That said, being spatially and directionally challenged (left, right, north, south—it all bedevils me), I need pictorial references for my fantasy worlds. For anyone who’s interested, this is the area I used as a basis for the settlement: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlingford_Lough For the actual castle, I amalgamated the location above with several of the castles my mum and I visited on our Mother/Daughter Jaunt Through Europe (I did a DVD of the pics and that’s the title) to come up with King Mac Eiccnigh mac Dalagh’s demesne. The idea for the river and the kitchens I stole from Château de Chenonceau. The whole layout, practicality, and the architecture of this “country house” of King Henry II of France and his mistress, Diane de Poiters, blew my simple mind: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Chenonceau The limerick Prick Her Well is a product of my imagination, though the history of the region speaks of many locally famous ditties of the sort. Consolation of Philosophy is an actual work by the monk Boethius and is considered one of the most influential treatises on Medieval and early Renaissance Christianity.
