Off the Beaten Path - Kilkenny Travel Guide

Callan County Kilkenny. Now this place is off the beaten path but not for me. My Mum's family are from here so I am a regular visitor. Kilkenny city is obviously the major tourist destination in this area but Callan has a few surprises too. Steeped in history and some good pubs. Check out the Steppes pub on the main hight street situated at the foot of the steps leading from the parish church.------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------

Callan is situated on the King's River about ten miles from Kilkenny and twenty miles from Clonmel, Co.Tipperary, on the N. 76.

The town was very congested with traffic before the new bypass was opened a couple of years ago. There are several places of historic interest in the town, which include a ruined Augustinian Abbey founded in 1471, where Cromwell is supposed to have stabled his horses.

Within the confines of St Mary's Church (1251) in Green Street, Adam le Blound, the second husband of notorious Kilkenny witch Alice Kyteller is buried.

A holy well reputed to have curative powers, can be found in the Abbey Meadow, a place where for centuries local young people used to meet in the evening while collecting the next day's water supply for their parents, before the town had piped water.

A monument in the town commemorates Blessed Edmund Rice (1762- 1844) who dedicated his life to providing education for the poor and needy, and was the founder of The Christian Brother's School movement. His birthplace Rice House nearby is now open to visitors. Tel 056 25141

Callan is also the birthplace of Fenian poet and journalist John Locke 1847 - 1889.

An odd fact not well known, is that this little town was the homeplace of the Cromwellian Candler family including Asa Griggs Candler who bought the Coca Cola drink recipe in Atlanta, USA from its inventor, Dr. John Stith Pemberton in 1888 less than two years after its creation.

Candler then went on to found the multi million pound Coca Cola Company which he sold in 1923 for fifty million pounds.

The Candler home in West Street, has now almost completely disappeared.

Callan gets its name from a High King of Ireland Niall Caille. The King arrived in Callan 844 AD during a war with the Vikings. He drowned while trying to rescue his servant who had been swept away while trying to cross the flooded river. King Caille is buried in Kilree a few miles away.

Today there is a GAA club, Heritage Society, and about twenty four clubs and society's of various sorts in the town.

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