When you travel around Ireland, one thing that stands out is the number of castles. When I went to Ireland I went on so many tours that I could practically give them myself. Some castles, like Trim Castle (pictured below) which was used in Braveheart, were cooler than others, but most castles have these 5 elements:
1. Murder holes
Yes, murder holes…holes used for murder. It is a rectangular hole placed above the entrance of the castle, and they are used to fight off invaders. If you were on the attacking side and were the first to enter the castle, you had the worst chance of survival. The defenders would throw random items down the holes, such as rocks, furniture and boiling liquids, and they would also stab the intruders with swords, spears and arrows through the murder holes. Gruesome, but effective.
(the grate would not have been there)
2. Spiral staircases
You wouldn’t think that staircases would be a defense tactic, but spiral staircases ascend to the right in castles, which helps the defenders. Most people were right-handed, so the defenders who were descending the stairs had the advantage. They could easily wield their swords and slice down attackers because they had enough room on their right side to swing the sword. The attacking side would have to send their left-handed fighters up first so that they had adequate room to swing, but once they went down, the right-handed attackers would have a harder time.
3. Garderobes
Also known as the toilet or bathroom in medieval castles. It’s usually a long hallway ending with a bench with a hole in it for going to the bathroom. In the hallway, they would hang up their clothes, and the ammonia and smell from the toilet would kill any fleas or bugs in the clothes, hence garderobe (guarding robes).
4. White-washed walls
When you think of the inside of castles, you picture what is shown in movies and TV series: the same stone look that is on the outside of the castle. However, because the castles need to be preserved today, the walls are white-washed. This helps mold from growing and spreading. It takes some imagination to see picture what the rooms would look like in the medieval times, but most movies help show what it would have looked like.
5. Wood roofs/floors
Some castles do not have all of the floors put in because they were wood and rotted away. If you visit a castle today, the wood roof or floors have been replaced to try to mimic what they would have look like when the castle was in use. This is why ruins of castles do not have a roof or floors, but the slots where wooden beams were placed still exist.
(white walls and replaced wooden roof)