We decided to tour the Kilkenny castle grounds on the last day that we spent in the city. It is…read morequite a lovely spot! The tour was self guided and took about an hour. You get to tour a good number of the rooms throughout the castle, and here/read about the history of the place. It's amazing how many of these places have been around in some form for 1000 years or so! Perhaps the most impressive thing here was the giant set of an ancient moose antlers that were absolutely massive! Don't forget to check out the dungeon where there was a nice movie playing explaining some more of the history of the place. This is a must do if you're in the area!

What a cool castle with lots of history. The self guided tour is super affordable and interesting…read morewith lots of stuff to read and you can see many rooms. I love walking around and seeing the old history. The grounds are also beautiful. It's right downtown so easy to get to and worth a stop!

In the early days of TV, way before ESPN, sports junkies only had one place to go -ABC's Wide World…read moreof Sports on Saturday afternoon. It premiered in 1961 and thinking of it brings back memories of Jim McKay, Howard Cosell, and Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali. The show featured mainstream sports, but established a tradition of showcasing some lesser known sports like demolition derby, lumberjack competitions, barrel jumping, and cliff diving. But I clearly remember going to school one Monday morning and the guys were all buzzing about some crazy violent game we had never seen before -Irish Hurling! The players wore no protective pads at all, and they ran up and down the field like maniacs, crashing into each other and whacking each other with what looked like wooden clubs. It was quite a spectacle, even when seen on black and white televisions in New York City. This awesome statue dedicated to Ireland's national sport was unveiled on May 26, 2016. Of course it was made from Kilkenny limestone. It shows three fourteen feet tall hurlers battling to reach for a ball. Kilkenny is a passionate hotbed for hurling, and the statue's simple description reads: Dedicated To All Who Hurl For Kilkenny

Fun experience and an adventure. Be sure to have comfortable shoes on. It's about 1/2 me from the…read moreentrance to the castle. Then it's 3 flights of spiral narrow stairs to be exposed to the elements until it is your turn. Get there early, as the wait was 15 minutes when we arrived and was over an hour when we left. There are acres to walk through manicured gardens, a poison section, and a jurassic section. There's a cave under the castle as well. Watch your head. The only detractors are the two gift shops, and the castle takes your picture and charges for copies. I bought mine, however, the pictures our group took were better. The castle's are very close up. Also, be careful when lying down, the platform angles down with handbags. The view is 80 feet below with an outcropping of rocks there.

Purchased by the department of public works years ago. It's been suitably rehabbed to reflect the…read moremany periods of time and the respective remodels. Our tour guide was excellent with great knowledge.

A must see city!! Very walkable with so much to see and do!! We took a day trip from Dublin and it…read morewas our favorite town while on 10 day tour! There were so many cathedrals (take the trolley that picks up at the castle) and things to see around town.

The second day of our Ireland tour brought us to Kilkenny and we sure loved it. There must be 200…read morepubs and restaurants clustered together on what is known as the Medieval Mile. Throw in a thousand year old castle, the Smithwicks Brewery, live music just about everywhere you go, and a great monument dedicated to the sport of Irish Hurling, and you have one fascinating and extremely eclectic city. I can't tell you enough how much we enjoyed Kilkenny.

The Rock of Cashel is a historic site in County Tipperary that was the seat of the Kings of Munster…read morebefore becoming a religious site. It is a complex of medieval buildings on a limestone outcrop, including a 13th-century cathedral, a round tower, and a 12th-century Romanesque chapel called Cormac's Chapel. Legend states that Saint Patrick converted the King of Munster here in the 5th century, and the site is also known as St. Patrick's Rock. This description just scratches the historical surface as centuries of church, government, and colonial generations have come and gone here. As our tour bus pulled into Cashel, you really can't miss this place as it dominates the skyline. We hiked up the hill and it was damn cold and windy up there! And as we wandered through the Cathedral and around other buildings, a historical timeline unfolded with the help of our guide. It's really a spectacular sight of which my posted pictures don't really get to the heart of this place or which only shells remain.

We drove up and entered right around opening. We had to pay for parking. The only bathrooms were…read morelocated here as an FYI. The walk up was not difficult for us just at an incline. With our Heritage Card we gained free admission and did the self tour. Unfortunately the guided tour of the chapel wasn't until late morning so we could not see it due to our schedule. The chapel undergoes UV radiation as a means to conserve the remaining 12th century wall paintings. Only a limited number of people can visit per day. The original St Patrick's cross had been moved indoors for preservation but that room was under renovation so wasn't accessible. We settled for the panoramic views of the countryside which was beautiful on the sunny, clear day. The cavernous ruins were quite nice to walk around and we came across some very faint wall paintings on the wall behind the chapel. A taste of what we missed inside the chapel.