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| Breakfast room at Mena House, Kilkenny, |
Staying at Mena House with the owner Katherine Molloy, was like staying with a dear friend. The perfect place to stay for your first night in Ireland! Her full Irish Breakfast was incredibly good, from the 1st course of cereal & fresh fruit & fresh orange juice to the 2nd course of toast & homemade jams & a pot of tea to the mouth watering 3rd course of bacon, sausages, eggs, tomato & the famous Irish black & white puddings . Black & White Pudding refer to sausage so I’m told, the difference being that, Black Puddings have fresh pigs blood added! I had to try it just once & just once it is. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, in fact is was quite tasty & a little spicy. I have to say, I did like the white one better than the black... & this was before I was told about the blood element.
The Full Irish Breakfast is a real treat,
especially for someone accustomed to missing breakfast most mornings. A true
gastronomic test of the cardiovascular system & an absolute guarantee that
your cholesterol levels will hit numbers you've never dreamed of!
The key is to fill yourself up on the works to get you through the
day to your next meal in the evening. So it's fair to say that each morning, I
waddle to the car, stomach so full I can hardly breathe!
Today we were going to take in some of the gorgeous sights around the Kilkenny area. I'd always wanted to have a look around the wee village of Inistioge after watching the movie ‘Circle of Friends’ with Minnie Driver playing the lead role. And it didn’t disappoint. A quaint wee village with a small ‘green square’ right in the centre of the town.
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| Village green, Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny |
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| Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny |
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| Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny |
18th century Stone Bridge, Inistioge
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| Looking down over Inistioge from Woodstock, Co. Kilkenny |
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| Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny |
Nearby is a beautiful 10-span stone bridge across the river Nore, dating from the 18th century & further up the hill, the Woodstock Gardens. We spent an hour here walking around the Woodstock estate with it’s 200 year monkey trees & Red cedar trees with strangely shaped limbs.
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| Woodstock Gardens, Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny |
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| Huge Red Cedar Trees, Woodstock Gardens, Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny |
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| Woodstock Gardens & Estate, Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny |
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| Woodstock Gardens & Estate, Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny |
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| Woodstock Estate, Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny |
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| Woodstock Gardens, Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny |
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| Ivy on the Abandoned Mansion, Woodstock Gardens, Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny |
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| Woodstock Gardens, Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny |
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| 200 year old Monkey Trees, Woodstock Gardens, Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny |
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| Glass Rotunda, Woodstock Gardens, Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny |
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| Stone Bridge nr Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny |
On the way back to Kilkenny we stopped off in Thomastown to view Jerpoint Abbey & nearby ruins of Grennan Castle, a solitary structure in the middle of a field, beautified by the encroaching ivy.
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| Jerpoint Abbey, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny |
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| Jerpoint Abbey, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny |
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| Jerpoint Abbey, Co. Kilkenny |
Bennetts Bridge, another stone bridge we drove over near the outskirts of Kilkenny, dominates the village aptly called Bennettsbridge.
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| Bennettsbridge, Co. Kilkenny |
Castle ruins appear in to view along the way & then there is a frantic search for a place to park so a photo could be taken. The roads are narrow & parking bays are few & often not in the location you want to stop, so at some places, a slowing of the car & winding down of the window to take the shot without stopping, was all that could be done.
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| Grennan Castle, Thomastown |
Keep your eye out for Grennan Castle nr. Thomastown - this 13th-century Norman castle is now in ruins, but spectacular ruins nevertheless. Its looming, austere facade features massive 2.5-metre / 8-foot thick walls that even Cromwell's armies couldn't demolish when they attacked the castle in 1650. Perched high above the Nore River valley, the castle once boasted a great hall, a chapel and living quarters. There is a handy wee layby here to pull into to take photos.
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| Kilkenny |
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| Kilkenny |
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| Kilkenny |
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| Kilkenny |
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| Kilkenny Castle in background |
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| Kilkenny Castle, Kilkenny |
Back in Kilkenny we walked around the narrow streets and along the river where we could get good view of Kilkenny Castle.
Two days in Ireland & the sun has shone both days... can it last?
So gorgeous! I won't be getting to this area, let's hope I have more than one trip in my future!!
ReplyDeleteI was very fortunate to have a month to travel around Ireland & was able to pack in more than most. Next time I'm there, I plan to go slower & spend more time in some of my most favourite places.... trouble is, I have many many favourite places :D
DeleteI'm only going to have two weeks - had to reduce it.
ReplyDeleteAnne, you should be able to see some of the best spots in that time. We were so lucky to have a whole month.
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