📣Important Notice📣

With the recent high temperatures, we have some important advice for your visit:

☀️Queuing is outdoors☀️:
There is no shade in the ticket line, so please bring a sun hat and wear sunscreen
☀️Stay hydrated☀️:
Please bring plenty of bottle water with you, as queuing times vary and temperatures are high inside
☀️Come early ☀️:
Best time to visit is between 09:15am & 3pm
☀️Pre-book tickets☀️:
To avoid unnecessary queuing outdoor, purchase your tickets in advance:
BOOK TICKETS HERE

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Please note that no third-party organisations are authorised to sell tickets to Kilkenny Castle. Tickets bought from other sites, including ticketing resale platforms, will not be valid and such ticket-holders will be refused entry. Furthermore, we are aware that there are fraudulent websites purporting to be www.kilkennycastle.ie. These websites and domain names look similar, but have no connection whatsoever to the Office of Public Works or Kilkenny Castle. We urge extra vigilance, as any tickets purchased from fraudulent sites cannot be honoured.

This is the only legitimate website to purchase tickets for Kilkenny Castle

BOOK TICKETS HERE

Welcome to Kilkenny Castle and Parklands

 

Few buildings in Ireland can boast a longer history of continuous occupation than Kilkenny Castle.

Founded soon after the Norman conquest of Ireland, the Castle has been rebuilt, extended and adapted to suit changing circumstances and uses over a period of 800 years.

Today, Kilkenny Castle is open to visitors all year round and is largely a Victorian remodelling of the thirteenth century defensive Castle.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of visitors come to see this grand country house and walk through its fifty acres of rolling parkland with mature trees and an abundance of wildlife.

Other features include a formal terraced rose garden, woodlands and a man-made lake, which were added in the nineteenth century.

There is also a tearoom, playground and several orienteering trails for visitors to enjoy.

Please note that Free admission on the first Wednesday of each month is no longer applicable at Kilkenny Castle. Click here to access the full list of participating sites.

Please Note CCTV system is in operation at Kilkenny Castle and Park. Images are recorded for the purposes of security and personal safety.

Click here to read the OPW Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Systems Privacy Statement

Click here to read the OPW Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Systems Data Protection Policy

 

The Ormonde Coat of Arms

Quarterly, first, Or, a chief indented azure; second Gules, three covered cups or; third, Argent, a lion rampant gules, on a chief of the last swan close of the first between two annulets or: fourth Ermine, a saltire gules. Above is the full heraldic description of...

The Loss of the Southside of the Castle

The Loss of the Southside of the Castle

Over the centuries Kilkenny Castle has gone through major redevelopments and periods of dereliction and rebuilding. What we have today is a modern rebuild of the Castle taking it back to the late 19th early 20th century when it was a comfortable family home. Despite...

A Forgotten Valentine’s Tradition

A Forgotten Valentine’s Tradition

Like many events in our recent history this Valentines will be very different, there will be no romantic weekends away or candlelit dinners in restaurants. One aspect of the Valentines tradition that is perfectly suited to social distancing however is the sending of...