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matt_b has written 40 reviews in 12 countries.
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Castles & Palaces in Cork, Ireland
Clan chieftain Cormac MacCarthy built the Blarney Castle over 600 years ago, adding the famous stone after supporting the Scots at Bannockburn in 1314. A grateful Robert the Bruce presented MacCarthy with the magical stone, which was added to the castle on his return. Or was it given to him by a witch MacCarthy saved from drowning? Or was it brought back to the Emerald Isle from the Crusades? Give it a great big kiss anyway' |
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Castles & Palaces in South East, United Kingdom
Dover Castle is a real icon of England, with a history stretching back to Norman times and on up through to Henry VIII's turbulent private and public life. Visitors can enjoy various multi-media and interactive trickery, with a tour of the network of secret WWII tunnels deep inside the White Cliffs, a real experience. |
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Castles & Palaces in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Blarney may be the big tourist pull, but Carrickfergus is surely Ireland's most impressive castle - a real hulking presence on the ragged Ulster coastline, defying sieges by the Scots, Irish, English and French and remaining a working castle right up until the Second World War. Now houses an entertaining museum. |
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Castles & Palaces in Himeji, Japan
Himeji Castle, or the White Heron Castle as it's known, thanks to a nattily minimalist colour scheme, dates back to 1346, built by one Akamatsu Sadanori to defend himself from marauding shoguns. In 1577 it became a castle proper, thanks to the addition of 30 turrets. As impressive now as it was then, it's almost perfectly preserved, thanks in no small measure to the fact that no-one's ever dared launch an attack on the thing. |
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Castles & Palaces in North West, United Kingdom
Caerlaverock Castle was built in 1280, coming under the ownership of the English in 1312, before the then owner switched sides to the Scots. Robert the Bruce then ordered the castle to be dismantled to keep it out of the hands of the English. Partly rebuilt in the 1600's by the first Earl of Nithsdale, it sits in some magnificent countryside, seven miles south-east of Dumfries. |
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