Kilkenny - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Kilkenny is a city and is the county town

County town

A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...

of the eponymous County Kilkenny

County Kilkenny

County Kilkenny is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. The territory of the county was the core part of the ancient Irish Kingdom of Osraige which in turn was the core of the Diocese of...

in Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. It is situated on both banks of the River Nore

River Nore

The River Nore is a long river located in south-east of Ireland. Along with the River Suir and River Barrow, it is one of the constituent rivers of the group known as the Three Sisters. The river drains approximately of Leinster. The river rises in the Devil's Bit Mountain, North Tipperary...

in the province

Provinces of Ireland

Ireland has historically been divided into four provinces: Leinster, Ulster, Munster and Connacht. The Irish word for this territorial division, cúige, literally meaning "fifth part", indicates that there were once five; the fifth province, Meath, was incorporated into Leinster, with parts going to...

of Leinster

Leinster

Leinster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the east of Ireland. It comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Mide, Osraige and Leinster. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the historic fifths of Leinster and Mide gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled...

, in the south-east of Ireland. The city is administered by a Borough Council and a Mayor

Mayor of Kilkenny

The Mayor of Kilkenny is an honorific title used by the of Kilkenny Borough Council. The Council has jurisdiction throughout its administrative area which is the city of Kilkenny in the Republic of Ireland. The office was established in the 16th century and had significant powers. The office was...

which is a level below that of city council in the Local government

Local government in the Republic of Ireland

Local government functions in the Republic of Ireland are mostly exercised by thirty-four local authorities, termed county or city councils, which cover the entire territory of the state. The area under the jurisdiction of each of these authorities corresponds to the area of each of the 34 LAU I...

of the Republic although the Local Government Act 2001

Local Government Act 2001

The Local Government Act, 2001 was enacted by the Oireachtas of the Republic of Ireland on 21 July 2001. Most of the provisions of the Act came into operation on 1 January 2002....

allows for "the continued use of the description city". The borough has a population of 8,661, however the majority of the population live outside the borough boundary, the 2006 Irish Census gives the total population of the Borough & Environs as 22,179.

Kilkenny is a popular tourist destination in Ireland. In 2009 the City of Kilkenny celebrated its 400th year since the granting of city status in 1609. Kilkenny's heritage is evident in the city and environs including the historic buildings such as Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle is a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland built in 1195 by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways...

, St. Canice's Cathedral and round tower, Rothe House, Shee Alms House, Black Abbey

Black Abbey

The Black Abbey of Kilkenny, Ireland, is a Catholic priory of the Dominican Order, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Black Abbey was established in 1225 as one of the first houses of the Dominican Order in Ireland....

, St. Mary's Cathedral

St. Mary's Cathedral, Kilkenny

St. Mary’s is the Roman Catholic cathedral for the Diocese of Ossory. It is situated on James’s Street, Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Ireland. Kilkenny also has a second cathedral, Saint Canice’s which is Church of Ireland....

, Kilkenny Town Hall

The Tholsel, Kilkenny

The Tholsel, High Street, Kilkenny, Ireland was built in 1761 by Alderman William Colles . It was built as place for collecting tolls, but has also been used as customs house, a courthouse and a guild hall...

, St. Francis Abbey, Grace's Castle, and St. John's Priory. Kilkenny is regarded for its culture with craft and design workshops, the Watergate Theatre, public gardens and museums. Annual events include Kilkenny Arts Week, the Cat Laughs

Cat Laughs

The Cat Laughs Comedy Festival is a comedy festival held over the first weekend in June each year in Kilkenny, Ireland. It was founded in 1994 in response to the burgeoning wealth of Irish comic talent with no clear national outlet for expression...

comedy festival and music at the Rhythm and Roots festival and the Source concert. It is a popular base to explore the surrounding towns, villages and countryside.

Kilkenny began with an early sixth century ecclesiastical foundation. Following Norman invasion of Ireland

Norman Invasion of Ireland

The Norman invasion of Ireland was a two-stage process, which began on 1 May 1169 when a force of loosely associated Norman knights landed near Bannow, County Wexford...

, Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle is a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland built in 1195 by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways...

and a series of walls were built to protect the burgh

Burgh

A burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United...

ers. William Marshall

William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke

Sir William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke , also called William the Marshal , was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He was described as the "greatest knight that ever lived" by Stephen Langton...

, Lord of Leinster, gave Kilkenny a charter as a town in 1207. By the late thirteenth century Kilkenny was under Norman-Irish

Hiberno-Norman

The Hiberno-Normans are those Norman lords who settled in Ireland who admitted little if any real fealty to the Anglo-Norman settlers in England, and who soon began to interact and intermarry with the Gaelic nobility of Ireland. The term embraces both their origins as a distinct community with...

control. The Statutes of Kilkenny

Statutes of Kilkenny

The Statutes of Kilkenny were a series of thirty-five acts passed at Kilkenny in 1366, aiming to curb the decline of the Hiberno-Norman Lordship of Ireland.-Background to the Statutes:...

passed at Kilkenny in 1367, aimed to curb the decline of the Hiberno-Norman

Hiberno-Norman

Lordship of Ireland

The Lordship of Ireland refers to that part of Ireland that was under the rule of the king of England, styled Lord of Ireland, between 1177 and 1541. It was created in the wake of the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169–71 and was succeeded by the Kingdom of Ireland...

. In 1609 King James I of England

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

granted Kilkenny a Royal Charter

Royal Charter

A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...

giving it the status of a city. Following the Rebellion of 1641

Irish Rebellion of 1641

The Irish Rebellion of 1641 began as an attempted coup d'état by Irish Catholic gentry, who tried to seize control of the English administration in Ireland to force concessions for the Catholics living under English rule...

, the Irish Catholic Confederation, also known as the "Confederation of Kilkenny", and was based in Kilkenny and lasted until the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland

The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland refers to the conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell landed in Ireland with his New Model Army on behalf of England's Rump Parliament in 1649...

in 1649. Kilkenny was a Norman merchant town in the Middle Ages. Kilkenny was a famous brewing centre from the late seventeenth century. In the late twentieth century Kilkenny is a tourist and creative centre.

The Heritage Council

Heritage Council

The National Heritage Council is an organisation created by the Irish government to "propose policies and priorities for the identification, protection, preservation and enhancement of the national heritage."...

offices are located at Church Lane. The seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Ossory is at St. Mary's Cathedral

St. Mary's Cathedral, Kilkenny

and the Church of Ireland

Church of Ireland

The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...

Bishop of Cashel and Ossory

Bishop of Ossory

The Bishop of Ossory is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of Kingdom of Ossory in the Province of Leinster, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishoprics.-History:The diocese of Ossory...

is at St. Canice's Cathedral. Nearby larger cities include Waterford

Waterford

Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...

45 kilometres (28 mi) south-southeast, Limerick

Limerick

Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...

93 kilometres (57.8 mi) west and Dublin 101 kilometres (62.8 mi) northeast.

Toponymy

Kilkenny is the anglicised version of the Irish Cill Chainnigh, meaning Cell/Church of Cainneach or Canice. This relates to a church built in honour of St. Canice on the hill now containing St. Canice's Cathedral

St Canice's Cathedral

St Canice's Cathedral , is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Kilkenny city, Ireland. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin....

and the round tower

Irish round tower

Irish round towers , Cloigthithe – literally "bell house") are early medieval stone towers of a type found mainly in Ireland, with three in Scotland and one on the Isle of Man...

