Waterside - Award winning Guesthouse and Restaurant

The town of Graiguenamanagh traces its history back exactly 800 years to the foundation of Duiske Abbey in the year 1204. In that year Cistercian monks from Stanley in Wiltshire arrived in the Barrow Valley at the invitation of William, Earl Marshall. The monastery they founded was the largest Cistercian monastery in Ireland, and over the following centuries the town that grew up

Interior of Duiske Abbey

in its shadow mirrored the fluctuating fortunes of the Abbey itself. More than once down the centuries the abbey fell into decay and the stonework and rubble fell and lay on the abbey floor. The present floor of the abbey is approx. 4 foot above the original tiled floor. Archaeological excavations have revealed the old tiles and they can be see in certain points in the abbey.

After Henry the 8th dissolved the monasteries in the sixteenth century the Abbey fell on very lean times indeed, and gradually became less of a driving force in the development of Graiguenamanagh. By the 18th century the focus had shifted firmly from the abbey to the river itself and the development of the Barrow Navigation.

Waterside from Graiguenamanagh Bridge

During the next 200 years a thriving commercial centre developed around the river and Graiguenamanagh Boatmen were famous throughout Ireland’s inland waterways. The last commercial boats plied the Barrow navigation in 1959 and once again the town of Graiguenamanagh became a sleepy backwater.

Over the last ten years the tranquillity of Graiguenamanagh has come to represent its greatest asset. Pleasure boats have begun to regard Graigue as the natural safe harbour on the Barrow, and each year the number moored there has increased. The Barrow Towpath and the adjacent Blackstairs mountains have seen a steady growth in the number of hillwalkers in the area.

Canoing on the Barrow

Fisherman can come and enjoy good game and coarse fishing on one of the finest stretches of water in the country. The pubs of Graiguenamanagh are regarded as some of the finest in the south-east and are the perfect spot for a good pint, good music, and pleasant chat. And the heritage of 800 years is everywhere you look.

Waterside Guesthouse, Graiguenamanagh, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland. Ph: +353 59 9724246 Email:

info@watersideguesthouse.com