Best time to visit Kilkenny

Ireland · Europe

All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.

The year in Kilkenny

Tap a month for its page

Sweet spot
Good
OK
Avoid
Busy

Go in May or Jun — 16C max, 8 rainy days. Jul is the next best.

Plan this trip

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Flights

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Where to stay

Things to do

Car hire

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Things to do in Kilkenny

Kilkenny Castle Splendid Norman castle, built from 1195 to control the river ford, and the powerbase of the Butler dynasty.
St Canice's Cathedral & Round Tower This was built as a catholic cathedral, caved in and was rebuilt in the 13th century, but the 9th-century Round Tower indicates its much longer history.
Black Abbey Founded in 1225, this impressive Dominican Abbey became a courthouse after the Dissolution then was wrecked by Cromwell.
Kells Priory Ruined Augustinian monastery in Co. Kilkenny
Rothe House Tudor merchant's home built between 1594 and 1610.
St Mary's Cathedral This is the Roman Catholic cathedral for the city, built 1842-57 in limestone in English Gothic style.
Dunmore Cave Show cave in an outcrop of Lower Carboniferous limestone, about 400 m in extent and descending 46 m.

Tours and tickets in Kilkenny

Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank

Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Kilkenny), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.

Month by month

Month	Max °C	Rain days	Humidity	Sun h/day	Verdict	Why
Jan	7°	11d	89%	3.7h	avoid	7C max, 11 rainy days
Feb	9°	11d	85%	4.6h	avoid	9C max, 11 rainy days
Mar	10°	12d	82%	6.0h	ok	10C max, 12 rainy days
Apr	12°	9d	80%	8.0h	ok	12C max, 9 rainy days
May	16°	8d	78%	9.8h	sweet spot	16C max, 8 rainy days
Jun	18°	10d	78%	9.8h	sweet spot	18C max, 10 rainy days
Jul	20°	8d	78%	9.4h	goodbusy	busier than usual
Aug	19°	10d	80%	8.9h	goodbusy	busier than usual
Sep	17°	11d	83%	7.1h	ok	17C max, 11 rainy days
Oct	13°	13d	86%	5.2h	ok	13C max, 13 rainy days
Nov	10°	12d	89%	3.9h	avoid	10C max, 12 rainy days
Dec	8°	12d	89%	3.2h	avoid	8C max, 12 rainy days

Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.

Weather read at the Medieval Mile, the centre: ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.

A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.

How busy it gets

Busiest in July and August; quietest from December to February.

Then and now

Kilkenny's February days now average 8.9°C, 1.6°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 1 of 12 months are clearly warmer.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1981–90	7.4°	7.3°	9.5°	11.6°	14.5°	17.1°	19.5°	18.4°	16.0°	12.8°	9.5°	8.0°
2017–26	7.5°	8.9°	10.2°	12.3°	15.6°	18.1°	19.7°	19.1°	16.7°	13.4°	10.0°	8.4°
Change	+0.1°	+1.6°	+0.7°	+0.7°	+1.1°	+1.0°	+0.2°	+0.7°	+0.7°	+0.6°	+0.5°	+0.5°

The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.

Getting there

Fly into Dublin (DUB), then drive. The flights under Where to book are to Dublin.

Dublin (DUB)	the drive is not measured yet
Shannon (SNN)	the drive is not measured yet

The drive from each airport is the road's, from openrouteservice.org by HeiGIT: typical, not a schedule.

How far Kilkenny is depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.

Before you go

Type G plugs at 230 V. Drives on the left. The currency is the Euro. No UK Foreign Office advice against travel. Everything for Ireland: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.

Being there

On arrival

Paying — Visa and Mastercard are accepted almost everywhere, and taxis must take cards without a surcharge. Carry a little cash in case a card is refused.
UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
Tipping — 10 to 15% is usual in restaurants; tipping in pubs is not expected. Round taxi fares up to the next euro if you like.

Getting around Kilkenny

Apps — Rides: Bolt, FreeNow, Uber. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: WhatsApp.

Walking is the best way to get around this compact city; see "Do" for walking tours. You need wheels for outlying sights such as Kells Priory, Dunmore Cave and Gowran racetrack. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Kilkenny, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Help

Emergency — 112 or 999 (any emergency).
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.

Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 3 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.

Sources (17)

Kilkenny in pictures

Ireland Kilkenny Castle BW 2025 09 15 10 21 12 — i

Berthold Werner, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

River Nore in Kilkenny geograph.org.uk 1837251 — i

Sarah777, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In the grounds of Kilkenny Castle June 1994 geograph.org.uk 6762951 — i

Jeff Buck, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Kilkenny Castle ^ Gardens geograph.org.uk 6503523 — i

Colin Park, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What Kilkenny is like

Kilkenny is the county town of County Kilkenny in southeast Ireland, with a population of 27,000 in 2022. At its core is the medieval city founded by the Normans, and in the 1640s it was effectively the capital of Ireland. More on Wikivoyage

Worth seeing: Most sights are along the "Medieval Mile" from The Parade (Kilkenny Castle & Design Centre), up High St (Tholsel & Medieval Mile Museum), onto Parliament St (Rothe House & Smithwick's Brewery) and into Irishtown… More on Wikivoyage
Worth doing: Tune into KCLR on FM, or read Kilkenny People or Kilkenny Now. Watergate Theatre, Parliament St R95 D320. The town's main theatre has shows or music most nights of the week. More on Wikivoyage
Getting in: Dublin (DUB IATA) is a good choice for its wide range of flights, competitive fares, and good onward public transport. Cork (ORK IATA) is another possibility but has fewer flights. More on Wikivoyage
Staying safe: Kilkenny is a very safe city. Take usual care over traffic, valuables and late-night drunks. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Kilkenny, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.

Around Kilkenny

Also in Ireland

Nearby

Kind of place

Kilkenny is in Ireland, Europe. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.

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