# Kilkenny Ireland's medieval city: the Butlers' castle, St Canice's Cathedral with its round tower and the Medieval Mile, an hour and a half by train from Dublin. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/ireland/kilkenny · Revisado: 2026-11-12 Kilkenny is a small city on the banks of the River Nore, in the south-east of Ireland, and the one that best preserves its medieval layout. In the Middle Ages it was one of the most important cities in the country, and between the Butlers' castle and St Canice's Cathedral runs the Medieval Mile, a street with narrow lanes, merchants' houses, inns and churches. You can walk it from end to end in twenty minutes. ## How do you get there from Dublin? By train. Irish Rail Intercity trains leave from Heuston and take between an hour and a half and an hour and three quarters; the 7:20 arrives at 9:05. From the station it is a walk of about fifteen minutes to the castle. On a tour. Wild Rover Tours leaves from O'Connell Street at 8:10 and combines Kilkenny with Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains (€43), with two and a half hours in the city. By car. A little under two hours along the M50 and the M9. If you come from Glendalough, via the Wicklow Gap. ## What to see in a day Start with the castle at 9:30, when it opens: an hour and a half for the reception rooms and the portrait gallery. Go out into the park and walk down towards the river. Mid-morning, the Medieval Mile Museum (Wednesday to Sunday) or its guided walk at 11:00. Have lunch in the centre and in the afternoon climb up to St Canice's Cathedral and its round tower. If you like beer, leave time for the Smithwick's Experience before the train back. With a night, add traditional music at Kyteler's Inn, the inn of the "witch" of 1324. ## What about Sunday? Be careful if you go on a Sunday from October to April: St Canice's Cathedral is closed. The castle and its park are open every day, the Medieval Mile Museum is open Wednesday to Sunday and Rinuccini serves without a break from 12:30 to 20:30. ## Dónde está - Zonas: Irish pubs - Cerca: Rock of Cashel (a 45.9 km), Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains (a 73.2 km), Powerscourt and Enniskerry (a 93.7 km), Dublin (a 101.6 km) ## Qué hacer - **Kilkenny Castle, home of the Butlers** (1 h 30 · All ages · Self-guided adult €8, child or student €4, family €20 · summer guided tour adult €12): The castle dominates the centre of Kilkenny from a bend in the River Nore. The Normans built it in the 12th century and for centuries it was the main seat of the Butlers, earls and marquesses of Ormond. Inside you visit the rooms restored in Victorian taste and the picture gallery, a long room with a painted wooden ceiling that is the best part of the visit. Allow an hour and a half. The self-guided ticket costs €8 (families, €20), and in summer there is a guided tour for €12. Buy on the Heritage Ireland website: the OPW warns that there are no authorised resellers. The park around it, with the rose garden and the view of the castle from the river, is free and open all day. - **St Canice's Cathedral and the climb up the round tower** (1 h · From age 12 for the tower climb · Cathedral and tower climb from €12 · guided tour with tower from €16): At the top of the Irishtown district, at the far end of the Medieval Mile, stands St Canice's Cathedral, which gives the city its name (Kilkenny comes from Cill Chainnigh, the church of Canice). It is a 13th-century Gothic cathedral, wide and bright inside, with tombs of the Butlers. Beside it rises an older round tower, which you can climb by internal ladders to a window with the whole city at your feet. From €12 for the cathedral with the tower. Mind the opening hours: from October to April it is closed on Sunday, and the rest of the year on Sunday it does not open until 13:00. There is a first-come queue for the tower: go early. - **Smithwick's Experience, Kilkenny's brewery** (45 min · Adults; under-18s get a soft drink · Signature Experience from €21 · Masters of Ale with tasting, 75 min, from €50): Smithwick's red ale has been made in Kilkenny for about three hundred years, and its visitor centre, in the middle of the city, tells the story with a 45-minute guided visit, with projections and a pint at the end (a soft drink for under-18s). It costs from €21. If you like beer, the Masters of Ale, an hour and a quarter, adds a tasting, learning to pour your own pint and an engraved glass as a souvenir, from €50. - **Medieval Mile Museum and the guided walk** (1 h · All ages · Audioguide adult €8, child €4, family €20 · guided visit €11 · Medieval Mile walk €18): The Medieval Mile is the backbone of Kilkenny's old town, running from the castle to St Canice's Cathedral, with alleyways (the slips), merchants' houses and churches. Its museum occupies a restored medieval church, with carved gravestones and tombs, and is the best introduction to the city. With the audioguide, €8; the guided visit leaves at 10:00 and 14:00. If you like walking with someone who tells the stories, the