THE HACKETT FAMILY

Castlehacket (Meadows trip to Ireland, Oct. 2009)

One of th eviews from a window.

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Posted by ElizabethM on Oct 25, 2009

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2 Comments

Reply ElizabethM

12:07 AM on February 08, 2010

Hello! I'm sorry I haven't replied... I never got notice of your comment. There was a gate there, however, we spoke to several of the local residents and they told us that people take the path through the woods to walk around the property all the time. And having traveled so far, we decided that we didn't want to miss the opportunity. It looked as though it has been well respected, and of course we left it exactly as we found it. There were a few people there while we were inside also. I just couldn't resist!

It was an experience of a lifetime! We hope to take our children there someday! We didn't get the opportunity to climb Knockma Hill either... so most definitely, we will make that a priority! I think the tale of Knockma Hill needs more attention, as well, since I was unaware of it until we planned this trip. Thanks for commenting! I enjoyed reading about your experience!

Reply Samuel Hugh Hackett

03:36 AM on December 04, 2009

On viewing the property of Castlehackett, I thought it was interesting that the sheep grazing in the field next to the small farmhouse across the road bore a distinctive "H" into their wool as a marking.
We didn't go on the castle property itself, as there was a locked gate and "keep out private property!" sign posted in 2007 (although in my picture, the camera date was not moved up to that year and so, the year reads 2002 in error) The nice, historic marking sign was not in place at that time either. My wife's uncle who did all the driving on the trip asked "Why isn't there some historical marker somewhere telling about the place?", so I'm glad to see that it's been done and the place is honored by it.
Great trip and definitely worth it, if only once in one's lifetime. But you know I'm planning to go back, sometime before I pass this earthly veil. I have to climb Knockma hill at least once to the top and see the cairn or cairns (as the case may be) in that magical place above Castlehackett.