Tags
#battle, #castle, #castlecottage, #cottage, #ghosts, #history, #ireland, #italy, #knight, #oldhouse, #oldhouses, #pirate, #piratecastle, #piratequeen, #romance, #tuscanvilla, #tuscany, #villa, #vintner, #wine, castle, castlecottage, ireland, oldhouse, oldhouses, pirate, piratequeen, tuscanvilla, tuscany, villa
Today there is a cottage for sale in Ireland. It is an unassuming cottage on the ocean in a rather desolate location. What appears to be its only redeeming feature would be the blue sea located not far from the front door. The surrounding landscape consists of lush, green, rolling countryside. After looking at the first few photos, I thought, “Meh. It looks cold and lonely.” Then I read the description, and my whole attitude changed as I rushed to look at the rest of the photos.
This home is named Castle Cottage because of its close proximity to the ruins of a 13-14th century castle. When I say “close proximity,” I mean right next door. Cool, huh? Wait, it gets cooler. The castle is known as O’Flaherty castle, and it’s where a famous pirate queen, Granuaile Ni Mhaille, once resided! Suddenly, this cottage and its ruins have become so much more interesting!
Number one, I’d never heard of a pirate queen before, but that sounds like a pretty cool kinda queen. I wish Hollywood would get ahold of that one. Maybe I will…
Number two, I didn’t know pirates lived in castles, but I’m totally digging it.
You give me those facts, and this is where my mind goes: In more recent times, the little, stone cottage has become home to the castle caretaker. Since the castle has fallen into ruins, the caretaker apparently has not done a very good job. But then we learn that he is the great, great, great whatever grandson to the pirate queen herself. As castles lost their usefulness (personally, I don’t see how that could happen) and the family lost their pirate fortune and had to get real jobs, the pirate heir moved into the cozy cottage.
As the caretaker/heir grew older, every day he would look at the castle ruins and remember a time his mother had told him about when his great, great whatever grandmother was a formidable woman who ruled the outlying land via terror. However, those who lived within the castle walls and the surrounding village adored their pirate queen because of her Robinhood philosophy that allowed them to share in the booty that came in on the returning ships.
The castle was filled with lavish decorations, the countryside was filled with cattle and sheep, and the dungeon was filled with men the queen had considered and then discarded.
The pirate queen ruled all in the land except one. The one she didn’t rule was the knight who was sent by the Queen of England to end the pirate queen’s rule, but he instead fell in love with her, as did every man who met her. It happened when he was escorted through the castle grounds to meet with the pirate queen and demand a surrender. They both had defiance in their eyes when they met. The pirate queen was used to people defying her because she was a woman who had to continually prove herself; however, the knight was not used to women defying him.
His attempt to resolve things amicably was denied, and they waged battle for days. Both sides were impressed by the challenges put forth by the other. It wasn’t until the queen disguised herself as a peasant and slipped from the castle through a secret tunnel one night that the game changed. Arriving at the knight’s camp, she told the guards she was a concubine from the village the knight had requested. She was led through the camp straight to the knight’s tent, where he waited without his armor. It is here that, once left alone, the pirate queen pulled a knife from her garter and held it to the knight’s throat; and it is here that the battle ended. When their eyes met this time, his held not fear or surrender but admiration.
Of course, the knight left his post so he could rule the land with his pirate queen and produce an heir that would one day gaze at the deteriorating castle and remember its rulers and their love. The heir would pass their story on to generations and generations until the castle completely disappeared and their memory was nothing more than a soft fog that moved over the land when the tide came in.
A month ago, I found a listing for another house for sale. This was a 14th century Tuscan villa. In Tuscany. Italy. It was large, built of brown stone, had a roof of red tile, a square turret perfect for spotting the bad guys approaching, and it was listed at a price that I could pay cash for. Maybe that’s a red flag, or maybe it’s a sign. Oh, and did I mention that the villa had a huge, brown stone wall around it? Even better for keeping bad guys out!
Like most chicks, I’ve seen Under The Tuscan Sun enough times to talk along with it. It’s the ultimate escape from the lead character’s problems as she leaves her rainy, dreary life in San Francisco after her husband runs off with another woman. She shows up in sunny Italy, falls in love with the medieval town of Cortona, stumbles upon a 400-year-old mansion, and buys it on a whim. Of course, the house is a fixer-upper but, in finding and fixing the house, she eventually finds herself again.
So lotsa chicks dream of getting their own fixer-upper Tuscan villa, and I’m no exception. Of course, the old house I saw for sale made me wonder what happened there. I think its story would be something like it was once owned by a family who was famous for the grapes they produced there. The lower cellars under the house would be filled with huge, oak vats of wine. There would be tasting rooms and bottles upon bottles of wine lining the walls. There would also be caves that held treasures and secrets.
The kitchen is a large, castle-style kitchen complete with a hearth so large that you can walk into it. It’s also a kitchen with an enormous center island that would be great for baking and preparing food from the gardens surrounding the villa.
If I had that house, I think I would turn it into an Air B&B. A super cool Air B&B. What would make it so cool? First, every guest would want the room at the top of the square tower. Wouldn’t you? All the better to see the bad guys coming. Plus, you can pull the rope and ring the bell, waking other guests and neighbors. Yep, it has a bell just like Notre Dame.
Upon rising, the guests would follow wafting scents through the spirit-filled halls that others have wandered through for hundreds of years, finally converging upon the kitchen and its baked goods that would cover the large center island. Cinnamon rolls, quiche, croissants, scones, and fresh Italian coffee or maybe a latte would begin their morning.
By day, the guests would explore the charming medieval countryside and its towns. By evening, they would return and gather in the wine cellars, sampling the famous wines produced by the vineyard. Of course, there would be cheese platters to go with it and maybe some chocolate. As the hour grew late, the lucky person staying in the square tower room would ring the bell, signaling bedtime to the lucky guests and waking the early-to-bed children of the neighbors. The guests would leave the wine cellars, followed by the ghosts of people who had once lived and loved in that villa, and return to their rooms.
So now you see a bit of what I see in old houses. I see the stories hidden in their walls and the potential to preserve the original property uses while creating new ones.
Honestly, if we weren’t in the time of Covid, I don’t think I would have been able to stop myself from flying to Italy to seriously consider getting the Tuscan villa. I think there’s a good chance I would have turned my life upside down again to start another adventure. Maybe the house will still be for sale by the time I get vaccinated and Americans are allowed into other countries again. Maybe I’ll have to take a look at it. Maybe I could become a vinter under my own Tuscan sun. Why? Because what’s life without another adventure around the corner?
*Photo taken from listing.
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