This is the 4th and final part in my Ireland 2019 series.

You can view my overview page with links for all the cities I stopped at.

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Kilkenny

Day 8 - May 28th

Getting the bus from Cork to Kilkenny

Up early once again, day 8 had me leaving Cork to head to Kilkenny. I headed back to St. Patrick’s Quay, which is where I was let off when I arrived in Cork, but when I got there I was told I needed to head to Anderson’s Quay instead. The staff gave me basic directions to get there, and while it wasn’t a difficult extra walk over there, the buses on Anderson’s Quay aren’t really clearly marked.

It was really just across the river bank, but it was still a good 10 minute walk, and time wasn’t exactly on my side if I wanted to catch the next bus. I hurried over, but there was no stop for bus “600”. After walking up and down the street a few times, and after asking a few bus drivers, I was finally able to locate the bus. Unfortunately, I hadn’t pre-booked a ticket, and the buses don’t take credit card and I didn’t have enough cash on hand.

The bus driver told me where to look for a store with an ATM, but with literal minutes before the bus departure I thought I was hooped. I ran with my luggage, as fast as I could, looking for this supposed store but couldn’t find anything. By now it was pst the departure time and I couldn’t believe I was going to have to wait another hour for the next bus - not the end of the world of course, but on a tight schedule, this was still pretty disappointing. I kept looking for the store however, as I still needed to get some cash, and finally after walking up the street I thought the bus driver had mentioned, I finally found a place that looked like it might have an ATM. I walked inside and inquired, and sure enough was able to go to the back of the store and withdraw some cash.

Feeling slightly defeated after having missed that bus, I left the store after withdrawing my money to head back to the Quay to wait for the next bus. Lo and behold, after exiting the store, I see the bus driving down the street to pick me up! The driver was looking for me, and had driven at a slower pace to give me extra time to get the money! Man, what a relief! 😂
I guess luck was on my side that morning… thank god!

And with that, we were off.

The ride from Cork to Kilkenny is about 3 hours, so I was able to sit back, relax, and enjoy some more beautiful Irish countryside views again.

Checking in at Macgabhainns hostel

After arriving at Ormonde road in Kilkenny, I headed to Macgabhainns hostel. It was only about a 10 minute walk, and I was of course able to get a quick glimpse at some of Kilkenny along the way.

My first impressions of Kilkenny were “wow, what a gorgeous city”. I mean, I suppose I was probably saying that about every city I’d been to in Ireland so far, but I especially felt that way in Killarney and Kilkenny alike.

Turns out my hostel was basically right next to St Canice’s cathedral, and not far from the main Kilkenny area, which was convenient.

My room was a good size, and looked like it was meant for more than one person as there was a bed in one corner, and bunk beds in another.

Complaints

The bathroom was ok, but the hot water faucet for the sink wasn’t functional. The faucets for the sink and shower were on very short timers - meaning you have to keep pressing the faucet for the water to continue.

It was also nearly impossible to control the shower temperature (with the slightest turn to the left resulting in scalding hot water, and the slightest turn to the right resulting in ice cold), and the bathroom light and fan were auto shut-off, so I’d basically end up in the dark while showering. I feel like those are some annoyances I would have like to have known before hand, and would have possibly looked for another hostel had I known of those things before booking, and so I share with you all.

Cleeres Bar & Theatre

After checking in to my hostel and dropping off my bags, I was hungry and wanted to look for some nice Irish food. So I headed out into town to see what I could find.

I can’t quite recall how long I strolled around for, but I’m always up for a pub, and when I saw Cleeres bar, I figured I’d see what was on the menu.

I decided on a nice Irish stew, and paired that with one of my favourite beers … Kilkenny! I was actually hoping I’d be able to find a Kilkenny beer tour while in Kilkenny, but alas I found no such thing. Thankfully, the Smithwicks tour was a great replacement!

The stew was perfect and really hit the spot before I made my way to Kilkenny castle, which was a short walk away.

Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny castle is a really beautiful building. The exterior, the gardens, and the interior are all quite striking. What I wasn’t expecting was the different architectural styles throughout the castle.

The castle was built in 1260, and according to the official website, it was rebuilt, extended, and updated over a period of 800 years! So that would explain the reason for the different architectural styles throughout.

Whoops! Sorry, didn’t mean to disturb you!

Part of the castle had this really gorgeous blue and natural wood style that I absolutely loved.

Just absolutely gorgeous throughout really.

And then finally, on leaving the castle, I had a quick look at the beautiful Castle gardens.

As I was initially approaching the castle, I noticed another section across the street, and I was curious what that was. Turns out it was the castle stables, and they were open to the public as well.

As I had already planned to do the Smithwicks tour though, I decided to come back to the stables at a later time.

Smithwicks Experience Tour

As I noted earlier, I was hoping to find a Kilkenny tour, but there doesn’t seem to be one, at least not in Kilkenny. The Smithwicks tour looked pretty good though, and as it was guided, I was really looking forward to it.

I can’t honestly say I know much about the beer making process, even after having done the Guinness Storehouse tour back in Dublin, but I suppose the process is similar for most beers, with the main difference being the ingredients used.

I left out a picture of a display they had of the roasted malt percentages for the different beers, but it was basically that lager has none, ale has 5%, and stout has 10%. Things like this are of course what lead to the different beer tastes and colours, but also the different tastes among the different brands of beer.

we also got to have a go at smelling and mixing the mash! It was really interesting to see how the different ingredients smelled, and how they smelled when mixed together. That’s not me in the pic btw …

This is what the inside of that mash barrel looked like. Pretty friggin thick!

Tour verdict

The tour was really interesting, and I learned a lot about the history of Smithwicks, and the history of beer in general.

I also learned that Smithwicks is pronounced ‘Smiddicks’, and not ‘Smith-wicks’ as I had been pronouncing it. That said, I could swear our tour guide said it was pronounced more like ‘Smi-thicks’. Maybe it depends on how drunk you are? 😂

I also really like the interactive nature of this tour, and how they set up the tour itself. Our guide was really awesome and friendly, and he was really funny as well. I would definitely recommend this tour if you’re in Kilkenny.

Rothe House & Garden

Next up was Rothe House. I had seen it across the street while I had initially been walking around the area, and it looked like it might be worth a visit.

This was another self-guided tour, as there weren’t any available guides when I arrived, so I was left to go at my own pace. The house itself is quite old, dating back to the 1600’s.

The Rothe family were merchants foremost, but also involved in politics. They were part of an oligarchy of around ten families who controlled Kilkenny throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, and into the 17th century. Rothe house was constructed on a burgage plot John Rothe Fitz Piers acquired. All three houses are dated, the first at 1594 on John Rothe’s coat-of-arms next to the oriel window, the second at 1604 in an inscription on the cistern once connected to the second house and the third at 1610 on the Rothe-Archer coat-of-arms above its entrance door.
Wikipedia

After entering, you end up in what I’d guess is a small courtyard. The stonework is really beautiful.

From here you climb a set of wooden stairs. When you get to the top of the stairs, there are actually doors on either side, but when I was there, you could only gain access through one of the doors.

I entered into a decent sized room with a fireplace, and a small table with a few chairs. IIRC, this was the main reception room, although I believe its use changed over the years.

There’s also a small staircase leading up to the next floor, which you can see in the background of the above photo.

You can find a bit more history about the house(s) at the following site: megalithicireland.com

As well as in this short Youtube video:

You can also find some much better pics than I took at Andy Sheridan’s site.

After walking through the main rooms, I passed through another courtyard, which led to the gardens.

The gardens are huge! Much bigger than I was initially expecting. They go on for quite a while, and there are a lot of different plants and flowers to see.

There’s a lot to take in with these tours, and I’m sure I missed a lot of the history, as I can’t recall all of the details right now!

