Paulstown () is a small village in

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Paulstown is located at the (northern) junction of the N9 and N10 National primary roads. It is 21 km south of

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

and 19 km east of

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

. Scoil Bhride is the primary school in Paulstown. Shankill Gardens & Castle is a point of interest. Paulstown parish is in the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin (; ga, Deoise Chill Dara agus Leithghlinn) is a Roman Catholic diocese in eastern Ireland. It is one of three suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin and is subject to the A ...

. The 200-year-old ''Church of the Assumption'' is the local Catholic church in the parish of Muinebheag/

Bagenalstown Bagenalstown ( ), officially named Muine Bheag (), is a small town on the River Barrow in County Carlow, Ireland. History and name The town grew within the townland of Moneybeg, from Irish ''Muine Bheag'' or ''Muinebheag'' (meaning "small th ...

Scoil Bhride

Paulstown's primary school is Scoil Bhride Paulstown. This is a mixed primary school. The school enrols about 109 boys and 90 girls. The principal of this school is Mrs. Mary Holden. She has been principal of this school for many years. The school has recently built on 3 new class rooms and a resource room Scoil Bhride has registered for the Green Schools Programme. It has a Catholic ethos but there are many other religions.

Paulstown Castle

Paulstown Castle is a detached three-bay four-stage 'tower house' country house, rebuilt 1828, retaining fabric of earlier house, 1710, possibly incorporating fabric of medieval castle, c.1450. It was In use until 1902 but vacated pre-1973. It is now in ruins. Paulstown Castle represents one of the elements of the architectural heritage of County Kilkenny. A middle-size house of distinctive appearance reputedly built to designs prepared by William Robertson (1770–1850). The house remains of additional importance for the historic associations with the Flood family of nearby View Mount House, the Healy family, and for the reputed connections with Sir Pearse Butler.

Shankill Castle

Shankill Castle Shankill Castle and Gardens is set in parkland near Paulstown on the Carlow/Kilkenny border. Visitors are invited to walk in the grounds and gardens, and there are guided tours of the house. Shankill Castle started as a Butler tower-house near t ...

and Gardens is set in parkland on the border between

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a county located in the South-East Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Carlow is the second smallest and the third least populous of Ireland's 32 traditional counties. Carlow Cou ...

and

. Visitors can walk in the grounds and gardens, and there are guided tours of the house. Shankill Castle started as a Bulter tower-house near the ruins of an old church. Peter Aylward bought the lands from his wife's family in 1708, and it was rebuilt and set in a formal landscape with a vista to the front and canal to the rear. In the 19th century, it was enlarged and castellated, serpentine bays added to the canal and an unusual polyhedral sundial given pride of place on a sunken lawn. Other additions were a gothic porch bearing the Aylward crest and a conservatory. The stable-yard and the castellated entrance to the demesne are attributed to Daniel Robertson.

Environment

In Paulstown there are 3 significant trees which are included in the Tree Register of Ireland, compiled by the

Tree Council of Ireland The Tree Council of Ireland is a voluntary non-governmental organisation. It was formed in 1985 as an umbrella body for organisations involved in the establishment, care and conservation of trees in Ireland, through the promotion of a tree cultur ...

.Tree Council of Ireland Website
/ref> These include a Common Lime, a Wellingtonia Giant Sequoia and two

Monterey Cypress ''Hesperocyparis macrocarpa'' is a coniferous tree. It is commonly known as the Monterey cypress and is one of several species of cypress trees endemic to California. The Monterey cypress is found naturally only on the Central Coast of Califor ...

around Shankill Castle Gardens .

Transport

The former N9 - R448 road passes through

Gowran Gowran (; ) is a town located on the eastern side of County Kilkenny, Ireland. The historic St. Mary's Collegiate Church is located in the centre of Gowran close to Gowran Castle. Gowran Park race course and Golf Course is located one km from t ...

Dungarvan Dungarvan () is a coastal town and harbour in County Waterford, on the south-east coast of Ireland. Prior to the merger of Waterford County Council with Waterford City Council in 2014, Dungarvan was the county town and administrative centre of ...

Thomastown Thomastown (), historically known as Grennan, is a town in County Kilkenny in the province of Leinster in the south-east of Ireland. It is a market town along a stretch of the River Nore which is known for its salmon and trout, with a number of ...

, and further on, just north of

Ballyhale Ballyhale () is a village in the south east of Ireland. Located in the south of County Kilkenny, south of the city of Kilkenny and roughly halfway to Waterford city. The sport of hurling is popular in the area, and the local Gaelic Athletic ...

the former N10 rejoins the former N9, having proceeded south from Kilkenny. At Paulstown the former N10 diverges west/southwest to serve

, proceeding southwest to Coolgrange, and west to the outskirts of Kilkenny, where it meets the ''Kilkenny Ring Road'' at a roundabout.

References