Escape to Eire - Tuesday

Other parts of this series:
Escape to Eire - the beginning
Escape to Eire - Monday
Escape to Eire - Tuesday (this post)
Escape to Eire - Wednesday
Escape to Eire - Thursday
Escape to Eire - Friday
Escape to Eire - Saturday

It rained heavily overnight but Tuesday morning was wonderfully sunny though much cooler.  We enjoyed chatting with the B&B owner over our pot of tea and then packed up the car and drove back into Kilkenny.


Kilkenny Castle Exterior

Our first stop was Kilkenny Castle.  We'd taken many photos of the exterior the prior evening but now was our chance to catch it in the sunlight.  Though the interior of the castle wasn't open for the day yet, we were now allowed inside the castle walls and were stunned at the massive park inside.  It was a gorgeous green with the sunlight playing on it and looked to be a wonderful place for a morning stroll.


Kilkenny Castle Interior

Once we were able to get our tickets for the castle interior we watched a short film about the history of the castle and were able to view parts of the foundation that dated back to the 12th century.  While we walked through the castle rooms (no photos inside, sadly) we were usually the only people touring so the docents were happy to answer any questions we had.

St. Canice's Cathedral

Just outside the castle were sightseeing trams made up to look like trains.  They drove through the streets of town with a recorded narration of what we were seeing.  It was a great overview and once it was done, we basically retraced its path to stop and take pictures of the things that had interested us.  St. Mary's church, the Black Abbey and St. Canice's church all were interesting.  We didn't really have the time (or want to spend the few extra dollars) to climb St. Canice's tower but it would probably have provided a great view of the town.

We ended up eating lunch at the Kytler Inn, named after one of the town's most famous residents in the late 13th & early 14th centuries.  She was a businesswoman who ran a roadside inn & pub as well as doing some money lending.  As he lay dying, her fourth husband mentioned his suspicion that he was being poisoned. Once he died, his children and those of her three previous husbands accused her of using poison and sorcery against their fathers. She was also accused of various other heresies such as denying the faith, sacrificing animals to demons and blasphemy.  The local bishop tried to have her arrested but her first brother-in-law was the Chancellor of Ireland and it is believed he helped her escape.  Her servant Petronella was not so fortunate and she was tortured and burned at the stake.  The bishop was eventually buried in St. Canice’s Cathedral.  Alice was never heard from again but her inn remains in the center of town. Much of the original structure is still visible, with low ceilings, fireplaces and charred beams verifying an intriguing history.  As the menu notes: many of the exposed brick arches and wooden beams were old when Columbus discovered America.

Then it was time to get on the road again and for our next driving lesson we took on National Roads.  These are typically narrow 2-lane highways with seem to be 6-inch shoulders.  Past the 6-inch shoulder is either a stacked stone wall or a hedgerow, many of which seem to lean toward the road such that it could almost form half of an arch.  As I was in the passenger seat I felt like half the time I was leaning way over the center console trying to keep the hedgerow from smacking me!  Silly, but C said that she always felt like she was practically driving on the center stripe to keep from running off on to the shoulder.  The giant trucks would fly by on the opposite side and it always felt like we narrowly escaped.  Even though C likes to drive fast both of us thought that driving the posted speed limit at times was way too dangerous..

We made it into Killarney in time to drop our luggage at the B&B before heading into town for dinner.  The town seemed quaint but by the time we'd finished eating it seemed most all the shops were closed.  As the drive had rather sucked the energy from us we drove back to the B&B in the gently falling rain.