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June 21, 2018

After a long day yesterday (we got home about 10:30 PM last night) everyone had a hard time getting out of bed.  Thankfully we had another delicious breakfast to greet us.  The longest day of the year was another sunny 20° day.  We took full advantage by heading to Kells Priory first.  This visit I wanted to try something new so we parked by the old mill building instead of the car park for the priory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a good choice to park by Hutchinson’s Mill and we were rewarded by a beautiful walk along the King’s River.  I would recommend using the Priory car park if it is your first visit as it is easier to get to and the view of the Priory is more striking.  For a return visit though this makes for a nice change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last time we visited the entire complex was in scaffolding.  Today there were multiple work crews working away.  The OPW also had someone in a shed handing out tickets (free).  I had read somewhere that they now offered guided tours of the complex and was looking forward to that, but there was no sign of any tours so we explored on our own instead.  There were two young men from Kells Tidy Towns Group who were walking through the priory who stopped to ask how we were enjoying our visit, offered a map a Kells, explained the walking loops and some highlights of the town.  It was a nice touch, keep it up Kells.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kells Priory is unique due to two factors.  First, it is very large for an Irish monastic site covering a bit over three acres.  Second, the Priory is heavily fortified like a castle.   It’s local name is the “Seven Castles” due to the seven tower house castles included in the impressive outer walls.  Also unique to this monastery is the the “Prior’s Tower” which is a tower house inside the monastic site and is the only example of this to be found in Ireland.  In fact it looks so much like a castle that it was used as a castle in the film Barry Lyndon.  The outer court (called the Burgess Court) was used for the local people if the area was attacked, which it was many times.  There also would have been trade buildings built in what today is a big grassy field.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The children loved the visit and the ability to roam freely around the complex.  After a while we were ready for lunch so we returned to the car and drove to the Priory’s car park.  There we used one of the picnic tables to eat our lunch in the shadow of St. Kieran’s Church with the Priory in the background while sheep grazed in the field on the other side of the wall.

After our Supervalu picnic we made for Jerpoint Abbey (which is 10-15 minutes away).  The trip is down small country roads so I was shocked to turn left onto a major road and see the abbey looming over us.  It made for a big first impression.

I was hoping for a guided tour as I had read that they were available but read in the ticket office that you have to check the Jerpoint Abbey Facebook page.  I also found out the Jerpoint Abbey Facebook page is where you can find out when the tours of Kells Priory occur.

Though I had been to Kells twice before I had never been to Jerpoint before today.  I was surprised at how it loomed over the road and how well preserved it is.  While Kells is unique for it’s size and fortifications, Jerpoint has some incredible artwork.  I found the site very impressive and kept being surprised by it as I continued to investigate.  We did not get a guided tour, but did purchase two guidebooks for 50 cents each.  The guidebooks are available in six languages including Irish (we bought one in English and one in Irish).  Without the guidebooks I would not have found most of the things that make this monastery different.  I actually think I preferred the booklet to a guided tour as it let us investigate at our own pace and the book was full of excellent information.

The western arcade of Jerpoint Abbey has carvings on both sides of every column. While the monastery itself is of typical design and well preserved, the incredible amount of intact artwork it what makes it special.

The western arcade carvings

 

 

 

 

The artwork in the Chancel and Transepts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After exploring all of the buildings we drove away impressed.  It’s always nice when something lives up to it’s billing.  Also, just like Cahir Castle children under 12 were free.  In 2017, the government had made heritage sights free for children under 12, but they have apparently extended that to 2018 as well.

After Jerpoint we were all warm and tired.  We headed back to Kells to check out the cafe that I had been shown earlier.  We ended up buying some drinks and desserts at Jen’s Cafe above the Kells Mill Craft Centre.  It’s a nice addition to have somewhere that serves food in the village.

One of the reasons we were back in Kells was to visit Kilree as we worked our way back to Cahir.  Though I had been to Kells before I had never made the 2 km trek to Kilree.  It was also easy to find, but parking is just a wide spot in the road.  Also of note is the resident bull.  As no bull was in sight, we crossed the field and entered the churchyard (with a small sense of urgency just in case).  The walled enclosure is very tranquil.  It contains an 11th century church and a 12th century round tower.  Both are beautiful and fairly unique and I am glad that we made the visit.  The church has some buttresses protruding from the sides which I hadn’t seen before (though I have seen many with holes where these used to be).  Not to be outdone, the round tower has a square base.  I believe that there are only two other towers with this kind of base.

The church building was built in the year 1050, the round tower was built around 1100, and the High Cross was erected in either the 8th or 9th century.  This means that there would have been a monastery here prior to 1050 and suggests that like other Irish monasteries there would have been a wooden church on the site prior to construction of the stone church.  Legend states that the cross was erected to mark the site of King Niall Caille‘s burial.  He was High-King of Ireland and died trying to save one of his men from drowning in what is now known as the King’s River (named after him).  If the cross marks his burial it would mean that is was erected after his death in 846.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The High Cross unfortunately requires another (perhaps 50 meters of) pasture crossing.   I thought I would give it a miss (not wanting to push my luck with the children and the bull) and turned around to look at the church.  When I turned back around to try and photograph the cross though, Sarah was in the field heading for the cross!  She got some great pictures too.  For anyone who doesn’t take the bull warnings seriously, you should know that there is more bull manure around the cross than anywhere else in the field.  There is also a concentration of manure right next to the entrance into the field, so he definitely could present an obstacle if you arrive at the wrong time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emboldened by our successes we decided to take in one more stop on our way back to the B&B.  To complete our day of monastic sites we thought we would head to Ahenny to see how those crosses compare.  Again we had no trouble following the sign posts, but Sarah did have the map out giving confirmation at each crossroads.  The roads from Kilree to Ahenny were small (typical Irish country roads) and occasionally had junctions with no signposts.  Without a map and a separate navigator I am sure I would have gotten lost.

Once parked though (there is enough room for about four cars on the side of the road) an easy walk led us to the small graveyard that holds these impressive crosses.  Everyone enjoyed looking around the graveyard and trying to photograph the crosses in what turned out to be a challenging sunlight.

The monastery that was here is thought to have been founded sometime from the 5th to 7th century.  The two crosses here are believed to be two extremely early versions of the famous ringed High Crosses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By this time we were all tired and continued our way back to the B&B.  We capped our day off at the Galtee Inn, which seems to be to the go to answer if you ask for a restaurant in town. It is a more formal setting than Galileo’s and offers a more varied menu (which is why we gave it a try), but it is more expensive and everyone liked the food as well or better at Galileo’s.  On the other hand, they have a full bar at the Galtee Inn so I was able to have a beer.  Overall, we were content with our meals but not blown away.  Another great day with great weather in the books.

Liam’s Highlight of the Day:  Jerpoint Abbey
Fionnuala’s Highlight of the Day:  Our picnic lunch

Driving time from Cahir to Kells (Co. Kilkenny): 56 minutes

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