We made it to Kilkenny in good time from Cobh and shortly realized while taking our bags out of the car that we forgot our house keys at our last b&b. After brainstorming solutions with our new host, we decided the safest way to get them was to drive back to Cobh and return to Kilkenny later that night. Nevertheless, we really enjoyed our time there.
Something interesting about Ireland is that many people do not have laundry facilities in their home. You take your items to the launderette where you can either use their machines or have them do it for you. I thought it was savvy to pack a travel clothes line and tide packets to wash our things on the road. I forgot however, that Ireland gets a lot of rain, so our clothes were not going to dry in time. The launderette washed, folded my clothes in 2 hours for 12 Euro.
Downtown Kilkenny is similar to Galway with rows of colorful pubs and shops. It is also home to Smithwick’s brewery! We took a tour and hung out in the bar for a free pint afterwards. We also snuck into a castle with a little help from a local who was admirably patriotic.
Smithwick Brewey
We actually learned a lot about the Smithwick family and how they’ve helped the people of Kilkenny throughout history including providing shelter and soup kitchens during the famine. They also had some help from a man who was the face of the company during a time when christians were unable to own land or businesses.
Kilkenny Castle
A local told us how to sneak into this castle so naturally we were game to try. Enter through the main gate and you’ll see the following doorway where my little arm arrow is. This is the entrance to the Butler gallery. Don’t worry about any castle staff, just walk to your right and down the hallway towards the toilets. At the end of the hallway you see a set of double doors on the left and toilets to the right. Go through those double doors and there’s a spiral staircase. Take it and you’re in! We stopped and pretended to ooh and ahh at things along the way to not make it obvious that we were doing the tour backwards.
Kytler’s Inn
We stopped in for lunch at Kyteler’s Inn which is a pub established in 1324 by Alice Kyteler who was Ireland’s first convicted witch suspected of poisoning four husbands.
Matt the Millers
A river splits Kilkenny down the middle, this was on the same side as our B&B. Relatively it’s all a short walk the downtown area is about a mile long. They do live music around 9pm.
Bed and Breakfast – Mena House
I can’t say enough good things about this B&B. From the moment we walked in Katherine Malloy could tell we were flustered. We told her we’d left our keys at the previous B&B and she helped us figure out our options. She offered personal contacts for couriers and even offered to drive and get them for us the next day which we could not allow her to do but the sentiment was incredibly thoughtful. Our bathroom was across the hall but not shared with any other guests so it wasn’t an issue at all. Breakfast the next morning was amazing, the presentation was chef quality and tasted great too. We would absolutely love to stay there next time and spend more time there!
