Next stop Cahir, Cashel and Kilkenny

After a nice breakfast at The Old Presbytery we loaded up our car and headed toward Kilkenny by way of R600 toward the M8.

Cahir Castle

We wanted to visit Cahir Castle and the Rock of Cashal on our way to Kilkenny. Fortunately they're both off of M8 so it was very easy driving. It rained off and on most of the early part of the day and it was a little chilly. As a result, I got to wear my Irish wool sweater all day, yay.

We got to Cahir a little before lunchtime so we paid the nominal fee to visit the castle and started exploring. Cahir is one of the largest castles in Ireland. It was built on an island in the river Suir in 1142 by Conor O'Brien, Prince of Thomond.

When you drive into town it rises up right in front of you like a huge fortress, which of course it is.

There are a number of small rooms off of narrow, spiral, stone staircases to explore. Chris had to be very careful not to knock himself out when going through doorways. I am 5' tall and had to watch my head a couple of times.

We had a great time in Cahir castle, in fact I'd say it was my favorite. Some of the rooms have been completely restored and it gives you an idea of what it might have been like living in a castle. At the top of some of the staircases I actually had to climb into the rooms, I can't imagine wearing one of those long, full dresses that women during that time wore and climbing in and out of the rooms.

Rock of Cashel

When we had finished exploring we walked over to a little café across the street from the castle and had a panini and salad for lunch.

Now it was time to head for The Rock of Cashel.

We continued down the M8 following the signs toward The Rock of Cashel.

When we arrived we found a place to park, acquired our parking ticket and walked up the hill to the Rock. Unfortunately a large portion of it is covered in scaffolding and some of it is closed off for renovation. We still got to pay full price to go in though. Yay for senior discounts!

St. Patricks Cross

There is still quite a bit to see. We wandered through many chambers, one of which contained what is said to be St. Patricks Cross from the 12th century and possibly his crypt.

Cemetery with the
Irish High Cross in front.

We took some time walking around the cemetery on the grounds surrounding the Rock. The picture at the right shows the Irish High Cross in the foreground.

We then decided to walk down the path in the direction of the Hore Abbey that we could see in the distance. It sits all alone in the middle of a huge field looking very impressive and beautiful.

We found the path down to the roadway and then had a bit of trouble finding the entrance to the Abbey. We saw people climbing over the wall through plantings but thought that was a bad idea since the ground was very wet and muddy. We finally walked down a side road and found the gate and path that led to the Abbey.

The Hore Abbey hasn't been restored or if it has it's been a very long time. The roof is gone and it's very much a ruin but it's still wonderful to wander through. There are still statues, crosses and crypts. The feeling is much more peaceful than the Rock since there aren't the crowds wandering through. Only a few hardy souls willing to brave the walk and the rain.

As we were walking through the Abbey it began to rain again. We thought we'd better head back to the car and it's a good thing we did, we didn't get all the way back to the Rock before it started pouring. Neither of us had our slicker, just water resistant jackets and Chris didn't even have a hood.

We got to the car and Chris grabbed his slicker then went off to pay for the parking while I stayed warm and dry in the car, lucky me, I know. He came back quite awhile later and said he hadn't had the proper change so he had to go around to one of the shops and ask for some. Another lesson learned; always carry lots of coin in various denominations.

Brewery Corner 29

We wound our way out of Cashel and headed for the R691 which would take us to the N76 and into Kilkenny.

When we got to Kilkenny the weather had changed and it was nice and sunny again, we found a car park and went in search of our accommodation. We walked up and down the street for quite some time following Siri's voice but couldn't manage to find the Butler Court Guesthouse. Finally we went into another accommodation on the street and asked for directions. She very kindly offered to take us there.

The Butler Court Guesthouse is through a small gate which is why we couldn't find it, we didn't really know what to look for and there wasn't a number anywhere in sight.

We met Mary and she told us all about the place and took us to our room. This was the only place that we'd stayed in that didn't offer a real breakfast, just a continental in the room.

Since it was late we got settled in our room and then walked downtown to find the pub Chris had been anxious to visit, since they poured O'Hara's Stout which is seriously yummy.

O'Hara's is such a small brewery that you can't get the stout anywhere accept at their pub "Brewery Corner 29" in Kilkenny. We learned about O'Hara's when we were in Los Angeles having dinner at a place called "Engine Co. Number 28" but the last time we were there they didn't have it.

By the time we finished our beers we were pretty hungry so we went in search of a place to eat. We followed a street angling back toward our accommodation. It had started sprinkling again. We found a place called "Kyteler's Inn" that had what they called an interactive Bodhran Session. They also had food and drink so we went in. We were seated up on a platform in a very crowded area of the pub. We ordered fish and chips and Guinness. The music was being played by volunteers from the audience who were being instructed on the Irish bodhrán drum by a fellow who was very good on them. He was also a pretty good instructor because in a very short time he had these people playing quite well. It was really a lot of fun.

We finished our dinner and our beers and made our way the 1–2 kilometers back to our accommodation.

Tomorrow would be our last day in Ireland.