. This seems to be the first major settlement. The early Christian origin of the round tower suggests an early ecclesiastical foundation at Kilkenny.
The Annals of the Four Masters
Annals of the Four Masters
The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland or the Annals of the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history...

recorded Kilkenny in 1085. Prior to this time the early 6th century territory was known as Osraighe, referring to the whole district or the capital. The Four Masters entry was the first instance where the capital was called Ceall-Cainnigh (modernized Kilkenny). Cill Chainnigh was a major monastic centre from at least the eighth century. There is no mention of Cill Chainnigh in the lives of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Ciarán of Saighir

Ciarán of Saighir

Saint Ciarán mac Luaigne or Ciarán of Saigir was an early Irish bishop and patron saint of Ossory, who was supposed to have flourished in the second half of the 5th century. He is also referred to as Ciarán the Elder in order to distinguish him from Ciarán of Clonmacnoise...

or any of the early annals of Ireland

Irish annals

A number of Irish annals were compiled up to and shortly after the end of Gaelic Ireland in the 17th century.Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days...

suggesting that Cill Chainnigh was not of ancient civil importance.

Kilkenny is described as a city in the Local Government Act 2001-

History

The history of Kilkenny began with an early sixth century ecclesiastical foundation, with a church built in honour of St. Canice which is now St. Canice's Cathedral, and was a major monastic centre from at least the eighth century. The Annals of the Four Masters
Annals of the Four Masters
The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland or the Annals of the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history...

recorded the first reference Cill Chainnigh in 1085. Prehistoric activity has been recorded suggesting intermittent settlement activity in the area in the Mesolithic and Bronze Age. Information on the history of Kilkenny can be found from newspapers, photographs, letters, drawings, manuscripts and archaeology. Kilkenny is documented in manuscripts from the 13th century onwards and one of the most important of these is Liber Primus Kilkenniensis.

The Kings of Ossary

Kingdom of Osraige

The Kingdom of Osraighe , anglicized as Ossory, was an ancient kingdom of Ireland. It formed the easternmost part of the kingdom and province of Munster until the middle of the 9th century, after which it attached itself to Leinster...

had residence around Cill Chainnigh. The seat of diocese of Kingdom of Osraige

Kingdom of Osraige

was moved from Aghaboe

Aghaboe

Aghaboe is a village and parish in County Laois, Ireland. It is located on the R434 regional road in the rural hinterland west of the town of Abbeyleix....

to Cill Chainnigh. Following Normans invasion of Ireland, Richard Strongbow

Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke

Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , Lord of Leinster, Justiciar of Ireland . Like his father, he was also commonly known as Strongbow...

, as Lord of Lenister

Lordship of Ireland

, established a castle near modern day Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle is a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland built in 1195 by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways...

. William Marshall

William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke

began the development of the town of Kilkenny and a series of walls to protect the burghers. By the late thirteenth century Kilkenny was under Norman-Irish

Hiberno-Norman

control. The original ecclesiastical centre at St. Canice's Cathedral became known as Irishtown and the Anglo-Norman borough inside the wall came to be known as Hightown.

The Hiberno-Norman

Hiberno-Norman

presence in Kilkenny was deeply shaken by the Black Death

Black Death

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...

, which arrived in 1348. The Statutes of Kilkenny

Statutes of Kilkenny

The Statutes of Kilkenny were a series of thirty-five acts passed at Kilkenny in 1366, aiming to curb the decline of the Hiberno-Norman Lordship of Ireland.-Background to the Statutes:...

passed at Kilkenny in 1367, aimed to curb the decline of the Hiberno-Norman Lordship of Ireland

Lordship of Ireland

. In 1609 King James I of England

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

granted Kilkenny a Royal Charter

Royal Charter

giving it the status of a city. Following the Rebellion of 1641

Irish Rebellion of 1641

, the Irish Catholic Confederation, also known as the "Confederation of Kilkenny", was based in Kilkenny and lasted until the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland

in 1649. James II of England

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

spent most of the winter months from November 1689 until January 1690 at Kilkenny, residing in the castle.

The Kilkenny Design Workshops were opened in 1965 and in 1967 the Marquess of Ormonde presented Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle is a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland built in 1195 by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways...

to the people of Kilkenny. Today, the city has a lively cultural scene, with annual events including the Kilkenny Arts Week Festival in the last two weeks of August, and the Cat Laughs

Cat Laughs

Comedy Festival at the beginning of June. The City has been referred to as the Marble City. People from Kilkenny are often referred to as Cats. The seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Ossory is at St. Mary's Cathedral

St. Mary's Cathedral, Kilkenny

and the Church of Ireland

Church of Ireland

Bishop of Cashel and Ossory

Bishop of Ossory

is at St. Canice's Cathedral.

Geography

Kilkenny it is situated in the Nore Valley on both banks of the River Nore

River Nore

, at the centre of County Kilkenny

County Kilkenny

in the province

Provinces of Ireland

of Leinster

Leinster

in the south-east of Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. The first edition of the Ordnance Survey map for Kilkenny was in 1837, is held the County Library.

The elevation is 6 metres (19.7 ft) above mean sea level. The area of Kilkenny borough is 3.74 square kilometre. Kilkenny is the smallest City in the Republic of Ireland and although all cities in Ireland are by the coast or along a river Kilkenny is the only city that is not tidal.

Kilkenny is 117 kilometres (72.7 mi) from the capital Dublin and 48 kilometres (29.8 mi) north from the nearest city Waterford

Waterford

. Wexford is 80 kilometres (49.7 mi) to the south-east and Limerick is 122 kilometres (75.8 mi) to the west.

Kilkenny borough has a population of 8,591, however the majority of the population of Kilkenny live outside the borough boundary. Kilkenny City borough and its environs had a population of 22,179 in 2006.

Changes as of the 2006 census, by the Central Statistics Office

Central Statistics Office (Ireland)

The Central Statistics Office is the statistical agency responsible for the gathering of "information relating to economic, social and general activities and conditions" in Ireland, in particular the National Census which is held every five years. The office is answerable to the Taoiseach and has...

, Kilkenny Town Borough had a population of 8,661 which was an increase of 70 persons over the 2002 figure of 8,591 or 0.8%. The Town Environs had a population of 13,518 which was an increase of 1347 persons over the 2002 figure of 12,144 or 11.3%. Overall both the Borough & Environs had a population of 22,179 in 2006 which was an increase of 1444 persons over the 2002 figure of 20,735 or 6.96%. People from Kilkenny are often referred to as 'Cats'.

Disposable household income per person as of 2005 was 18,032 euro and the index of disposable household was 89.4.

Kilkenny is multilingual but predominantly English-speaking

Hiberno-English

Hiberno-English is the dialect of English written and spoken in Ireland .English was first brought to Ireland during the Norman invasion of the late 12th century. Initially it was mainly spoken in an area known as the Pale around Dublin, with Irish spoken throughout the rest of the country...

, with Irish

Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...

being the second most commonly spoken language. In recent decades, with the increase of immigration on an all-Ireland basis, many more languages have been introduced into Kilkenny.

The main religion is Catholic, however there are Church of Ireland, Presbyterian, Methodist, Jewish and other religious traditions living in Kilkenny.

Climate

The climate of Kilkenny, like the climate of Ireland

Climate of Ireland

The climate of Ireland can be summed up as being mild, moist and changeable with abundant rainfall and a lack of temperature extremes. It is defined as a temperate oceanic climate, or Cfb on the Köppen climate classification system, a classification it shares with most of northwest Europe...

, is a changeable oceanic climate

Oceanic climate

An oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...

with few extremes. It is defined as a temperate

Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...

oceanic climate

Oceanic climate

, or Cfb on the Köppen climate classification

Köppen climate classification

The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...

system. Kilkenny lies in plant .

Weatherwise, Kilkenny is generally representative of wide river valleys in the region with low temperatures on cloudless nights, and is significant in that it records some of the highest summer and lowest winter temperatures in Ireland. The highest air temperature ever recorded in Ireland was 33.3 °C (91.9 °F), at Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle is a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland built in 1195 by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways...

on .

