Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [191]
Another few hundred metres away, by the bridge, Moth to a Flame ( 056-772 7826; mothtoaflame@iolfree.ie; 10am-6pm Mon-Sat year-round, plus 10am-6pm Sun May-Dec) creates elaborate candles.
For fine leather, check out the factory boutique of Chesneau ( 056-772 7456; www.chesneaudesign.com; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat, noon-6pm Sun), near the village centre. Stylish bags and accessories are on offer in a rainbow of colours – emerald-green numbers are big sellers. Most of the designs are created locally and sold internationally.
On a small road above Nicholas Mosse, the Nore View Folk Museum ( 056-27749; Danesfort Rd; admission free) is not your average museum. Seamus Lawlor is a passionate chronicler of Irish life and is full of fascinating facts about his private collection of local items, including farming tools, kitchen utensils and other wonderful old bric-a-brac.
Nore Valley Park ( 056-972 7229; www.norevalleypark.com; Annamult; day admission €5.20, campsites from €12; park 9am-6pm Mon-Sat Mar-Oct, campground Mar-Oct) is a 2-hectare farm where you can also camp (electricity is an additional €3, but showers are free). Kids can caress goats, cuddle rabbits, navigate a maze and jump on a straw bounce. There’s a tearoom and picnic area. If you’re coming into Bennettsbridge from Kilkenny along the R700, turn right just before the bridge.
Opposite the church, Italian Affair ( 056-770 0988; 4 Chapel St; mains €8-25; lunch & dinner Tue-Sun summer, lunch Sun, dinner Tue-Sun rest of yr) serves up good pizzas, pastas and coffee.
Thomastown & Around
pop 1837
The busy N9 runs right through the centre of this small market town but it’s worth stopping the car for a short stroll around its compact centre. Named after Welsh mercenary Thomas de Cantwell, Thomastown has some fragments of a medieval wall and the partly ruined 13th-century Church of St Mary. Down by the bridge, Mullin’s Castle is the sole survivor of the 14 castles once here.
Like the rest of Kilkenny, the area has a vibrant craft scene. Look out for Clay Creations ( 056-772 4977; Low St; 10am-1pm & 2-5pm Tue-Sat) displaying the quixotic ceramics and sculptures of local artist Brid Lyons.
Just 4km southwest of Thomastown, high-fliers tee off at the Jack Nicklaus–designed Mount Juliet ( 056-777 3000; www.mountjuliet.ie; Thomastown; green fees €90-120; ). Set over 1500 wooded acres, it also has its own equestrian centre, a gym and spa, two restaurants, wine master-classes, and palatial rooms catering to every whim, right down to the pillow menu (accommodation from €169).
In town, the pistachio-and-cream-painted Blackberry Cafe ( 087 053 7858; Market St, Thomastown; dishes €4.50-7.50, 9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Fri, 10.30am-5.30pm Sat) does superb thick-cut sandwiches and warming soups (the tomato and basil is delicious) served with pumpkin-seed-speckled soda bread. Between noon and 2pm, great-value multicourse hot lunches see the place squeezed to bursting.
JERPOINT ABBEY
One of Ireland’s finest Cistercian ruins, Jerpoint Abbey ( 056-24623; www.heritageireland.ie; Hwy N9; adult/child €2.90/1.30; 9.30am-6pm Jun-Sep, 9.30am-5.30pm Oct, 10am-4pm Nov, 10am-5pm Mar-May, closed Dec-Feb, last tour 1hr before closing) is about 2.5km southwest of Thomastown on the N9. It was established in the 12th century and has been partially restored. The tower and cloister are late 14th or early 15th century. Look for the series of often amusing figures carved on the cloister pillars, including a knight. There are also stone carvings on the church walls and in the tombs of members of the Butler and Walshe families. Faint traces of a 15th- or 16th-century painting remain on the northern wall of the church. This chancel area also contains a tomb thought to belong to hardheaded Felix O’Dulany, Jerpoint’s first abbot and bishop of Ossory, who died in 1202.
According to local legend, St Nicholas (or Santa Claus) is buried near the abbey. While retreating in the Crusades, the knights of Jerpoint