Honeymoon in Ireland-- Kilkenny, Kells, Cashel and Cahir

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June 29, 2008

Dunromin was a lovely B&B.  We had a single and double bed with a large bathroom (shower only) for €70.  Val was extremely helpful and cheery.  We were sad to leave.  We also had some really nice conversations with the other guests over a delicious breakfast -- full fry and a bar with a variety of cereal, peaches, mixed fruit salad, a bowl of apples, oranges and bananas and a pitcher of orange juice.


Our beds at Dunromin



Our bathroom at Dunromin

Our room at Dunromin



One of the castle's doors

Val equipped everyone with either a map or very detailed directions to their next destination.  Ours was Kilkenny Castle.  My wife, Sarah, decided that she wasn't interested in seeing anything else in Kilkenny - so off we went (into a light rain).

We used our Heritage Card for admission and made it just in time for the 10:30 tour.  Then we nestled in for the introductory video.  Kilkenny Castle was the principal castle for the Butler family and is the cornerstone of this medieval city.  The whole tour was wonderful.  After the tour we looked at the smallish Butler Art Gallery in the Castle and took a brief look at the gift shop.  The whole event took us about 1 hour.

Kilkenny Castle from inside the courtyard

A closer look

The keep

The park in front of the Castle

After the castle, we headed to Kells Priory in Kells (about 15 km or 9 miles south of Kilkenny).  This Kells is not to be confused with the much larger, more famous Kells in Co. Meath.  Since this was the highlight of my first ever visit to Éire I wanted to go back and be able to share it with my wife.

We parked at St. Kieran's Church and came down the hill to the Priory.  The church is now locked, which is a change from my first time at Kells.  The Priory's protective walls are as majestic as I remembered.  The government (maybe the EU) has apparently sunk some money into maintenance as one of the towers was completely surrounded by scaffolding.  That is great news!  This is one of the best sites in Ireland and it's FREE.  It must have been impenetrable in it's day.

St. Kieran's Church

Kells Priory looks like a castle as you approach

After we finished peaking at everything we went to the Spar shop in the village where we bought two sandwiches (made to order), a 2 liter bottle of water, a packet of crisps (chips), Cadbury bar, and a bottle of Club Orange for €8.  We ate in the car outside of the shop and decided to move on to the sites planned for tomorrow since we were finished with everything we had planned to see.

So, off we set towards Cashel.  It took us about 45 minutes to get there.  When we arrived, we parked in the Rock of Cashel carpark (€3) and we were both happy to see that they had public toilets!

We then marched up the hill and used our Heritage Card for the second time of the day (3rd total).  We arrived at 3:00 and the next tour was at 3:30.  It was very windy and a bit cool on the Rock, even though it had been sunny and 18 degrees since we left Kilkenny Castle.
Our tour guide was good and very knowledgeable about the site.  It is one of the more striking sites in Ireland.  Traditionally, the King of Munster ruled from this site.  St. Patrick is said to have baptized one of them here.  We finished at the Rock of Cashel at 4:30 and headed to our B&B in Cahir.

Tinsley House is located on the Square in Cahir, but we had a little bit of a hard time spotting it.  So, we parked the car and walked to find it, then returned for the car.  We ended up with a spot directly out of our bedroom window.  Early impressions of the B&B were mediocre.

After we got settled in we went to eat.  When we returned to the B&B I noticed that I didn't have the key!  It turns out I had left our key to the front door inside our room.  Liam (owner of Tinsley House) answered the door and was as kind as he could be!  Gold star for Liam!  I apologize about the mediocre comment!

We ate dinner at Galileo's, easy walking distance from our B&B.  I had a good pizza, and Sarah had a salad and chips (french fries) for €25.  The food was okay, but the restaurant was packed!

As our first full day in Ireland came to a close, we drifted off to sleep dreaming of better water pressure than we had in our shower at Dunromin.


Day 2 Ireland Itinerary:
Kilkenny Castle
Kells, Co. Kilkenny (15 minute drive from Kilkenny)
Cashel (45 minutes from Kells)
Tinsley House B&B - Cahir (1:10 hour drive from Cashel)