The Met Éireann

Met Éireann

Met Éireann is the national meteorological service in Ireland, part of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.-History:...

Kilkenny Weather Observing Station

Weather station

A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for observing atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, wind speed, wind...

, north-west of Kilkenny City centre, on the Duningstown Road, opened in , and observations ceased in . A climatological station is currently in operation within of the old site, and as of , was providing live weather data to the general public and climate data to Met Éireann

Met Éireann

Met Éireann is the national meteorological service in Ireland, part of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.-History:...

.

The maximum temperature recorded at the Met

Met Éireann

Met Éireann is the national meteorological service in Ireland, part of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.-History:...

Station

Weather station

was 30.8 °C (87.4 °F) on . Extremes recorded at the station include the highest air temperature

Temperature

Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...

of 31.5 °C (88.7 °F) on , the lowest air temperature of -14.1 °C on and the lowest ground temperature of -18.1 °C on . The maximum daily sunshine was on .

The warmest and sunniest month on record in Kilkenny was with a total of sunshine

Sunlight

Sunlight, in the broad sense, is the total frequency spectrum of electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun. On Earth, sunlight is filtered through the Earth's atmosphere, and solar radiation is obvious as daylight when the Sun is above the horizon.When the direct solar radiation is not blocked...

and very high temperatures throughout. The maximum daily sunshine was on . The overall trend in temperatures has been on the rise with a marked increase from 1988 onwards. Annual temperatures are running over or 0.5 °C (32.9 °F) above 20th century levels.

The maximum daily rain

Rain

Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth's surface...

fall recorded at Kilkenny station was 66.4 millimetres (2.6 in) on . The late 1950s and early 1960s were wet but rainfall had been steady throughout the century. 2002 was a very wet year and since 2005 annual rainfall has been increased steadily, with 2009 being the wettest year since records commenced in 1958.

At the centre of the county, Kilkenny is in a sheltered location, 66 kilometres (41 mi) inland and is surrounded by hills over 200 metres (656.2 ft), which ensures that it is not a wind

Wind

Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...

y location. The highest wind gust of , from a south-west direction, was recorded on .

Governance

Kilkennys first Council was elected in 1231 and since then Kilkenny has had a continuous record of municipal government. From the 13th century to the end of the 16th the chief magistrate was known as the Sovereign, and since then Mayor.

Kilkenny is a Local Electoral Area

Local Electoral Areas

A local electoral area is a sub-division of a county and city-level local government used for electoral purposes in Ireland. Each local electoral area consists of a number of lower-level units known as district electoral divisions...

of County Kilkenny and includes the electoral divisions

District Electoral Division

A district electoral division is a former name given to a low-level territorial division in Ireland. In 1994, both district electoral divisions and wards were renamed as electoral divisions...

of Dunmore, Kilkenny Rural and St. Canice. Local government

Local government in the Republic of Ireland

bodies in Kilkenny have responsibility for such matters as planning, roads, sanitation and libraries. It is governed by the Local Government Acts, the most significant of which was in 2001, which established a two-tier structure of local government

Local government

Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...

. The top tier of the structure consists of the Kilkenny County Council

Kilkenny County Council

Kilkenny County council is the local authority for County Kilkenny in Ireland. The council is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The county council has 26 elected members...

which has 26 elected councillors of which Kilkenny elects seven. The second tier of local government is the Kilkenny Borough Council, which is a "Town Council" but uses the title of "Borough Council" instead, but has no additional responsibilities. As of the 2009 local elections the composition of the town council is: Fine Gael

Fine Gael

Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...

4, Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...

4, Labour Party

Labour Party (Ireland)

The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...

2, Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...

1, Green Party

Green Party (Ireland)

The Green Party is a green political party in Ireland. It was founded as the Ecology Party of Ireland in 1981 by Dublin teacher Christopher Fettes. The party became the Green Alliance in 1983 and in 1987 was renamed to its current title in English...

1.

Kilkenny's city status is derived from a Royal Charter

Royal Charter

in 1609 by King James I of England

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

. This was recently given a legislative basis by Section 10(7) of the Local Government Act 2001

Local Government Act 2001

The Local Government Act, 2001 was enacted by the Oireachtas of the Republic of Ireland on 21 July 2001. Most of the provisions of the Act came into operation on 1 January 2002....

, which allows for "the continued use of the description city", although it does not have a "city" council like the other Irish cities, but rather a borough council instead. Kilkenny Borough Council, formerly Kilkenny Corporation, used to have a "Sovereign" and "Council of Twelve", but these have since been replaced by a Mayor

Mayor of Kilkenny

and Councillors respectively.

County Kilkenny is in the South-East regional authority

Regions of the Republic of Ireland

There are eight regions at NUTS III level in Ireland which came into existence in 1994, under the terms of the Local Government Act 1991. The geographical remit of each region is currently defined by combining the areas under the jurisdiction of three or more LAU-1 units of local government - the...

of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

and is part of the Carlow–Kilkenny

Carlow–Kilkenny (Dáil Éireann constituency)

Carlow–Kilkenny is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 5 deputies...

Dáil Éireann

Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...

constituency. Kilkenny has been represented through several parliamentary constituencies in the past. From 1918–1921, Kilkenny was part of the North Kilkenny

North Kilkenny (UK Parliament constituency)

North Kilkenny was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It returned one Member of Parliament from 1885 to 1922.-Boundaries and Boundary Changes:...

United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. In 1921 the Carlow–Kilkenny

Carlow–Kilkenny (Dáil Éireann constituency)

Carlow–Kilkenny is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 5 deputies...

Dáil Éireann constituency was created and has stayed apart from between 1937 and 1948 when there was just a Kilkenny constituency

Kilkenny (Dáil Éireann constituency)

Kilkenny was a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas from 1937 to 1948. The constituency elected 3 deputies to the Dáil, using the single transferable vote form of proportional representation .- History :The constituency was...

.

Kilkenny is in the East constituency of the European Parliament

European Parliament

The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

and elects 3 MEPs

Member of the European Parliament

A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

Landmarks

The Landmarks of Kilkenny show Kilkenny's heritage through the historical buildings. Kilkenny is a well preserved medieval town and is dominated by both Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle is a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland built in 1195 by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways...

and St. Canice's Cathedral and round tower.

Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle is a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland built in 1195 by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways...

and some important historical architecture of the medieval city survive, like parts of the Kilkenny City Walls. They define the extent, layout and status of the medieval town. The town grew from a monastic settlement to a thriving Norman merchant town in the Middle Ages. Saint Canice's Cathedral and round tower are an example of the monastic settlement and Rothe House is an example of a Elizebethan merchant townhouse.

The black stone with decorative white fossils that forms the backbone of many of Kilkenny's fine buildings was quarried locally, particularly from the Black Quarry located 1.6 km south of the city on the R700.

Visitor Attractions in Kilkenny and its environs include Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle is a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland built in 1195 by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways...

and Gardens including the Butler Gallery, St. Canice's Cathedral and round tower, Rothe House and Garden, Shee Arms House, Grace's Courthouse, St. Mary's Cathedral

St. Mary's Cathedral, Kilkenny

, Kilkenny City Hall

The Tholsel, Kilkenny

, the Dominican

Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...

Black Abbey

, St. John's Church

Church of Saint John the Evangelist, Kilkenny

The Church of Saint John the Evangelist, or John's Church, is a Gothic Revival style church in Kilkenny, Ireland. The Church was built from 1903 to 1908 on the site of an earlier church located in the graveyard. The grounds contain a trees and greenery....

