Overview
Gore’s Bridge is the longest crossing on the River Barrow – nine granite arches thrown over the river in 1756 – and the village took its name, and its Irish one, An Droichead Nua, ‘the new bridge’, from it. Goresbridge sits on the Kilkenny bank in the east of the county, a small place of about 360 people that earns its keep two ways: as a flat, easy stretch of the Barrow Way for walkers and cyclists, and as the home of Ireland’s biggest sport-horse auction. If you can line your visit up with a sale, do – it’s when the village is at full tilt.
History and the bridge
Goresbridge is a comparatively young settlement that grew up around the crossing. Charles II had granted Arthur Gore the townland of Barrowmount, and it was Colonel Ralph Gore, Earl of Ross, who commissioned the present bridge in 1756; the masons Samuel Biass and Thomas Dunn built it. The local account is that it used Kilkenny stone along with granite quarried on the Carlow side of the river, the silver-grey dressings and the easy sweep of the nine arches making it one of the better pieces of 18th-century civil engineering on the Barrow. The bridge still links Kilkenny to County Carlow.
The crossing saw fighting in the 1798 Rebellion. On 23 June, rebel columns under Edward Roche, Edward Fitzgerald and the priest John Murphy reached the bridge; the Wexford Militia garrison was defeated, lost its cavalry, and twenty-eight soldiers were taken prisoner. A carved granite memorial by the bridge marks the spot.
Walking and the river
The Barrow Way runs straight through Goresbridge – 120 km of flat, well-marked towpath that makes for genuinely easy walking and cycling. Head upstream toward Ballyellen Upper Lock or downstream into the wider Barrow Valley; the river is popular for coarse fishing and for cruising by boat. People’s Park (Cois Bearbha) sits on the riverbank a little downstream, a level green space with benches over the water, good for a picnic and easy for families and wheelchairs.
The horse sales
Goresbridge Horse Sales is the reason the village is known well beyond the county. The family-run auction, founded around 1968 and past its half-century, is Ireland’s biggest sport and leisure horse sale, running through most of the year with spring and autumn the busiest, and taking in point-to-point and, since 2024, thoroughbred sales. The scale is real: the July 2025 sale alone catalogued 720 horses and ponies over four days. It’s a working auction rather than a show, but it’s the most characterful time to see the place, and the trade is what ‘famous for producing international sport horses’ actually looks like up close.
Eating and stopping off
The Goodly Barrow café sits right by the water on the Carlow bank and is the natural resting point for walkers, with coffee and light meals; the Gourmet Grill across in the village does a fuller meal. Tirlan FarmLife, the local co-op, is an easy stop with children, and there’s the Church of the Holy Trinity in the village. Emoclew Garden, a private garden near the village, opens to visitors.
Practical information
- Getting there: Goresbridge is on the R702, about 20 km east of Kilkenny City and 2.75 miles from Gowran, close to the Carlow border. Kilbride Coaches runs a twice-daily service (Monday to Saturday, no Sunday) between Kilkenny or Graiguenamanagh and the village. The free Barrow Bus stops here too, running four times daily between Graiguenamanagh and Bagenalstown and on to St Mullins twice a day. The nearest train station is Kilkenny (MacDonagh), with Irish Rail links to Dublin and Cork.
- Parking: Free on-street parking near the bridge and the riverside cafés, and a small lay-by for People’s Park. The height barrier at the riverside parking by the Goodly Barrow is now permanently open, so campervans can park there overnight.
- Accessibility: The bridge has steep stone steps that don’t suit wheelchairs, but the riverside promenade, People’s Park and the Goodly Barrow are all level.
- Seasonality: The Barrow Way is open year-round; the low-lying stretches turn muddy after heavy rain, so bring waterproof footwear. Horse sales run seasonally, busiest in spring and autumn.
- Nearby: Gowran Park Racecourse is a short drive west, and Graiguenamanagh, with Duiske Abbey, sits downstream on the Barrow.
Catch the bridge at dawn or in the early afternoon for the best light on the granite, and check the Goresbridge Horse Sales calendar before you come if you want to see the village busy.