Ireland Trip: Part 37: King John's Castle Museum & Henry VIII

This is Part 37 of our Ireland trip, the second part of our tour through King John's Castle. Built in the 13th century by King Johns Castle has had a very long and turbulent history. 

  HENRY VIII CONNECTION - Tom is an amateur historian on the English Tudor dynasty history and we found a connection to Henry VIII here. 

Henry VIII display and Tom

There is some debate about why Henry VIII decided to re-conquer Ireland. However the most immediate reason was that the Fitzgerald dynasty of Kildare, who had become the effective rulers of Ireland in the 15th century, had become very unreliable allies of the Tudor monarchs. 

Rob and Henry VIII

A look from the inside of King John's Castle

The funny sign

    In 1536, Henry VIII deposed the Fitzgerald dynasty as Lords Deputies of Ireland (the new Kingdom of Ireland was declared by Henry VIII in 1541) and 1691, when the Irish Catholic Jacobites surrendered at Limerick, confirming British Protestant dominance in Ireland. This is sometimes called the early modern period.


THE SIGN WITH A TWISTED SENSE OF HUMOR - Right after the display about Henry VIII, there were several (fake) heads on pikes, hung on the wall. During Henry's reign, whenever someone was beheaded, they would put their head on a pike on the London Tower Bridge. What I found oddly funny, was just 25 feet away from that display was a sign telling people what direction to walk for the next exhibit. The sign said "Head this Way!" 

OUR SHORT VIDEO: We took a quick video (22 seconds) pan around the castle. It was extremely windy, and you'll hear the wind in this video! 

VIDEO VIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE CASTLE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KxCI5OiF98