I'm spending two nites in Kilkenny and have a couple of questions. I see that Kells village and Priory is only about 6 miles away. Is there any way I can get there without a car?  It doesn't seem I can get there either by train or bus. Are there any tours there, or cab service in Kilkenny that would take us there and back?  It seems like such a short distance that it would not be a problem, but I've read nothing in any book or online about this. 

My other question concerns trains running from Dublin to Kilkenny and back. There seems to be several a day; is there any problem buying tickets at the station, or should we be buying them beforehand? I'd like to have as much flexibiity as possible, but we are traveling 2nd week of August when Kilkenny is hosting an arts festival, and I'm wondering if Im taking any risk assuming we can get on any train we want at the last minute.   

Thanks all!