Kilkenny

On the way to our next stop, we enjoyed all the green new leaves popping up…

(those one lane stone bridges are nice to photograph but can be challenging to negotiate)

… but how you get all that green is with a fair bit of rain -

The town of Kilkenny had quaint little streets to explore -

… that were fun, even in the rain -

Once the rain broke, we wandered down to the river…

… to get our bearings.

We visited Kilkenny Castle…

… where the original part was built in 1195, and the building has been occupied in some way over the next 800 years!

(note all the chimneys - just about every room had a fireplace, or two)

There were beautiful grounds also -

As we explored more of the town, we found a familiar sight (to us) -

The Black Abbey is the name of a brewery in Nashville, and a depiction of the building is on the labels on the bottles. :)

It was originally built in 1225, with major parts added in the 14th and 16th centuries. The Rosary Window is the “largest of its kind in the country, and the last major work done in Ireland during the first half of the 14th century”.

(Sorry the corners are chopped off, but I had to edit it so it wouldn’t appear “stretched” in the post. Be sure and enlarge this to see the intricate details in the glasswork.)

St. Canice’s Cathedral and Round Tower are another set of very old buildings (built between 1202 - 1285) -

Returning to the River Nore…

… I wanted to share a picture of Matt the Millers, where we spent a very enjoyable evening listening to a blues rock cover band from San Francisco (!) who were in town for a roots music festival. We also sampled a few Irish whiskeys. ;)

I’ll leave you with my pretty picture for this post -

Spring is here!