In the early 1960s, a group of visionary members of the Kilkenny Archaeological Society set out to buy what was fast becoming a ruin in the heart of their city. Led by chairperson (and later Freeman of Kilkenny) Margaret Phelan, they launched a major fundraising campaign. Their aim was not only to buy but to restore this ancient house to its former glory.

This was a time when restoration was neither fashionable nor encouraged. However, with the support of the Irish tourism board, Bord Fáilte, they persevered. The Office of Public Works agreed to carry out the restoration work, with the Archaeological Society paying for it.

The Society’s fundraising campaign was not only a local one, but a national and international effort. Letters were sent far and wide, with people like the Princess of Monaco, and the Duchess of Westminster (owner of Cheltenham legend, Arkle), among those to send money towards the Rothe House fund.

The first of the three buildings at Rothe House opened on April 17^th, 1966.

Now, 60 years later, this free exhibition will take visitors through that story. It will detail the 20^th-century history of the house, the efforts involved to purchase it, and the landmark (and trendsetting) restoration project that ensued.

The team of craftsmen assembled for Rothe House had never worked on a restoration project before. However, they subsequently worked at some of the most important historic sites in the region, including Jerpoint Abbey, the Rock of Cashel, Cahir Castle, and Tintern Abbey.

The six-month exhibition will run until October 31st, 2026.

A programme of events to celebrate 60 years since the opening of the house will run throughout the summer.

While Rothe House has been standing since 1594, last week marked a milestone of a different era: the 60th anniversary of its opening to the public.

It is hard to imagine today, when strolling through the restored buildings and Renaissance garden, that in the early 1960s, this site was on the brink of ruin. The celebration on Friday was a sincere tribute to the members of the Kilkenny Archaeological Society (KAS). In 1962, they stepped in to save the property from dereliction, embarking on a restoration project that was, at the time, radical and unfashionable.

Many in attendance at last week’s event had been at the opening in 1966, others were the children and grandchildren of the craftspeople and committee. The guest of honour was Senator Malcolm Noonan who spoke of the importance of Rothe House and congratulated all who have kept it going over the last six decades.

Rothe House Trust also launched a new Five Year Strategy at the event which looks forward to a continued period of growth and community engagement.

Central to the anniversary is the new free exhibition, “Rothe House 1966-2026: The Restoration.”

For anyone who calls Kilkenny home, this is a must-see, telling the inspiring 20th-century story of how a community pulled together to save its own history. A touching video captures the recollections of local people, and the exhibition displays archival material, letters and photographs.

The “Rothe House 1966-2026: The Restoration” exhibition is now open to the public. Admission to the exhibition is free and is open 10am – 5pm daily.

Photography: Vicky Comerford

Now in it’s 14th year, the festival celebrates Irish music and culture.

Rothe House & Garden is delighted to be a part of the festivities with loads happening here over the long weekend.

Scattered Sessions Presents Brian Leach

Sun 15th March
Tickets: €20 + Booking Fee
Time: Doors @ 2.30pm / Start @ 3pm | Seated

An intimate afternoon with hammered dulcimer-player, Brian Leach, featuring live Irish traditional music and a pre-concert conversation with musicologist, Oisín Quigley, on the evolving roots of Ireland’s musical tradition.

Audience Q&A to follow.

Click here to book your tickets.

Sean-nós Dancing for Kids

Ages: 5-12
Date: Sat 14th March
Tickets: €15 + Booking Fee
Times: Doors @ 11.55am / Class @ 12pm

Sibéal Davitt is a dance artist, performer and teacher from Dublin. Her style of dance is influenced by contemporary, classical and Irish traditional sean-nós dance, having trained in all styles from an early age.

Step out this Tradfest weekend and join Sibéal Davitt for a masterclass of dance at Rothe House!

Click here to book your tickets.

Sean-nós Dancing for Teens & Adults

Date: Sat 14th March
Tickets: €15 + Booking Fee
Times: Doors @ 12.55pm / Class @ 1pm

Sibéal Davitt is a dance artist, performer and teacher from Dublin. Her style of dance is influenced by contemporary, classical and Irish traditional sean-nós dance, having trained in all styles from an early age.

