Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [143]
Coursetown House ( 059-863 1101; fax 863 2740; Stradbally Rd; s/d €70/110; ) This 200-year-old farmhouse is just east of Athy off the R428. It’s set among gorgeous gardens, which provide a lot of the produce that makes the breakfasts here so bountiful in season. The five rooms exude country charm and have powerful showers for washing the grime off after a long walk in the countryside.
The farmers market ( 10am-2pm Sun) takes place in Emily Sq.
Getting There & Away
Bus Éireann ( 01-836 6111; www.buseireann.ie) has six buses to/from Dublin (€10.80, 1½ hours) and Clonmel (€13.10, two hours).
Click here for information on local bus service provided by South Kildare Community Transport.
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DONNELLY’S HOLLOW TO CASTLEDERMOT
This 25km stretch south towards Carlow contains some interesting detours to tiny towns bypassed by the speedy but unlovely N9.
Click here for information on local bus service provided by South Kildare Community Transport.
Donnelly’s Hollow
Dan Donnelly (1788–1820) is revered as Ireland’s greatest bare-knuckle fighter of the 19th century. He’s also the stuff of legend – his arms were so long, he could supposedly tie his shoelaces without having to bend down. This spot, 4km west of Kilcullen on the R413, was his favourite battleground, and the obelisk at the centre of the hollow details his glorious career.
Ballitore
pop 338
Low-key Ballitore is the only planned and permanent Quaker settlement in Ireland. It was founded by incomers from Yorkshire in the early 18th century. A small Quaker Museum ( 059-862 3344; Mary Leadbeater House, Main St; admission by donation; noon-5pm Tue-Sat year-round, 2-6pm Sun Jun-Sep), in a tiny restored house, documents the lives of the community (including the namesake former owner who was known for her aversion to war). There’s a Quaker cemetery and Meeting House, and a modern Shaker Store ( 059-862 3372; www.shakerstore.ie; Main St; 10am-6pm Mon-Fri, from 2pm Sat & Sun), which sells delightfully humble wooden toys and furniture. It also has a tearoom.
About 2km west is Rath of Mullaghmast, an Iron Age hill fort and standing stone where Daniel O’Connell, champion of Catholic emancipation, held one of his ‘monster rallies’ in 1843.
Moone
pop 380
Just south of Ballitore, the unassuming village of Moone is home to one of Ireland’s most magnificent high crosses. The unusually tall and slender Moone High Cross is an 8th- or 9th-century masterpiece, which displays its carved biblical scenes with the confidence and exuberance of a comic strip. The cross can be found 1km west of Moone village and the N9 in an atmospheric early Christian churchyard. Old stone ruins add to the mood of the drive.
The solid, stone 18th-century Moone High Cross Inn ( 059-862 4112; Bolton Hill; s/d from €50/80; ), 2km south of Moone, has five rooms decorated in quaint country-house style. The delightful bar downstairs serves good pub lunches and there’s a proper restaurant (mains €11-20; 6-8.30pm), which uses local and organic ingredients. The inn revolves around a Celtic theme, celebrating pagan festivals and hoarding healing stones, lucky charms and even a ‘love stone’ in the outside courtyards.
Kilkea Castle
Built in the 12th century, Kilkea Castle Hotel ( 059-914 5156; www.kilkeacastle.ie; Castledermot; r from €140; ) is Ireland’s oldest continuously inhabited castle. It’s the kind of place where you’ll find a suit of armour in a nook in the hall – it looks like a castle right out of Central Casting. It was once the second home of the Maynooth Fitzgeralds, and the grounds are supposedly haunted by Gerald the Wizard Earl, who rises every seven years from the Rath of Mullaghmast to free Ireland from its enemies – a pretty good trick considering he was buried in London.