Rothe House
Rothe House is a rare surviving example of a wealthy Tudor merchant's townhouse, built in stages from 1594 by John Rothe, a prosperous Kilkenny merchant, and structured as a sequence of three houses linked by cobbled courtyards running back from the street. It's the only merchant's house of its kind still intact in Ireland, and it now operates as a museum covering Kilkenny's civic and social history, along with a genealogical research centre for people tracing Kilkenny ancestry.
The restored courtyard garden behind the house, laid out in a period style, adds a quiet, unexpected green space right in the middle of the city, and the building's own layout gives a genuinely tangible sense of how a well-off merchant family lived and worked in 16th-century Ireland.
Rothe House FAQs
A restored Tudor-era merchant's townhouse in Kilkenny, built from 1594, now a museum on the city's history with a period courtyard garden.
Yes, it's recognised as the only surviving merchant's house of its type and completeness in Ireland.
Yes, it houses a genealogical research centre for people tracing ancestry connected to County Kilkenny.
Around 30 to 60 minutes for most visitors, including the courtyard garden.
On Parliament Street in Kilkenny city centre, close to the castle and Medieval Mile.
More in Kilkenny
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