Dawn and Kevin

We made it safely to Kilkenny where we visited Kilkenny Castle, a castle built in the late 1190’s. The Office of Public Works is an organization that has taken control of and maintains / preserves historic sites throughout the country.  These sites are known as Heritage sites.  We purchased Heritage cards at the Kilmainham Gaol (another Heritage site) which entitled us to entry to multiple attractions throughout the country without paying the admission fee. Since we visited so many of these sites, the cards more than paid for themselves, and, they are good for a year. There is no photography allowed inside the castle, but we did take many photos of its exterior.

After lunch, we hopped back into the car and made our way to our next castle, The Rock of Cashel, located in Cashel, County Tipperary, a drive of about 40 miles.  The roads got a little bit narrower as you’ll see in the video below, but we made it there uneventfully.

As we hit the outskirts of the village of Cashel, we could see The Rock up ahead in the distance.  The Rock, also known as St. Patrick’s Rock, is a castle consisting of a group of buildings, including a chapel, cathedral and towers. Parts of it date back to the 1100’s, but most of the remaining ruins are from later centuries. This is also a Heritage site, so we were not charged the admission fees.  We loved visiting this castle, it was truly amazing.

After spending well over 90 minutes at the Rock, we got back in the car and made our way to our first bed and breakfast of the trip, Aulber House, which was conveniently located  just about a mile from the Rock.  We found it easily and drove into the driveway and were presented with a meticulously manicured lawn and beautiful landscaping.  Any worries we might have had about a small B&B in rural Ireland quickly dissipated when we were greeted warmly by Bernice, co-owner of the house.  She assigned us to Room #2, in the front of the house, from where we had a view of the Rock of Cashel. It was early Sunday evening and she recommended a few spots in town for dinner.  We enjoyed a leisurely dinner at a pub in town, walked around for a while and made our way back to our room, to get ready for another big day tomorrow.