Kilkenny and the Castle

Kilkenny is a delightful little town a couple of hours outside of Dublin; I'd heard that it was one of the prettiest places in Ireland, and decided to spend the weekend there.

Kilkenny's reputation is well-earned; it's a tiny place, but a charming one. The streets are narrow and crowded with interesting little shops and pubs. There are flowers everywhere, apprently part of some sort of contest or program or something. There are quite a few good attractions, most of them from the medieval era (Kilkenny is known as the heart of medieval Ireland). I climbed to the top of a round tower at St. Canice's Cathedral, which gave me a nice view over the city (but for the clouds), and checked out the Black Abbey.

I also went through Kilkenny castle, which was well worth the price of admission; it has been very well-restored, and the guide was knowledgable and entertaining. The site reflects its many incarnations (the first fortress was built on the site in 1172 by Strongbow, and it was inhabited until 1935 by the Butler family, who them sold the contents and abandoned the castle), including 3 metre thick walls (from its medieval fortress days) and a great Victorian gallery (which was long enough to offer the ladies of the house some indoor exercise).

I spent the night in a little town just outside of Kilkenny; the town itself had no particular appeal, but the hostel I stayed at is housed in a 15th century castle that is reputed to be haunted! (Another check on my "to do in life" list: stay in a haunted castle.) Foulksrath casltle was originally built in the 13th century, and was repeatedly destroyed and reconstructed until 1940, when An Oige (the Irish Hostel organization) acquired it and turned it into Ireland's first hostel. Much as one might expect, the castle was quite cold and drafty, and full of wildlife (spiders in the bedroom, a cat in the kitchen, a dog in the office and slugs in the showers). It was not the most comfortable hostel in my experience, but the staff and other visitors were friendly, and, well, it's a castle for goodness' sake!

The funny part was that, since the buses do not run to Kilkenny after 6:00pm, once you get there you're a bit stuck (unless you have yoru own transportation). I took a nice walk up through the neighbourhood, admired the views and talked to some cows, but once I returned to the hostel there wasn't much to do. Fortunately, 3 local highschool boys who were spending the night as part of an extra credit school activity, had brought along a Monopoly game, and the four of us, plus a Germand girl and Kiwi guy who were also looking for entertainment, sat down to what turned to be a very serious and drawn-out Monopoly game (which I won!). It was an unusual way to spend a Saturday night, but a surprisingly fun one! And not just because I won...

On Sunday morning I got a ride back to Kilkenny with the boys' teacher (the buses don't run on Sundays, which I had quite forgotten, and my plan to walk back to town almost gave the elderly, ailing gentleman who runs the hostel a heart attack). It was, I realized, the first time I've been in a private vehicle since my parents dropped me off at the Toronto airport on May 30! I spent some more time wandering around town and enjoying a bit of sunshine before heading back to Dublin.

It was a lovely weekend...and made me appreciate the comfort (if not the grandeur) of modern living!