Contributed Photo It also has a host of upgrades: exposed beams, vaulted ceilings, stained-glass windows, restored battlements.
My new friend Sonja Bergin owns such an abode. She should produce a do-it-yourself television show and call it "This Old Castle."
Bergin, 51, a medical scientist born in Australia, and her husband, Kevin, 50, a Dublin-born electrician and "restoration warrior," are working to rehabilitate a castle in Ireland that dates to the 1550s, more than two centuries before the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Bergin and I have become pen pals. After a recent column about life lessons I've learned from my dog, Boise, Bergin wrote from Ireland to tell me about her dog, Tilly, the unofficial tour guide of Tullaun Castle. It seems Boise and Tilly may share some common bloodlines, as may I with the original occupants of Tullaun, the O'Kennedy clan - who were rudely banished from Tullaun by British military leader Oliver Cromwell during a religious purge in Ireland in the mid-17th century.
The Bergins, who now live in a 400-year-old thatch home in Ireland, purchased Tullaun Castle in 2007 and began restoration in 2013. Through crowdfunding (Indiegogo, "New Dawn for Tullaun Castle") the couple has started the arduous, but satisfying, job of restoring the castle to livability.
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Because of the Scots-Irish roots of many of our readers, we thought some might be interested in what it's like to purchase and restore a medieval tower house. Below is a condensed e-mail interview with Sonja Bergin.Q. Sonja, I have read that you're trading a house that is merely 400 years old, or so, for a castle that's closer to 500 years old. Was your current house simply too modern for your taste?
A. Maybe, Mark. We love our thatched farmhouse but we're fascinated by the history and the mystery of the Irish tower house (castle). When we first started castle-hunting we were looking for something as old as possible, but older usually means darker (fewer and smaller windows) so we're glad Tullaun is only from the 1500s.
Q. What do you know about the history of the castle and the Kennedys who were its original owners?
A. There's not a lot of known history. It's believed to have been built around the 1550s by O'Kennedys. It didn't have a long occupancy, as in the 1650s the last Kennedy owners were stripped of the properties and forced to relocate.
Nearly four centuries later, Shane McGowan, poet, singer and a native of nearby Carney Common, and his band, The Pogues, would give Cromwell a rousing response in their wonderful song, "Young Ned of The Hill" with the words "A curse upon you Oliver Cromwell. "
Q: My Kennedy forebears immigrated from Ireland in the 1790s. All I know about the Kennedy surname is that it stands for "ugly-headed" people. I have resisted telling my children about this distinction.
A: I think your secret is safe, Mark. Probably only the Kennedys themselves know what their name stands for.
Q: How will you be able to carve out suitable living space in a medieval stone structure?
A: Tullaun Castle is still a work in progress, but we have electricity to the site and we had to drill a well for water. Our plan is to keep the atmosphere as authentic as possible and we hope to hide modern things such as fridges, etc., as [discreetly] as possible.
Q. Does thinking about living in a castle make you feel like royalty? If so, will you be knighting anyone soon?
A. I don't think I will, but you never know. I'd like to knight all the wonderful people who've helped us restore Tullaun castle back to its former glory.
Q. Photos of the castle make it look isolated. What are the surroundings like?
A. It's not really isolated but it is very private (and we love that). Our nearest neighbours are at the farmyard at the start of our lane. We can always resort to fire signals if there's a phone outage (as they would have done back in the day).
Q. How will your dog, Tilly, adapt to the new living space?
A. Tilly absolute loves being at Tullaun. So much freedom and so many wonderful scents to track down, pheasants to chase, a river to have a swim in, fox poop for rolling in. What's not to like?
Q. What are the "best" and "worst" things about living in a castle?
A. "Best" things so far: sense of history, beautiful architecture and wonderful views.
"Worst": the many stairs, and it's hard to heat at the moment.
Q. With 500 years of history, do you detect any spirit inhabitants of the castle?
A. Not so far. It has a lovely, calm feeling to me. Not scary at all. We've been approached by paranormal societies who'd like to investigate the paranormal possibilities but we don't want to know if there's anything like that.
Q. Describe your efforts to preserve the castle through crowdfunding.
A. We seem to slip through all the bureaucratic gaps when it comes to grants or government support. After exhausting all our funds we thought we would try the wonderful concept of crowdfunding. I kept seeing Indiegogo mentioned on Facebook and wondered what it was and the rest, as they say, is history.
People can really help by spreading the word about our campaign, sharing it on Facebook and other social media or making a donation if they can spare the cash. Our rewards start at $3 and every donation is greatly appreciated and will help us give Tullaun castle the best possible chance of guarding the landscape for another 500 years.
I'm delighted to say the Murder Hole and Dungeon have now been bought. I'm not sure if people would be as interested in the naming rights of one of the two loos (bathrooms).
Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6645. Follow him on Twitter @TFPCOLUMNIST. Subscribe to his Facebook updates at www.facebook.com/mkennedycolumnist.