Kings and queens, princes and princesses. For them, a new home was all about three things - Location! Location! Location!
Pip and Declan are outside an old Castle. They have wooden swords.
DECLAN: And I, Lord Declan of the Clan of Declan, do dub thee, Royal Knight of Honour, Lady Pip of the… Clan of eh…
PIP: Declan, what are you doing?
DECLAN: I'm thinking Pip, there's somethign not right about this.
PIP: What's wrong?
DECLAN: Well, you said this was a castle, but it just looks like a bunch of rocks.
PIP: These are the castle ruins, but hundreds of years ago this was once the best place to live in the whole kingdom.
DECLAN: Really?
PIP: Really! Imagine you're a King.
DECLAN: I can't, because I'm a knight.
PIP: Yeah, but imagine you're a king and you've got lots of gold.
DECLAN: Ok, I can do that! Mmmm, gold!
PIP: And where would you keep this gold safe?
DECLAN: In a treasure chest.
PIP: And where would you keep the treasure chest?
DECLAN: In a strong building, on a hill, so that I could see who was coming to steal my treasure.
PIP: That's exactly what a castle is!
We see some photographs of castles and a drawing of one. Then water appears around it.
PIP: A strong building, built by rulers of the past to protect them from attacks. Castles were both a home and a fortress.
DECLAN: I will build a river around my castle and fill it full of crocodiles.
PIP: That's called a moat. You'll need a drawbridge to get into your castle.
A drawbridge appears on the castle drawing.
DECLAN: Yes, yes. Yes, Pip, there's lots to be done!
PIP: Yeah, haha. Declan, where are you going? I thought you were going to knight me?
DECLAN: Sorry, sorry Pip. I'm a king now and I need ot protect my treasure! You'll have to knight yourself. Oh but, don't ruin it!
Both laugh.
DECLAN: Do you get it? Don't ruin it?
PIP: Ah, haha ha, it's very funny.
Just like the castle Declan and Pip are in, most were built at the top of a hill to give them the best view possible over the surrounding countryside. This way, they could spot any enemy knights approaching before they got too close.
They also had lots of other features that we don’t normally see today, like turrets and battlements. Remember, castles were not just a home, they were for protecting people too, as well as all of their gold! So, when it came to castle walls, bigger was definitely better; they were enormous and made of very thick, strong stone.
They certainly did not have normal front doors either. A drawbridge could be brought up and down to let people cross a moat to get in, with a heavy iron grate, called a portcullis, used to block the entrance.
There are still some examples of castles that you can visit across Northern Ireland, although a lot of them have fallen down and are now just ruins. But with a little bit of imagination, maybe you could picture yourself living there, just like King Declan…
Castles in Northern Ireland
Image caption, Gosford Castle in County Armagh
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