guided walk along the Mile leaves from the museum at 11:00 and 15:00 (€18). It is open Wednesday to Sunday: closed on Monday and Tuesday. - **Day trip from Dublin to Kilkenny and Glendalough** (10 h · All ages who can manage a day on a coach · Desde 43 € adult): If you have only one day and do not want to drive on the left, Wild Rover Tours combines the two classic trips south of Dublin: two and a half hours in Kilkenny, the crossing of the mountains by the Wicklow Gap, time at the Glendalough monastery and a sheepdog demonstration on a farm in Laragh. It leaves at 8:10 from O'Connell Street and returns at 18:15, for €43. In Kilkenny there is time for the castle or for the Medieval Mile, but not for both at a relaxed pace. If the city interests you, it is better to take the train and spend a whole day. - **Castle park and a walk beside the River Nore** (1 h · All ages · Free): Behind the castle lie enormous meadows, with a rose garden in front of the façade, groves and paths that run down to the River Nore. It is free, the place for children to run around after the visit and the best spot for a photo of the castle. It opens first thing and closes according to the light: at 17:00 in November, at 20:30 in midsummer. ## Dónde comer - **Kyteler's Inn** (Bar, Kilkenny, €€). Qué pedir: the Kilkenny pork sausage with Guinness and leek, from the local butcher, or the Irish stew. - **Ristorante Rinuccini** (Restaurant, Kilkenny, €€€). Qué pedir: the early evening menu, between 17:00 and 18:00. ## By plane: Fly to Dublin and take the train to Kilkenny For Kilkenny you fly to Dublin, with direct flights from many Spanish cities. From the airport, take the coach to Heuston station (the Dublin Express stops there) and an Intercity train to Kilkenny, an hour and a half to an hour and three-quarters. With a hire car it is a little under two hours along the M50 and the M9. ### Dónde dormir if you're flying - **Pembroke Kilkenny** (Hotel): In the centre, next to the castle The Pembroke is a four-star hotel on Patrick Street, two minutes' walk from the castle gate and at the start of the Medieval Mile. It has 84 rooms and suites, and is a good base if you arrive by train: the station is about fifteen minutes' walk away. Eating and drinking Its bar-restaurant, Stathams, with chef Ken Harker, serves from midday to night and organises special dinners, the Stathams Supper Club. Who it is for For anyone who wants everything within walking distance, without a car. If you are travelling with a pet, the website says the concierge helps arrange it: ask about the conditions before booking. - **Butler House** (Small hotel): A Georgian house next to the castle Butler House is a Georgian house turned into a charming place to stay on Patrick Street. What makes it special is its walled garden, with its own gate opening onto the castle courtyard: you go out in the morning between flowerbeds and find yourself at the castle without setting foot in the street. The rooms It has doubles of various sizes, junior suites, a named suite (the Lady Eleanor), a family room and a dog-friendly room, a rarity in the centre. It belongs to Ireland's Blue Book, the association of charming country houses and hotels in Ireland. How to get there It is two minutes from the castle and about fifteen minutes' walk from the train station. Ask about parking when you book if you are coming by car. - **Kilkenny River Court Hotel** (Hotel): On the river, opposite the castle The River Court is next to John Street bridge, on the bank of the Nore, and its Deluxe rooms look across the water to the castle. It is the most practical option if you arrive by car: it has free parking for guests, something that is scarce in the centre. From the train station it is about ten minutes' walk. Rooms and food Classic, executive and deluxe rooms with views, suites and family rooms. You eat in the Riverside restaurant, have a drink in the Riverview bar or on the terrace by the river, and there is afternoon tea. ### Servicios - **Kilkenny (MacDonagh) station and the train from Dublin**: Irish Rail Intercity from Dublin Heuston in 1 h 30 to 1 h 45, about eight trains a day; the station is about fifteen minutes' walk from the castle. ## Car-free: Train from Heuston and Kilkenny on foot Kilkenny is the most comfortable train trip from Dublin: a good hour and a half from Heuston, and from the station everything is done on foot, from the castle to St Canice's Cathedral along the Medieval Mile. With the 7:20 or the 10:15 train you have the whole day; if you sleep one night, you see it without rushing and with music at Kyteler's. Presupuesto orientativo: 90–170 € por persona y día. ### Dónde dormir without a car - **Pembroke Kilkenny** (Hotel): In the centre, next to the castle The Pembroke is a four-star hotel on Patrick Street, two minutes' walk from the castle gate and at the start of the Medieval Mile. It has 84 rooms and suites, and is a good base if you arrive by train: the station is about fifteen minutes' walk away. Eating and drinking Its bar-restaurant, Stathams, with