Kilkenny, 20 kms:
Kilkenny City is the medieval and cultural capital of Ireland. It is the seat of the Butler Family who once had the entitlement to tax all of the wine that entered Ireland and more recently produce the best chocolates.
Kilkenny Castle and the Cathedral of Saint Canice are two of Ireland's finest medieval buildings established in the 13th century. Both the castle and the cathedral feature as a major centre for events in the Kilkenny Arts week in mid August. This festival was founded by the international artist Ramie Leahy. Kilkenny is 12 miles from Thomastown and is a must to visit with it's excellent pubs and restaurants. It is a fun place.
Hunting:
Thomastown is the home of The Kilkenny Hunt, one of the oldest established hunts in Ireland. There is local hunting on Friday, Sunday and Monday. By special allowance guests can join the hunt on advance request paying visitor's cap. Excellent horses can be hired. Dysart is the home of the Kilkenny hunter trials.
about Dysart:
The walk to Dysart winds out the Rock Road through the dappled, overhanging foliage of Grennan Wood. The castle itself is some 400 years old but the site on which it sits is ancient, inhabited since long before records began. It was mentioned in one of the oldest vellum Irish manuscripts found, the Speckled Book, written in 1418, as a site occupied by monks and a place where the servants were tired of eating salmon because it was so abundant in the river. The stone salmon trap on the river bend next to the castle is one of the few in Ireland still capable of use and is centuries old. We know that pagans and Vikings traded and lived on the site long before the monastery was founded with the construction of the old church in the 1200s. The turn of the river at Dysart is one of the highest points on the Nore with sufficient depth of the water to float a longboat.
Golf:
It is four miles from the world famous Mount Juliet Golf Course and Spa. There are ten golf clubs within a twenty mile radius and the house is five miles from Gowran Race Course and Golf Club.
Mount Juliet opened in 1991 with a match featuring golfing legends Christy O'Connor Snr. and Jack Nicklaus, the beautiful and challenging Mount Juliet course has established itself as a premier golfing venue for Top Professionals and leisure golfers worldwide. Chosen as the first and only Jack Nicklaus signature course in Ireland, the 'Golden Bear' was meticulous and pain-staking in his design and overseeing of the construction of his great creation, sited 12 miles south of the medieval city of Kilkenny.
Feature holes abound on the course, but the 3rd hole, a stunning par 3 from an elevated tee to a green guarded by a natural stream and lake is one that golfers always remember. The par 5 10th hole with its copse of trees which tests the golfers strategy is also a favourite. The final hole, a long par 4 with water all down the left and a narrow approach to the green has decided many a tournament result
The Spa, which uses the prestigious E-SPA range of products offers traditional and alternative health and beauty treatments in a discreet and luxurious environment. Try La Stone Therapy from Arizona where heated basalt stones and chilled marble are incorporated into an aromatherapy massage to invigorate and relax the body.
marks the location of the property in Ireland
