1582 – Shee Alms House, Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny

The Shees were a wealthy merchant family in Kilkenny in the sixteenth century, much like the Rothes who built Rothe House. In 1582, Sir Richard Shee founded the alms house ‘to accommodate twelve poor persons’. The last record of any residents in the house date back to 1830. In 1978 it was acquired by Kilkenny Corporation and restored to its original condition. In 1981 it was reopened as the local tourist office in the city. It is one of the few remaining Tudor alms houses in Ireland.