Chapter 9
NINE
That evening, Ciara and her mother walked along the lane that would take them up the hill to O’Toole’s Castle, Brian trotting behind them.
‘It’s a Norman tower that would have been built in the twelfth century,’ Maureen said.
‘I read about it in a history book recently. Your father was very interested in that period. There are so many of these Norman towers all over Ireland. Most of the farms had them in those days. Fortified farms, they were called. They were there so they could shut themselves in if there was any danger. And they would send smoke signals to the other towers if enemies approached to warn their neighbours.’
‘I don’t think I’d like to have lived then,’ Ciara said with a little shiver. ‘Imagine having to be on the lookout for marauding gangs and robbers all the time and then having to lock yourself in to stay safe.’
‘Isn’t that what we do now?’ Maureen asked with a wry smile.
‘I suppose,’ Ciara said glumly. ‘But with more technology. In any case, people in the Middle Ages didn’t have a very comfortable life.’
‘And they didn’t live long,’ Maureen filled in. ‘I’d have been dead by now.’
‘Horrible thought,’ Ciara said and put her arm through her mother’s. ‘I’m glad you’re alive and here with me.’
‘So am I, pet,’ Maureen said and squeezed her daughter’s hand for a moment.
Ciara breathed in the soft air, laced with the scent of pine trees, wild garlic and damp earth as they walked through the woods.
Birdsong filled the air and there was the odd squawk above them from a raven.
The evening sun glinted between the trees and they could hear the trickle of water from a stream nearby.
‘It’s such an enchanted place,’ she said.
‘It feels like stepping into some kind of fairy tale.’
‘It’s very special,’ Maureen agreed. ‘And now I can smell meat roasting over some kind of open fire.’
‘Delicious,’ Ciara said, feeling her stomach rumbling as they approached the tall, square tower that suddenly rose before them as they rounded a bend. ‘Look. Isn’t it amazing?’
Maureen glanced up and then stopped walking for a moment. ‘It’s so intact,’ she said. ‘I thought it would be partly in ruins. But it’s very well preserved. Must be one of the few inhabited tower houses in the country.’
‘Hello,’ Liz called from the open window above them. ‘Come in and see the castle before we eat.’
‘Wonderful,’ Maureen said and started towards the massive door in front of them that was wide open. ‘Can’t wait to see what’s inside.’
Ciara followed her mother into the tower, stepping into a dark, cold room with oak planks on the floor, a large fireplace and a roughly hewn spiral staircase that led to the upper levels.
There was a smell of damp earth and mould.
‘Hello?’ she called, her voice echoing around the old room. ‘Liz? Where are you?’
‘Here,’ Liz said with a giggle as she jumped down from the bottom step.
‘I know it’s dark and cold here but come upstairs and see the big hall and the top floors where there’s a lovely view.
’ She turned around and started to climb back up, while Ciara and Maureen followed, holding on to an improvised handrail made of a knotted rope.
After a steep climb, they arrived into a much brighter room, with two windows that let in the sunshine.
Here, there were colourful rugs on the floor and logs smouldering in the large stone fireplace, which had a faded blue sofa in front of it.
There was also a kitchenette in one corner and a table and four chairs under the window.
The rough stone walls were hung with ancient-looking tapestries that made the room seem warm and inviting.
‘Lovely space,’ Maureen said, looking around.
‘It’s our living room,’ Liz said. ‘Used to be the banqueting hall in the old days.’
‘When was the tower built?’ Ciara asked.
‘In fourteen thirty,’ Liz replied. ‘The O’Tooles had been chased away from Kildare by the Normans and decided to settle here.
And then they built this tower house and lived in it for generations, improving it little by little, adding windows on the upper floors and so on.
But then they dispersed a few hundred years later and moved off to other parts of Wicklow.
It was my great-grandfather who decided to have it as a summer house and the family have come here every summer since then. ’ Liz drew breath.
‘But now you’re here in the spring?’ Maureen asked.
‘We’re usually not here until late May,’ Liz explained. ‘But as the weather turned so warm lately, we decided to come and live here and then go back to Wicklow town if it gets wet and miserable.’
‘What’s upstairs?’ Ciara asked.
‘The upper floor has been split into several rooms,’ Liz explained, standing poised on the stairs.
‘You can even go out on the roof. You can see all the way to the sea from there. Come up and take a look,’ she said with a wave of her hand.
Then she ran up the stairs and Ciara followed, while Maureen stayed behind, declaring she had had enough climbing for today.
‘Where’s Brian?’ Liz suddenly stopped on the top step. ‘I thought he’d follow you up here.’
