Today Bryan and I celebrated our seven year anniversary. and what better way to celebrate than having dinner at a castle! We had reservations at Bunratty Castle in Clare County about an hour away from our rental.

We had reservations for 8:45, so by recommendation of the owner of our rental, we decided to take a drive to Kinvara a small seaside village only 20 minutes away from where we are staying.

So the day had some high points and some low points.

We drive into Kinvara, remember when I mention about the narrow and twisty roads in Ireland? Well we managed to lose a hubcap when Bryan was going around a corner, and another car crossed over the center line pushing him up against the sidewalk.

We park and assess the damage and that is when I realized that my camera had stopped working. On a trip of a lifetime my camera (which wasn't very old) decides now of all times to do this.

We head into town hoping to find a camera shop to replace my camera. Being a quaint seaside village it wasn't looking very promising. We go into a cafe and ask the owner if there is any place where we could buy a camera, he said he didn't think so, but to try the pharmacy and they may have some disposable cameras.

We head to the pharmacy with me still fuming and ready to toss my camera into the Atlantic Ocean. The pharmacy doesn't have disposables, but they did have memory cards. We decide to try and new memory card to see if that might solve my camera woes. Fingers crossed I replace the memory card and...

Yes! Success! And thankfully I only lost a few pictures from my memory card as I had transferred the pictures on it the day before to my computer.

So in much better spirits we decide to have lunch at the cafe where we first went and then explore the town.

Kinvara reminded us of Lubec, with its fishing boats in the harbor and quaint shops and side streets. The major difference however was that Kinvara had a castle in the background.

Another Murphy sighting!

Dunguaire Castle which also holds dinner banquets.

And look what we found on our walk home!!

Now off to Bunratty Castle!

We arrived early and were allowed to walk the grounds. During the day the grounds are open to the public and it is a Medieval Village with thatched roofs, gardens and livestock. It felt like we had been teleported in time as we walk through the folk village.

As we walked toward the castle and over the draw bridge a gentleman played the bagpipes while we wait to enter the castle.

Inside we are greeted by the staff dressed in period appropriate costumes as 'me lord' or 'me lady' and are given a cup of Mead. Which is honey flavored wine and we were told by the staff that is was supplied to a newly married couple with enough mead for a month (or one moon) ensuring happiness and fertility-hence the term honeymoon.

We then enter a chamber where we were greeted with this:

After our mead cocktail we enter the banquet room.

Immediately I notice that the table is set beautifully, but there are a few things missing. Such as silverware. We are only given a dagger to use and must use our hands for everything else!

Here what was on the menu:

Course 1-Vegetable Soup

Course 2-Spare Ribs

Course 3-Breast of Chicken served with potatoes

Course 4-Fruit of the Forest Mousse

As you can imagine the menu wasn't exactly 'finger friendly', so we had to get creative with how we were to eat our meal.

We sat next to this great couple, Tracie and Ray, who were from Australia and on holiday. Tracie's husband Ray was taken as prisoner and put into the castle dungeon. We could here his cries from the dungeon below as we try to finish our meal.

To be set free he had to beg for forgiveness by the Lord and Lady of the night, and was told he had to sing for his freedom...

It was a fabulous night, great food, great company, and am thankful that I was able to celebrate it all with my husband.

Happy Anniversary me lord.

Fruit of the Forest Mousse on a Biscuit Base

Spiced Parsnip Soup
~
Spare Ribs with Honey & Whiskey Sauce
~
Breast of Chicken with Apple & Mead sauce,
served with potatoes and seasonal vegetables.
~
Rastin
Fruit of the Forest Mousse on a Biscuit Base - See more at: http://www.shannonheritage.com/BunrattyCastleMedievalBanquet/#sthash.9EznRvuM.dpuf

Banquet Menu

Aperitif – Bunratty Mead
~
Spiced Parsnip Soup
~
Spare Ribs with Honey & Whiskey Sauce
~
Breast of Chicken with Apple & Mead sauce,
served with potatoes and seasonal vegetables.
~
Rastin
Fruit of the Forest Mousse on a Biscuit Base