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Day 4: Kilkenny castle and surrounding area

September 11, 2007

Day 4: First stop - tour of Kilkenny Castle. No pics allowed inside

Erin, Matt, and the castle

It was originally built in the 1100s

Another angle (this is the back; there is a wall missing)

This stranger took a decent pic; almost dropped my camera

Kilkenny view from the castle (Smithwick's brewery in background)

Gardens in the front of the castle

Official front of the castle (in front of the fountain)

Erin, Matt, fountain, castle (pretty good picture)

Matt in our room at Alcantra B&B

View from our room

Exploring the ruins of Kells Priory

They decided not to restore these; you can just climb on them

Very fun to explore; we were the only ones there

You could sort of tell which rooms were which

Tired of ruins yet? :)

Erin in a hole? window?

This place was huge. Oh, and we're in Kells now, not Kilkenny

Hi, Matt

There are towers on the exterior wall, making it seem like a fort

The exterior wall, and sheep that I think are trapped inside

Well, maybe they are restoring part of it. It was still deserted

We've left Kells. This is a random ruin on the side of the road

Now we are at Jerpoint Abbey, near Thomastown

Here there were lots of people and we had a guided tour

It's an old Cistercian Abbey founded in 1180

One of the reasons why it's famous is these carvings

They are all still in really good shape

More carvings near the courtyard

Our super awesome tour guide who knew everything

Erin and Matt at Jerpoint Abbey

The monks who lived here were super-strict; they couldn't talk

Upstairs where the dormitory used to be

Now we're in a town called Inistioge

Steps going into the river

This is where Circle of Friends was filmed

Very picturesque; lots of sheep. Overnight in Kilkenny again