Exploring King John’s Castle

King John’s Castle is probably the largest landmark here in downtown Limerick. It is a remnant of the time when the English were in charge here. At that time, the river Shannon was a major highway for commerce here in Ireland. A lot of people obviously traveled as well as crossing the river. The invading English then decided that it would be a good idea to build a castle on the shores of the river Shannon at the same time taking over access to an existing bridge crossing the river. I am not sure how the Irish yielded control of the bridge here, but it was very cunning of the English to manage to build the castle right beside the all important bridge.

Now that the bridge was taken over, the English has established control over the area. If you need to cross the bridge, one would have to agree to the terms of the English. The location of the bridge was also strategic as it enable English to control commerce as well as who can and cannot enter the river. The castle that was built and expanded several times still stands today. The next part of the castle is the roof. I thought that was quite strange since I just came from exploring underground where there was excavations made of the older Viking settlement here. The roof was very spacious and it leads to various parts of the castle. Unfortunately, there rain was still pouring and there was very little I can do but to continue exploring.

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