April 2026 will mark 60 years since the historic Rothe House & Garden officially opened to the public in 1966.
The restoration of the only surviving 16th-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.
Next 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 at a later date, so be sure to keep an eye on the ‘News & Events’ section of our website, and on our Facebook and Instagram accounts.