chef Ken Harker, serves from midday to night and organises special dinners, the Stathams Supper Club. Who it is for For anyone who wants everything within walking distance, without a car. If you are travelling with a pet, the website says the concierge helps arrange it: ask about the conditions before booking. - **Butler House** (Small hotel): A Georgian house next to the castle Butler House is a Georgian house turned into a charming place to stay on Patrick Street. What makes it special is its walled garden, with its own gate opening onto the castle courtyard: you go out in the morning between flowerbeds and find yourself at the castle without setting foot in the street. The rooms It has doubles of various sizes, junior suites, a named suite (the Lady Eleanor), a family room and a dog-friendly room, a rarity in the centre. It belongs to Ireland's Blue Book, the association of charming country houses and hotels in Ireland. How to get there It is two minutes from the castle and about fifteen minutes' walk from the train station. Ask about parking when you book if you are coming by car. - **Kilkenny River Court Hotel** (Hotel): On the river, opposite the castle The River Court is next to John Street bridge, on the bank of the Nore, and its Deluxe rooms look across the water to the castle. It is the most practical option if you arrive by car: it has free parking for guests, something that is scarce in the centre. From the train station it is about ten minutes' walk. Rooms and food Classic, executive and deluxe rooms with views, suites and family rooms. You eat in the Riverside restaurant, have a drink in the Riverview bar or on the terrace by the river, and there is afternoon tea. ### Servicios - **Kilkenny (MacDonagh) station and the train from Dublin**: Irish Rail Intercity from Dublin Heuston in 1 h 30 to 1 h 45, about eight trains a day; the station is about fifteen minutes' walk from the castle. ## As a family: A castle with a park and a city to explore on foot Kilkenny is small and flat, and with children that is worth a lot: from the castle you walk to the other sights, and the castle park is free and enormous. One day is plenty; one night lets you add early music in a pub. ### What works best Kilkenny Castle, with the family ticket Castle park, for running around afterwards Medieval Mile Museum, with an audioguide Day trip including Glendalough, if you do not want to drive ### Where to sleep Butler House, with a family room Kilkenny River Court, with family rooms and parking ### Where to eat Rinuccini, early bird menu Kyteler's Inn, the 18:30 music session ### Worth knowing The Medieval Mile Museum is closed on Monday and Tuesday St Canice's Cathedral is closed on Sunday from October to April ### Qué hacer as a family - Kilkenny Castle, home of the Butlers - Medieval Mile Museum and the guided walk - Day trip from Dublin to Kilkenny and Glendalough - Castle park and a walk beside the River Nore ## With teenagers: Witches, red ale and a tower to climb Teenagers take to Kilkenny through its stories: a woman accused of witchcraft in 1324, a round tower you climb from the inside and a medieval city you can cover in a morning. ### What works best Climb up St Canice's tower, with views over the whole city Kilkenny Castle and the picture gallery Medieval Mile Museum and its guided walk Smithwick's Experience, with a soft drink for under-18s ### Where to sleep Pembroke Kilkenny, in the centre ### Where to eat Kyteler's Inn and the story of Alice Kyteler ### Worth knowing The tower has narrow stairs: not for anyone with a fear of heights Under-18s do not get beer at Smithwick's ### Qué hacer with teenagers - Kilkenny Castle, home of the Butlers - St Canice's Cathedral and the climb up the round tower - Smithwick's Experience, Kilkenny's brewery - Medieval Mile Museum and the guided walk - Day trip from Dublin to Kilkenny and Glendalough ## Consejos ### Take the early train With the 7:20 you are at the castle when it opens. ### Check the day of the week The Medieval Mile Museum is closed on Monday and Tuesday; the cathedral, on winter Sundays. ### Buy the castle on the official website Heritage Ireland warns that there are no authorised resellers. ### Find the photo from the river The classic view of the castle is from John Street bridge or the park. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### How long does it take to get from Dublin to Kilkenny by train? Between an hour and a half and an hour and three quarters from Heuston station, with about eight trains a day. ### Can you see Kilkenny in a day? Yes. The castle, the Medieval Mile and the cathedral can be covered on foot in a day. ### How much does the castle cost? €8 self-guided, €4 children and students, €20 families. In summer there is a guided tour for €12. ### Can it be combined with Glendalough? Yes: by car, crossing the Wicklow Gap, or on Wild Rover Tours' day tour from Dublin. ### Where can I hear traditional music? At Kyteler's Inn, every night in high season: at 20:00 on weekdays and at 18:30 and 22:00 at weekends.