Dalkey Heritage Town
| County: | Co. Dublin |
| Tel: | 01-285 8366 |
| Fax: | 01-284 3141 |
| Email: | info@dalkeycastle.com |
Experience Dalkey Castle’s Living History Live Performance with characters from Dalkey’s medieval past! The Barber Surgeon will offer a quick tooth extraction, chilling amputation or worse! The Archer will try out his long bow and lead you to the battlements. Beware of the Murder Hole and the flushing of the Garderobe! The Medieval Cook prepares a meal of baked hedgehog or dressed swan. Actors from Delig Inis Theatre Company brings Dalkey’s medieval history vividly to life with live performance every half hour from 10.00 on weekdays and 11.30 on weekends. Walk and talk - an experienced guide reveals the stories behind Dalkey streetscape and ancient history. Guided Historical Walks (May 1st - Aug 31st) leave from Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre and can be pre-booked by arrangement. Bloomsday: See the exhibition of James Joyce’s Dalkey connections, Chapter Two of ‘Ulysses' is set in Dalkey. Come to our Bloomsday Festival on 16th June 2009.
General Information
| Address: | Castle Street, Dalkey, Co. Dublin |
|---|---|
| Telephone; | 01-285 8366 |
| Fax: | 01-284 3141 |
| Email: | info@dalkeycastle.com |
| Website: | http://www.dalkeycastle.com |
| Location: | South of Dun Laoghaire, on east coast |
| Season: | All Year, excluding Christmas and the 29th / 31st of March |
| Open Times: | May-Aug: 10.00-18.00 Daily (Closed Tuesday) Sep-Apr: 09.30-17.00 Mon-Fri (Closed Tuesday) 11.0 |
| Tours: | Living History: Guided Tours all year every 30 mins Guided Historical Walks: June 1st-Aug 31st |
| Booking Contact: | Margaret Dunne |
| Manager: | Margaret Dunne |
| Average Visit Length: | 1 -2 hours |
| Town Amenities: | Angling, Beach, Bird watching, Cycling, gardens, golf, horseriding, mountain climbing, walking, swimming |
| Entrance Fees: |
Adult: €6.00 Concession: €5.00 Child: €4.00 Family: €16.00 |
| Restaurant: | Savour authentic restaurants throughout Dalkey |
| Picnic Area: | Yes |
| Shop: | Range of shops throughout Dalkey village |
| Coach Parking: | Yes |
| Group Booking Necessary: | Yes |
| Car Parking: | Yes |
| Disabled Access/Parking: | Yes |
Medieval Experience
Beat the recession! Mint your own coins with the Viking Sitric who demonstrates the ancient craft of coin minting. Take a journey through Medieval times with actors from Deilg Inis Living History Theatre Company; Magnus Maxwell the Barber Surgeon, Rupert the Archer, Saidbh the medieval housekeeper and Sitric the Viking Coin Minter. Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre presents a Medieval Experience with Live Performances daily from 9.30 am weekdays and 11.00am weekends. See www.dalkeycastle.com.
Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre presents an exhilarating Medieval Experience with professional actors in full period costume bringing to life the history of the late 14th and early 15th century at Goat Castle in Dalkey and the wider area. Have a family fun day out in Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre the only fortified Town House in an urban setting open to the public in Ireland. The Medieval Experience begins with a short introduction from one of the trained guides and then the Deilg Inis Living History Theatre brings the characters to life in the medieval fortified Town House. The Medieval Merchant, Master Cheevers of Monkstown Castle owns the fortified town house in Dalkey. He is likely to proudly show off the features of the town house such as the murder hole and battlements. The new character to refresh this year’s programme is Sitric, a Viking coin minter based on the ‘Dalkey hoard’ Sometime around 1838 an ancient gatepost was demolished in Dalkey to make way for new concert hall at the Queen’s Royal Hotel. A hoard of silver coins was found with the head of Edgar who reigned from 959AD. Through a circuitous route the coins are now in the British Museum. The performance is built around this nugget of history using authentic equipment to strike the coins with the imprint of Edgar the Viking. Handy in these recessionary times!
Rupert the Archer is the ‘keeper of the keys’ and guards the town house with his longbow. He ensures the Gaelic tongue is not spoken within the Pale and commits anyone he hears speaking it to the Pillory. Magnus Maxwell, is a travelling Barber Surgeon of renown who inflicts a host of horrors on medieval Dalkey such as crude tooth extractions and amputations, urine sampling for blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile and even a simple hair cut is shocking! Saidbh, the medieval housekeeper prepares all of the meals for the staff in the town house. While preparing a feast, she takes time out to explain medieval cooking, foods and dining. She may have time to explain how she uses the intestines of the animals, discarded bones and antlers. She has her annual bath on her birthday but this doesn’t still eradicate the fleas and the lice. She will tell you about a novel way of controlling these in the Garderobe!
Beautiful Walks
Stroll through the centuries. The Dalkey/Killiney area is one of the most scenic places in Ireland to take a walk. Stroll around here at your leisure and enjoy the breathtaking scenery from Killiney Hill, Sorrento Park, Vico Road & Coliemore Harbour. Hugh Leonard observes in Home Before Night “Those who are patient and will sit, wait and listen or linger along the tree-shaded roads running down to the sea, can hear the centuries pass”
Schools Living History at Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre
Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre and the Heritage Office of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council are offering the highly successful Living History Programme for national schools until Thursday 25th March 2010. The programme is suited to fourth, fifth and sixth classes.
The Living History presentation involves professional actors from Deilg Inis Living History Theatre Company, in full period costume bringing the history of the 14th century Fortified Town House in Dalkey and the wider area to colourful life. The company portrays characters from early Christian through Viking to medieval and Victorian times.
The students get to experience the plight of an escaped Irish slave from the notorious Viking slave trading station at Dalkey Island. They will experience a Viking raid in the grounds of St Begnet’s Church & Graveyard. Sitric the Viking Coin-Minter (based on the Dalkey Hoard of Viking coins found in Dalkey from 900s now in the British Museum) will show how coinage was first minted in Dublin.
The Murder Hole is activated theatrically and participation by the students is encouraged. Rupert the Archer demonstrates the use of the longbow. The students will hear him using all the terminology from archery still used in English today: ‘another string to your bow’; ‘keep it under your hat’; ‘brace yourself’ etc. They will hear the origin of the infamous V sign!
Barnaby, the Head Cook, shows all the preparations that are taking place for a feast that night to honour the local merchants. What medieval people ate and how they ate it are all covered. The medieval Garderobe fascinates the students as the flushing was done with a pail of water as in many areas today with water shortages!
Áine, the Quarry-woman, whose sad but inspiring story is bound up with the tough conditions when the granite from Dalkey Quarry was used in the building of the pier in Dun Laoghaire.. Before leaving, each child is granted an audience with The King of Dalkey who bestows a personalised parchment scroll on every visitor in a ceremony which dates back to the 1790s.
The history of the area and social customs of the time are covered in a colourful, engaging and memorable manner. The tour is of approximately two hours duration. The schools programme runs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10am. Booking has been extremely brisk but there are still a few dates left.
Tel 01 2858366, Email info@dalkeycastle.com Website: www.dalkeycastle.com
Conference & Incentive
Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre can provide entertainment for your special guests outside of normal working hours. Delig Inis Theatre Company will bring local history to life with characters from medieval times in the fourteenth century Town House, Goat Castle. A medieval merchant may greet you; an archer may accost you; a medieval maid may enlighten you and a medicine woman may heal you! Contact Margaret Dunne for details at 01-285 8366
