Trip to Kilkenny

It's not very often a Corkman can say something good about Kilkenny but after calling into the small village of Stonyford delivering biscuits to Helen Finnegan yesterday, I'm inclined to break ranks and proclaim a small favourable liking of my journey through the Kilkenny countryside. It was to Helen's farmyard where I was delivering to and after discussing the diabolical state of the nation, she directed me onto Callan via the village of Kells before eventually linking back onto the road to Cork.


 Just a few miles outside Stonyford is the walled village of Kells and on approach, in a dim November light, you can glimpse the well intact ruins of an pld priory dating from the 12th century and honestly, it was so noteworthy that I thought I should write it into my bakery's blog!. With so much turmoil in our financial world and an incessant barrage of depressing news, coming unexpectedly upon Kell was timely and I would have loved to have taken more time and explored the priory, which I believe is Ausgustinian, a whole lot more. Helen Finnegan started making Knockdrinna cheese a few years ago and has won numerous cheese accolades for her varieties. We've met in Dublin the past few years at the Christmas Fair and Helen pairs our savoury biscuits with her cheeses and homemade relishes and they go down a treat.