van wyk journeys 
Kilkenny Castle (Irish: Caisleán Chill Chainnigh, IPA:[ˈkaʃlʲaːnˠˈçiːl̪ʲˈxan̪ʲiː]) is a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland built in 1195 to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways. It was a symbol of Norman occupation and in its original thirteenth-century condition it would have formed an important element of the defences of the town with four large circular corner towers and a massive ditch, part of which can still be seen today on the Parade.
The property was transferred to the people of Kilkenny in 1967 for £50 and the castle and grounds are now managed by the Office of Public Works. The gardens and parkland adjoining the castle are open to the public. The Parade Tower is a conference venue. Awards and conferring ceremonies of the graduates of the Kilkenny Campus of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth has been held there since 2002.
Source Wikipedia®
Photo credit ©William van Wyk, 2022
Our first day of driving was September 21st. where after picking up the car and promptly getting lost we found our way to Sally Gap. The car that we ultimately rented was a Hyundai Tuscon Hybrid vehicle, a couple of pictures are shown below. It was a great vehicle to drive and we only filled the tank 3 times, It average liters per 100km was 6.0km.
First up on our drive was Sally Gap a pass in the Wicklow mountains of southern Ireland. The Sally Gap got its road after the Irish rebellion of 1798. It was built by British Army forces looking to flush rebels from the hills, and to this day is known as the Military Road.
Our next stop was Glendalough and a tour of the grounds of the Christian Monastic Settlement that is from the sixth century. It is one of the most important settlements in Ireland. This early Christian monastic settlement was founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century and from this developed the Monastic City.
With the tour and lunch over, we are now off to the town of Kilkenny where we will tour the town and the Kilkenny castle grounds. Additional information is noted above.
Today’s tour ended at a small town a short distance away from Kilkenny called Thomastown where we stayed in a B&B called Tower House B&B. Entry to the B&B was via a narrow gate that barely fit the vehicle.
Best Regards,
Bill & Joan
from vanwykjourneys.ca