Step out this Tradfest weekend and join Sibéal Davitt for a masterclass of dance at Rothe House!

Click here to book your tickets.

Bodhrán Workshop with Tommy Lanigan

Date: Sat 14th March
Tickets: €15 + Booking Fee
Times: Doors @ 4.20pm / Class @ 4.30pm

Join one of the country’s finest bodhrán players for a crash course on the ins and outs of this ancient, Irish drum. Tommy Lanigan is a sought-after accompanist and bodhrán maestro for trad sessions and will share his rhythmic secrets in the beautiful, historic setting of Rothe House.

Click here to book your tickets.

Little Folklore Friends

Date: Sat 14th March
Ages: 4-7
Time: 2.15pm
Tickets: €7 + Booking Fee

Join local children’s author Niamh Donnellan for storytelling and crafts based on her book, Little Irish Folklore Friends. about six creatures from Irish folklore, all using their powers in unexpected ways. Join Liam the Leprechaun, Betty the Banshee and Pádraig the Púca; Willow the Wisp, Fiadh the Fairy and Seán the Selkie for lots of magic, mischief and giggles. Then make your own magical creature to take home!

This event is suitable for children aged 4-7 years. Only children require tickets. All children must be accompanied by an adult who must stay in the vicinity throughout the event.

Click here to book your tickets.

Little Irish History Heroes

Date: Sat 14th March
Ages: 4-7
Time: 3.15pm
Tickets: €7 + Booking Fee

Join local children’s author Niamh Donnellan for storytelling and crafts based on her new book, Little Irish History Heroes. This a gentle and fun introduction to the heroes of Irish legend. Join the giant Fionn Mac Cumhaill, pirate queen Grace O’Malley, high king Brian Boru, bold Queen Maeve, kind St Brigid and young hurler Cú Chulainn for a new twist on ancient tales of bravery. Then make your own hero’s crown to take home!

This event is suitable for children aged 4-7 years. Only children require tickets. All children must be accompanied by an adult who must stay in the vicinity throughout the event. The session will last approximately 45 minutes.

Click here to book your tickets.

We do this so the garden can truly thrive when spring arrives.

A few small tasks now will make gardening easier and more enjoyable when warmer days return.

Essential January jobs include:

• Protecting plants: the addition of mulch helps to insulate plants in borders, while you can also wrap very tender plants in fleece or straw to protect them in especially cold conditions.

• Pruning: prune apple and pear trees while they are dormant, and remove dead or diseased branches. However, it’s important to avoid pruning spring-flowering shrubs as they are already setting buds.]

• Caring for soil: don’t walk on frozen or water-logged soil; add compost, well-rotted manure, or leaf mould when conditions allow; make sure as well to remove fallen leaves from paths and lawns.

• Plan for the year head: January is the gardener’s thinking month! Order seeds early to get the best selection. Sketch out new beds or crop rotation plans. You can also review last year’s notes to evaluate the successes and failures.

Lastly, some of the plants in their element at the moment include snowdrops, helleborus viridis, and the beautiful winter aconites.

The garden at Rothe House is currently under maintenance but will reopen to the public as soon as possible.

The restoration of the only surviving 16^th-century merchant mansion in Ireland was the very first project undertaken by the newly-established south-eastern branch of the National Monuments Service.

Rothe House has been a landmark on Parliament Street in Kilkenny City since 1594, when it was first built by prominent merchant, John Rothe fitz Piers, and his wife, Rose Archer.

More than 360 years later – to save it from dereliction and possible demolition – in 1962 it was purchased by the Kilkenny Archaeological Society. This was followed by four years of tireless restoration and conservation work on the first of the three historic buildings on site by a team of dedicated local craftspeople.

It was 1995 when the last of those buildings opened to the public, with President Mary Robinson in attendance to cut the ribbon, while the ‘jewel in the crown’, the restored renaissance garden, was finally unveiled by then-President, Mary McAleese, in 2008.

This April will see the launch of a special exhibition on the restoration of Rothe House & Garden, along with a six-month programme of events.

Having received a great response from a recent call-out for members of the public to submit their memories of this historic building before and during its restoration, we are also putting together an audio/visual archive of stories and recollections.

