Morgan and Jane's EXCELLENT Adventure: Kilkenny, Ireland- 20th and 21st September

Kilkenny Castle

Creepy hand sculpture at Kilkenny Castle.

Another entry in the 'Jane eats things bigger than her head' category.

Kilkenny was great fun - it was great to be back in a campground which was a short cycle to town. It really makes a difference knowing you can make your way there and back quickly, under your own steam.

On our first day in we had a look at Kilkenny Castle, which met all the requisite castle requirements in terms of overall prettiness, oldness and bigness. It had an amazing picture gallery, but no photos inside unfortunately.

We also paid a visit to Rothe House, a 17th Century merchant's house (three houses really) which houses an archaeological museum. They had also rebuilt the traditional market garden.

Rothe House

These are antlers from a giant Irish deer that has been extinct for at least 10,000 years - they were pulled out of a bog. Much of the interesting things in Ireland seem to be pulled out of bogs, which raised the questions - who are these people digging around in bogs, and what are they looking for? If it was giant deer antlers they would have been pleased.

This was a dog skeleton they dug up when they we building the garden. It is several hundred years old. The photograph of the small cute dog is just mean.

Random nice building. Generally loving all the autumnal colours.

We also visited the Smithwicks brewery and did the tour, which was heaps of fun. It is one of the few multinational breweries where they make all the beer for export on the grounds, ie none is made overseas. The tour guide also pointed out that it is now owned by Guinness, which in turn is owned by Diageo which is a London based company that owns all the booze in the world. Smithwicks also make Kilkenny, as far as I can tell, because Guinness told them they had to. Good fun though.

Ain't no party like a blue hi-vis vest and two pairs of glasses party. Maybe a hunchback party?

Yeah, you are.

Apparently Smithwicks should be poured in three or four stages with 20 seconds or so between each. Which takes ages so no-one bothers. Tastes pretty good though.

This is the old abbey that is in the Smithwicks grounds.

Special note - being Irish means you can swear all the time, saying whatever you like (including the 'c' bomb), and it sounds kind of charming. I am going to say feck more often, I think.

Modern art.

The BLACK ABBEY! Called that because it houses a brotherhood called the Black friars and not because it is a house of evil, dark magic. Which is disappointing.