The End is Near; Kilkenny and the End of this Adventure

After viewing the Rock of Cashel and heading towards Kilkenny, we stopped at the Swiss Cottage for a change in pace from the castles we’d been primarily seeing. The Swiss Cottage is a “cottage orne” that was built in the early 1800s by Richard Butler, based on a design by the famous architect John Nash. During this time period it was fashionable for the privileged to pretend to live like their servants. They would build these “simple” four-room cottages, adhering to a very particular set of guidelines, and go there during the day and poorly emulate the life of a lay person. The cottage had to be one with nature and therefore most of it is made from wood and crafted to appear like tree limbs, or the angles and curves are made to portray the inconsistencies within nature and so forth. The end result is quite beautiful and was much more elegant and lavish than an actual peasant’s home would have been during that time. The Butlers actually had the homes of 22 of their servant families destroyed, and the families moved elsewhere when their hovel-like cottages obstructed the Butler’s view. So much for being one with nature and bringing yourself to the level of your subjects.

While walking from the car to the Swiss Cottage and enjoying a tasty gummy snake, I started chewing on something hard and definitely not gummy. Turns out that the evil gummy snake (or decay) caused one of my molar fillings to crumble and leave a nice hole in my tooth. This caused Em to laugh and me to slightly freak out. After visiting the Swiss Cottage (and lamenting on my misfortune) Em and I went driving from town to town trying to locate a dentist that could provide same day care. We eventually found one and for the nice and low price of 110 euros, my tooth was once again encased in a composite resin.

Due to my unplanned dental emergency, there was only time for one more site. Ormond Castle was the winning of the illustrious privilege. Ormond Castle was another of the many dwellings owned by the Butler family. This castle is a 15^th century Elizabethan manor house built by Thomas Butler who returned from England after having lived there for much of his child- and young adulthood. There are two things of note at this home. Butler added the manor house on to the ruins of an older castle that was located on the site and incorporated the castle towers that were there, so one can walk between the castle and the home without even realizing that you’re changing buildings.  Many believe that the manor house is styled after English architecture due to Thomas missing what was familiar to him from having lived in England for so long. The second really interesting thing about this home is that there is an entire long hall dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I, Butler’s cousin. Elizabeth called Thomas her “Black Husband” and there is belief that she was the mother of one of his children. Thomas created the ceiling plaster work that lined the hall in her image in anticipation of a visit that was never to be.

Being that we got there at the end of the day, we ended up with our own private tour and were able to pester the guide with tons of questions. She handled this good-naturely and then passed us off on another of the guides. We and the other guide were so engrossed in discussing the errors that are purposely added to Flemish tapestries (because God is the only truly perfect being and therefore depictions of regular, abet Royal, people cannot be perfect) that the remaining guides had to nudge us all out the door when they went to lock up for the evening.

Finally we reached Kilkenny (after driving a hundred miles out of the way to visit Waterford and finding everything closed and then almost running over 100s of people walking in the middle of the road to a graveyard for an annual remembrance day outside of Kilkenny…yes we are terrible people for even thinking of hitting them all) and determined that it was indeed a good last city for our trip. Everywhere we went people asked if we were going to the Bruce Springsteen concert. The Boss was finishing out his UK tour with two shows in Kilkenny and therefore the town was packed more than usual. One of Bruce’s can we say stalker fans was staying in the hostel with us and regaled us with his life story. He was a Swede that was enamored with Springsteen and moved to New York so he could be close to all the places that Bruce held dear. In addition, he spent his year saving up so that he could spend his summer going to ever concert Bruce put on. To date, he’d been to 47. Nice guy, but total nutcase.

Kilkenny started as an ecclesiastical foundation in the 6^th century, turned into a Norman merchant town by the 13^th century and was granted city status in the 1600s. The town is known as a famous brewery. Currently Smithwicks (pronounced without the “w”) ale (and Budweiser in the same plant) are the flavors of the day, but centuries ago, the abbey that was located in the same place was known for its own brewing. In addition to the brewery, there are a plethora of other famous sites to visit in the city itself. Em and I visited the Kilkenny Castle, the Rothe House, and road the train car.

