I visited Ireland's smallest city that's ‘place of wonder' with cobbled streets & countless bars for perfect staycation

THERE'S a lot more to Kilkenny than hurling or stag dos.
The marble city with no actual marble is a place of wonder. The cobbled streets and the countless bars and restaurants across both sides of The Nore really draw you in, and the people make you never want to leave.
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Myself, Avril and our baby daughter Cara travelled from Athlone
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We stopped to look at the Hurler's monument outside the Castle walls
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The 'Shenanigans' walking tour with Nevin Cody was the highlight
But the best thing about the place are its locals - and that was a very quick realisation when myself, Avril and our baby daughter Cara, arrived from
The Club House Hotel right bang in the thick of it all was the ideal base. Built in 1797 as the local foxhunting club, it was branded a
Ian Brennan and Joanna Hannick are its second-generation owners.
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Both of them were constantly around the place ensuring their guests wanted for nothing, and summed up the Kilkenny warmth we were greeted with at every turn.
We were handed the keys to one of their newly-renovated, colour-bursting
The apartment was ideal for anyone with a
We had dinner in the hotel restaurant on night one. As a
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Mark, the
There wasn't much room for dessert apart from a pint of Guinness, and that went down well too.
WALKING TOUR
Tired from her
The
After a brief stroll and a look at the
Starting off at the main Castle gates, Nevin was easy to spot with his tweed suit, peak cap and wonderful personality.
The
Nevin was an absolute joy with his endless gags and jokes and was an incredible fountain of information, too.
It turns out that Kilkenny are called the Cats for a reason far from cute, and we had no idea that the city held so much history from saints and sinners to infamous hangings and witches.
LUNCH DEVOURED
Nevin swept us across town as we put our left legs forward, arms in the air and roared 'SHENANIGANS!' for all to hear on our dander from the Castle through High Street towards Rothe House.
We were taken to the stunning the Black Abbey - with Ireland's largest stained-glass window before wrapping up at Kyteler's Inn - the home of Kilkenny's infamous Dame Alice Kyteler - who fled to
Cara managed to stave off the hunger until we got as far as The Left Bank for lunch, and she devoured her baby bowl and we followed suit with hot pots and chicken caesar wraps.
It was nap time for the baby so I went solo from the hotel across to Café la Coco, and realised why there was always a queue outside the place all day long.
When Cara woke up, we wandered around town for a while and took in the Castle Yard, which is laced with an array of local crafts.
We stocked up on healthcare products from MySkin integrity, wonderful cards from Geraldine Walsh Art and a hand-poured candle Wired Irish Crafts along with a Jellycat baby book from Kilkenny design that Cara hasn't let go of since.
'SUPER FEW DAYS'
From here, it was off to Sullivan's Tap Room for dinner - amazing pizza and in a really cool outdoor heated pod where Cara could chill in peace and we could still feel the buzz.
Avril then treated herself to a sound bath at KORU Wellness back the Castle Yard.
This is a deeply relaxing experience in a yoga studio, lying on mats listening to melodic tunes and percussion - and was an hour of pure chill.
It was the perfect way for Avril to round off a super few days, and unwind before setting sail for home the next morning and sure enough, it barely rained.
Thank you, Kilkenny - we'll be back!
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Avril and Cara
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Nevin was an absolute joy
WHERE TO STAY & HOW TO GET THERE
GET THERE
WE travelled by car from Athlone which took around two hours via the M6, and then down through Tullamore, Mountmellick, Portlaoise, Abbeyleix, Durrow and Ballyragget.
Travel from Dublin is much simpler via the M7 and M9, and takes roughly 90 minutes by car, or train from Heuston station.
STAY THERE
THE WONDERFUL Club House Hotel was incredibly central, welcoming, warm and affordable. Getaways start from €127 for a single and €165 for a twin/double room per night with air conditioning and plentiful on-site parking.
For more information, see:
DO THERE
SHENANIGANS walks with Nevin was absolutely fantastic and won the Tripadvisor 'Travellers' Choice Award 2021' for the best thing to do in Ireland.
Tickets start at €25 and can be booked at
KILKENNY castle is the centrepiece of the city and self-guided tours start at €8.
See
KORU Wellness offer classes, workshops and retreats to nurture your wellbeing, located in the serene Castle Yard, in the heart of Kilkenny.
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Irish Daily Mirror

2 days ago

• Irish Daily Mirror

'I tried best Guinness where 20,000 are sold a week and and it wasn't Dublin'

