An Irish castle awakes to a new life
(Excerpt from an article about Grantstown Castle, July 2004, by Viola Zetzsche):

"On a gently rising hill in County Tipperary, right beside a little old road coming from Kilfeacle stands the stone tower of Grantstown. It ascends twenty meters where it looms into the changeable Irish sky. Clouds draw through the deep blue and cast their colourful game of light and shade over the hill and roundabout the expanse of green afternoon grass.

The 500-year-old tower house knows many fates and has witnessed much: men and women, - and of them possibly more in the last five years than in the previous three hundred. Two little houses - cottages - that stand beside the tower seem to be about as old as the tower itself but in fact have been made to measure in the Gothic style and are recent additions. The wood therein comes from an old Thuringian barn; sheet and bulls-eye panes of glass come from Wernburg Castle, a dying castle in another place.

In I go. Inside it is cool and dark and there is an unparalleled mood in the room. As my eyes begin to adjust to the dark I see that someone is awakening Grantstown to new life. Valuable timber beams, stones and all manner of tools are lying at the ready. I follow a knocking sound. The spiral stairs gives way to the sight of room upon room, meter thick lime-stone walls, low doors and arched gothic windows.

I pause for a moment. Sunlight breaks through from the collapsed chimney breast, like morning light through a stained glass window in the cathedral in Cologne; it falls on the face of a young woman who walks out of the darkness. In the gloom of the Great Hall, her visage is aglow - unblemished, it should be on a canvas wrapped in crimson - the colour of queens... But the one here holds a hammer and chisel in slender, raw hands. Her fur waistcoat is held closed by a nail against the cutting wind. A cowl over her chestnut brown hair, she kneels on scaffolding in stone-masons trousers - and is serious about it.

There are also two men here, they are her age. They look silently across at her and her well proportioned face. Just for a moment, then it is over. "Get me one of the bigger stones!" a voice from the scaffold calls. A young man with flaxen hair, in a snow-white shirt with the sleeves rolled up bends over the pile of stones and looks searchingly over the uneven pieces, pulls one out from underneath and turns it back and forth before his sky-blue eyes. Content, he passes the limestone to the tall thin one who is on the scaffold. He takes it and carefully places it in the collapsed chimney breast in order to close the hole. The three have set the heavy arched lintel over a narrow gothic window just like it was five hundred years ago. To recreate the original... what an undertaking..."


The beginning and a little history

In spring 1997, after years of searching after successes and set-backs we finally discovered Ireland. County Tipperary. The fertile green plain between Cashel the city of kings and Limerick. Here in the barony of Clanwilliam, stands the stone tower of Grantstown castle.

Grantstown almost entirely satisfied that which we had hoped to find. Fundamentally solid, no tears testifying to land slip a dry location on a hill and original window openings. From the battlement parapet there is a sweeping view of the entire Golden Vale. Despite the changeable Irish weather the tower house is already five hundred years old. It is a striking and valuable example of Irish architecture at the end of the gothic era.

Built between 1480 and 1530 by the de Burgos, an old and noble Norman family, in the 16^th Century it came under the dominion of Thomas Butler the 10^th Earl of Ormond. His brother, Piers Butler of Grantstown, controlled the surrounding area. This Piers Butler - mentioned here as a curiosity - was a great-cousin of Queen Elizabeth 1^st of England! This fact lay in a history book, through whose yellowed pages we leafed through and whose faded ink we sought to decode.

After several months of negotiations we could finally acquire possession of Grantstown Castle in 1998. Then the planning began.

Our first job was to take an inventory of the condition of the building. Drawings of the building from all levels and views of the tower had to be drafted. Loose capstones on both turret platforms had to be secured and nest material and plants had to be removed from all of the inner rooms of the tower. The emergency roof installed by the previous owner was further sealed. A year later we could begin to install utilities. A multi-chamber effluent tank was installed. The castle was supplied with water and electricity. Now we were primed for more work.


