Ireland
Kilkenny
A limestone medieval city with a castle at one end and a climbable round tower at the other.
Kilkenny is a small inland city built from grey limestone, with a Norman castle at one end of a medieval street and a cathedral with a climbable round tower at the other. The mile between them holds most of what there is: slipways, merchant houses, an abbey and a great many pubs. It is also the spiritual home of hurling, which in this county is closer to an identity than a sport, and the drier eastern half of the country makes it an easier proposition than the Atlantic coast.
Suggested stay
1–2 days
Language
English, Irish
Currency
EUR
Timezone
UTC+1
Why you'll love Kilkenny
The Medieval Mile castle to cathedral along one street of limestone merchant houses, abbeys and narrow slipways
The round tower one of only two in Ireland you can climb, up ladders to a view over the whole city
Hurling the fastest field game in the world, and this is the county that has won it more than any other
Compactness a city small enough to walk in an afternoon, with a pub scene that would suit somewhere much larger
Best time to visit
May-Oct
14-20° days
52.651° N, 7.251° W
UTC+1 · Europe/Dublin
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Weather & when to go to Kilkenny
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best May-Oct
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Kilkenny
Inland Kilkenny is drier and warmer than the Atlantic side, so the real limit is daylight rather than rain: late autumn to midwinter is dark by mid-afternoon and the castle parkland loses its point. The city fills for its comedy and arts festivals and for big hurling matches, when beds vanish across the county, so check before booking if you want a quiet weekend.
Top things to do in Kilkenny
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Kilkenny Castle
history 👍 PopularA Norman stronghold rebuilt as a Victorian country house, held by one family for nearly six hundred years and sold to the city for a nominal sum, with a long picture gallery and free parkland behind it.
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St Canice's round tower
history ⭐ Highly recommendedA ninth-century tower beside the cathedral, climbed by a series of steep internal ladders to a small opening at the top, and one of only two in the country open to climb.
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The Medieval Mile
history 👍 PopularThe single street from castle to cathedral, with merchant houses, an almshouse, narrow covered slipways between buildings and a museum in a former church along the way.
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Black Abbey
culture artsA 13th-century Dominican priory still in use, with a vast stained glass rosary window and a nave that survived dissolution, fire and reconstruction to be handed back to the order.
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Rothe House
historyA Tudor merchant's complex of three houses and courtyards behind a single street frontage, with a reconstructed garden running back to the old town wall.
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The craft workshops
shoppingThe castle's Georgian stable yard has been a centre of Irish design since the 1960s, with potters, weavers and silversmiths working in the buildings around the courtyard.
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A hurling match
culture arts ⭐ Highly recommendedFifteen a side, ash sticks, a hard leather ball travelling at extraordinary speed, and a county that has won the championship more often than anyone. Club games run through the summer at grounds across the county.
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The Butter Slip and the lanes
scenicA dark stepped passage between two streets where butter was once sold, and the best surviving example of the slipways that thread the medieval city.
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The pubs off High Street
nightlife music 👍 PopularFor a city this size the drinking is serious, with snugs, trad sessions and a brewing history going back to the 1700s on the site by the river.
Best areas to stay in Kilkenny
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
The Medieval Mile
First-time visitors $$Limestone lanes between castle and cathedral
Explore hotels in The Medieval Mile →
Around the castle
Quiet & central $$$Parkland, river walks and hotels
Explore hotels in Around the castle →
Irishtown
Best value $Cathedral end, older and quieter
Explore hotels in Irishtown →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Kilkenny
Getting to & around Kilkenny
Getting there
Train from Dublin in about an hour and a half, straight into the city centre
Train
Kilkenny MacDonagh station
Direct trains from Dublin Heuston take about an hour and a half and stop a ten-minute walk from the castle
Coach
Kilkenny
Express coaches from Dublin city and Dublin airport, plus services from Waterford, Cork and Carlow
Drive
Kilkenny
About an hour and a half from Dublin on the motorway, and the obvious approach if you want the abbeys and gardens around the county
Getting around
Walking
The whole city is one walkable street and its lanes, and nothing worth seeing is more than fifteen minutes from anything else
Free
Hire car
Only needed for the county: Jerpoint, Kells Priory and the gardens have little or no bus service
TBC
Bus
Local routes cover the outskirts and a few county towns, on timetables built around commuters
TBC
Taxi
Ranks on the main street, and the usual way back from a county pub at night
TBC
Day trips from Kilkenny
Jerpoint Abbey
Half dayCistercian ruin
A 12th-century Cistercian abbey with an unusually complete cloister, its pillars carved with knights, bishops and a procession of odd little figures.
Getting there
car | bus
25 min by car south
Kells Priory
Half dayFortified monastery
A vast walled priory with towers around a field of sheep, unstaffed, unticketed and open whenever you arrive, which is much of its appeal.
Getting there
car
25 min by car south
Inistioge and Woodstock
Half dayVillage & gardens
A village square of lime trees on a bridge over the Nore, with the terraced walks and monkey puzzle avenue of a burnt-out estate on the hill above.
Getting there
car
30 min by car southeast
Dunmore Cave
Half dayLimestone cave
A deep limestone cave with large calcite formations and a grim Viking-era massacre recorded in the annals and borne out by the bones found inside.
Getting there
car
20 min by car north
Waterford
Full dayViking city
Ireland's oldest city, with a Viking triangle of museums, a 12th-century tower on the quay and the crystal works it is named for.
Getting there
car | train | bus
50 min by car or train south
A little history of Kilkenny
A monastery founded by Saint Canice gave the place its name, and the Normans built the castle above the river crossing in the 12th century. Kilkenny became the seat of the Butler family, Earls and later Dukes of Ormonde, who held the castle for around six hundred years and shaped the city around it.
The Statutes of Kilkenny were enacted here in 1366, a failed attempt to stop the Anglo-Norman settlers adopting Irish language, dress and law. In the 1640s the city was effectively the capital of Ireland, seat of the Confederation that governed the Catholic-held parts of the country until Cromwell took it in 1650. The Butlers sold the castle to the city in 1967 for a nominal sum, and the craft centre in its stable yard helped start the modern Irish design movement.
The Normans build a stone castle above the crossing of the Nore
The Statutes of Kilkenny attempt to stop settlers adopting Irish customs
The Confederation of Kilkenny makes the city the seat of Irish government
Cromwellian forces take the city after a siege
The Butler family sells the castle to the city for a nominal sum
The craft centre opens in the castle stable yard and reshapes Irish design
Know before you go
Payment
Cards everywhere
English
Everywhere
Wifi
Reliable
Power
Type G
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+353
FAQs about Kilkenny
▸ Is Kilkenny a day trip from Dublin or worth a night?
It works as a day trip on the direct train, and the sights fit into an afternoon. A night is better: the pubs are the other half of the place and they are wasted on a return ticket.
▸ How many days do you need in Kilkenny?
One full day and a night for the city. A second only if you want the county, where Jerpoint, Kells Priory and Inistioge are genuinely worth the drive.
▸ Can you climb the round tower?
Yes, by steep internal ladders, and it is one of only two round towers in Ireland open for it. There is a minimum age and it is closed in bad weather, and anyone uneasy on ladders should skip it.
▸ What is hurling and can you watch it?
An ancient stick-and-ball field game, played at remarkable speed, and Kilkenny is its most successful county. Club matches run at grounds around the county through the summer and are usually free or nearly so to watch.
▸ Is Kilkenny walkable?
Entirely. The Medieval Mile from the castle to the cathedral is the city, and you can cover it, the abbeys and the lanes in a single unhurried afternoon.
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