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The house is a charming late
Georgian house, overlooking the Barrow valley, and is conveniently situated
halfway between Kilkenny city and Carlow town. The house takes its name
from the Irish ‘cill greine’
which means ‘sunny hill’ or ‘sunny wood’.
Kilgraney has seen many changes over the centuries. The house, spelt Kylgrany,
appears on Mercator’s Map of Carlow in
1595 and parts of the lower courtyard, reached through the kitchen garden, date
to around this time. The main house was built around 1820 although the
north wing is part of older dwelling and thought to be mid-18th
century. A fire in the 1920’s destroyed the original interiors and the
rebuilding left Kilgraney House with a Georgian exterior and a plain early
20th century interior. Now carefully restored, the house has
immense character and a simple elegance that is full of irony and
amusement. The lush interiors are an eclectic mix of traditional furniture
with carefully chosen pieces of fabric, furniture and art from around the
world.
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