Dragons, Dust, Damp & Dungeons  -  Staying in a castle.  by Harry Potter

I well remember arriving at Hogwarts.  A medieval castle was unlike anything else that I had ever experienced.

Some have compared it to being on a yacht - spaces, apart from in the great hall, tend to be a little cramped.  But then Uncle Vernon didn't have a yacht, so I didn't know what to expect!   It was a lot better than my cupboard under the stairs at home.   The notion of private space was completely alien to medieval thinking of the builders, who encouraged communal living.  Soldiers all mucked in together in their guard rooms, monks and nuns had their dormitories, ordinary families lived in one roomed cabins, generally with their livestock.  Shared bathrooms, beds on balconies, one bedroom accessed through another bedroom, are all common medieval features.   It means that personal barriers are broken down, and everyone becomes more relaxed. The great oak floors, supported on massive beams, look wonderful but are not great at sound insulation - brilliant for eavesdropping!.  Having said that the stone vaults provide a sound barrier that a recording studio could be proud of, so you can't shout down the stairs for the family to come in - you have to go down and get them. 

Stairs were actually designed to be uneven, so that anyone unfamiliar with them would stumble as they slipped through the shadows, dagger poised.  

The raw stone walls inevitably create dust, and in the high crevices of the walls, where no feather duster can ever reach, spiders will weave their webs.  Contemporary owners, in their passion for cleanliness, will generally move scaffolding in once a year to spring clean the great halls from top to bottom.    The walls, which are often over 10' thick, are a wonderful insulation and cocoon against the cruel outside world.  However if the weather is at all warm and humid the cool walls will act as condensers and become damp to the touch.  Dampness was always a problem in the medieval tower so the original inhabitants kept their clothes fresh by hanging them in the Garde Robe (or toilet),  where the combination of fresh air and ammonia was most effective.  Modern heating has made that unnecessary.

If you like what you know, and enjoy the consistent worldwide style of McDonalds or The Four Seasons Hotels, then a medieval castle is not for you. Try Lisheen Castle or Fanningstown, gorgeous gothic revival confections, or the stately splendours of Luttrellstown Castle or Slane Castle instead. If however you have a little of the romantic aesthete, if you have even a little sense of  adventure and fun and would like to experience something different, if the notion of a 1930s Rolls Royce is more attractive, or at any rate as attractive, as a brand new Roller, then you will love staying in a Medieval Castle. And you don't even have to study magic to stay in them!

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A section through Clara Castle by Harold Leask

Buy His Book Irish Castles

Suggested Reading before Renting an Irish Castle

Horace Walpole  - The Castle of Otranto

Dodie Smith - I Capture The Castle

Somerville & Ross  - The Experiences of an Irish R.M.

Maria Edgeworth - Castle Rackrent