King John's fascination with Irish beards

Since the weather is bad and the last time I heard of King John was in the animated film "Robin Hood" (and I watched that a long time ago), I went to see King John's Castle today.

Don't expect to see any pictures though - I neglected one of the basic rules of handling a camera:
Rule 1: Never forget to recharge the battery.
Rule 2: Never forget to put the battery back in place once it is recharged.

It took me many holidays to memorise rule 1. It seems that Ireland is going to teach me rule 2.

Anyway, for 5 Euros, they offer you a lot at the castle:
- a friendly, individually tailored welcome ("hello", smile, "where do you come from?", smile, "I see, but is a leaflet in English ok?")
- a large gift shop (the bargain: a beer-mug shaped stone, which, when rubbed, will miraculously let you forget your thirst. 3 Euros only - make your orders here! I've already bought ahead ;-))
- two open fires in the courtyard, probably intended to evoke medieval feelings, but all they do is force visitors to walk detours. Still, there is no chance of avoiding smelling like smoked bacon when leaving the castle.

I'm not ironical though when I tell you that the castle is really well-preserved and that visitors are even led to the excavation sites. Yet, I would never dare to say that my picture of King John has become more complex in any way with this exhibition. I still have the animated film before my inner eye, see him lying in his bed and sucking his thumb. Nevertheless, now I have also learnt that upon his arrival in Ireland, he was so amused by the sight of these strange-looking Gaelic kings, that he started pulling them around by their beards!
What a man! So impressive that no English king has been named "John II" so far.