Circles & Squares: Weekend Exile

In light of a week of madness to get my 'final' portfolio shined up for Friday and in an unprecedented burst of energy, I decided that a weekend out of Dublin would be a good reward to the late nights of folio work. So I planned a 2-night stay in Belfast in Northern Ireland, leaving Dublin at 6am and returning late sunday night. All was planned and in good order but compleeetely slept right in till about 10 Saturday morning, missing the morning train. On the fly, I decided a one-nighter in Kilkenny was a better idea instead.

So, I brought the Silver Bullet/'Betsy' (my bike) on-board the train and motored through the city. Kilkenny is about 75, 000 people, around the size of the Soo, but feels a quarter of the size and a few centuries older too. My plan was to go and photograph and sketch but it was rainy most of the time and too cold to hold a pencil. Instead, I just wandered about, checking out the many Gothic churches and cathedrals and sneaking the odd pint here and there. Fittingly, Kilkenny Cream Ale is brewed here and as I understand it, the St. Francis Abbey is where the ale was originally brewed. In 1650, the abbey was desecrated upon discovering that the monks had been secretly brewing the Kilkenny Ale. Now, the brewery also produces Smithwick's and Guinness. I tried the Smithwick's here and it was heavenly...like a pint from God.

I caught a painfully dry tour of the Kilkenny Castle which I tried to escape from midway, but in the process set off security alarms and was confronted by guards who thought that I was stealing rare cultural artifacts. I was more interested in seeing the grounds of the Castle. It's endless green with all kinds of winding paths through these really old forests. William of Orange, or 'Strongbow' originally built a small castle at the same location but the castle was destroyed and rebuilt in the same location as a more serious keep. The castle was passed on to various hands and has a winding history of ownership, but eventually the castle was handed over to the Castle Restoration Committee for 50 pounds in 1967.

The main thing I wanted to see in Kilkenny was the Kells Priory which is the main reason I brought Betsy along - it's a 45 minute bike ride to the village of Kells and then a another 10 into the middle of a field outside of Kells. As is the case throughout the Irish countryside, castles are found all over the place, and like the Kells Priory or the Rock of Cashel which James and Melissa went to visit, you just march out into the middle of a field where sheep and cows are grazing and there is no admission or tour groups or even people at all. It's basically just you, the sheep, and an empty castle. Amazing.

However, as I mentioned before, the weather was crap so I'll be back in the summer!