,
Butler House

Butler House

Butler House may refer to:in the United Kingdom* Butler House, County Durham, UKin the United States*Noble-McCaa-Butler House, Anniston, AL, listed on the NRHP in Alabama...

, Kilkenny 'Slips' and St. Francis Abbey Brewery. Castle Park. Gardens include the Castle Rose Garden, Rothe House Garden, the Famine Memorial Garden and the garden of Butler House.

In the county other attractions include Kells Priory

Kells Priory

Kells Priory is one of the largest and most impressive medieval monuments in Ireland.The Augustine priory is situated alongside King's River beside the village of Kells, about 15 km south of the medieval city of Kilkenny. The priory is a National Monument and is in the guardianship of the Office of...

, Jerpoint Abbey

Jerpoint Abbey

Jerpoint Abbey is a ruined Cistercian abbey, founded in the second half of the 12th century, near Thomastown, County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located 2.5 km south west from Thomastown on the N9 national primary road. There is a Visitor Centre with an exhibition...

, Ballykeeffe Amphitheatre, Warrington Top Flight Equestrian Centre, Dunmore Caves

Dunmore Caves

Dunmore Cave is a limestone cave in Ballyfoyle, County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is a show cave open to the public, particularly well known for its rich archæological discoveries and for being the site of a Viking massacre in 928.- Show cave :...

, Hoban Memorial, Kilfane Glen and waterfall, the watergarden in at camphill, Woodstock Estate

Woodstock Estate

The Woodstock Estate is one mile outside the village of Inistioge in County Kilkenny, Ireland, on the west bank of the River Nore, which runs past it.-History:...

and Jenkinstown Park

Jenkinstown Park

Jenkinstown Park is a park in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is situated off the N78 road about 10 km north of the city of Kilkenny and 11 km south of Castlecomer.- Facilities :...

.

Kilkenny Marble

Kilkenny Marble

Black Kilkenny marble is a finely grained carboniferous limestone that can show fossils.The City of Kilkenny is often referred to as "The Marble City". The foothpaths of the city streets were paved with limestone flagstones, which, when wet, glistened...

or Black Marble was exported to all corners of the British Empire. The city has been referred to as the "Marble City" for centuries.

Kilkenny Castle and city walls

Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle is a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland built in 1195 by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways...

in Kilkenny city was the seat of the Butler family. Formerly the family name was FitzWalter. The castle was sold to the local Castle Restoration Committee in the middle of the 20th century for £50. Shortly afterwards it was handed over to the State, and has since been refurbished and is open to visitors. Part of the National Art Gallery is on display in the castle. There are ornamental gardens on the city side of the castle, and extensive land and gardens to the front. It has become one of the most visited tourist sites in Ireland.

The first stone castle was begun in 1204 by William Marshall

William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke

the site was completed in 1213; it was a symbol of Norman occupation and in its original thirteenth-century condition it would have formed an important element of the defences of the town. There were four large circular corner towers and a massive ditch, part of which can still be seen today on the Parade. This was a square-shaped castle with towers at each corner; three of these original four towers survive to this day.

Kilkenny Walls protected the medieval town of Kilkenny. The town was surrounded by walls with regular towers and gates. Remnants of the Town Walls survive such as Talbot Tower (1207), which is also known as Talbot's Bastion or Castle. It is the larger of the two surviving towers of the defences of the medieval High town of Kilkenny. There are walls on Abbey Street and the adjoining Black Freren Gate is the only surviving gate/access remaining on the High town Circuit into the old city. A wall also runs through the brewery's grounds beside St. Francis Abbey.

The Kilkenny City Walls Conservation Plan is a plan by the inhabitants of Kilkenny, Kilkenny Borough Council, the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, An Taisce, The Kilkenny Archaeological Society and The Heritage Council to ensure the long-term survival of their city’s unique walls.

St. Canice's Cathedral and tower

St Canice's Cathedral

St Canice's Cathedral , is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Kilkenny city, Ireland. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin....

, also known as Kilkenny Cathedral, present building dates from the 13th century and is the second longest cathedral in Ireland. The Cathedral is named after Saint Canice, who also gave his name to the city.

Cruciform

Cruciform

Cruciform means having the shape of a cross or Christian cross.- Cruciform architectural plan :This is a common description of Christian churches. In Early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this is more likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross,...

, the cathedral was built in the Early English

English Gothic architecture

English Gothic is the name of the architectural style that flourished in England from about 1180 until about 1520.-Introduction:As with the Gothic architecture of other parts of Europe, English Gothic is defined by its pointed arches, vaulted roofs, buttresses, large windows, and spires...

, or English Gothic, style of architecture

Architecture

Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

, of limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

, with a low central tower supported on black marble columns. The exterior walls, apart from the gables, are embattled

Battlement

A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels...

, and there are two small spire

Spire

A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....

s at the west end. The cathedral is seventy-five yards long, and its width along the transepts is forty-one yards.

Beside the cathedral stands a 100 ft 9th century round tower. St. Canice's tower an excellent example of a well-preserved early Christian (9th century) Round Tower

Irish round tower

Irish round towers , Cloigthithe – literally "bell house") are early medieval stone towers of a type found mainly in Ireland, with three in Scotland and one on the Isle of Man...

. Accessible only by a steep set of internal ladders, it may once have been both a watchtower and a refuge, and the summit gives a good view of Kilkenny and the countryside around. The hill on which the cathedral stands is believed to be the centre of the first major settlement at Kilkenny, and the round tower suggests an early ecclesiastical foundation.

Dominican

Dominican Order

Black Abbey

was founded in 1225, and lying just off Parliament Street.

Bridges

The two main bridges in Kilkenny which span the River Nore

River Nore

have been called Green's Bridge and John's Bridge since the Middle Ages. These have been rebuilt many times since the twelfth century due to constant floods including the great floods of 1487 and 1763. Green's Bridge was built in 1766. John's Bridge was completed in 1910 and the Ossory Bridge, linking the ring-road around the city, was completed in 1984. Ossory Bridge features an inlaid sculpture.

Green's Bridge

Green's Bridge, also known as the 'Great Bridge of Kilkenny', is one of two main bridges in Kilkenny and is an important element of the architectural, civil engineering and transport heritage of Kilkenny City. It was first built before 1200 and been called Green's Bridge since the Middle Ages. The bridge has been rebuilt many times since the twelfth century due to constant floods including the great floods of 1487 and 1763. The current bridge was built in 1766 after the Great Flood of 1763. Green's Bridge crosses the River Nore

River Nore

in St. Canices Parish in the townland of Gardens.

The present-day Green's Bridge was built by William Colles (c.1710-70) in 1766 to designs prepared by George Smith (1763-7), a pupil of George Semple

George Semple

George Semple was a notable Irish builder and architect.-Life:His earliest known work is the steeple, in height, of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, which he designed and erected in 1749.He also built St...

(c.1700-82). The Classical-style detailing indicating the lasting influence of the Roman Bridge at Rimini as described by Andrea Palladio

Andrea Palladio

Andrea Palladio was an architect active in the Republic of Venice. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily by Vitruvius, is widely considered the most influential individual in the history of Western architecture...

's (1508–80) in The Four Books of Architecture (1570) (I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura

I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura

I quattro libri dell'architettura is an Italian treatise on architecture by the architect Andrea Palladio . It was first published in four volumes in 1570 in Venice, illustrated with woodcuts after the author's own drawings. It has been reprinted and translated many times...

). Carved limestone of high quality stone masonry enhance the architectural design value of the bridge while the series of five elliptical arches identifies the civil engineering heritage significance of the bridge. The bridge was renovated in 1835 where parapets were added but alteration works carried out in 1969 removed one parapet and a steel railing was added.

