Bunratty CastleBunratty Castle is a large 15th-century tower house in County Clare, Ireland.

Ireland is not as famous for its castles as some other countries are for theirs, but it does have castles and they are well worth seeing. Bunratty Castle (featured above and below) is fun to visit. It's a 15th-century tower house in Country Clare. We visited the castle last October on our return from visiting the Cliffs of Moher, which I will feature in a future blog post.

Autumn at Bunratty CastleBunratty Castle is a large 15th-century tower house in County Clare, Ireland.

We enjoyed walking around the grounds of the castle and the adjacent folk park. The folk park has lots of interesting things to see, including animals, such as these little goats:

Small goatsSmall goats in the folk park around Bunratty Castle in County Clare, Ireland.

Bunratty Castle was interesting and fun, but we actually found Staigue more interesting. Staigue is a stone ringfort (photo below) in County Kerry. The fort is thought to have been built during the late Iron Age, probably somewhere between 300 and 400 A.D.

StaigueStaigue is a stone ringfort in County Kerry, Ireland. The fort is thought to have been built during the late Iron Age, probably somewhere between 300 and 400 AD.

The fort was built without any mortar and the walls are so strong that, almost 2,000 years later, one can climb up the walls and walk around. The fort sits at the head of a valley that stretches down towards the sea. Standing atop the walls, one can see sheep grazing in the valley.

View from StaigueThe view from atop the wall of Staigue, a stone ringfort in County Kerry, Ireland. The fort is thought to have been built during the late Iron Age, probably somewhere between 300 and 400 AD.

Next up, I'll post about some of the cliffs we saw during our visit.