St Canice Cathedral, Kilkenny

Right next to the cathedral is the 9th century round tower. For € 2, you too can climb up to get an amazing view of the city of Kilkenny and it's surrounding countryside. If I recall correctly, there are 110 steps. No, I didn't count them, I asked the incredibly friendly Irish gentleman taking my two Euros. We chatted a bit before I made my way up the ladders.

You climb up a ladder and then there's a tiny platform to make your way onto the next ladder. Once you get up the last ladder, you have to climb some stone steps. You'll probably be using the railing at the top of the tower to help pull yourself up.

If you can brave the climb up and down the ladders (please wear sensible shoes) - the views are amazing (see my Kilkenny Travelogue for more pictures from the tower).

The St Canice’s Cathedral was built in the 13the century in an early English Gothic style. Beside the cathedral, there’s an much older Round Tower, dating from some time between 8th and 10th century. For me, the church and the Round Tower together is a strange view, looks interesting!

Unfortunately the church already was closed at 6 pm, so I haven’t been inside it, but at least we could walk around it.
It’s possible to climb the Round Tower, admission is 2 Euro, I think.

Visit this 13th Century Romanesque Cathedral. I sang here once during my choir days. Unlikely as it sounds, people actually came here to hear us sing. I was 10 years old at the time, memebership of the choir was compulsary, and we practiced all year for the big night in the cathdral. It could have been the beginning of somethig big, it should have made me a star; unfortuantely there was one thing holding me back: I had a crap voice.

The views from the summit of the tower in St. Canice's Cathedral are excellent. I thin you have to ask the guy in the cathedral (priest or reverand...) for the keys - it's been many years since I climbed it on a school excursion into town.

The cathedral that stands today was built just over 700 years ago and is named after Kilkenny's patron saint, St. Canice. If you are not afraid of heights, it is great to climb the 30 meter tower for the great view. It is very steep, and you ascend 6 flights of steps which are basically ladders, and once at the top, there is room for about 8 people. It is a it dizzying, but well worth it on a nice day. There is a fee of about 2 Euros to climb the tower.