‘Must have smelled the food,’ Ciara suggested.
‘I’ll go and find him,’ Maureen called from below them.
‘Okay. Go around the tower and you’ll find Oisín too,’ Liz said. ‘He’s doing his best not to burn the dinner. I hope you like barbecued meat?’
‘Love it,’ Maureen shouted back.
Ciara followed Liz up to the top floor of the castle, arriving at a landing with three doors.
A square window let in the sunlight and Ciara went to look at the stunning view of the woods, the river and the mountains.
The fields surrounded by hedgerows and stone walls looked like a green patchwork quilt and she could even see deer grazing on the steep slope of the mountainside.
Then, as she looked further to the east, she saw the sea glinting in the far distance and something white and gleaming to the south.
That must be the Wicklow Head lighthouse, Ciara thought, amazed that it was visible from this distance.
There was a feeling that time had stood still up here, and she could imagine the chieftains looking down over the landscape to see any enemies approaching.
‘How gorgeous,’ she said. ‘You can see for miles from here.’
‘That was the idea,’ Liz explained as she joined Ciara by the window. ‘From here, they could see anyone who might be planning to rob them or steal cattle. Then the chieftain would get his men to first of all close the big door downstairs and perhaps pour boiling oil on them.’
‘Must have been fun times,’ Ciara remarked.
‘Very interesting, anyway,’ Liz said with an amused smile. ‘This floor was once one big room where everyone slept together. But later on, it was split into bedrooms and there’s even a bathroom with a shower these days. Not very modern, but it works.’
‘It’s okay in the summer, I suppose,’ Ciara remarked.
Liz laughed. ‘Just about. I wouldn’t want to try it in the winter. It can be quite grim here then, especially when it rains. But hey, let’s go down and meet Oisín, and then we can eat.’
They went down the stairs again, Liz skipping ahead like a mountain goat while Ciara was more careful, hanging on to the rope for dear life, praying she wouldn’t twist her ankle or slip and fall on the rough stones. She heaved a sigh of relief when she arrived unscathed at the bottom of the stairs.
Liz had disappeared so Ciara had to make her own way around the corner of the tower, where she found a garden with a lawn stretching down to the river.
There was a kind of deck overlooking the river in the middle of the lawn, where a tall, bearded young man, his blond hair tied back in a ponytail, was turning steaks at a barbecue.
He looked up as Ciara approached. ‘Hi, there,’ he said, smiling through his beard, ‘you must be Ciara. I’ve already met your mum.
And the gorgeous Brian, of course. Welcome to O’Toole’s Castle. I’m Oisín.’
Ciara couldn’t help staring at him, as he was quite the most handsome man she had ever seen. ‘Hi, Oisín,’ she said. ‘Lovely place you’ve got here.’
‘What a beautiful young man,’ Maureen whispered in Ciara’s ear. ‘He looks like a film star in a pirate movie.’
‘Hey,’ Liz said behind them as she walked down the lawn carrying a dish of vegetables. ‘Could you give me a hand with this and put it on the table? I’ll go and get a bone for Brian, so he won’t gobble up our steaks.’
‘Great,’ Ciara said and took the dish Liz handed her, while she kept staring at Oisín.
As she walked closer, she saw that he had brilliant green eyes and very dark eyelashes.
He smiled at her, showing a set of perfect teeth.
She nearly dropped the vegetables but pulled herself together and put the dish on a table beside the barbecue.
‘There you are,’ she said. ‘Courgettes and aubergines ready to be grilled.’
‘Ah, perfect,’ he said and took the vegetables and put them on the barbecue with the steaks. ‘They should be ready soon.’
‘It all smells delicious,’ Ciara said. Then she looked at him and returned his smile. ‘What a lovely place you have.’ She knew she was repeating herself, but she was so flustered by his good looks that she kept gushing.
‘Ah sure, it’s grand,’ Oisín said as Brian bounded up on the deck. ‘We’d better mind your dog or he’ll steal the steaks.’
‘He won’t,’ Ciara protested and looked sternly at Brian. ‘Sit,’ she ordered and Brian immediately sat, his tongue hanging out while he panted loudly. ‘He’s dying to eat them, but he wouldn’t dare.’
‘You have him well trained,’ Oisín said admiringly.
‘It wasn’t me, I sent him to a schooling place,’ Ciara explained. ‘I needed him to be very obedient, or he’d wreck my place. He’s such a big dog.’
‘And very handsome.’ Oisín ruffled Brian’s shaggy fur, which made him close his eyes in ecstasy. ‘You like that, don’t you, boy?’ he said in his soft voice.