Pre COVID my sister Pea and I went to Ireland on a Brendan tour. One of the stops was the old 12th…read morecentury village, Jerpoint Newtown. We had lunch at the O'Connell's farmhouse with lovely soup and sandwiches. The high point was going to visit the relics of the old church and St. Nicholas' grave. Santa is only dead if you want him to be. The O'Connell's were wonderful hosts, giving great food, great craic (look it up) and a great tour with history of the relics and ancient graveyard. Awesome!

I read a blog on things to do in Kilkenny while planning a 50th best friends trip to Ireland from…read morethe US. We had to email to make an appointment for our tour and had to make sure we had money which is a rare thing theses days but I am so glad we stumbled across this hidden Gem. Joe was such a great host and allowed me to take as many photos and videos as I wanted so I could show my son's all the rich history his property had. His dogs were so friendly too. It was worth the tour just to hang out with them and I got to hold a 1 day old sheep which was an awesome added bonus. Be sure to pay the little extra for the sheep herding. Very neat if you have never seen anything like it before.

A must see city!! Very walkable with so much to see and do!! We took a day trip from Dublin and it…read morewas our favorite town while on 10 day tour! There were so many cathedrals (take the trolley that picks up at the castle) and things to see around town.

The second day of our Ireland tour brought us to Kilkenny and we sure loved it. There must be 200…read morepubs and restaurants clustered together on what is known as the Medieval Mile. Throw in a thousand year old castle, the Smithwicks Brewery, live music just about everywhere you go, and a great monument dedicated to the sport of Irish Hurling, and you have one fascinating and extremely eclectic city. I can't tell you enough how much we enjoyed Kilkenny.

If you are in Kilkenny Ireland, you must visit the Kilkenny Castle. This place is well preserved…read moreand gives such a great tour of history. The stunning sites in every room will take you back hundreds of years ago. With every turn of the corner, you're faced with beautiful Furniture, paintings, and tapestries. Photos don't even capture the magnificent history in this castle. Be sure to visit the Kilkenny Castle on your next trip to Ireland

We decided to tour the Kilkenny castle grounds on the last day that we spent in the city. It is…read morequite a lovely spot! The tour was self guided and took about an hour. You get to tour a good number of the rooms throughout the castle, and here/read about the history of the place. It's amazing how many of these places have been around in some form for 1000 years or so! Perhaps the most impressive thing here was the giant set of an ancient moose antlers that were absolutely massive! Don't forget to check out the dungeon where there was a nice movie playing explaining some more of the history of the place. This is a must do if you're in the area!

We toured the abbey on our own since it was close to Kilkenny. It was around a 20 minute drive…read more Admission was free using the Heritage Card. We had a great overview of the abbey from the staff as well as tips on other places to see nearby. We almost had the abbey to ourselves given the weather and lateness in the day. The ruins were in good condition to walk around and we tried to find most of the unusual carvings that the staff highlighted. They were randomly located throughout and an odd feature given the austerity imposed on most abbeys at the time. Do stop by.

A Cistercian Abbey from ~1100AD. Interesting history and description of the life of the monks in…read morethose days. Our guide was delightful and knowledgeable. Tour lasted about 1 hour. It is worth a look if you are in the area. Mark & Nancy.

In the early days of TV, way before ESPN, sports junkies only had one place to go -ABC's Wide World…read moreof Sports on Saturday afternoon. It premiered in 1961 and thinking of it brings back memories of Jim McKay, Howard Cosell, and Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali. The show featured mainstream sports, but established a tradition of showcasing some lesser known sports like demolition derby, lumberjack competitions, barrel jumping, and cliff diving. But I clearly remember going to school one Monday morning and the guys were all buzzing about some crazy violent game we had never seen before -Irish Hurling! The players wore no protective pads at all, and they ran up and down the field like maniacs, crashing into each other and whacking each other with what looked like wooden clubs. It was quite a spectacle, even when seen on black and white televisions in New York City. This awesome statue dedicated to Ireland's national sport was unveiled on May 26, 2016. Of course it was made from Kilkenny limestone. It shows three fourteen feet tall hurlers battling to reach for a ball. Kilkenny is a passionate hotbed for hurling, and the statue's simple description reads: Dedicated To All Who Hurl For Kilkenny

They were fast inefficient are posting of letters to the the United States we recommend stop there…read moreit's nicely appointed building