King John's Castle is located in Carlingford town's harbour, halfway along the south coast of Carlingford Lough in the County of Louth. The construction of the castle (the West wing) began during the late 12th Century (just after the Norman invasion of Ireland) It acquired the name "King John's Castle" due to King John (Lord of Ireland) staying in the castle for three days in the during year 1210. The East wing of the castle was added c1261.
The castle has indeed endured a long and fascinating history. In fact, one of the last chapters in its 'career' reads that During the Williamite War it was fired upon by Jacobites in 1689 and used as a Williamite hospital by Frederick Schomberg, only one year prior to the Battle of the Boyne which changed the course of Irish history significantly. There is no doubt that this really is an extremely imposing Anglo Norman fortress perched on a high crag overlooking Carlingford Lough with views across to the Mountain of Mourne.
Please note: the castle is currently closed to visitors. However, hopefully this status may well change (keep an eye on the internet for any changes)
The castle is set within the wonderful medieval village of Carlingford which in turn contains several 13th to 16th Century buildings, including a 'mint' (with some gorgeous Celtic decoration), a Tudor church tower, a Tudor tower house (fabulous example), an early mill, an Abbey, a Tholsol (Medieval town/taxation gate) Also, several sections of the original town wall survive. Slieve Foye rises high above the village and is well worth climbing. Do take care while you pass the Leprechaun preservation area on the lower slopes of the mountain.
There are three fairly straightforward steps you much achieve before logging your smiley.
My 1st task requires you to visit the cast iron 'fluted lamp column' at the listed coordinates and take a photograph of yourself (or your group) or, simply something personal to yourselves, such as a favourite hat, or perhaps something relating to Geocaching perhaps? (upload this image/images with your log) The castle itself must be in the background for this particular task, and, the photo must be taken from the coordinates (or very close) Please refrain from climbing onto the pier wall as there is quite a significant drop into the Lough/Deep water.
My 2nd task is that you take a photograph of the mighty Sliabh Binneáin/Slieve Binnian (This mountain has to be somewhere within your submission, also, please upload your photograph/photographs with your log) The name of the mountain itself translates as "mountain of the little peak" This mountain (747 Metres in vertical altitude) with its distinctive rocky crags and tors can be seen if you look across the lough into the mighty Mountains of Mourne. Of course, this particularly high (by Irish standards) mountain may well be residing in cloud cover or obscured by sea mists during your visit. If this is the case, I am happy to accept uploaded image/images (only applicable for this 2nd task) containing 'nothing at all' lol.
My 3rd and final task is that you count the number of GRANITE 'Bollards' on the pier (the one you are currently standing on) from the road to the end of the pier itself (one is a little difficult to identify with, and a couple are a little smaller). Please message me with your result for this particular task.
That’s all folks! Enjoy Carlingford afterwards and its fabulous pubs and restaurants. (Obviously do remember not to drink and drive) P.s. Non task specific photographs of this lovely village and it's 'envrions' are of course extremely welcome additions. Cheers!
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.
Hearty congratulations to Hasamelis on his FTF success!