Today we started out by walking back through Kilkenny and revisiting a couple of sites from yesterday that we couldn’t get inside because they were closed. St. Mary’s Cathedral, the Black Abbey and its wonderful stained glass, and St. Canice’s Cathedral.

St. Canice has one of the two medieval bell towers in Ireland that you can still climb. We climbed up 120 steps and were treated to a wonderful view of Kilkenny. The tower was built in 1111 AD, but is solid as a rock even though it leans a little.

Next up was a short drive to Jerpoint Abbey, a Cistercian abbey from the 1200’s. Rick Steves says if you can only see one abbey in Ireland, Jerpoint should be it. He might be right, but Randy thinks he needs to see all the others before deciding. It was beautiful. The Cistercians were not elaborate in life or in the decor of their buildings, so the ruins were quite plain except for carvings of some figures. We enjoyed a picnic lunch in the shadow of the abbey before heading to Waterford.

Waterford is best known for Waterford crystal. However, well before a crystal factory was built it was one of Ireland’s first cities. It was founded by Vikings, like most of the seacoast cities of Ireland like Dublin, Galway, Cork, and Limerick.

The highlight of Waterford was a tour of the crystal factory where we saw actual craftsman heating and molding or blowing glass, as well as etching and engraving crystal. We could literally talk to the individual craftsman as they worked on the crystal pieces. Everything is done by hand. No automated processes are used, which makes every piece unique, but with the skilled craftsman, every piece is almost identical. It takes something like 10 years of training to become a Waterford crystal craftsman.

We finished up our day with a lovely Italian dinner by the Suir River. Tomorrow we visit the Rock of Cashel, one of Ireland’s most famous sites, where the kings of Munster were crowned, and then head to Skibbereen where Brad's ancestors lived before emigrating to the United States.