Kilkenny, Ireland: Brewery Tours and Bakeries

July 28, 2011

Ireland is one of my favorite travel destinations! On our most recent trip, we finally made it to Kilkenny, Ireland. This is a recap of the beautiful sights and delicious food and drink!

Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free

First let me start out by telling you what we didn’t know. We didn’t know that Kilkenny was such a huge tourist attraction. Silly us, right?

What we did know was that we wanted to visit a smaller town in the middle of the country. Given this criteria Kilkenny was recommended to us so we were all for it.

When I say tourist attraction I mean that Irish residents flock there on the weekends and on bank holidays. During the week, buses line up outside the castle filled with international tourists.

Oh yeah, did I mention there is a castle?

Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free

Now, if you happen to be one that steers clear of touristy areas, do not, I repeat, do not, let this keep you from visiting Kilkenny. It is by far one the cutest, quaint, clean little towns I’ve encountered.

Yes, there are lots of people there, but the streets lined with hanging flower pots, the old churches, the architecture, and yes, the castle, is likely what most of us think of when we think of an Irish village.

Before I get to the food, let’s talk about this castle. Welcome to the location for my one and only run during our trip. My husband got in two, but mid-week jet lag hit hard and I caught an extra hour of sleep the second morning.

Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free
Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free

The grounds of the castle are gorgeous. Green space in Ireland is nothing short of perfect. It just makes you want to spend the day at the park with friends and family.

Our B&B, the Carriglea House was a two minute walk to the beautiful castle. I always say I need one Full Irish Breakfast each trip so I decided to have it here. Good choice because it was some of the best sausage and white pudding I’ve had. I managed to miss getting a photo of the pancakes which were more like crepes. This was our favorite breakfast of the trip. Well, if you take scones out of the equation.

Full Irish Breakfast in Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free

Our first impression of dining in Kilkenny was that most of the menus were exactly the same. There were also a lot of Italian and Mexican restaurants. Likely very good, we were just in the mood for Irish cuisine. However, we did end up with some delicious meals, stumbled upon the cutest little bakery and drank our fair share of Kilkenny and Smithwicks, both brewed in the city.

We ended up deciding on Matt the Millers for dinner which is located right on the water. Since the selection seemed limited from restaurant to restaurant I decided to stick with an old favorite and one that I hadn’t had until this point in the trip – Fish n Chips. I have to admit that I like the greasy, take-out version better than the restaurant version, but this hit the spot.

Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free

My husband had the roast special which screamed comfort – leg of lamb with vegetables and mash. The lamb was tender and the gravy the ideal match.

Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free

We had our first Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale at the recommendation of the waitress. I’d had this before in Dublin, but never made the connection that it was brewed here. For dessert I decided to branch out from the Irish coffee and went for a Bailey’s coffee instead. It had been a cool day in the city and this was exactly what I’d been craving.

Kilkenny beer in Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free
 
 
Bailey's Coffee in Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free

The next day on our walk to see some of the attractions we found a bakery and a very interesting bread caught my eye. It’s called a Turnover Bread. I asked the clerk about it, but she didn’t give me quite the history lesson I was hoping for so the picture will have to do.

 
 
Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free
 
Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free
 
They also had these gorgeous dinner plate-size meringues. We went back later in the day for a chocolate jam cake roll and a petite four.
 
Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free
 
I’ll also throw in here that any trip to Europe requires a doner kebab stop for us. We picked them up for an early dinner one evening. Lamb for me, my favorite. My husband always goes for chicken.
 
Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free
 
Next up is the Smithwick’s Brewery tour. This one was a lot of fun. We didn’t get to see any production, but St. Francis Abbey is on the site so the tour was full of beer history. The kind of history that draws my husband and I to it in the first place, such as stories of monks brewing beer as a means of nourishment and hydration. The most interesting to me was that Smithwick was Catholic so the beer was brewed under the cover of a non-Catholic friend. The Smithwick name couldn’t go on the label for years.
 
Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free
 
Smithwick's Brewery in Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free
 
Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free

We had a drink in the cellar bar, which is rumored to be haunted. Our tour guide, who was cute as could be, told us she works with guys who will never go in there at night.

Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free

She spent an exceptionally long time pouring our samples – the art of getting the head to rise above the glass without spilling over. Smithwick’s is good, but I have to say I prefer the nutty flavor of Kilkenny much better. I also love the picture of the Abbey on Kilkenny logo.

Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free
 
On our final morning, I got a great surprise. It just happened to be Thursday, the day the Farmers Market sets up outside the castle. I had an informative conversation with the owner of an organic farm. He had such a unique spread of produce including these Mirabelle Plums from France, cherries from Italy and my husband’s favorite, the Zespri Gold Kiwi.
Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free
 
Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free
 
He was so excited for me to try these after seeing them at a trade show and reading a case study on the company earlier in the year. I have to say, I like them even better than the green variety. They have such a sweet, mild flavor. We’ve heard they carry them at our Fresh Market here, but we haven’t come across them yet.
Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free
 
We snagged a bag of fruit for our train ride and balanced things out by getting some amazing fudge as well. This little truffle and fudge shop was amazing. We tried the Orange Chili Dark Chocolate Fudge, Cranberry Walnut Vanilla, Vanilla Cinnamon and the Ginger Lemon. I think these may be calling for a recreation in my kitchen.
Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free
Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free
Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free

So after our first impressions, I think we managed to find some great food (and drink) in Kilkenny.

Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free
Kilkenny, Ireland | Food and travel recap at Fake Food Free

I think we may have eaten a little too much this trip. Still not done sharing our finds – Belfast and Dublin to come!

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  • kat July 28, 2011 at 7:07 am

    Oh my gosh don’t you love stumbling on farmers markets when traveling?! Thanks for this little armchair trip.

  • Andrea July 28, 2011 at 7:10 am

    Whoa those pictures are gorgeous! (Side Note: We have a Matt the Miller’s restaurant here located in Dublin. LOL)

    I love the castle! Did you get to go inside and tour it? It looks gigantic! The pictures you got are great and the farmer’s market look pretty plentiful!

  • Amanda July 28, 2011 at 1:42 pm

    These pictures had me and Andy DYING to go to Ireland. We’re planning a family trip to Ballybunion next summer. I absolutely cannot wait.

    I will check out Kilkenny!

  • Daily Spud July 29, 2011 at 9:08 am

    You certainly packed in a lot of Kilkenny in 2 days! I love that Smithwick’s brewery tour and how cool was it that your visit coincided with the farmer’s market. I see that the truffles etc. at the market were made by The Truffle Fairy – I know from experience that she does make some lovely sweet things, and I’m looking forward to hearing about any recreations that happen in your kitchen 🙂

    As for the turnover(and its close relative, the batch loaf), that, for me, is a really traditional taste of home – in fact, I’ve been meaning to write about it on the blog but haven’t gotten to it yet. Meanwhile, you might enjoy this post I found on turnover toast: http://williewalsh.blogspot.com/2007/10/turnover-toast.html

  • 5 Star Foodie July 29, 2011 at 1:43 pm

    An awesome tour of Kilkenny! The castle is so gorgeous and you got some fabulous food and drink there. Very curious also about the turnover bread, will check Aoife’s link out!

  • Tangled Noodle July 30, 2011 at 4:22 am

    When we visited Kilkenny, it was just days before the annual Comedy Festival, so the town was quite packed. But how I wish we’d taken taken that tour of Smithwick’s. The foam on those Smithwick’s samples is perfect!

    We only stayed overnight so didn’t get to see near as much as you did (jealous about the market), but the castle was definitely a stop. I’m trying to remember where we ate but no matter – I just want to go back and try everything new! 😎

  • Rebecca from Chow and Chatter July 30, 2011 at 2:38 pm

    wow what fun I want to go sent that breakie my way 🙂

  • Lori July 31, 2011 at 8:51 am

    kat – It’s such a highlight. We were in a rush to catch the train, but I was at least able to chat a bit and snap some pics.

    Andrea – That’s awesome! We didn’t take the inside tour. When it comes to things like those it’s always a toss up of where we want to spend our money. We often skip inside tours monuments for doing other things like brewery tours. 🙂 Art museums with a Monets are an exception though. I have to see all of those!

    Amanda – How fun! Enjoy planning the trip!

    Daily Spud – Yes, the Truffle Fairy! I just loved all the creations there. Thank you so much for that link. I’m so eager to learn more about and can’t wait to see your post!

    5 Star – It is really a beautiful place! One of our favorites.

    Tangled Noodle – A bartender told us we were there the week between some bank holidays and the art fest the next week so it was really quiet. We lucked out a bit I think. The market was small, but full of character. Loved it!

    Rebecca – Breakfasts are always some of the best parts of a trip to Europe for us!

  • Juliana August 2, 2011 at 11:31 am

    Oh Lori! Great pictures of Ireland…thank you so much for sharing them…love the “tour” 😉
    Hope you are having a fantastic week 🙂

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