John's Bridge

John's Bridge is one of two main bridges in Kilkenny spanning the River Nore

River Nore

it connects John Street to Kilkenny city. It was first built after 1200 and has been rebuilt many times since the twelfth century due to constant floods including the great floods of 1487 and 1763. It has been called John's Bridge since the Middle Ages.

The present-day John's Bridge was completed in 1910 and spans 140 ft (42.7 m) across the River Nore. It was reputedly, at the time it was completed, the longest single-span reinforced bridge in Ireland or Britain. The Design was by Mouchel & Partners using the Hennebique system of reinforcement. The arch consists of three ribs, tapering from 2 in 6 in (0.762 m) to 2 ft (0.6096 m) deep. The traverse deck beams are each 2 ft (0.6096 m) deep.

During the flood of 1763, people gathered on John's Bridge after Green's Bridge collapsed, John's Bridge whole structure collapsed and sixteen people died.

Old Woolen Mills

The Old Woolen Mills was built in the 1800s and is located on the north side of the city, on the Bleach Road. It was one of the largest employers in the area; the site covers 100000 square feet (9,290.3 m²) and has more than a mile of river frontage onto the Nore. Among its many features is the original 75 ft (22.9 m) chimney consisting of over 40,000 bricks.
Currently located on the site is one of the most renowned architectural salvage and antique yards in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Kilkenny Architectural Salvage.

Culture

Kilkenny is a popular tourist destination in Ireland. Well regarded for its cultural life, it has always tended to attract culturally aware visitors. Art galleries, historic buildings, craft and design workshops, theatre, comedy, public gardens and museums are some of main reasons Kilkenny has become one of Ireland's most visited towns and a popular base to explore the surrounding countryside.

Points of interest within the city and its environs include Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle is a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland built in 1195 by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways...

, St. Canice's Cathedral and round tower, Rothe House, St. Mary's Cathedral

St. Mary's Cathedral, Kilkenny

, Kells Priory

Kells Priory

, Kilkenny Town Hall

The Tholsel, Kilkenny

, Black Abbey and Jerpoint Abbey

Jerpoint Abbey

.

The recent rise in "stag" and "hen

Hen party

A bachelorette party, hen party, hen night or hen do, is a party held for a woman who is about to be married. The terms hen party or hen night are common in the United Kingdom and Ireland, while the terms hens party or hens night are common in Australia and New Zealand, and the term bachelorette...

" parties in the city has seen attempts made at local level to discourage such activity, without impinging on the vibrant nightlife the city is known for.

Arts and Festivals

Kilkenny is encouraged as festival location throughout the year and especially during the summer months.

The Kilkenny Arts Festival established in the 1970s takes place in late August. During this time Kilkenny plays host to contemporary art with Theatre, Dance, Visual Art, Literature, Film, Paintings, Sculptures and live performances. Musical events including traditional, Classical, World, Jazz Music take place durning the festival.

Kilkenny holds the annual Cat Laughs

Cat Laughs

Comedy festival every June bank holiday week.

The Kilkenny Rhythm and Roots Festival is held on the first weekend in May every year and features the Americana/Bluegrass/Folk/Rockabilly/AltCountry artists in various venues throughout the city.

Venues such as the Watergate Theatre host a range of home-produced and touring performances in dance, music and theatre year-round.

Music

Music in Kilkenny is a rich and vibrant music scene with traditional Irish Music

Folk music of Ireland

The folk music of Ireland is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres in Ireland.-History:...

and artists such as Kerbdog

Kerbdog

Kerbdog was an alternative rock band from Kilkenny, Ireland who formed in 1991. Following two albums released on Mercury Records, the band split up in 1998...

, R.S.A.G.

R.S.A.G.

Jeremy Hickey is an Irish multi-instrumentalist from Kilkenny. He has three albums: 'Secret Class Tunes' Organic Sampler and the forthcoming Be It Right Or Wrong .Following a performance at Electric Picnic in 2008, he appeared on the television series Other Voices...

and groups like Kilkenny Music

Kilkenny Music

Kilkenny Music is a non-profit music-based group in Kilkenny, Ireland working with a vast array of bands and acts within Kilkenny and the South East of Ireland.- About KilkennyMusic.com :...

. Many pubs have Irish traditional music session

Irish traditional music session

Irish traditional music sessions are mostly informal gatherings at which people play Irish traditional music. The Irish language word for "session" is seisiún...

s. Kerbdog was an Alternative rock band from Kilkenny who began writing in 1991. R.S.A.G.'s double album Organic Sampler received a Choice Music Prize nomination for Irish Album of the Year 2008 in 2009. In 2005 Kilkenny Music

Kilkenny Music

Kilkenny Music is a non-profit music-based group in Kilkenny, Ireland working with a vast array of bands and acts within Kilkenny and the South East of Ireland.- About KilkennyMusic.com :...

a non-profit music-based group in Kilkenny was formed to work with a vast array of bands and acts within Kilkenny and the South East of Ireland.

Rhythm & Roots music festival is on each May. The Kilkenny Arts Festival held every August embraces musical acts of all ages and styles. The annual concert 'Source' which is held in Nolan Park attracts mainstream musical performers such as Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart

Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....

, Shania Twain

Shania Twain

Shania Twain, OC is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. Her album The Woman in Me , brought her fame and her 1997 album Come On Over, became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician in any genre, and the best-selling country album of all time. It has sold over 40 million...

, Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

, Paul Simon

Paul Simon

Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...

and Andrea Bocelli

Andrea Bocelli

Andrea Bocelli, is an Italian tenor, multi-instrumentalist and classical crossover artist. Born with poor eyesight, he became blind at the age of twelve following a soccer accident....

. Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton

Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...

headlined at the 2008 event.

Classical tastes are catered for in St Canice's Cathedral

St Canice's Cathedral

St Canice's Cathedral , is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Kilkenny city, Ireland. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin....

, where classical musicians and choirs often perform. The Kilkenny Choir and a Gospel Choir frequently perform in churches throughout the city. Groups like Ex Cathedra

Ex Cathedra

Ex Cathedra is a British choir and early music ensemble based in Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. It performs choral music spanning the 15th to 21st centuries, and regularly commissions new works....

have played during the Kilkenny Arts Festival. Cleere's pub and theatre on Parliament Street is well-known for touring Irish and international bands including indie, jazz and blues. They also have a traditional music session every Monday night, as does Ryan's on Friary Street on Thursdays.

Theatre

Kilkenny had a tradition of dramatic performance going back to 1366 when the Dublin company set up in Kilkenny. Henry Burkhead, printed a play in Kilkenny Cola's Fury, or Lirenda's Misery (1645), dealing with events of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 from an English standpoint. It was a blatantly political work with the Lirenda of the title being an anagram of Ireland. In 1642, as a result of the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

, Dublin Royalist

Cavalier

Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...

s were forced to flee the city. Many of them went to Kilkenny to join a confederacy of Old English and Irish that formed in that city. The Court in Kilkenny.

In 1802 Sir Richard and Sir John Power of Kilfane established the Kilkenny Private Theatre.

The Watergate Theatre in Kilkenny is a centre for the performing and visual arts. It provides a varied programme of professional and amateur dramatics, classical and contemporary music, opera and dance, together with regular exhibitions of paintings and photographs. The theatre plays an important role in the cultural, artistic and literary life of Kilkenny along with its festivals, professional and amateur theatre companies.

The Set Theatre is also a smaller theatre located on John Street in Kilkenny.

