COUNTY KILKENNY - Kilkenny Castle, At The Centre of a Vibrant Medieval City

Kilkenny is quite a popular town on Irish travel itineraries and it became one of our favourite places to visit. It always felt lively even on a rainy, grey day and we visited the brand new library on a few occasions. It was the first library we went to and it was there that we discovered that we were able to sign up and borrow out books. It was newly build, literally having opened earlier this year and it has an amazing selections of books.

But the main focus of this blog post is our visit to Kilkenny Castle, the huge 800 year old castle that sits in the centre of town. It has been home to the powerful Butler family, who held the title of Earl of Ormonde throughout history. The castle has been kept in fine condition and we were able to take a tour through many of the rooms that still contain furnishings, tapestries and paintings. It was quite amazing.

The tour inside was at a small cost (the kids were free) but anyone can come into the vast castle grounds to enjoy the fields, walking trails, playground and rose garden. There is even a parkrun though the grounds on a Saturday morning.

Around the time of this visit, the girls revealed that they actually do enjoy visiting castles, and this one is especially impressive, it even had a child’s bedroom with some old and some ‘what creepy looking dolls on display. It’s been really interesting seeing castles in various states of preservation. There are so many you could visit across Ireland.

Also in Kilkenny is St Cannice Cathedral and Round Tower. Halie had said how much she wanted to climb a Round Tower -Hallie out of all the girls has been very interested in the few Round Towers we have seen at Glendalough and The Rock of Cashel. I had read that you can climb the round tower at St Cannice Cathedral but when I looked closer, it turned out that Hallie wouldn’t have made the minimal height requirement. So we never actually made plans to go and visit the Catherdral while we were in Kilkenny. But it seems like it would be a great place to visit in addition to Kilkenny Castle.

COUNTY KILKENNY - Jerpoint Abbey, Remnants of a Sacred Past

Jerpoint Abbey, located near Thomastown in County Kilkenny, Ireland, is a magnificent Cistercian monastery founded in the second half of the 12th century. I found this whole site to be so enchanting, with the evocative stone carvings, cloister arcade and greenery growing across parts of the ruins. I went a bit crazy with all the photos but there were so many beautiful angles and vantage points… enjoy!

Jerpoint Abbey offers a captivating glimpse into Ireland's medieval monastic heritage. Monasticism in Ireland began in the 4th and 5th Century with the arrival of St. Patrick and other missionaries who established early Christian communities . Prior to this, the Celtic tribes of ancient Ireland held pagan beliefs, with elements of Celtic spiritualism being incorporated into Christian beliefs over time.

Monasteries, like Jerpoint Abbey, became centres of learning, art, and spirituality, playing a crucial role in preserving knowledge and fostering education during the so-called "Dark Ages" in Europe. Monastic settlements often included churches, round towers, and high crosses, and they were influential in spreading Christianity throughout Ireland and beyond. Other notable monastic settlements include Clonmacnoise and Glendalough. (We’ve actually visited Glendalough since visiting Jerpoint Abbey, which I will share soon too, but I found Jerpoint Abbey to be slightly more impressive in size to the ruins at Glendalough, Glendalough is in an amazing location though… stay tuned)

Jerpoint Abbey was a thriving religious centre until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century under Henry VIII, after which it fell into ruin. Today, the abbey is managed by the Office of Public Works and is open to the public. There is a visitor centre onsite and the staff were able to provide the girls with a fantastic scavenger hunt style worksheet where they had to find different carvings and different features around the abbey. These types of worksheets are such a fun way to keep them engaged and that the end, they all received a free postcard as a reward.

Sites like Jerpoint Abbey, that are managed by the Office of Public Work, do charge a small admission fee - usually 5 - 8 Euros per adult, but children under 12 are free.

I’ve always found ancient ruins and abandon structures to be so magical and mysterious. Its’ somewhat of an otherworldly experience to have a place like this all to yourself; to just wander around and take in the remnants of its spiritual past. There were a few other people that arrived while we are there but it didn’t feel crowded in the slightest.

It’s wild to think that places like this just sat abandon for centuries as society changed around them. There is such a haunting beauty to them;.and I’m grateful that they have been preserved and can be appreciated today.