Ireland 2012: Day Seven

This morning we departed the hotel at 9:00 for a guided tour of The Rock of Cashel. This ancient fortress, sitting high up on a craggy outcropping of rock, dates back to the 12th century. The site itself figures into Irish history much further back. Tradition has it that is the site where Saint Patrick converted Aengus, King of Munster (southern provence of Ireland) to Christianity back in the 5th century. In reality, the fortified structures that stand today were creations of the Catholic church built after the strategic site was given to the church by the then reining King of Munster in 1101 AD. The tour started with one of the most interesting artifacts, the Saint Patrick's Cross, which is holloway at its base, suggesting it had once been a hiding place for some great tresure or relic.

Later, we returned to explore the medieval town of Kilkenny, find lunch and do some shopping. There was a street fair or market going on. One of the more unusual stalls was the Truffle Fairy, which had some delicious and I might say even unusual home made chocolate confections, such as chocolate truffles containing some chilli peppers. At three we all assembled for a tour of Kilkenny Castle. Here we learned of its history back to the original wooden fort erected by Strongbow after the Norman's successful invasion of Ireland in 1172. The structure we visited had been converted from a fortress to an elegant Victorian mansion in later years by the wealthy and powerful Butler family.

After the castle tour we spent some time across the street at the Kilkenny Design Center, a grouping of original art and craft shops located in what was the castle's former stables. At the rear of this was a beautiful garden complex leading to the Butler House. Not sure of the connection to the former inhabitants of the castle. At five PM some of us went back to our hotel to freshen up while some stayed in town. Some stayed at the hotel for the evening while a few returned to Kilkenny for drinks and dinner. Being it was "Arthur Guinness Day" we got free drinks and snacks at Matt the Miller's Pub. We even got to meet Arthur himself, who looked pretty good for someone who died over 200 years ago!