{{short description|Almshouse}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=October 2020}} {{Infobox religious building | building_name = Shee Alms House | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Shee Almshouse.jpg | image_size = | alt = Three-story stone building with arched doorway | caption = Shee Alms House in 2023 | map_type = Ireland | map_size = | map_caption = | location = Rose Inn Street, Kilkenny,<br/>Ireland | coordinates = {{coord|52.65145|-7.25153|format=dms|type:landmark_region:IE|display=inline,title}} | religious_affiliation = | rite = | region = | state = | province = | territory = | prefecture = | sector = | district = | cercle = | municipality = | consecration_year = | status = | functional_status = | patron = | website = | architecture = | architect = | architecture_type = | architecture_style = Tudor | founded_by = Sir Richard Shee | funded_by = | general_contractor = | facade_direction = | groundbreaking = | year_completed = 1582 | construction_cost = | specifications = | length = | width = | height_max = | materials = | nrhp = | added = | refnum = }} '''Shee Alms House''' was founded by the Shee family in 1582 'to accommodate twelve poor persons' in the city of Kilkenny, Ireland. It is a nationally significant Tudor period almshouse.<ref name="Buildings of ireland">{{cite web |url=http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=KK&regno=12001073 |title=Shee Almshouse, 26, Rose Inn Street, Kilkenny, County Kilkenny |newspaper=Buildings of Ireland: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage |date= |author= |accessdate= 23 October 2016}}</ref>

==House== Sir Richard Shee founded the alms house, originally called the Hospital of Jesus, during the period when the family was a powerful merchant family in Kilkenny.<ref name="Library">{{cite web |url=http://www.libraryireland.com/Pedigrees1/o-shee-heremon.php |title=O'Shee family pedigree |newspaper=Libraryireland.com |date= |author= |accessdate= 23 October 2016}}</ref> He created the house in 1582 and endowed it in his last will in 1603. Lucas Shee, his son, arranged a royal charter for the Almshouse which was granted 4 November 1609. In 1752 the alms house was sold by his descendant Edmond Shee. The family were dispossessed during the Cromwellian period. However they regained control and power in the 18th century. Sir Nicholas Power O'Shee of Gardenmorris, County Waterford took back ownership of the house in 1756 and it operated as an almshouse until 1830.<ref name="Buildings of ireland"/><ref name="Kilkenny">{{cite web |url=http://www.kilkenny.ie/eng/About_Kilkenny/History/Famous_Landmarks/Shee_Alms_House.html |title=Shee Alms House - Kilkenny City and County Portal |newspaper=Kilkenny.ie |date= |author= |accessdate= 23 October 2016}}</ref><ref name="Archiseek">{{cite web |url=http://archiseek.com/2010/1582-shee-alms-house-kilkenny-co-kilkenny/ |title=1582 - Shee Alms House, Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny - Architecture of Kilkenny - Archiseek - Irish Architecture |newspaper=Archiseek.com |date= |author= |accessdate= 23 October 2016}}</ref> The house was also used as a Catholic chapel before the 1800s and as a hospital in 1837. It became a shop in the early 20th century. The Alms house was in 1978 acquired by Kilkenny Corporation and restored to its original condition. It was reopened as the city tourist office in 1981.<ref name="Buildings of ireland"/><ref name="Kilkenny"/><ref name="Archiseek"/>

The building is a terraced two-bay two-storey gable-fronted rubble stone house, with cut-limestone features, and a half-dormer attic.<ref name="Buildings of ireland"/>

==See also== *List of almshouses in Ireland

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== *{{cite web |url=http://www.discoverireland.ie/Activities-Adventure/kilkenny-tourist-office/48314 |title=Kilkenny Tourist Office |accessdate= 23 October 2016}} * {{cite journal |last1=Birthistle |first1=Dorcas |title=Alms houses of Kilkenny |journal=Old Kilkenny Review |date=1964 |pages=61–63}}

Category:National monuments in County Kilkenny Category:Almshouses in Ireland