After the visit to the Rock of Dunamase, we drove to the town of Kilkenny. This is where we would stay the night of my birthday (last year). Kilkenny is a town in Ireland that was influenced by the Normans. It is a walled city, and the walls were built in the mid-1200s. There were three walled areas: Hightown, Irishtown, and St. John's. Our trip to Kilkenny was spent exploring the town. We went to St. Canice's Cathedral, had a look at (but did not visit) the castle, and wandered the main streets and slips (alleys).
Our bed and breakfast was a short drive from St. Canice's, and it was in the same part of the town. Instead of leaving the car parked there and walking, we decided to park at St. Canice's where there was plenty of space to park. From here, we could also walk into the main part of the town as St. Canice's is outside the city walls.
St. Canice's Cathedral is located in Irishtown. This area used to be a separate town from Kilkenny and was surrounded by its own walls. Irishtown and the neighbouring Hightown (the main part of Kilkenny) had a rilvary for authority, and the term "fighting like Kilkenny cats" is used today; the local hurling team is known as "the cats".
St. Canice's Cathedral dates form the 13th century. An earlier monestary settlement started here in the 7th century. The round tower is the oldest surviving structure in Kilkenny and dates before the cathedral. It was probably used by the monestary.
We went inside the cathedral first. The cathedral includes several floor slabs dedicated to tradesmen and their trade emblems, such as cobblers and weavers and carpenters.
After we had a good look around, we went to climb the round tower. This is only one of a couple of towers in Ireland that can be climbed today. Luckily, this was an easy climb with ladders on each divided level, and it was not possible to see down between any cracks. I've got a fear of heights, and I was okay climbing these series of ladders and dividers. At the top, we were awarded with nice views of Kilkenny.
From here, we could see St. Mary's Cathedral. This is a Catholic church built using Kilkenny limestone and was modelled on Gloucester Cathedral. The cathedral was built in the time of the Great Famine, which was a great accomplishment. There are photos of this cathedral from the castle in photographs below. There's also another church here called the Black Church, because of the colour of the robes that the people who worshipped here wore. These were the Dominicans, and they settled in the early 1200s. Dominicans are known as 'blackfriars'. The Black Church has one of the finest 14th century windows.
After we were finished admiring the views, we left St. Canice's. We headed toward the main town, following a section of the old wall.
The walls served for defense as well as a status symbol of the town. Records from 1280 showed recordings of goods that passed through the walls, such as wine, almonds, cumin, figs, cod, raisins, herring and salmon.
After our walk around the walls, we came to the main part of the town of Kilkenny, which has an attractive high street and 'slips' or alleys that lead off of it.
This is known as Hightown and contains the castle and the river on the north side. Across from the castle is Kilkenny Design Centre, created from buildings that were built in the 1780s and were once stables for the castle. This now contains shops selling craft and art items and souvinirs; it also contains restaurants and appears to be a trendy area.
We had a look around the castle grounds, but we did not have time to visit the castle as it was mid to late afternoon by this time.
We wandered through the streets and looked for a nice place to have dinner.
The sun was out, and I liked seeing the reflections on the river.
After we ate our dinner, we walked back. The main street had become a construction site by that time. It's a pity because this was a really attractive place to see the street to get photograhs.
When we got back to the bed and breakfast, I was surprised with a birthday cake. All four of us had a slice of the cake and enjoyed our evening in Kilkenny.
I cannot believe this was just over a year ago now. The lady at the bed and breakfast was very accommodating to us and gave us some cutlery and glasses and plates to use in the main room of the house. I do recommend Kilkenny as it's an attractive town to visit and has much to offer in terms of sight-seeing and shopping. I could have spent a little longer here.
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