Delvin

So, in heading home, we got off the beaten path and were traveling through some cute little towns on the N52, (all the towns here are pretty cute) and we stopped in Delvin so we could buy some water and use the toilets.  (That's what they call it - not bathrooms, not restrooms - TOILETS!)  The town was quaint and the people in the store were quite friendly.  After that we headed on towards home.

Amy took these shots as we drove into town. 

This store was across the street from the one we found open on a Sunday morning.

Info about Delvin and the ruins found here.

I found the information about Brinsley McNamara (born John Weldon in Delvin in 1890) to be rather fascinating.  I had not heard of him, but he was a writer, actor, and playwright who, like Patrick Kavanagh, wrote about Ireland and the difficulties of rural life without romanticizing it as Yeats was more prone to do.  There was a literary divide at the time in sorting out an Irish identity.  Though most were Nationalists and supported Irish freedom, they had differing views of their national identity and the path that should be taken to achieve it.  At any rate, I don't know enough about each of their writings  to really speak to the subject, but I love going to places and finding information about the various writers of the time so that I can read more and learn more about that turbulent time in Irish history. 

The information presented also informs us that Thomas Chapman hailed from the area as well, and was the father of Thomas Edward Chapman, about whom the film "Lawrence of Arabia" was based!

This was one of the Nugent Castles.  This was Delvin Castle, and the Nugent family lived there, having been given the lands by Hugh de Lacy in 1172 (who had acquired them from Strongbow).  The Nugent family held the lands for years and in 1639, Richard Nugent built a new castle and left Delvin Castle empty.  The new castle was burned down by Nugent himself rather than let Cromwell take it.  Eventually, it was rebuilt and there now stands a rather magnificent castle that is privately owned.  I did not see the newer castle, but pictures of it online are rather amazing.

This was St. Mary's Church which was a Norman Church built in the 13th Century.