| Oct 4th Log |
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Oct 4th Gallery |
| We got up in the morning, had breakfast,
said good by to our host at Cuilin House, and started off toward Kilkenny. Along the way, we ran into one of the few construction zones in Ireland. The traffic was light, so we weren't delayed too much. Once in Kilkenny, we drove around like we always did trying to find where we wanted to go. First stop, St. Mary's Church. |
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Kilkenny has two cathedrals, the older St Canice's belonging to the Church of Ireland and St Mary's for the catholic faith. Both are fairly similar in size, although the tower of St Mary's is higher, carried up another level to finish in a lantern surmounted by pinnicles. Designed by William Deane Butler, the cathedral draws its inspiration from Norman architecture. Not a large cathedral by the standards of the day, with many slightly later cathedrals by J.J. McCarthy being far larger, the building is cruciform with a nave of five bays and aisless transepts. The interior was remodeled in line with the Vatican II proposals, but here it is much more sympathetic than the changes at McCarthy's masterwork at Monaghan.
Architectural Assoc. of Ireland |
| Kilkenny Castle was pretty cool. It was total restored and the tour was very nice. For those of the faint of heart, I would pass on the
Butler Gallery of Contemporary
Art. |
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The first structure on this strategic site overlooking the Nore was a wooden tower built in 1172 by Richard de Clare, the Anglo-Norman conqueror of Ireland better known as Strongbow. Twenty years later his son-in-law, William Marshall erected a stone castle with four towers, three of which still survive. The castle was bought by the powerful Butler family in 1391 and their descendants continued to live there until 1935. Maintaining such a structure became an enormous financial strain and most of the furnishings were finally sold at auction. The castle was handed over to the city in 1967 for the princely sum of $50 and is now administered by the Duchas.
Lonely Planet |
The Carlow Brewing Company was the next stop on our list. We had the best stout in the world there. The guys that do the marketing showed us around. You should definitely call ahead and let them know you are coming. Will we were there; we meet a couple from England that had won a free trip from the beer company.
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About 500m northeast along Dublin Road, turn right into Station Road, where you'll find the Carlow Brewing Company. The success of this small microbrewery, opened in 1998 has been phenomenal, and in April 2000 the company's O'Hara Stout walked off with the first prize gold medal at the International Brewing Industry Award, held in London. You can arrange a tour of this marvelous stone building, formerly used as a storehouse; the admission price also includes a glass of their prize-winning beer.
Lonely Planet
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| We continued our drive into Dublin, finally having to call for directions to our next bed and breakfast, Seefin. Our host was very nice and gave us great instructions on which bus to take to get to the heart of Dublin. The bus route was the 150. |
| We got into the heart of Dublin with plans to make it to the 5 o'clock tasting at the Dublin Brewing Company. Once we got there, it was closed. We rang the doorbell with hopes that we could at least get a freebie, but no luck. Once again, the website was wrong and we should have called ahead. |
| For dinner, we went to the Porter House Brewery. I had a very good piece of tuna and we all had some good beers. Since we were already in Temple Bar, we watched some street performers and went to the All-Sports Bar for a Guinness. Do not go to this bar! It had lousy service, rude bartenders, and the music was too loud. To get back to the B&B, we had to wait about 30 minutes for the 150 to arrive. |
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