Kilkenny Castle was built in 1195 and was a symbol of Norman occupation and in its original thirteenth-century condition it would have formed an important element of the defences of the town with four large circular corner towers.
Saint Mary’s is a Roman Catholic cathedral that was started in 1843 and completed in 1857, during the period of the Irish famine. St. Mary’s is made from locally cut-limestone in a cruciform plan and its style is described as Early English Gothic. The design is believed to have been based on Gloucester Cathedral in Gloucester, England. It is situated on the highest point in Kilkenny City and is a significant local landmark. The cathedral actually has three names – St Mary’s, the church of St Kieran and the Cathedral of the Assumption. St. Mary’s has a noted sculpture of the Madonna by Giovanni Maria Benzoni (1809-1873).
The cathedral made for an interesting photography challenge. Since it was quite dark inside the cathedral, I took a series of handheld bracketed exposures at 400 ISO, hoping my hand would be steady to allow me to use HDR software when I got back home to merge the exposures. I thought the results came out pretty great given the conditions. My favorite shot includes the statue of the Madonna in the foreground (at least I think it is the Madonna).
