I remember the day I have visited Kilkenny Castle. I was on a trip with my class in Kilkenny. It was a very cold and rainy day. We met in the morning in front of the castle and when we entered the lobby area, we met our guide, who presented herself and started to tell us more about the history of the castle. I remember I was fascinated about the story and I wanted to hear more about the Butler family. She said that the castle was built at the end of 12th century, but it was sold to the Butler family in 1391. It was sold to Castle Restoration Committee in 1967 by the 24th Earl of Ormonde, Arthur Butler. The guide told us how people lived in that times, that they had a lot of servants and despite the fact they had a fire place in every room of the castle, it was very hard to maintain the heat because of the stone walls. Because of the cold, lung diseases were frequent, and people used to sleep in small beds with a lot of pillows, because it helped them breath better when the lungs were affected. And the beds in the castle were really small and I remember when the guide told us that people who used to live in that days were really short. The children in the family were all the time minded by servants, which I think is very sad, because they never had the chance to spend enough time with their parents. And women and men were not equal, for example it was a room in the castle where men retired after dinner, to drink a brandy and discuss important matters, and women were not allowed to enter this room. All the rooms of the castle were very impressive, but I especially liked the gallery room, with its high ceiling and portraits of the family members. At the end of our visit, we enjoyed a tea and a cake in the ground floor cafe, and we took a long walk in the beautiful park which surrounds the castle. If you visit Kilkenny City, you really must visit Kilkenny castle, it is a experience you will never forget!