Kilkenny City

Last weekend we rented a car and took a day trip to Kilkenny City, which turns out to be one of Ireland’s “most popular tourists cities” that I’d never heard of until finding it in the guide book and planning this trip.

It’s a charming medieval town with some remaining medieval walls, winding streets, a 12th century castle, a lively food scene, and approximately 47 churches along the River Nore. It’s also known as an “arts and crafts center” of Ireland.

Kilkenny is known for its cats. There’s a fable of 2 cats who fought each other until only their tails remained…now the term “Kilkenny cat” is used for anyone who is a ferocious fighter. However, the city relatively recently proudly reclaimed this to be their motto of sorts and there are cat-themed things everywhere. Also in 2021 a “Cats on Parade”/"Cat Walk" instillation was placed about the town (similar to the “Cows on Parade” seen all across the U.S. that then sparked every other animal type of art/statues to follow suite).

We started off with a guided walking tour of the “Medieval Mile”—a discovery trail running through Kilkenny city linking the 13th century St. Canice’s Cathedral (namesake of the city) to the castle. Our awesome tour guide was full of delightful stories and feisty, yet stalwart, opinions about the town that managed not to be inimical to the tour experience. Part of the tour included a stop at the 13th century Black Abbey, a gorgeous relatively small building home to the largest stained glass window in all of Ireland. There was also a large Wolfwalkers Street Art Exhibition, which apparently is from a very popular show available on Netflix.

I want to share two horrific parts of the tour that really stuck with me so you can be as scarred by them as we were. You’re welcome. Neither has been fact-checked (though I’m sure a quick Snopes search would be easy enough). First, apparently back in the Middle Ages some families would essentially sell their daughters to the church to become an “anchorite” - they would have a funeral for the girl to commemorate her death from society, then brick her into the church wall where she [supposedly] proudly represented her family as a sort of “living saint.” Once a day they would feed her through a small hole in the wall, and once a day they would take away her waste. She stayed there until she died and got to watch all the church services. It was a great honor of course for the families and they got paid or were given better treatment for this sacrifice. At one point there were a few hundred women living like this in walls in Ireland/the U.K. Second, there were people in medieval times called “sin eaters” that were paid by a family to eat the sins of a loved one who had passed so that loved one could get to heaven. So, after a person died, this “sin eater” would be invited to the home and would eat a large feast off the belly of the dead person, thereby eating the dead person’s sins.

I could go down a rabbit hole discussing my feelings about these stories but that’s not really my online voice so I’ll leave it there.

After the tour came to that cheery end, we explored the grounds of Kilkenny Castle (gorgeous, of course) and then toured the castle itself. Like almost every castle we’ve visited (I love that I can write that without tongue in cheek), the playground was fabulous. They know families visit and bring kids! The most interesting part of the castle was its Portrait Room - an enormous space that apparently was built with a flat roof that began to leak soon after its construction (shocking to no one here in Ireland with all its, you know, rain). The roof was then instead replaced with a Chinese-style green glass roof.

Finally, we finished up the day with a late pub lunch at the Kyteler’s Inn, established by the notorious Dame Alice de Kyteler. One of the oldest in Ireland, this Inn dates back to 1324. Dame Kyteler’s story is worth a read if you click the link above. Unfortunately the world does not have a history of being kind to strong, powerful women.

Unfortunately St. Canice’s cathedral and round tower (known for its great views) was closed by the time we made it there (darn off-season hours!). Even MORE unfortunately, the Smithwick’s Brewery experience was closed (of course, due to COVID) but we’ll have to return later in 2022 to check it out since Dave has many fond memories of Smithwicks from his college days in Wales.