The Tudor-style half-timbered houses

In spring 2000, during our first "over-wintering" came the lucky prospect of acquiring a large volume of wooden beams that were about 200 years old in Germany. We had been on the look out for old construction timber from the early years of our search. (Anyone who has seen a hand hewn beam that is a couple of hundred years old knows what I am talking about...) For the restoration of an old building equally old timber for construction is almost always advantageous - even if it is purely for the optical impression that it makes. A large quantity of beams was to be had, fully assembled in the form of a large half-timbered barn (ca. 200 square meters of floor space on two levels) in a near-by village. The price was purely symbolic however, we had to deconstruct the building ourselves. Together with friends we set about doing the job. After almost three months we had about 20 tonnes of wood at our disposal. But more importantly: We had been initiated into the art of Tudor-style construction. Without using a saw we had carefully dismantled the entire building by removing the wooden pegs. The entire structure of the building was revealed to us in the process.

In those weeks the seeds of the idea to build our own Tudor-style half-timbered house were sown. We now had a large quantity of wood, more than enough for the ceilings between the different floors of the castle. I had a further 22 beams from a barn belonging to my grandparents, which I had been storing for years. Now it would be worth transporting them to Ireland.

I went to my drawing-board with a mountain of books about historical building techniques. For a while jewellery would have to be an endangered species.

At the time I think others thought we were crazy. However, today there are three half-timbered houses built in the medieval style around the castle at Grantstown. We decided to do this for three reasons:

We would have to live on a building site during the years it would take to restore Grantstown. Tools and machines would need to be stored securely. Helpers and guests would also live here and visitors would be received. Life in caravan is not a problem when it is for a number of weeks but for years - unacceptable.

Historical sources indicate the existence of half-timbered houses in the direct vicinity of castles. There are descriptions of this in almost all European countries. The "keep", "strong-hold" or "donjon" was simply the central point of retreat. Everyday life took place in the surrounding houses.

We feel committed to the tradition of the historical art of building. We would like to give the public an authentic impression of medieval building techniques and materials. The proof is clear and comprehensible, at the beginning of the 21^st Century it is possible to use historical construction techniques and building materials, they are still valid.

In the spring and summer of the year 2003 most of the internal work on both houses was carried out. House number 1 can be used as living quarters during the building phase. It serves as our office and also provides much needed living space and a supply room for helpers and colleagues throughout the project.

Tools and building materials can be securely stored in the second building. There is finally a dry workshop area and under the roof there is a space to sleep.

Last year (2006) a third house was constructed, it houses my jewellery work shop. During recent years our lives have been divided between Schloss Arnshaugk in Germany and Grantstown Castle in Ireland, this has meant that my jewellery design was purely winter work in Arnshaugk now that I am capable of working here at Grantstown that will change.


Views and expectations

Over the last few years this interesting place has become more and more attractive for those who are interested in history, practitioners of traditional hand crafts, professional and passionate carpenters and stone mason, artists and those who are avid about the middle ages. Their also appears to be a growing in interest in history from the general public. The impoverishment of daily life by the inexorable flood of stereotypical industrial products awakens a longing for something veritable / real. Questions are being asked, like: Where can I get a window like that? Who can craft me an iron mounting? Is that really forged by hand? Is it really possible to build without cement? Can a modern day stonemason do such things? What is a dove-tail join? Re-used slates? Breathable walls? Is it possible to live in such a building? Time and again we have found ourselves in the following situation: Surrounded by curious onlookers who by some coincidence became interested in us and listened attentively to our historical lectures while we worked beams or stones. Inquisitive people came and left with new knowledge. Many returned out of sheer enthusiasm, for us this has been a positive affirmation of what we are doing and at the same time has paved the way for new ideas.

This location offers the space and potential for something bigger. It could be developed into a centre for traditional arts and hand crafts. For people who are familiar with unconventional thinking and trades. During our lengthy dealings with the subject of the middle-ages especially the old techniques and arts we have come to know a great many of these people. Many of these like-minded people have become our friends this is mutually motivating and makes us both happy and confident.


Building Season 2007

Having completed the great gallery last year (the gallery over the Great Hall, main room in the castle) and moreover having constructed my jewellery workshop this year we will focus purely on stone work.

This years building season will mainly concerns the restoration of the capstones of the tower. The battlements and parapet walls, water drains and crenellations should be reconstructed. The stones which will be used for the bevelled crenellations have already been cut and are ready to be set. Furthermore the great fireplace and chimney stack in the main room of the tower will be rebuilt.



If you are curious, regular updates on the progress of the restoration project will be reported here.