Kilkenny
Medieval City On The River Nore With Kilkenny Castle, St Canice'S Cathedral And Its Round Tower, And The Medieval Mile · Kilkenny, Kilkenny
Kilkenny (Cill Chainnigh) is a small medieval city on the River Nore, about 1.5 hours south-west of Dublin, and the best-preserved old town in the Irish south-east. Its spine is the Medieval Mile, a walk of roughly 1 km from Kilkenny Castle, seat of the Butler family for nearly six centuries, past the Tholsel, narrow slips and old merchant houses to St Canice's Cathedral, whose round tower you can still climb by ladders inside. Along the way are Rothe House, a Tudor merchant's home, the Medieval Mile Museum in a restored church, the Dominican Black Abbey, Kyteler's Inn with its witch-trial story, and the Smithwick's Experience on the site of the old brewery. People come for a day of walkable history, good pubs, craft and design shops, summer festivals and, if they are lucky, a hurling match - Kilkenny is the most successful county in the sport. The honest caveat: the old centre is small and can be seen in a day, and on summer weekend nights it fills with stag and hen parties, so pubs are loud and rooms cost more.
Kilkenny city centre along the Medieval Mile, from Kilkenny Castle on The Parade to St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny, Kilkenny, Ireland
A city open all year; the streets, the Medieval Mile and the castle parkland (roughly dawn to dusk) are free. Kilkenny Castle rooms open daily by timed entry, roughly 09:30-17:30 in summer and shorter in winter (confirm); the cathedral, Rothe House, the Medieval Mile Museum and the Smithwick's Experience keep day hours with shorter winter times and some closed days - confirm each. Trains from Dublin Heuston take about 1.5 hours; coaches run from Dublin and Dublin Airport. Book the Smithwick's tour, castle slots in summer, and rooms on festival and match weekends.