The Towers

 Our last trip, on Sunday morning while we waited for the tent to dry, was to The Towers, near Lismore. 

According to "Discover Ireland", Ballysaggartmore Towers are imposing gothic style buildings situated near Lismore in pleasant woodland walking and picnic areas. The magical towers provide a fairy tale setting which does not reflect the sad period in Irish History where extravagance and starvation lived side by side.

They were constructed for an Anglo Irish Landlord, Arthur Keily-Ussher no later than 1834. He held an estate of approximately 8000 acres, the majority of which was rented to tenant farmers but he retained approximately 1000 acres as a personal demesne.

The Towers: Built in 1850 by Arthur Kiely-Ussher for his wife, the extravagant gates were the only part of the castle to be built as money ran out soon after their completion. The Kiely-Ussher family then resided in a modest house on the grounds - since demolished the small castle is not open to the public.

We had been here before with my brother; admittedly a good number of years ago, as R finished school this year, and on that occasion she was still young enough to go in one of those back carriers. But I find it hard to understand how C could remember the fact of the walk, but have zero memory of the towers! I'd have thought they were pretty unforgettable. There was a sign saying that woodpeckers had been recorded earlier this year, and to report any sightings to the biodiversity watch as they are not common here. But we weren't lucky. We did see several of the silver-washed fritillary butterflies, which we had also seen in Glenshelane the day before. 

We stopped at the little farmers' market in Lismore on the way back, where I got a Shasta daisy and some lemon balm to go with my purchases from Fota.