A great place to visit before the year is out

Now that the summer is over, thoughts will turn to shorter evenings and the winter ahead. So this is a good time to think about some interesting things you could do - and places you could visit - before the year is out.

Kerry and Donegal are well-beaten tracks. You might want to try somewhere which is a little different for west of Ireland people. If you do, Kilkenny is an excellent choice. It feels like a long way from the west of Ireland and is not really on any route we would take anywhere. But it is a lovely place, with lots to see and do, whatever the weather or time of year.

Kilkenny, the city, is also an old place. Situated on a great spot on the River Nore, surrounded by the finest of agricultural land, it was naturally somewhere that powerful and wealthy people would want to dominate. Much of that wealth came from butter. In ancient and medieval Ireland, cattle were currency, and lush grass was needed - as it still is today - to make butter. And butter makes money, as the big farmers who live in or around Kilkenny will tell you, at least when their representatives are not pleading poverty. There is lush grass all around Kilkenny.

For these reasons it became one of the most important - at times the most important - settlement of the Normans. The fortress built on the high ground over the river became what is now known as Kilkenny Castle, and the streets around it were laid out in medieval times. It was in the 14th century essentially the capital of the Norman settlement of Ireland, and it was here that the famous Statutes of Kilkenny were produced in 1366. These were a series of laws designed to stop the Norman settlers becoming ‘more Irish than the Irish themselves'. They didn’t succeed.

Back then it was called a city. It still is. Now, in no real practical sense is it a city today – it is a big town – but the term ‘city’ is an important one to the locals, and so it has been protected in law. Kilkenny is therefore a city by tradition, and when you walk around its charming streets, you wouldn’t be minded to deny them that tradition. Its agricultural wealth means that the city always had - and still has - a vibrant commercial heart to it. On your stroll, you will find one interesting shop after another to visit.

In terms of what else to do while there, there is no shortage. The two main attractions to visit - in my opinion - are Kilkenny Castle itself, and the Church of Ireland St Canice’s Cathedral. In very medieval style, they face each other on two elevated spots, with those charming and narrow streets in between them.

The castle is full of interest, there is a very good tour and some of the rooms in it are very impressive. While there, you will hear and read a lot about the Butler family who controlled this area for many centuries. Their rivalry with the FitzGerald family and the sense that the Butlers were always willing to get along with the English has not endeared their story to nationalist Ireland. 

That the Fenian leader James Stephens was born in Kilkenny will be clear by all the things named after him. Despite this, during the War of Independence, Kilkenny was not considered a hot spot of military activity against the British, which is one reason why our own Ernie O’Malley was sent there to generate some. He ended up being captured in the county.

The area around the castle is a combination of a really beautiful park, great scenery over the river, many nice cafes and restaurants and a lively craft scene, with which the city has long been associated. The use of the distinctive local black marble will explain for you why it is called the ‘Marble City’.

St Canice’s Cathedral is a really beautiful church, and if you can, try and visit while there is a service. For anyone not familiar with attending such services, they welcome those of all religions and none with open arms. The cathedral is on the spot of an older monastic settlement as you will be able to tell from the Round Tower attached to it.

Along with crafts, another great Kilkenny heritage is traditional music. If you like it, or can play it, you will find one place after another where you can enjoy it. Many too will surely want to visit the Smithwick’s Experience, where you can learn all about the brewing history of this most popular of west of Ireland tipples, as well as sample a pint. What exactly they think a pint of special is can no doubt also be discovered on this particular expedition.

But for all their fondness for crafts, beer, and music, there is no love in Kilkenny like that of hurling. A friend of mine said to me that if you think Mayo people are wild for football, it is in the ha’penny place compared to Kilkenny and hurling. They all play it. They all talk about it. They all obsess about it. To them, football is a curious game which may or may not have some merits, but not for them.

Notwithstanding this lack of regard, Kilkenny is really a great destination, and apart from the city itself, the immediate vicinity is a place to go if you like admiring handsome country. There is plenty of it, and no shortage of castles and great houses, parks and gardens. This richness of options should overcome the objection that it is a bit hard to get to, and can take between three and three and a half hours by car, and not always on the best road. You can take the train, which would require you to go all the way to Dublin and change for the Waterford line at Heuston, but if you were going for a few days and liked train journeys, that might just add to the sense of adventure.

Whether you go to Kilkenny or somewhere else, be sure and get out and about over the autumn and winter months. Wherever you go, it will do you the world of good.