I’d definitely recommend taking a guided tour if you can, as opposed to the self-guided tour that I took. The price difference isn’t much and I think you’d get a lot more out of it.

Out for a stroll

After the tour, I decided to go for a walk around the city. I had seen a path near Kilkenny Castle that I wanted to check out, and I figured I’d just walk around and see where it led.

It was a really peaceful walk, with only a few others taking a stroll, and some others out for a run.

It was getting late in the day, and I was getting pretty hungry, so I decided to head back towards my hostel and find somewhere to eat.

Shimla Indian restaurant

I found an Indian restaurant called Shimla that looked pretty good, so I decided to give it a try.

When I entered, the place was pretty empty, but I guess it was actually still a bit early for dinner. I was seated and looked over the pretty extensive menu. I think their menu has a little bit too much to offer, which makes it harder to decide what to eat.

In the end, I went for a set menu, including veg samosas and a chicken tandoori for my starter, and then a chicken curry and tikka, naan, and some rice and veg for the entré. It ended up being really delicious, and I’d definitely recommend this place if you’re looking for a good Indian restaurant in Kilkenny.

It seems I didn’t take any pics of the food this time around, which is a shame as it really was delicious. I guess I was just too hungry to think about taking pics!

After dinner, I went out for another stroll for about an hour or so, along some of the streets I hadn’t been down yet, and then called it a night and headed back to my hostel.

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Day 9 - May 29th

Dunmore cave

I can’t recall where I had heard about Dunmore Cave from, but I had seen it mentioned somewhere, and it looked like it would be an interesting visit. I haven’t been to many caves before, and it seemed like a spot that didn’t get heavy tourist traffic, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to check it out.

While I was prepping my trip back in Montreal, I had written down the following directions to get to the cave:

Walk to Kilkenny castle, and take bus 890 for 5 stops to Castlecomer Church stop (stop following Henebry’s cross). Then walk to Mothel, Ballyfoyle, Castlecomer Road, Kilkenny, R95 A972

But when I walked to Kilkenn Castle on this morning, I couldn’t find any bus stop for the 890 bus. Confused, I walked up and down the street a few times, thinking I must just be blind and missing it. But I couldn’t find it anywhere.

Eventually I saw little train-like tour trams, and found a driver that knew what bus I was taking about. He told me the 890 only runs a few times a day, and that the next bus would only be coming in the afternoon.

At that point I figured I’d either have to visit the cave later in the day, or just bite the bullet and pay for a taxi. As much as I didn’t want to spend the money, I wanted to get to the cave early, so I decided to just go for it.

Once I got to the cave, I was told that the next tour would be starting in about 15 minutes, so I had a bit of time to kill. I watched a short video they had playing to give an overview of the site and layout of the cave, and checked out some of the artifacts that had been recovered from the cave.

As I was waiting, a bunch of Irish school children showed up to join in on the tour. I felt a bit funny about taking a tour with some young children and their teachers, but the children were all interested in where I was from, and asked me a bunch of questions about Canada. It was pretty cute.

Shortly after, we made our way towards the cave.

The entrance to the cave was quite far down, so there was a decent amount of stairs to climb down. Of course, being a cave, it was also quite humid and wet, so you had to be careful going down the stairs.

In the following pics you can see some of the stalactites and stalagmites that formed over the years. The guide explained how they were formed, and how the cave was discovered in the 1st place.

Because there were mostly young school children on the tour, the guide kept the more gruesome details of the cave’s history for my ears only. 😎

The most gruesome reference, however, comes from the Annals of the Four Masters, which tells how the Viking leader Guthfrith of Ivar massacred a thousand people there in AD 928.
heritageireland.ie

The tour guide was a really nice gentleman, and he was very knowledgeable about the cave and its history. He was also very patient with the children, and answered all their questions.

When the tour was over, the tour guide asked me how I was getting back into town. I told him the taxi driver had left me his phone number, and asked if I could use their phone to call the taxi. Instead, the tour guide offered to drive me back into town himself, as he was heading back into town in a few minutes anyways. I was really grateful for the offer, and accepted.

