What it is
The guided tour tells how the Franciscan friars brewed here in the fourteenth century, how John Smithwick founded the brewery on the abbey grounds as a Catholic in Penal Law times, and how the ale is made, with plenty of theatre — talking portraits and a hop garden. The ruined thirteenth-century abbey church still stands behind the site.
Under-18s are welcome on the tour but get a soft drink at the end.
Getting there by bus
The Experience is on Parliament Street opposite Rothe House, ten minutes' walk from the castle and 15 from MacDonagh station. Buses along Parliament Street stop outside (Parliament St stop).
The Medieval Mile Museum in the old St Mary's church is around the corner on St Mary's Lane.