Film

The Young Irish Film Makers

Young Irish Film Makers

Young Irish Film Makers is a film training and production company set up in 1991 to help young people aged 13 to 20 make digital feature films.In 1998 produced their first feature Under the Hawthorn Tree for Channel 4 and RTE....

are based in Kilkenny, in addition to Cartoon Saloon

Cartoon Saloon

Cartoon Saloon is an Irish company which provides illustration, design, animation, film and TV services. The company is based in Kilkenny City. The company developed the successful cartoon series Skunk Fu!. Skunk Fu was nominated for a BAFTA Children's Award in October 2008. The company has...

and Mycrofilms.

Radio

KCLR

KCLR 96FM

KCLR 96FM is an Irish radio station which broadcasts to Carlow and Kilkenny in Ireland. It began broadcasting in May 2004. www.bci.ieThe station's slogan "The Heart of Carlow Kilkenny" is taken from the idea that the shape of the two counties, as they appear on maps, form the shape of a heart.More...

is a radio station which servers both Carlow

County Carlow

County Carlow is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Carlow, which lies on the River Barrow. Carlow County Council is the local authority for the county...

and Kilkenny

County Kilkenny

. It is based at both the Broadcast Centre on the Carlow Road, Kilkenny and Exchequer House, Potato Market, Carlow. KCLR

KCLR 96FM

is available on 96FM and is an independent local radio station

Radio station

Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

. As of 2009, KCLR had 60% weekly reach and 33% weekday share. KCLR 96FM

KCLR 96FM

began broadcasting in May 2004 replacing Radio Kilkenny.

Radio Kilkenny, which began as a pirate station Kilkenny Community Radio, received a licensed to broadcast to Kilkenny city and county on 96.0 MHz,96.6 MHz and 106.3 MHz in 1988. Radio Kilkenny had 63% of the radio listeners in County Kilkenny and 16% in County Carlow but failed to secure a franchise in 2003 when the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland changed the station's franchise area to include Carlow. The station ceased broadcasting at 2:10 a.m. on January 1, 2004.

Beat 102-103

Beat 102-103

Beat 102 103 is an independent regional radio station in Ireland licensed by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland covering counties Waterford, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and South Tipperary in South East Ireland...

is a regional youth radio station broadcasting across the South East of Ireland. It serves a population of about 450,000, and in August 2006 it had a 49% share of the south east market.

Print media

Newspapers have been have been produced in Kilkenny for centuries. Kilkenny produced some of the eighteenth and nineteenth century's most important papers. The papers cover more than 220 years, and includes the Finns Leinster Journal
Finns Leinster Journal
Finn's Leinster Journal , later Leinster Journal , Kilkenny Journal and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser , was a newspaper published in Kilkenny, Ireland....

(later the Kilkenny Journal) from 1767 to 1965, the Kilkenny People
Kilkenny People
The Kilkenny People is a local paper circulated in County Kilkenny, Ireland. James Joyce referred to this paper in his Ulysses.Popular in Kilkenny City and County, it competes with the Kilkenny Voice and "The Munster Express" in the south of the county...

from 1916 to 1992, and the Kilkenny Moderator from 1814 to 1916. Also the Leinster Independent from 1872; the Kilkenny Chronicle from 1813. Other importatant papers included, the Kilkenny Courier; Tipperary Examiner from 1858; the Kilkenny Express and the Wexford Express from 1875; The Post (a sister paper to Kilkenny People) from 1926; the Kilkenny Standard from 1979, the Kilkenny People in 1895, the Kilkenny Voice
Kilkenny Voice
The Kilkenny Voice was southeastern Ireland's only weekly full-colour compact newspaper. It was published in Kilkenny, Ireland. It was published every Tuesday; the first issue was published on September 6, 2005. Its primary competition was the Kilkenny People.The editor of the Kilkenny Voice was...

2005 and also the Kilkenny Advertiser.

Finn's Leinster Journal
Finns Leinster Journal
Finn's Leinster Journal , later Leinster Journal , Kilkenny Journal and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser , was a newspaper published in Kilkenny, Ireland....

(1767–1801) was founded by Edmund Finn

Edmund Finn

Edmund 'Garryowen' Finn was an Australian journalist and author who wrote many colorful descriptions of the life and people in early Melbourne....

in 1767 and published on Wednesdays and Saturdays and was brought to such places as Carlow and Castledermot. The paper brought prosperity to the Finn family but Edmund Finn died in 1777. Edmund's wife Catherine Finn took on the task of running the paper while raising seven children. Catherine became famous by the death of her husband and the fact that during the 18th and 19th century no other woman played such a role. It was published in Kilkenny but some content was relevant to Carlow. It was continued as Leinster Journal (1801–1830) and the Kilkenny Journal from 1832.

The Moderator (1814–1822) changed its name to Kilkenny Moderator 1822-1919 and reverted to Moderator from 1920-1925.

The modern Kilkenny People was first published in 1895. It is a weekly paper. The paper has the highest readership in the southeast. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the Kilkenny People had an average weekly circulation

Newspaper circulation

A newspaper's circulation is the number of copies it distributes on an average day. Circulation is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the...

of 17,578 for the first six months of 2006 One of the senior journalists, Sean Keane is a son of John B.Keane the novelist and playwright. It is printed by the Kilkenny People Group at Purcellsinch and the group also publishes a number of other regional papers.

The Kilkenny Voice
Kilkenny Voice
The Kilkenny Voice was southeastern Ireland's only weekly full-colour compact newspaper. It was published in Kilkenny, Ireland. It was published every Tuesday; the first issue was published on September 6, 2005. Its primary competition was the Kilkenny People.The editor of the Kilkenny Voice was...

, first published in September 2005, ceased publicatation on December 18, 2008. A free magazine Kilkenny Now was launched January 2011.

Photography

Photographic Collections of Kilkenny include the Lawrence Collection c.1900, the Crawford Collection c. 1940, the Valentine Collection c. 1950, the Bolton Street Students' Survey c. 1970, the Industrial Archaeologica Survey c. 1989, the Carrigan Collection and the St. John's Parish Collection, as well as many historical postcards.

Awards

Kilkenny was named as the Academy of Urbanism European Great Town for 2008. The Academy Chairman, John Thompson, said "it is great to have an Irish town coming through in this year's awards, especially Kilkenny which is coming to terms with economic growth without losing its wonderful character and humour". Kilkenny won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition

Irish Tidy Towns Competition

Tidy Towns is an annual competition, first held in 1958, organised by the Irish Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in order to honour the tidiest and most attractive cities, towns and villages in the Republic of Ireland...

in 1985 and is the only city to have won the competition.

Cultural references

There is a limerick (with optional added couplet) about the two cats from Kilkenny:

There once were two cats of Kilkenny

Each thought there was one cat too many

So they fought and they hit

And they scratched and they bit

Till (excepting their nails

And the tips of their tails)

Instead of two cats there weren't any!

Education

Education in Kilkenny only goes as far as secondary school, although the National University of Ireland, Maynooth

National University of Ireland, Maynooth

The National University of Ireland, Maynooth , was founded by the Universities Act, 1997 as a constituent university of the National University of Ireland. It is Ireland's second oldest university, having been formed from St Patrick's College, Maynooth, itself founded in 1795.The university is...

maintains an outreach centre at St. Kieran's College. Kilkenny is the home of many noted secondary schools. One is the Church of Ireland Kilkenny College

Kilkenny College

Kilkenny College or KCK is a co-educational secondary school located in Kilkenny, in the South-East of Ireland. It is a private school which caters for both boarders and day students. It is the largest co-educational boarding school in Ireland...

, founded in 1538, which is one of the oldest schools in the country. This school has had several notable students, including Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...

and George Berkeley

George Berkeley

George Berkeley , also known as Bishop Berkeley , was an Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immaterialism"...

.

