Remnants of Medieval Ireland	.
What if you had four successive husbands who died in suspicious circumstances and you lived in medieval Ireland? Then you'd be a witch, or so said Dame Alice Kyteler's enemies in 1324. Dame Alice, her son, sister and maid were found guilty of course, but she fled and others bought their lives. Only the maid Petronella remained to be burned at the stake in the first and only burning for witchcraft in Ireland. Kyteler's Inn, the oldest in Kilkenny, was Dame Alice's home. A feature of the inn is the blocking up of the windows to avoid the "daylight tax" of the 1700's. Such is the history Pat Tynan explains on one of his walking tours of the medieval sights of Kilkenny. These leave from the Tourist Office located in the old stone Shee Alms House. Pat points out the City Hall where the toll was paid on goods brought into the once walled city. The building's coat of arms shows three towers with armed defenders and a lion symbolizing the strength of their defence. It was outside the City Hall that Dame Alice's servant girl was burned alive. Old laneways are being restored, like the Butter Slip so named because it goes downwards to the river. Walkers can see the 16th century Tudor-styled town merchant's house, Rothe House, perhaps the only one of its kind surviving in Ireland. And after passing Abbey Street with the last remaining city gate and segment of wall, we reach the Black Abbey, named after the Dominican monks' black habits. Founded in 1225, it had all but its walls destroyed in Cromwell's 1650 siege, and remained a ruin till its restoration in the 1800's. It is now a functioning church. As we hear the bell toll, a black bird takes wing from the belfry. Signifying the abbey's tumultuous past perhaps? There is time for a visit to the Old Jail, in use from the 16th century till the 1920's, feeling what it was like to be locked away for three years for stealing a loaf of bread, four people to a cell in darkness day and night. What better place to search for Ireland's medieval past than Kilkenny, the country's capital from 1642-48? It was through the powerful Earl of Ormond's association with the English royals that the city prospered and his family, the Butlers, left Kilkenny Castle as a lasting reminder of their rule. They vacated the castle in 1935, but it was in 1967 that it was finally sold to the city for the princely sum of £50. Since then it has undergone major restoration work. Much of the artwork sold at auction in 1935 has been repurchased by the state, including magnificent 17th century Parisian tapestries. The Long Gallery displays an impressive collection of Butler family portraits. Guides give an insight into the past, even explaining the "conversation seat" in the drawing room where couples courting sat on each side while chaperones sat at each end. Kilkenny Castle looks over an impressive vista of green lawns and gardens, across which can be seen the city itself and the spires of St Canice's Cathedral. Such a view was strategic, enabling the family to use the secret escape route behind the furniture in the upstairs room. In the countryside near Kilkenny are several sites of interest. There are the ruins of an Augustinian abbey at Kells Priory 13km south of Kilkenny. A little further on is the Kilree Round Tower, and near Callan is the burial ground of victims of the Great Famine. In neighbouring Tipperary lies the spectacular ruin, The Rock of Cashel. A seat of worldly and later church power for a thousand years till its destruction by Cromwell's army in 1647, the Rock is a fortress atop a limestone hill near the market town of Cashel. It's a forbidding sight when one first sets eyes on it from the main road. Within the fortified walls are a roofless 13th century Gothic Cathedral standing stark against the skyline, its Archbishop's Residence, chapel, round tower and the Hall of the Vicars Choral, the latter being a medieval house through which you enter the site. Round towers were prominent in Ireland from the 10th to 12th centuries and some one hundred remain in the country today. This one was used as a bell tower and watch tower and had five wooden floors, though these collapsed long ago. The Hall of the Vicars has a small museum displaying Bronze Age axes, bracelets, a wine jug and cup, and most significantly the 12th century Saint Patrick's Cross, a weathered sandstone relic used when the kings of Munster and Cashel were installed on the throne. Yet more than all the buildings something else here is symbolic of early Ireland. Standing in the graveyard within this fortified site and looking out over green fields, the Celtic high crosses are a moving sight silhouetted against the darkening sky.
Fact File: Getting There: Kilkenny is two hours' drive southwest of Dublin off the N10. Cashel is further to the southwest on the N8 toward Cork. A Place to Stay: Lichfield House B&B is in a peaceful spot 2km south of Kilkenny Castle, and I can recommend it as moderately priced and well maintained with friendly and helpful hosts. www.lichfieldhouse.com Walking Tours: Tynan Tours: www.tynantours.com Information: Tourism Ireland: www.tourismireland.com   IMPORTANT NOTE: This article is copyright © Bruce Holmes and may not be reproduced without his express permission. All rights reserved.