Guided Museum Tour
A guide leads you through the restored church, from its 1202 founding by William Marshall to the merchant families who shaped the city. Tours run daily at 10am and 2pm and last 45 minutes to an hour.
St. Mary’s Medieval Mile Museum
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About
Housed in a sensitively restored 13th-century church on St Mary's Lane, the Medieval Mile Museum tells 800 years of Kilkenny's story through tombs, civic records and the people who lived and died here.
Things to Do
Medieval Mile Trail
A 75-90 minute walking tour of Ireland's best-preserved medieval city, starting at the museum and passing Rothe House, Kyteler's Inn and the old Smithwick's site. Tours leave at 11am and 3pm daily and tickets include museum entry.
3 Lives, 3 Deaths, One Life Unlived
Come face to face with three skeletons excavated at the museum gate in 2016, displayed with the forensic analysis that reconstructed their medieval lives and deaths.
Medieval Treasures & the Kilkenny Room
Civic records trace the city to the 1200s, including the Liber Primus town book. The Kilkenny Room's glass window looks out over the city and its merchant tombs.
Stories in Stone
The Rothe Chapel is the best-surviving medieval chantry chapel in Ireland, with unusually well-preserved tomb carvings. Nearby, casts of the 4-metre Ossory High Crosses and fine stonework span 5,000 years of carving.
Self-Guided Audio Tour
Explore at your own pace with the interactive audio guide, downloaded straight to your phone. It is available in English, Italian, Spanish, French and German, with child-friendly options.
The Medieval Graveyard
An atmospheric walled graveyard where only the wealthiest could be buried, now a quiet wildlife spot in the city centre. Guides explain the excavations that uncovered its layers.
Plan Your Visit
- Hours: Open 7 days a week, 9.30am-5.00pm (last entry 4.50pm). Hours may vary on public holidays or during special events.
- Admission: Self-guided audio tour from €7 adult / €3 child; guided museum tour from €10 adult / €5 child; Medieval Mile Trail from €14 adult / €6 child.
- Parking: No on-site parking. The nearest public car parks are Ormonde Street Car Park and Market Yard Car Park, both a short, signposted walk from the museum. It is about 5 minutes by car from MacDonagh Junction train station.
- Food: No café on site; cafés, shops and restaurants line nearby High Street within walking distance. For private events, catering is arranged through sister property Butler House & Garden.
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