Westport House
Westport: Westport was Ireland's first "designed city," laid out by an architect during the Georgian period of the eighteenth century. Westport House is considered to be one of the finest examples of Irish Georgian architecture.
Burrishool Friary
Grace O'Malley's Castle: Grace O'Malley was Ireland's fabled "Pirate Queen." From this tower, the diminutive but feisty woman and her troops repeatedly drove off the English invaders. (Didn't those guys ever give the Irish a break?) Eventually, Queen Elizabeth tried another tack. She invited Grace to London as a "guest" and, once there, proceeded to throw her in the Tower of London. Eventually, Grace agreed to marry one of the English noblemen and was released. A few short years later, Grace's husband died and Grace escaped back to her beloved Ireland. (Anyone venture to guess the "cause of death"?) Grace lived out the remainder of her life in this tower.
Our Comments: Grace O'Malley's Castle is now privately owned. There's a sign on the locked door directing visitors up the road to a beautiful old home where they can borrow the key. The key was retrieved from a heavily guarded bowl perched on a garage window (note the two "guard cats"). We suspect the cats must have come from a family of guard cats who, for generations, have pledged their loyalty and service as guardians of the castle. ;-D Once inside, to get to the second floor, we had to climb a wooden ladder through a small hole in the ceiling. Obviously, this was designed for defensive purposes. A circular stone staircase led on up three more floors to the top, which we presumed to be the main gathering room because of the huge fireplace which stretched the length of one wall. In a small alcove adjacent to the spiral staircase, we noticed what appeared to be a built-in stone bench. After further inspection, we found that the bench had a hole that dropped straight into the ocean below; evidently a very early "one-holer."
Grace O'Malley's Guard Cats