We chatted about Ireland and Canada on the way back, and he told me about some of the other places I should visit while I was in Kilkenny. I thanked him for the ride and info, and headed off to get some lunch.

Matt The Millers

I had spotted Matt the Millers the previous day, and it looked like a cozy little pub with a decent menu, so I wanted to give it a go.

I ordered the spinach & ricotta tortellini, and paired it with a nice cider.

The tortellini came in a creamy rose sauce, with a salad and some garlic bread. It was ok, but could have done with more seasoning to make it pop a bit more. The garlic bread was good as well, but also could have used a bit more salt.

Cathedral Church of St Canice & Round Tower

After lunch, I headed over to the Cathedral Church of St Canice & Round Tower, which was just a few minutes from Matt the Millers by foot.

I noticed the round tower, but headed in to the church first. Once I was though, and showed my ticket to the staff, the lady working there advised me I should visit the tower first, as it tended to get busy later in the day.

So I headed to the round tower, climbed up the exterior staircase, showed my ticket to the attendant, and squeezed past him to figure out how I was going to climb it!

The tower is quite tall, but also super narrow! I’m not a overly big guy, but I had to crouch down and squeeze through some of the areas, and I had to be careful not to hit my head on the ceiling as I climbed up!

The very last steps are probably the hardest to climb, as you need to climb up some uneven stone steps, and then squeeze through a small opening to get to the top.

Once you’re up there though, the 360 degree view is amazing!

If you’re in Kilkenny and heading to St Canice’s, and you’re not afraid of heights and aren’t too “big”, I highly recommend climbing the tower! It’s well worth it for the amazing views!

After getting some pics, including a bunch with my fingers in the way of the lens, I headed back down the tower, and into the church.

I’m not a religious person by any means, but I really enjoy visiting churches, cathedrals, and temple, as they are usually very beautiful and ornate. St Canice’s was most definitely no exception.

The level of detail and crafsmanship that went into not only the Cathedral, but items inside like this tomb. Such beautiful artistry.

I must have spent a good 45 minutes to an hour in the Cathedral, just taking in all the details and admiring the craftsmanship.

After reading up on the history of the Cathedral and the items like the tombs, I headed back out towards Kilkenny castle again.

Kilkenny Castle Yards

When I went to visit the castle the day before, I didn’t have time to visit the yards, so I decided to head back now and check them out.

The yards are free to visit, and are just on the opposite side of the street from the castle.

I thought perhaps there’d be more to see in the castle yards, but it’s mostly shops now. You can apparently watch skilled craftspeople at work, but when I visited, there wasn’t anything going on.

It was still a nice visit as you can still appreciate the beautiful architecture and the history of the yards.

After that I figured I’d make another pass at the main area of Kilkenny, as I felt like grabbing some ice cream!

Scrumdiddly’s ice cream

I had seen Scrumdiddly’s the day before, and wanted to see what they had.

You can see Scrumdiddly’s full menu here, but I went with the “Melting Snowman” scrummy special.

It was a delicious mix of vanilla ice cream, marshmallows, chocolate sauce, and pieces of waffle.

I’m not really a big fan of marshmallows, so I’d have definitely preferred it without them. But overall, this is one hella sweet massive amount of ice cream! A bit too much for me to be honest, so you need a really sweet sweet tooth to enjoy this one, but I did still enjoy it.

I took another stroll around town after that, before heading back to my hostel to start packing my things for my bus ride back to Dublin the next day. My trip was basically done, and the bus ride back to Dublin the next day would bring me straight to the airport for my flight back home.

That’s it for my trip to Ireland! I had an absolutely amazing time, met some great people, and made some lasting memories. If you love nature, hiking, and beautiful landscapes and architecture, I highly recommend visiting Ireland. It’s a beautiful country, and well worth a visit.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my trip, and hope that it provides some useful information for you if you’re planning a trip to Ireland.