Showing 1-18 of 18 results
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Black Abbey
This Dominican abbey on Abbey St was founded in 1225 by William Marshall and takes its name from the monks' black habits. In 1543, six years after Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries, it was turned into a courthouse. Following Cromwell's visit in 1650, it remained a roofless ruin until restoration in 1866.
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Black Freren Gate
Black Freren Gate on Abbey St is the only gate from the old Norman city walls still standing, albeit with the help of metal bracing to ensure the safety of those who pass through. Crumbling sections of the old walls remain throughout the central city.
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Butler Gallery
One of the country's most important art galleries outside Dublin. Small exhibitions featuring the work of contemporary artists are held throughout the year; the space was refurbished in 2007. You can head directly to either the Butler Gallery or the café nearby without paying the tour admission price of Kilkenny Castle.
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Butter Slip
Next to the Tholsel is Butter Slip, a narrow and dark walkway that connects High St with Low Lane (now St Kieran's St). It was built in 1616 and once was lined with the stalls of butter vendors. With its arched entry and stone steps, Butter Slip is by far the most picturesque of Kilkenny's many narrow medieval corridors.
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Confederation Hall Monument
On the corner of Parliament St and the road leading down to Bateman's Quay, the Confederation Hall Monument (really just a fragment) beside the Bank of Ireland marks the site where the national Parliament met from 1642 to 1649.
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Grace's Castle
Near the Confederation Hall Monument is the ramshackle Grace's Castle, originally built in 1210, but lost to the family and converted into a prison in 1568, and then in 1794 into a courthouse, which it remains today. Rebels from the 1798 Rising were executed here.
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Kells Priory
Kells Priory is one of Ireland's most impressive and romantic monastic sites. Visitors are free to explore whenever they like, with no restrictions. The earliest remains date from the late 12th century, while the bulk of the present ruins date from the 15th century. Inside are the remains of an Augustinian abbey and the foundations of chapels and houses.
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Kilkenny Castle
Kilkenny Castle is one of Ireland's most magnificent fortresses and a premier tourist attraction. The first structure on the site was a wooden tower built in 1172 by Richard de Clare, the Anglo-Norman conqueror better known as Strongbow. In 1192 Strongbow's son-in-law, William Marshall, erected a stone castle with four towers, three of which still survive.
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Kilkenny Castle Parkland
About 20 hectares of parkland extend to the southeast of Kilkenny castle, with a Celtic cross-shaped rose garden, a fountain to the northern end and a children's playground to the south. The castle's former stables are now home to the intriguing Kilkenny Design Centre.
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Kilkenny College
Near St John's Priory, Kilkenny College dates from 1666. Its students included Jonathan Swift and the philosopher George Berkeley, but it now houses Kilkenny's county hall.
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National Craft Gallery
National Craft Gallery, opposite Kilkenny Castle, showcases contemporary Irish crafts. It's part of the former stables that also house the Kilkenny Design Centre. The high-quality exhibitions highlight the diversity and imagination of crafts in contemporary Ireland. Ceramics dominate, but exhibits regularly feature furniture, jewellery and weaving from the members of the Crafts Council of Ireland. There are regular classes in pottery and jewellery-making.
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Rothe House
The best surviving example of a 16th-century merchant's house in Ireland is Rothe House. The fine Tudor house was built around a series of courtyards and now houses a museum with a sparse collection of local artefacts, including a well-used Viking sword found nearby and a grinning head sculpted from a stone by a Celtic artist. The fine king-post roof of the 2nd floor is a meticulous and impressive reconstruction. A costume exhibit on the 1st floor is primarily good for mild laughs, with its cordon of oddly shaped mannequins looking very uncomfortable in period attire. A re-created medieval garden is due to open in 2008.
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Shee Alms House
Shee Alms House was built in sturdy local stone in 1582 by local benefactor Sir Richard Shee and his wife to provide help for the poor. It continued as a hospital until 1740 but now houses the tourist office.
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Smithwick Brewery
If you smell something funny in the air, it may be the Budweiser being brewed under licence in the Smithwick Brewery . Now owned by drinks giant Diageo (Guinness, Harp and lots of spirits), the brewery is no longer the civic icon it once was. The tours which were enjoyed by generations are now a thing of the past, in their place are sporadic summertime showings of a promotional video. Enjoy!
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St Canice's Cathedral
Ireland's second-largest medieval cathedral is a magnificent edifice in Gothic style. Legend has it the first monastery was built here in the 6th century by St Canice, Kilkenny's patron saint. Records show a wooden church on the site burned down in 1087. The existing structure was raised between 1202 and 1285. In 1650, Cromwell's forces defaced the church.
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St John's Priory
Across the river from St Mary's Cathedral stand the ruins of St John's Priory, which was founded in 1200 and was noted for its many beautiful windows until Cromwell's visit.
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St Mary's Cathedral
The 19th-century St Mary's Cathedral is visible from most parts of town. A plaque at the entrance notes: 'The construction of the cathedral began in 1843 and continued during the famine years, the years of emigration, coffin ships, starvation, and even despair because of the many thousands of our people who died of hunger and disease…', before going on to list yet more tribulations.
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Tholsel
The Tholsel was built in 1761 on the spot where Dame Alice Kyteler's maid, Petronella, was burned at the stake in 1324.
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Showing 1-18 of 18 results
