Gardens contain 7 greenhouses. The one I particularly liked was a tropical flower house as I was delighted to recognize familiar plants from Hawaii, such as Bird-of-Paradise and red ginger.
There is even a ruin of a church, called Malahide Abbey, that was set up and used by the Talbot family in centuries past.
Afterwards, Grant and I wandered in to the village of Malahide and came across a seafood restaurant. The outside looked casual but the food was really good and delicately prepared.
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