The full details of the commemorative events will be announced soon, so be sure to keep an eye on the ‘News & Events’ section of our website, and on our Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Made by our Head Gardener, Mary Pyke, and her small team of helpers in the garden here at Rothe House, the wreaths are made of gorgeous natural materials.

Those materials include include berried ivy, leylandii, viburnum, pine cones, dried orange slices, dried lotuses, and cinnamon sticks.

These hand-made festive creations are just €30 each and are available from our shop on Parliament Street!

The air is crisp and most of the branches are bare. But, even though growth has paused, there is still lots to do in the garden!

Now is the time for gentle maintenance, such as clearing away fallen leaves, which can be a slip hazard at this time of year.

You can also trim back dead stems and debris to prevent harbouring slugs and snails.

Other jobs include winter digging – this means turning the ground over several times (if the soil is workable), exposing soil pests hidden beneath the surface for the birds to remove.

Plan and begin your landscaping jobs, too.

You can send off for seed catalogues, and take hard-wood cuttings from plants like roses, for example.

Roses grown from cuttings do not produce suckers, so this is an advantage over roses bought in a garden centre.

Harvest any vegetables, like carrots, parsnips, or turnips, that you might still have in the ground. Add well-rotted compost or leaf mould to cleared vegetable beds, so they are ready for next year.

December in Ireland often brings short daylight hours, chilly mornings, occasional frosts, and wetter soils, which means the garden has to begin its quieter phase. Enjoy it while it lasts!

Looking for that perfect, real Christmas Wreath? We have been busy making them in our garden! They are now for sale in our shop at Rothe House, so pop in and pick one up.

This is an oil painting exhibition, featuring Kilkenny’s historic buildings and ruins.

Toshie Oue is a Kilkenny-based artist originally from Japan, who earned a degree in Visual Communication Design from Seika University in Kyoto and was honoured with the “Fernand Bivel” Special Jury Prize at the 216th Le Salon in Paris in 2005.

She has exhibited in Spain, Italy, France, Japan, and many other countries.

Her work captures the beauty found in nature and everyday life.

In this ‘Traces of Time’ exhibition, she seeks to capture fleeting moments where past and present converge in everyday landscapes, rendered in changing light.

Toshie says, “Standing in front of these timeless places, we too become part of the unfolding story of history.

“Through this exhibition, I invite you to take a gentle stroll through Kilkenny’s history.”

You can follow Toshie on Instagram, @TOSHIEART, and her website is www.toshie.o-ue.com.

This exhibition is free, running from the 22nd of November to the 7th of December from 10am-5pm (closed on Mondays), with a special launch on the 22nd from 3-5pm.

Finnish graffiti artist, EGS, travelled to Kilkenny during the autumn to trace the footsteps of Finnish design master, Kaj Franck, exploring what a dialogue between Finnish design and contemporary art might mean today.

The resulting exhibition combines glass works, drawings, photographs, film, and a zine, forming an archive of collaboration between land, craft, and contemporary art.

EGS describes the works as “containers for memory, mythology, and movement – three letters in another language.”

The project is commissioned by the Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland, and in collaboration with the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland.

This free exhibition will be held at Rothe House from the 15th to the 21st of November.

Join us this Science Week for two fascinating talks at Rothe House & Garden.

Organised by the Kilkenny Science Festival, the first event, on November 12th, will focus on Chemistry in the Movies.

Dr John O’Donoghue will provide a scientific and filmographic look at how chemists and chemistry have been portrayed in the movies – using short clips and graphics to talk about the topic.

The movies chosen for this discussion are based around a number of themes; problem solving, plot devices, chemical companies and people!

This talk is mainly aimed at adults and older teenagers since there are some references to movies and adult themes which are certified 15/16.

Date: November 12th
Time: 7.30pm-8.30pm
Booking: Free but booking required, click here.

The second talk, on November 13th, Serial Killers: Fascination with True Crime, will look at why we are so drawn to the darkest stories!

Join two psychologists, Dr Lorraine Bowman Grieve and Dr Jennifer O’Mahoney as they explore our fascination with true crime and serial killers. Exploring facts and fiction, and why these stories grip us so tightly.

Suitable for adults only.

Date: November 13th
Time: 7.30pm-8.30pm
Booking: Free but booking required, click here.