Kilkenny Archives • Folksy Travel by Bill Smale

Kilkenny castle

I didn’t stay in Kilkenny but everybody recommended I should go see the castle at least. The town seems to be fairly touristy but it looks to be pretty interesting and I could recommend staying there a couple days. You might find yourself loving Kilkenny especially because there is a famous beer that comes from here that is very delicious.

Kilkenny castle Loving Kilkenny — The side of the castle

Excavation at Kilkenny Loving Kilkenny — There are still ancient things to find under this site

Kilkenny courtyard Bill Smale — The view from the courtyard

Original wallpaper Bill Smale — These are some of the original wallpapers

Kilkenny castle dining room Bill Smale — The small dining room room

Waiting room Bill Smale — People waiting to see the Lord, one of the Butler descendants

Lounge area Bill Smale — This was a day room for relaxation. The lounge is actually a small bed for two people. The guides explained people at that time often slept sort of have sitting up for health reasons. I suspect since this is a cold and damp country there were a lot of potentials for respiratory issues. Setting up without allow the sinuses to drain properly and not into the lungs.

Moorish staircase Bill Smale — This is the Moorish staircase modeled after something from North Africa as you can see.

Waiting area — This was the waiting area for the main public who wanted a few minutes with the Lord or some high authority

Waterford Crystal

even though a Waterford crystal company has a very long tradition, actually almost as old as the US constitution, the current company was actually established by a fellow from the Czech Republic, Havel. The Czech Republic is also very famous for Crystal. All of the crystal here is handmade and a lot of it is custom designed and made for special purposes. You have to pay for the tour, something less than US$20

Maddock clock — The beautiful clock encased in crystal

Wooden moulds — The pieces are created using wooden moulds. Different types of wood are used for different creations.

Crystal bear — This Behr was created using many different pieces.

Bear moulds — Here you can see the moulds used to create the bear

Back to Pebble Beach — The Pebble Beach Pro-Am trophy

Creating the crystal — All of the production is on display for visitors

Eight year apprenticeship — The apprentices work for five years here and then they moved to design for three years. After that they become a craftsman.

Shaping the crystal — He is putting the red heart crystal into the mould to shape it. To hollow it out he blows on the other end of the long pipe.

Edge grinding — This fellow is grinding down the edge

Product check — Checking the product for perfect perfection

Recycle bin — If there are any flaws that can’t immediately be corrected they are put in this recycle bin. This crystal is then melted down and used again.

Cooling down the crystal — Cooling down the piece

Drawing the design — They use these pens to draw the design on the product

Different stages — The product in different stages of finishing

Etching — This is where they etch the final design

Waterford city crest — The Waterford city Crest

Obama memorial peace — One piece created when Obama visited the factory

Workshop tools in crystal — Interesting assortment of designed pieces

Waterford

Old building — Just an interesting old building

Redbreast whiskey — My new favorite whiskey made at the same distillery as Jamison. This is an amazing league flavorful whiskey

Saint Savior’s Church — Saint savior‘s Church

Tracy’s hotel — Maybe this is my family’s hotel

England crest — This is obviously an England royal building

Viking tower — Reginald‘s tower originally created by the Vikings

Tower on the edge of the city — Waterford city at the inception. On the lower left you can see the tower at the corner of the two inlets. This is a good place to protect incoming traffic

This is an interesting name for a Turkish restaurant

Yeats water — I did not know this famous poet also sold water

Ormonde Castle

One of the butler’s houses adjacent to a castle

Queens Savior — The guy who saved Elizabeth

Boat designed roof — The attic was a space for the servants to sleep. The design is reminiscent of a boat. Actually it was boat builders who created this roof. No metal was used to join the pieces so that they would expand and contract together and not break.

Category: Kilkenny

Loving Kilkenny and Waterford