Today we went to Carrickfergus Castle. It was absolutely, amazingly beautiful. Built out on a rock face that overlooks the sea, it has access to fresh water through a well, the smell of salt in the air, and strong, long-lasting walls.
Not only was it created in the 1100s, it continued to be in use until the Belfast Blitz during World War II. It has been almost perfectly preserved and even the cannons that are out and about are originals. Dungeons, the chapel, the death hole, the poop chute, we saw it all! (Death hole? Near the entrance. Used to drop acid on enemies from the room. Poop chute? Literally a shoot cut into the side of the castle that they pooped out of and it dropped out of the castle.
As I was there, I couldn’t help consider the reality of this building. How many people were real and used this? We see it as some sort of fairy tale, but they saw it as a safe haven. It protected them from foreign siege, it was their home. Or they saw it as a source of fear. It symbolized war or it was their dungeon or it was the place they took their last breath as they died by acid.
It’s not a trinket or a photo-op. It’s so much more. And how often do we parse apart reality into something “cute” because it’s easier to handle? How do we avoid that? And is it okay?
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