​Standing on Parliament Street in Kilkenny, Rothe House is one of the few examples of late 16th and early 17th century merchant houses still surviving in the country. Over the last 60 years, the Kilkenny Archaeological Society has conserved the complex, consisting of three houses (dating respectively to 1594, 1604 and 1610) and the original burgage plot.

Whilst the conservation works have been heavy-handed by modern standards, the complex today is remarkably faithful to the original and is, uniquely, open to the public.

Well worth a visit if you find yourself in Kilkenny.

The Phelan Room, what would have been Rothe’s main reception room

The magnificant Lanigan Room

Courtyard 2

Behind the third house are the gardens which ran all the way to the city walls and contained an orchard, herb and vegetable gardens, a dovecote, a well and a summer house.

See a video showing the building here