I’d say this town was neat, but to the casual observer most towns in Ireland are quite sames-y. Colorful buildings, lots of pubs, walkable downtown, churches and castles, and often (as was in this case) a river ran through it. That’s not a criticism, just a delightful pattern. I wish I could walk to anything in the desert besides the Tower Market gas station which does have better breakfast sandwiches than it should, but I digress.
We had our first traditional lamb stew here which was quite good. Later in the trip we would go on to feel bad about said stew after holding and feeding baby lambs. In Kilkenny they were delicious, in Dingle they were cute. I suppose we did that in the correct order.
Kilkenny Castle
We stayed one night in Kilkenny and the following morning, before heading towards live lamb, we took a self-guided tour of the Kilkenny Castle which, wouldn’t you know it, was in Kilkenny. Like most castles you’ll see today, this place was old as sh*t. It had something like 50 fireplaces… which I think is the only fact that stuck in my brain because a southern dude in full grandpa mode made quite a stink of it talking to the docent. You never feel your American-ness more than when you’re in a foreign country and hear someone who sounds like a New Yorker cartoon in a way that makes you go, “I swear, we’re not all like that.”
Onward, to castle #2 of the day!
