Kilkenny Castle

 So Lizzie and I both have deep roots in Ireland, and the ancestors I can trace back the furthest come from Kilkenny (mid 18th century), and happen to share a surname with Lizzie's family, so I assume we are related someways back (though her branch of this family was in Waterford.)

Kilkenny has a lot of well-preserved landmarks from their medieval history, including the castle here. It was built in 1195 by William Marshal (and therefore would have been seen as a marker of the Norman conquest) to make use of the river Nore.  It was eventually seized by Edward I, and sold to the Butler family.  The Butler family originally went by the surname FitzWalter, but after the Norman invasion, they were like "Ssssh no we're the Butlers it's cool," and they got a bunch of money, allowing James Butler, 3rd Duke of Ormonde to purchase the castle.  The Butler family eventually lost their money, and had to resort to marriage to get it back, via Anne Wandesford Castlecomer (I KNOW RIGHT?) who was able to find the funds to restore the castle, which had become run down--this was around 1854.  The family chilled in the castle until about 1935, when they peaced out, sold the contents, and let it go to ruin.  In 1967, Arthur Butler (the 24th Earl of Ormonde) sold the castle to the castle restoration committee for 50 pounds, not wanting it to go completely to ruin, but not wanting to take care of it himself.  It has since been restored, and is a fabulous museum which we walked through, but were unfortunately not allowed to photograph.

Instead we have these statue imitation photos for you.  Dang--Lizzie is way better at this game than I am.