Kilkenny village says it is best-kept secret in tourism

Panoramic views; lush deep valleys; narrow, winding country lanes; gourmet meals; cosy local pubs; barges for hire; golf; walking…

Panoramic views; lush deep valleys; narrow, winding country lanes; gourmet meals; cosy local pubs; barges for hire; golf; walking; craft shops; fishing . . . Oh, for the long summer evenings and weekends away in . . . Graiguenamanagh?

So you've never thought of Graiguenamanagh as a holiday destination? Neither has anybody else, admit locals who claim the Kilkenny village is "Ireland's best-kept secret".

They're determined, however, to let the secret out.

"We are confident that our little town will soon be battling it out with Kinsale and Clifden as one of Ireland's premier destinations for weekenders," the group, which has formed Graiguenamanagh Tourism, declared in a recent invitation to travel writers to spend a day in the area and sample its attractions.

READ MORE

The venture wasn't a success; only one of the seven or eight journalists invited to Graig, as it's known locally, bothered to respond to the invitation and that was to say "No, thanks".

But the group, which was formed before Christmas and receives no outside support, is undaunted. It took the unusual step of giving Graiguenamanagh its own stand at the recent Holiday World fair at the RDS in Dublin.

It has also produced a high-quality colour brochure extolling the virtues of the village and its range of attractions, from river cruising to hill walking to Country Quads, where local sheep farmer Mr Michael Maloney, in another example of imaginative diversification on the farm, invites punters to test their driving skills on four-wheeled motorcycles.

If the brochure doesn't convince you about Graig then Mr Brian Roberts, owner of the Waterside guesthouse, probably will.

Mr Roberts, a Kilkenny city man who lived in Limerick and Dublin before moving to the town last year, waxes lyrical about his adopted home.

"I do love the place," he says. "I feel like I'm living in Ballykissangel. There are only 1,300 people here and we have 13 pubs. To keep all the pubs going everybody has to drink in all of them!"

If it really is like the fictional Ballykissangel and there's an Assumpta behind every bar, putting Graiguenamanagh on the tourism map should pose no difficulty.