A quote from an article “The Berkeley Pavilion” by Patsy Dempsey – Bishop George Berkeley (1685–1753) was one of the great philosophers of his time. He was born near Kilkenny and lived in Dysart Castle, Thomastown. Berkeley studied at Kilkenny College (now County Hall) from 1696–1700, where Jonathan Swift was a predecessor.

St. Kieran's College was founded in 1782 and was the first Roman Catholic secondary school in Ireland. It was created after Grattan's Parliament which caused some relaxation of the Penal Laws in the country. The city also has a number of other second level schools, including the Christian Brothers School (CBS), Coláiste Pobail Osraí, Loreto Kilkenny, Presentation College and the Kilkenny City Vocational School. Other schools located in the rural areas of the county are Castlecomer Community School, Colaiste Mhuire Johnstown, Scoil Airigeal Ballyhale, St. Brigid's Callan, Grennan College Thomastown & Callan CBS. These also are noted for their focus on the games of hurling and camogie.

As many children from Catholic families were sent to Europe to be educated as priests, in Louvain, Salamanca & Rome etc. these returned with the new liberal ideas emerging on the mainland at this time. To prevent further spread of European liberalism, the establishment in Ireland decided to allow the Catholics to be educated in Ireland, where they could be monitored. Thus the emergence of such colleges as St. Kierans and Maynooth.Also , Gaelscoil Osrai an Irish school in Kilkenny , is the 2nd largest Irish-only scoil in Ireland with around 450 from Junior Infants to 6th Class.

Roads

Railway

Kilkenny railway station

Kilkenny railway station serves the city of Kilkenny in County Kilkenny. It is on a short spur off the main railway line, requiring trains to exit the station in the same direction from which they entered...

opened on 12 May 1848. Kilkenny acquired railway links to Dublin in 1850, Waterford

Waterford

in 1854, Portlaoise in 1876 and Castlecomer

Castlecomer

Castlecomer is a town in the barony of Fassadinin, County Kilkenny in Ireland.The Irish name for the town translates to "The castle at the confluence of the rivers"; the "rivers" refers to the rivers Deen, Brocagh and Clohogue while the "castle" refers to the castle built by the Normans in 1171...

in 1919. Córas Iompair Éireann

Córas Iompair Éireann

Córas Iompair Éireann , or CIÉ, is a statutory corporation of the Irish state, answerable to the Irish Government and responsible for most public transport in the Republic of Ireland and, jointly with its Northern Ireland counterpart, the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, between the...

closed the Castlecomer and Kilkenny Junction lines in 1962. Kilkenny railway station was renamed McDonagh Station in 1966 after Irish nationalist, poet and playwright Thomas MacDonagh

Thomas MacDonagh

Thomas MacDonagh was an Irish nationalist, poet, playwright, and a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising.-Early life:MacDonagh was born in Cloughjordan, County Tipperary...

. Kilkenny remains an important stop on Iarnród Éireann

Iarnród Éireann

Iarnród Éireann is the national railway system operator of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann . It operates all internal intercity, commuter and freight railway services in the Republic of Ireland, and, jointly with Northern Ireland Railways, the...

's Intercity

Inter-city rail

Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that cover longer distances than commuter or regional trains.There is no precise definition of inter-city rail. Its meaning may vary from country to country...

route between Dublin and Waterford

Waterford

.

Unlike other countries, the location of railway stations in Ireland was closely related to military matters rather than trade or public transport. Kilkenny railway station is a fine example of this peculiarity, with the military barracks being closely positioned to the railway station.

Industry

The town has a history of brewing

Brewing

Brewing is the production of beer through steeping a starch source in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BCE, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was used in ancient Egypt...

and is home to St. Francis Abbey Brewery

Smithwick's

Smithwick's is an Irish red ale style beer from Kilkenny in Ireland. Smithwick's is listed in the top five best tasting beers by the McHale beer rating club of Ireland. As of Autumn 2010, Smithwicks continues to be brewed in Dundalk and Kilkenny but tankers are sent to Dublin to be kegged for the...

which was founded in the early 18th century by Messrs Cole and Smithwick. The Guinness Ireland Group had owned this brewery since the 1960s. At the beginning of the 21st century, Guinness merged with Grand Metropolitan plc to form Diageo

Diageo

Diageo plc is a global alcoholic beverages company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of spirits and a major producer of beer and wine....

, the world's largest alcoholic beverage business, and the brewery is now a part of Diageo Global Supply. Smithwick's Ale now forms only a small percentage of production there. Another product is Kilkenny ale

Kilkenny (beer)

Kilkenny is a nitrogenated Irish cream ale from the makers of Guinness, which originated in Kilkenny, Ireland. The brand is managed and produced by Diageo. It is available in draught and cans...

, a close relation of Smithwicks ale. Some 80% of beer produced at the brewery is Budweiser

Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch)

Budweiser is a 5.0% abv American-style lager introduced in 1876 by Adolphus Busch and one of the highest selling beers in the United States. It is made with up to 30% rice in addition to hops and barley malt. Budweiser is produced in various breweries located around the world...

, a brand not owned by Diageo, but produced under licence. Diageo

Diageo

Diageo plc is a global alcoholic beverages company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of spirits and a major producer of beer and wine....

announced in May 2008 that it will close the St Francis Abbey Brewery in 2013 and move production to a new brewery on the outskirts of Dublin.

Kilkenny is also home to the head offices of Glanbia

Glanbia

Glanbia plc is an international nutritional solutions and cheese group, headquartered in Ireland. Glanbia is listed on the Irish and London Stock Exchange . The Group has four segments; US Cheese & Global Nutritionals, Dairy Ireland, Joint Ventures & Associates and Other Business...

foods, one of the world's top dairy companies. Glanbia was formed by the merger of two dairy businesses: Avonmore and Waterford foods, it employs a total of around 4,000 people and has interests in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

and the USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Recent developments in Kilkenny have attracted further investment from local businesses as well as attracting new industry. Leggetsrath Business Park was opened in 2003. There are two retail warehouse parks in Kilkenny; Kilkenny Retail Park and Ormonde Retail Park. Hebron Business Park was constructed in 2002 and is a privately owned extension to the Hebron Industrial Estate, the main centre for industry in Kilkenny.

Hospitals

Hospitals in Kilkenny include three public hospitals and one private hospital. St. Luke's

St. Luke's General Hospital

St. Luke's General Hospital, Kilkenny is a public hospital located in Kilkenny, Ireland...

is a general medical and surgical hospital built in 1942. It is based on the Freshford road and provides a range of local and regional services. Local services include medical, general surgery, obstetrics, gynaecology and paediatrics. St. Canice's is a psychiatric hospital, opened in 1852 and located on the Dublin road. It provides a range of mental health services including acute and long stay care, out-patient services throughout the county, addiction counselling services, respite care community hostel facilities and day care facilities. It also provides paediatric physiotherapy, and occupational therapy. Lourdes is the regional orthopaedic hospital outside the town in Kilcreene. Aut Even

Aut Even Hospital

Aut Even Hospital is a private hospital in Kilkenny, Ireland offering healthcare to privately insured patients. Founded in 1912, it is part of the Mount Carmel Medical Group, which includes Mount Carmel Hospital in Dublin and St. Joseph's Hospital, Sligo....

is a private hospital based outside Kilkenny City.

Athletics

The Kilkenny City Harriers Club is an athletics club formed in 1953. In 1989 Kilkenny was designated as a local sports centre and an all-weather running track and facilities designed to meet International Association of Athletics Federations

International Association of Athletics Federations

The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded in 1912 at its first congress in Stockholm, Sweden by representatives from 17 national athletics federations as the International Amateur Athletics Federation...

standards was begun. In 1992 the new track was officially opened and renamed Scanlon Park after Patrick 'Rusty' Scanlon, who had been associated with the old complex both as an athlete and as a soccer player.

