Kilkenny

Two friends of mine took me on a day trip today to Kilkenny, which is about a 2-hour drive southwest of Dublin. Kilkenny is considered the medieval capital of Ireland because of its well-preserved medieval castles, churches, public buildings, and streets. It fell into the hands of the Normans in the 12th century and became a prosperous walled city and was the venue for many parliaments in the 14th century.

"Cill Chainnigh" in the Irish language, means "the church of Canice," which was founded by the Irish saint Canice himself. St. Canice's Cathedral is a highlight of the city, built in the 13th century in the Early Gothic style, though the site has been a place of Christian worship since the 6th century. Wow! There is also a well-preserved round tower, from the 9th century.

After touring the church, we saw Kilkenny Castle (12th century) and then toured the Rothe House, which was a typical middle-class Tudor home built in 1594, now more of a museum. There were various prehistoric artifacts found in the area, supposedly 320 million years old. Also a stone of the Ogham alphabet, which is the earliest form of writing of the Celtic peoples used in the 4th-8th centuries. We also saw the old courthouse, town hall, and the charming main street, which still shows much Norman presence in the architecture.

We had lunch at the Nicholas Mosse Pottery studio. This pottery is very well-known in Ireland, and evidently throughout the world (though I'm not pottery connoisseur), all handmade and hand-painted. It really is attractive work, and very functional as well. :)

It really was a fun-filled day with two dear friends! They are extremely generous and thoughtful to want to help me see as much of Ireland as I can while I'm here, offering such a day trip as this.
The evening was capped off as they even gave me a bunch of fresh yellow flowers to brighten my apartment!