I have split up these blogs by the cities we visited while in Ireland. So there are several more blogs to come.
The next day in Dublin was Halloween. We got up and had breakfast in the hotel. I decided to make an egg and bacon sandwich. We then hit the road and headed to Kilkenny. When doing the research on where to go in Ireland, Kilkenny was on my radar because it was the oldest medieval city in Ireland. Also a big selling point was the pub that was originally owned by a women that was accused of witchcraft.
When we got to Kilkenny we checked into the hotel and decided to walk around. We came across this little pub and split a club sandwich. I for the life of me can not remember the name of this pub. The sandwich and fries were really good though.
We went and checked out the Kilkenny Castle. This was such a beautiful place. I loved that there were roses still bloomed in the garden.
Walking around we came across a couple of statues. Nothing in particular about these statues I just liked the artistry of them.
We then went to the Smithwick’s Experience and learned all about the history and brewing process of this irish red ale. We did learn that Smithwicks got its start from monks. They were not able to drink the water so the monks boiled the water with the addition of barley. This tour was really neat with some fun technology with talking and moving pictures. At the end we did get a free pint.
That night we went to Kyteler’s Inn. This is the pub that I was most interested in going to. The woman that owned the pub back in the 1300s, ended up being accused of witchcraft and fled the area. I got the traditional lamb stew and the fiancé got bangers and mash. The food was really good! I got this beer that was called witch’s brew but it was a bit to hoppy for me. We then moved over to the bar and waited for the live music to start. Here we had an irish coffee, and I tried a new cider called Orchard Thieves. This became my new favorite cider while we were in Ireland. The little skeleton dude was looking down at me when we were sitting at the bar. I guess he was looking over me!
The next day I didn’t take a picture of our breakfast but I got another traditional irish breakfast and still did not mind the black pudding. The fiancé wanted to go check out more of the country side so we drove out to the Dunmore Cave. On our way there we came across this little cemetery. I love old cemeteries.
The Dunmore Caves were just down the road from the little cemetery. Looking down into the cave was a bit overwhelming with all the stairs. They said there were over 700 steps on these stairs throughout the cave. It was neat learning the history of the cave and seeing all the formations. They believed that the Vikings used this cave as a type of burial ground because of the bones and trinkets that were found.
I was interested in seeing where Cartoon Saloon’s offices were here in Kilkenny. This animation studio makes some of the most beautiful cartoon’s about irish folklore. I was kind of hoping there was a merchandise store within the city, but there wasn’t. There was some really awesome murals from the artwork of Wolfwalkers though.
Right next to Cartoon Saloon was St. Mary’s Cathedral. This church was gorgeous both inside and out.
We stopped and got pretzels and coffee, then continued to walk around and explore the city. This is the first time I have ever seen swans in the wild.
When walking by this building that said Left Bank. I thought it was an actual bank. It turns out it was a restaurant. Of course I got an Orchard Thieves cider and a burger with fries. The fiancé got a Guinness and ribs with corn and slaw. The food was really good. The burger was different than what we get here in the states. It seemed to have less fat in it and was a bit more dense, but overall it was good.
When we walked to the restaurant we passed this area and there were a bunch of birds making a ruckus. On the way back to the hotel, it was quiet. I thought the birds left but if you look close they are nestled into the vines and sleeping. I thought this was so cool, I had never seen anything like it.
Kilkenny was such a wonderful little city. It reminded me a bit of St. Augustine here in Florida. There is more to come as we also visited Cork, Galway and our trip back to Dublin and then home.
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