The Swiss Cottage, Cahir (pronounced 'Care')

Built in the 'Cottage Ornè' style by the Lord and Lady of Cahir, Richard and Emily Butler (she was the former Emily Jeffereys from Blarney Castle), as a playhouse and showcase way back in 1810. They never slept in it but used it solely to entertain. It isn't actually a Swiss cottage but the locals called it so and it is the only one of its kind not only in the county of Tipperary but in the whole of Ireland. Cottages like this used to be a fad (Marie Antoinette had built a whole fake village of them and used to dress up as a kind of serving maid, together with all her ladies-in-waiting, and they would all pretend to be peasants) and served as a pleasant diversion for the aristocrats. The idea was that the simple life of the peasants was actually romantic and idyllic, especially if one could forget all the actual hard labour and poverty the real country folk had to put up with. The cottage itself was supposed to prove that the age of the Irish landed gentry had (finally) arrived.

It's a 2-km. walk from the Cahir Castle to the Swiss Cottage. We did the castle first. The castle is a simple one but has an ocean of history behind it, including a couple of serious sieges involving English troops in the Elisabethan era. Altogether a very interesting and pleasant day, complete with the finest Irish weather (never ceases to amaze us!) and a pearl of a B&B. Hubby suffered a bite from a horsefly at Bunratty Castle which wasn't visible till today and is treating it with honey; the ellaphant is a little worried about it, but it is not painful, so we're both trying to put it out of our heads; as is usual with such things, a learning moment, especially for the ellaphant as this is an entirely new experience.

Hopefully you are enjoying our little Irish detour here at Blipfoto!