Land of the Kilkenny Cats

I spent two days in Kilkenny during the annual Arts Festival. I was down specifically for performances of all the Beethoven Piano Concertos over the course of two nights, given by Barry Douglas and Camerata Ireland — an ambitious undertaking in itself, but even more ambitious in the context of the Festival as a whole. A 'Beethoven Quest' was a central festival theme, with not only the concertos programmed but also all fifteen of the composer's String Quartets, spread over the ten days. Eugene Downes, the new Festival Director pulled off quite a coup with all this, and the atmosphere was tremendous in Kilkenny while I was there.

I went down by train on Friday and stayed there two nights, with concerts on Friday and Saturday. I stayed in McCourt's Townhouse, which is near the bridge on John's Street, across from Matt the Miller's pub/restaurant, a noisy place which I didn't venture in to.