Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [182]
Just up the hill from the river, Mulvarra House ( 051-424 936; www.mulvarra.com; St Mullins; s/d €50/80; ) is a modern, comfortable B&B with guestrooms opening to balconies taking in the glorious setting. Dinner (€30) is available by arrangement, and you can also indulge in body treatments such as hot stone massages.
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COUNTY KILKENNY
pop 87,558
County Kilkenny’s centrepiece is, of course, its namesake city. An enduring gift of the Normans, it mesmerises visitors with its medieval alleys that wind past its castle, cathedral, ruined abbeys and dynamic modern-day buildings.
But the appeal of the county as a whole shouldn’t be underestimated. It’s a place of rolling hills, where you’ll soon run out of adjectives for green. Tiny roads navigate the valleys alongside swirling rivers, moss-covered stone walls and relics of centuries of Irish religious history. Wanderers and ramblers are rewarded by characterful pubs and fine restaurants. Shamrock-cute Inistioge may be star of many movies, but it’s the real deal, as are towns like Graiguenamanagh, Bennettsbridge and Thomastown, where you’ll find skilled artists and craftspeople busy creating in their studios.
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KILKENNY CITY
pop 8661
Kilkenny (Cill Chainnigh) is the Ireland of many visitors’ imaginations. Its majestic riverside castle, tangle of 17th-century passageways, rows of colourful, old-fashioned shopfronts and centuries-old pubs with traditional live music all have a timeless appeal, as does its splendid medieval cathedral. But Kilkenny is also awash with contemporary eateries, and is a hotbed of arts, crafts and cultural activities.
Kilkenny’s architectural charm owes a huge debt to the Middle Ages, when the city was a seat of political power. It’s also sometimes called the ‘marble city’ because of the local black limestone, which resembles a slate-coloured marble and is used on floors and in decorative trim all over town.
To avoid the crowds, try to visit on a weekday or sometime out of season, when you’re better able to appreciate the elegance and vibrancy that give the town (oops, locals insist on ‘city’) a timeless appeal. You can cover pretty much everything on foot in a couple of hours, but sampling its many delights will take much longer.
History
In the 5th century, St Kieran is said to have visited Kilkenny and, on the site of the present Kilkenny Castle, challenged the chieftains of Ossory to accept the Christian faith. Subsequently, St Canice established his monastery here. Kilkenny consolidated its importance in the 13th century under William Marshall, the Earl of Pembroke and son-in-law of the Anglo-Norman conqueror Strongbow. Kilkenny Castle was built to secure a crossing point on the River Nore.
In the Middle Ages, Kilkenny was intermittently the unofficial capital of Ireland, with its own Anglo-Norman parliament. In 1366 the parliament passed the so-called Statutes of Kilkenny aimed at preventing the assimilation of Anglo-Normans into Irish society. Anglo-Normans were prohibited from marrying the native Irish, taking part in Irish sports, speaking or dressing like the Irish or playing any Irish music. Although the laws remained theoretically for over 200 years, they were never enforced with any great effect and did little to halt the absorption of the Anglo-Normans into Irish culture.
During the 1640s Kilkenny sided with the Catholic royalists in the English Civil War. The 1641 Confederation of Kilkenny, an uneasy alliance of native Irish and Anglo-Normans, aimed to bring about the return of land and power to Catholics. After Charles I’s execution, Cromwell besieged Kilkenny for five days, destroying much of the southern wall of the castle before Ormond surrendered. The defeat signalled a permanent end to Kilkenny’s political influence over Irish affairs.