Guinness has become all the rage in the last few years, once thought as the choice of that random old man always lurking in the same corner of your local, it is now the choice of a much younger crowd. The drink has amassed almost a cult-like following with Guinness rankings becoming all important on social media and in almost every pub at some point in the evening you'll see a crowd of young lads infamously attempting to split the G. Fitting perfectly into the box of a 24-year-old, flat white drinking basic man, I headed on the pilgrimage to our promised land - The Devonshire. The pub has become so famed for its pint of the Irish stout it now sells around 20,000 pints of the black gold each week - that's only a few short from being able to fill an Olympic size swimming pool every year. The pub is nestled into its magical own corner of Denman Street and Sherwood Street in London's Soho, just a stone's throw away from Piccadilly Circus. The faint murmuring of its bumble playing in the background as you enjoy a pint in the traditional London way - stood up crowded around the pavement outside - where I rightfully took my place. Its classic green exterior with overhanging Ivy is in stark contrast to the glitz and glamour of the West End theatres that surround it. This is most obvious with the view of glowing red signs of Moulin Rouge at the Piccadilly Theatre taking up the spot across the road. As I walked inside I was met with a classic chequered floor, aged wood and traditional oxblood leather-backed seats that greats you like it would've done a hundred years ago - despite only opening in this iteration in 2023. The building itself is steeped in history and has been operating mostly as a pub since 1793, and after a brief recent stint as a Jamie's Italian, I'm glad to see it has been returned to its former glory. I made my way in with a slight spring in my step to the bar, where a line of half-full Guinness was already lining its countertop patiently waiting to settle to create the perfect pour and a happy customer in front of me of course had ordered two pints of the black nectar. I was next, and along with 70 percent of the bar's customers, ordered my glass of the stout. After a short wait I was handed my pint and soon made my way outside to enjoy the not-so-fresh Soho air. Like many, I'm sceptical of how good a Guinness really can be. Aficionados often claim to taste notes of chocolate, coffee and treacle but to me, many stouts all taste relatively similar. But as I took a healthy first gulp, I could instantly understand the hype. The head was almost creamy in nature with its remnants leaving that trademark and all-important 'shtick' - a sign of great pour. This pint was distinctly fresher than others I've had, it didn't leave you feeling full, bloated and like you've drunk the three-course meal equivalent of a pint - instead it was light and crisp and left me thirsty for another one. The secret behind the pub's top-notch pint is all supposedly to do with the system. The pub's landlord Oisín Rogers, dubbed by critic Giles Coren as London's 'most famous publican', told GQ: "Nobody's really done it properly in the UK. "Because there's never been the investment from the pubs, or the owners of businesses to do it properly. In every other pub that I know in the UK, the Guinness comes through the same cooler as the lagers, which makes it too cold. And they use the same gas." The Devonshire instead has a purpose-built Guinness system that feeds it with an 82:18 nitrogen to carbon dioxide ratio (unlike the more common 70:30) giving it the creamier texture found more commonly in The Emerald Isle. Another reason for its flavour is the pub's sheer volume. The Devonshire churns out the stuff around 20,000 pints a week, so you know your pint isn't coming from an old keg that's been hiding in the basement for months and instead has just come off the boat from Dublin. In short, I believe it is. There is a reason the pub is rammed from nearly dawn to dusk every day. Safe to say it was the nicest Guinness I've ever tasted and with its almost magical surroundings it's worth adding on the pit-stop during a trip to the capital. If you're lucky enough to bag yourself a reservation (which is much easier said than done) the pint is possibly best enjoyed with its food - which has garnered attention of its own after being ranked as the nation's best gastro-pub But for any future pilgrims sticking to the bar, there should be one big caveat - it is still a Guinness, I believe this is one of the best examples of the stout in the British Isles but it should be admired for the humble drink that it is.

Irish Times

2 days ago

• Irish Times

The Rusty Mackerel, Donegal review: Sarah Jessica Parker's go-to is where you want to be after a bracing cliff walk

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Irish Daily Mirror

3 days ago

• Irish Daily Mirror

Sheeran, Macklemore, O'Donnell and Bloom - the new trend of identifying as Irish

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Just because I was born in Britain doesn't mean I necessarily have to be British. It should be how you feel and how you were raised and what you lean into.' He kicked back when criticised for feeling Irish. He posted a message on Instagram saying: "My dad is Irish. My family is Irish. I have an Irish passport. The culture I was brought up around is Irish. "The first music I learnt was Irish. I can be allowed to feel connection to a place half my family is from." Another Brit who feels Irish is Orlando Bloom. The Lord of the Rings actor, 48, spoke last week of how he is 'an Irishman at heart'. 'I grew up next to an Irish family who are amazing and are really like my family and took me in. I'm an Irishman at heart. Actually, I'm more Irish than anything else.' Actress Rosario Dawson also says she is 'more Irish than anything else' and has visited here numerous times since first coming over to trace her roots in the early 2010s. The Justice League star loves coming back to Ireland, saying: "It's fun for me because my biological father is Irish and I never got to know him. But it was always one of the reasons I came here.' Ireland is a place where rapper Macklemore feels at home. Born Benjamin Haggerty in Seattle, his heritage is "primarily Irish", he says. When the 41-year-old played Dublin and Cork this month, he had an Irish flag on stage and wore a Guinness t-shirt. Afterwards, the Can't Hold Us singer said his first show in Dublin in 2011 'was the beginning of a deep connection, not just to a city, but to a place my ancestors once called home. Something about the Irish spirit. Raw. Unbreakable. Full of heart. Love you guys'. His song Irish Celebration was written for St Patrick's Day and inspired by Irish immigration to the US and Ireland's history. It includes the lyrics: 'My heritage, proud to be a Haggerty." Rosie O'Donnell was one of the first celebrities to claim Irish identity. 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