Fodor's Expert Review Rothe House

There's a feeling of time travel as you step off the busy main street and into one of Ireland's finest examples of a Tudor-era merchant's house. Built by John Rothe between 1594 and 1610, this medieval complex with stone-wall courtyards (one of which houses a medieval well) is owned by the Kilkenny Archaeological Society and houses a collection of Bronze Age artifacts, ogham stones (carved with an early Celtic alphabet), and period costumes. The Burgage Garden re-creates, down to the plant types themselves, a typical 17th-century Irish merchant's garden. There's also a genealogical research facility to help you trace your ancestry.