On our last full day in Ireland, we needed to start making our way east back toward Dublin for our flights the following afternoon. Kilkenny seemed like a good spot for our last night as it’s only about 90 minutes from there to Dublin airport. It’s about 2.5 hours from Killarney to Kilkenny and in between them lies Cashel, a village with a historic castle/cathedral that dates back to the 12th century.

We left our Airbnb around 9am, grabbed some coffees and muffins for the road at a local cafe across the street and set out for Cashel. It took a little under 2 hours to get to Cashel and we found the parking lot easily. We walked up the hill to the imposing castle and bought tickets for the next tour. That gave us 45 minutes or so to walk around ourselves before we met the tour guide. Tour tickets are required if you want to visit Cormac’s Chapel, the famously restored church on site.

There is a graveyard on site, which is limited for burial to those who were alive in 1930 (and their direct descendants) after the law changed in Ireland to help preserve these historic churches from collapsing. Only two spots remain before it will be closed.

We also walked around the castle and cathedral portions of the site. It was first built as a cathedral, then used by Kings of Munster before the Norman invasion due to its location high up on a hill with great views of any approaching attacking armies.

Our tour then started with a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide. She led us around the site, sharing stories and legends about the residents through the years. Eventually, we were led inside Cormac’s Chapel and it was beautiful. There are Romanesque frescoes being uncovered in the building, which dates to 1127.

After our tour, we drove the 50 minutes or so to Kilkenny where we found our B&B and it’s small parking lot just on the edge of the historic center of town. We checked in and walked down to a local place for a late lunch.

We found Kilkenny a bit more authentic and locally flavored than Killarney, which seemed more geared toward tourists being so close to the Ring of Kerry. Lots of schoolkids were wandering around Kilkenny in the afternoon with their hurling sticks (you can Google that).

We decided to visit our second castle of the day, but unlike the long-abandoned Rock of Cashel, Kilkenny Castle was occupied until the 1920s and was well-preserved with lots of antiques and paintings from that era and much earlier.

The gardens are very impressive and free to visit, but it was raining by this time so we didn’t spend too long there.

We visited the City Walls briefly as some of the original parts remain intact. There are also some very old churches and other buildings in Kilkenny.

We decided on some non-Irish food for our last dinner in Ireland. We found a great looking local Italian restaurant called Truffles. We all enjoyed pasta and wine.

We decided not to join our daughter and her boyfriend for their last night out in Ireland as we were too tired. They hit a few pubs for some Irish music but the scene was apparently not as much fun as Killarney and even a bit sketchy despite it being Friday night.

Up Next: B&B/Airbnb Roundup

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