This is the second part of the "tour of Ross Castle" which actually wasn't a tour at all, since the tour guide was sick and the tours were canceled. So, instead, we'll share a ghost story about the castle and some cute pics we took there. :) PICTURES- Since there was really not much to see at the castle, we took a couple of pictures outside. Tom came up with the shadow idea picture.
Rob, posing for his next book pic
Tom and Rob and a dungeon door?
ABOUT ROSS CASTLE - It was built in 1536 by Sir Richard Nugent, known as the "Black Baron" because he was cruel to his tenants.
Ross Castle- but we saw blue sky for 10 minutes!
THE GHOSTLY LEGEND OF ROSS CASTLE - According to the book "Haunted Ireland" the Black Baron's daughter, Sabrina fell in love with an Irishman named Orwin O'Reilly - whose family was hostile to the Anglo-Normans (of which the Black Baron's family belonged)... so it a was "sleeping with the enemy" thing. Because they knew their marriage wouldn't be allowed
they did something dumb- they tried to elope by crossing (Lake) Lough
Sheelin to run away. Of course, a storm blew up - as it did when we were
visiting, tossed the boat over and Orwin drowned. Sabrina made it to
the shore, however. So, she decided to starve herself and died in the
castle. Now she haunts it. Another ghost is said to be there, too,
although they may not see each other - that's her nasty father. (BTW- he
likely stayed behind because his faith said that bad people can't cross
over, which is not true -because they make amends on the other side-
and he'll be there for eternity).
In part 51 of our (9 day ) Ireland trip blog, we're taking you on our soggy journey to Ross Castle in Killarney, located in southwestern Ireland.
What Ross Castle looked like in the 1400s
Castle Schematic for the architect (Tom)
OUR SOGGY ADVENTURE GETTING THERE -
Ross Castle was about 2 miles walk from our downtown Killarney hotel,
and since it was just overcast, we decided to try and walk instead of
brave the roads and roundabouts. I (Rob) took an umbrella, but that
would soon not matter. After a half mile of walking, rain started to
come down quite heavily (and it was a small umbrella so we both barely
fit under it). Then gusty winds flipped the umbrella inside out and
broke several of the spokes. We turned around as the heavy rain
continued and huddled under the broken umbrella, finally giving up on it
when we were 5 minutes from the hotel. Fortunately, the rain eased but
more was on the way. So, we walked to the car and drove over!
Tom feeding ducks
Lots of ducks!
A SHORT VISIT- After parking the car, we enjoyed seeing the
adjacent lake, which will be the setting for the ghost story in a
moment. We took some pictures and went into the castle. That's where we
were told by the one woman working in the admission counter that the
ONLY tour guide had called in sick and there would be "No tours of the
Ross Castle today." UGH. So, we made the best of it.
Closer view of the castle
LITTLE MUSEUM -
Next to the admission window was a room with a small museum that had
diagrams and displays explaining the castle's history so we lingered in
there for a while.
TOM'S QUOTE OF THE WEEK: As we were leaving I asked Tom to sum up our visit to Ross Castle. He said: "The wind, the rain, the clouds and the fooking tour is closed!" NEXT: ROSS CASTLE'S GHOST STORY and CUTE PICS OF US
I'm a simple guy who enjoys the simple things in life, especially our dogs. I volunteer for dog rescues, enjoy exercising, blogging, politics, helping friends and neighbors, participating in ghost investigations, coffee, weather, superheroes, comic books, mystery novels, traveling, 70s and 80s music, classic country music,writing books on ghosts and spirits, cooking simply and keeping in shape. You'll find tidbits of all of these things on this blog and more. EMAIL me at Rgutro@gmail.com - Rob
Because they knew their marriage wouldn't be allowed
they did something dumb- they tried to elope by crossing (Lake) Lough
Sheelin to run away. Of course, a storm blew up - as it did when we were
visiting, tossed the boat over and Orwin drowned. Sabrina made it to
the shore, however. So, she decided to starve herself and died in the
castle. Now she haunts it. Another ghost is said to be there, too,
although they may not see each other - that's her nasty father. (BTW- he
likely stayed behind because his faith said that bad people can't cross
over, which is not true -because they make amends on the other side-
and he'll be there for eternity). 
