Kilkenny or Kinsale

We enjoyed Kilkenny, I would like to go back. The Castle is a great experience and the shops are fun to browse. There are two 13th century churches there that are worth seeing.

We also enjoyed Kilkenny. We stopped there overnight after touring Jameson at Midleton and Rock of Cashel, both worthwhile stops. I wished we had had more time to explore Kilkenny,

We spent one night in Kinsale. It was a driving and parking nightmare and overrated in my opinion.

I would do Kilkenny as well.

I enjoyed Kinsale. The town reminded me of Sausalito. We had a great dinner at Fishy Fishy.

Another vote for Kinsale!

Kilkenny is a larger town so it might depend on whether you'd prefer a small city (Kilkenny) vs. a quaint village (Kinsale).

Vote for Kilkenny, it has a medieval feel on a couple of streets, with the butterslips, that you don't get elsewhere. The castle, a climbable round tower, Smithwicks tour...you can also sign up for a hurling experience through Lannigans pub (maybe misspelling that). You can to learn a bit about the history of the game, then go to the field where the legendary Kilkenny Cats play and hit the slither around with your hurley, then back to Lannigans for some stew. My daughters and I had a lot of fun with that. Round it off with some nice pubs and your set.

Plus I think it's neat that a large grocery/department store can have an old stone front on the pedestrian way, and then completely modern backside with parking.

Am going to make it a tie and vote for Kinsale. Don't remember the name of the restaurant but we stayed two different times the second was at the Old Presbytery B and B and lived it. Kilkenny had more of a city feel to us. Either way you are in Ireland wow.!!

I would vote for Kilkenny as well. Much to do, medieval places, Smithwick’s, Kilkenny Castle, close to Cashel and it’s wonderful Rock.

Kilkenny!

Visit Kinsale!

Kinsale is beautiful. More than one night is not necessary. I second Fishy Fishy—best seafood dinner of my life. We stayed at the Actons Hotel, which was very nice!

We really liked Kinsale (and the aforementioned Old Presbytery and Fishy Fishy were both great!). We enjoyed exploring the nearby Charles Fort and heard some good music in one of the local pubs. It does have a small town feel and we didn't find that it was overly crowded with tourists in September. That was 8 years ago though--tourism in Ireland has (or had, pre-COVID) really picked up since then.

I prefer Kilkenny, but I may be partial, my husband is from a town about 20 min away. Kilkenny can be done in a day. Kinsale is better with 2 days, can be done in a day too but I like to take my time.

Thanks for all the input. I think maybe I will stay 1 night at both.