Can you guess who owned Kilkenny Castle (at least from the mid-1300s)? Same family that seemed to own everything else in this region of the country, the Butler’s. Although the castle’s fame starts earlier than its habitation by the Butler clan, when it was but a wooden fort built by Richard de Clare, 2^nd Earl of Pembroke, commonly known as Strongbow (an important Irish historical figure) during the 12^th century. James Butler bought the home in 1391 and built it into the castle that would be the main seat of power for the Butler family until the last heir sold it the Irish state in 1935 for a mere £50. The estate has been refurbished with many 19^th century pieces so that visitors could see what one of these stone fortresses might have actually looked like. And beautiful and regal it looked.

After waiting out the rainstorm via visiting an art center and adding our own bits to a compilation piece, we headed to the Rothe House in the middle of town. The Rothe House is 17^th century merchant townhouse complex built by John Rothe Ftiz-Piers that is comprised of three houses, three enclosed courtyards, and a large reconstructed garden with orchard (it is also home to a family of six ducks and three interloping cats). The house is owned by the Kilkenny Archaeological Society and doubles as a museum to showcase some of their collection.

On this trip, Em and I had driven in cars, flown on planes, sailed on boats, ridden on bikes, and walked all over. The one thing we hadn’t done was ride on a train. It seemed that every time we attempted this feat, something came up. So when I saw the nerdy-ist tourist trap ever, the Train Car, I just had to ride it. This is a two car (“train” and passenger car) vehicle designed to look like a toy train that takes you around the town on a 30 minute tour and tells you the history of many of the buildings and sites. With childlike glee and a step away from lolling my tongue like a pup as I hung my head out the window, I thoroughly enjoyed my half hour ride.

Our last site for the day was a little outside Kilkenny itself and was called the Dunmore Cave. The cave is a large underground system of caverns that were uncovered by a shake hole (like a sink hole but caused by seismic activity). There is evidence that the cave system was used by humans but not lived in, except for one notable exception. In 928 AD, there was a massacre carried out by the Vikings where they slaughtered hundreds of women, children, and elderly as they hid in the caverns. It is believed that the Vikings lit fires to smoke out their victims, which they then cut down. Those that remained in hiding most likely died of smoke inhalation. Besides its bloody history, the cave is noted for its large collection of stalagmites and stalactites.

Our last day in the country and for the trip started with a visit to Jerpoint Abbey. Here Em and I learned the dismal fate that awaited the second born son of a noble family. The first son got the land and wealth and the second son was shipped off to lead a long, hard, cloistered life in a monastery by the age of 14. The son was usually shipped off with a large amount of wealth or land as a sign of good faith and to ensure that the family stayed on the good side of God. For the son, it meant long hours of work and religious study, with little sleep and less food. I don’t think I would have lasted five days before running away.

Jerpoint Abbey was a Cistercian monastery built in 1180 by Donogh O'Donoghoe Mac Gilla Patraic, the King of the Kingdom of Ossory. The Cistercian order was an off-shoot of the Benedictine order who felt that the Benedictines were becoming too liberal in the interpretation of their vows and wanted to go back to a more rigid practice. The abbey itself contains some beautiful craved stonework (which was added in the later centuries when this order itself started moving towards allowing beauty and non-essential items into its hallow halls).

After an informative tour, we headed to Thomastown for a lunch, a chat with some friendly locals and then a long and scenic drive to the western coast and then up to Dublin. We stopped in the city of Enniscorthy briefly before heading north to Bray. Bray was a wonderful little beach side community. Sort of like the Malibu of Ireland. There were large villas situated on a hill overlooking the ocean. It was an adorable final place to visit. We also enjoyed a great last dinner (Em finally got a Duck entrée that tasted how she expected it too…even I thought it was okay and I’m not much for duck).

Our final morning dawned and we headed to the airport to fly to our respective locations. I said goodbye to the Raunchy Truck Driver and headed back to the desert.