GAA

The Kilkenny County Board of Kilkenny GAA

Kilkenny GAA

The Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Kilkenny. The county board has its head office and main grounds at Nowlan Park and is also responsible for Kilkenny inter-county teams...

has its head office and main grounds at Nowlan Park

Nowlan Park

Nowlan Park is the principal Gaelic Athletic Association stadium in Kilkenny, Ireland, home to the Kilkenny hurling team. It has two covered stands and two terraces, behind each goalpost. The current capacity of the stadium is approximately 24,000 with a seating capacity of 17,000. Plans have...

in the city. The Kilkenny branch of the GAA

Gaelic Athletic Association

The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...

was founded in 1887. Hurling

Hurling

Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...

is the dominant sport in the county. Secondary schools noted for their contribution to the game include St. Kieran's College and Christian Brothers School (CBS). Former students who have played for St. Kieran's include Eddie Keher

Eddie Keher

Edward Peter Keher , better known as Eddie Keher, is a retired Irish hurling manager and former player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the game....

, Brian Cody

Brian Cody

Brian Cody is an Irish hurling manager and former player, currently managing the Kilkenny senior inter-county team, where he has been in charge since 1998...

, Eoin Kelly

Eoin Kelly (Tipperary hurler)

Eoin Kelly is an Irish hurler who plays as a forward for inter-county side Tipperary. He is the current captain and is his county's top championship scorer of all-time....

, DJ Carey and Henry Shefflin. There are 3 GAA clubs based in the city: O'Loughlin Gaels GAA

O'Loughlin Gaels GAA

O'Loughlin Gaels is a Gaelic Athletic Association club situated in the St. John’s parish of Kilkenny city, County Kilkenny, Ireland. The club was founded in 1969, replacing the St. John’s Hurling Club that started back in 1887....

, Dicksboro GAA

Dicksboro GAA

Dicksboro is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in Kilkenny, Ireland.-History:Dicksboro GAA Club, founded in 1909, takes its name from a townsland about one mile west of the city on the Ballycallan road...

and James Stephens (GAA Club)

James Stephens (GAA Club)

James Stephens is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in Kilkenny, Ireland. The club was founded in 1887 and has enjoyed equal success in both hurling and Gaelic football.-History:...

. St John's Parish is the catchment area for O'Loughlin Gaels. The parishes of St Mary's and St Canice's are associated with Dicksboro. St Patrick's parish is the catchment area for the James Stephens club.
Gaelic football

Gaelic football

Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...

is also played in Kilkenny, although it is not as popular as it is in most Irish counties. Kilkenny GAA

Kilkenny GAA

's county football team has recently been promoted to play in Division Four of the National Football League

National Football League (Ireland)

The National Football League is a Gaelic football tournament held annually between the county teams of Ireland, under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The prize for the winning team is the New Ireland Cup, presented by the New Ireland Assurance Company...

Association Football

Kilkenny City AFC played in the League of Ireland

League of Ireland

The League of Ireland is the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. Founded in 1921, as a league of eight clubs, it has expanded over time into a two-tiered league of 22 clubs. It is currently split into the League of Ireland Premier Division and the League of Ireland...

until January 2008. It entered the league as EMFA in 1986, but resigned their position in the league after 22 years citing “lack of finance, poor results and paltry attendances”. The club had spent all but two seasons in the League of Ireland's second tier. Kilkenny and District Soccer League run leagues at schoolboy, youths and junior level throughout the county. It is affiliated to Leinster Football Association, Football Association of Ireland

Football Association of Ireland

The Football Association of Ireland is the governing body for the sport of association football in the Republic of Ireland. It should not to be confused with the Irish Football Association , which is the organising body for the sport in Northern Ireland.For the full history, statistics and records...

and the Schoolboy’s Football Association of Ireland.

Rugby

Kilkenny RFC

Kilkenny RFC is an Irish rugby team based in Kilkenny, County Kilkenny. They play in Division Two of the Leinster League. The club colours are black and white.-Honours:* Leinster Junior Challenge Cup: 1920* Leinster Towns Cup: 1955, 1959, 1986, 2001, 2002...

founded in 1885, is a very strong and successful Rugby Union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

club based at Foulkstown on the Waterford Road. The club has provided many players for the Ireland team including Ernie Ridgeway, Bill Tector, Jack Notley, Willie Duggan

Willie Duggan

William Patrick Duggan is a former Ireland international rugby union player. He won 41 Irish Caps, the first in 1975 and finished his international career in 1984 as captain...

, Ned Byrne

Ned Byrne

Edward "Ned" Michael Joseph Byrne is a former Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club James Stephens and the Kilkenny senior inter-county team in the 1970s, and between 1977 and 1978 represented Ireland at rugby union.- Early life :Ned Byrne was born in Kilkenny in 1947...

, Ronan Kearney and Gary Halpin. Ian Dowling

Ian Dowling

Ian Dowling was an Irish international Rugby player . He played underage and junior club rugby with Kilkenny RFC and Leinster Senior Cup schools rugby with CBS Kilkenny. He won an AIB League medal with Shannon RFC before joining Munster, with whom he has won two European Rugby Cups both in Cardiff...

plays for the Munster Rugby team and is a two time winner of the European Rugby Cup in 2006 and 2008.

Rugby is played at schools level by Kilkenny College

Kilkenny College

and Kilkenny Christian Brothers School (CBS).

Golf

Kilkenny Golf Club is an 18 hole championship parkland course within the city to the North West, close to city centre. It hosted several Professional Championship events. In 1984 and 1996, it was the venue for the All Ireland Mixed Foursome Finals and in 1985 hosted the All Ireland Cups and Shields Finals. It is playable all year round due to sand based greens. The course is mostly flat terrain with an abundance of trees.

Around Kilkenny City there is also a Driving Range in Newpark and a 18 hole all weather Par 3 golf course in Pocoke.

Mount Juliet Golf Course

Mount Juliet Golf Course

The Mount Juliet Golf & Spa Hotel is a golf resort situated in Mount Juliet Estate Thomastown, County Kilkenny, Ireland.- History :The Mount Juliet Estate was named by the Earl of Carrick after his wife Juliet,and consists of a Georgian manor home set on a hill overlooking the River Nore,...

is a golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

resort situated near Kilkenny in Thomastown

Thomastown

-Landmarks:Kilfane Glen is a restored historic 1790s garden of romantic era with waterfall, woodland walks and cottage orne. The garden is listed as an Irish Heritage garden and was awarded assistance in 1993 by the European Union Cultural Commission...

. Jack Nicklaus

Jack Nicklaus

Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...

designed the course and it is considered to be one of Ireland's best courses.

Ice Hockey

Kilkenny City Storm is a mixed ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

team formed in 2007 in Kilkenny. that plays in the Irish Ice Hockey Association

Irish Ice Hockey Association

The Irish Ice Hockey Association is the Official Governing Body of both ice and inline hockey sports in Ireland.-External links:*...

Recreational Division League. "The Storm" was one of the top two teams in the league in 2007, its inaugural year. The team also enjoys moderate success as an inline hockey

Inline hockey

Inline hockey, often referred to as roller hockey in the United States, is a sport similar to ice hockey but played with inline skates. Like its parent sport, skaters on two teams use hockey sticks to direct a disk-shaped puck into the opponent's goal; however, various details of the game, such as...

team, playing in the Northern Inline Hockey League and the Irish inline hockey (roller hockey) league. The team consists of both local and foreign players who train and play their matches in Dundalk Ice Dome

Dundalk Ice Dome

Dundalk Ice Dome is the 1st permanent ice arena in Ireland, located in Dundalk Retail Park, Dundalk, County Louth, Republic of Ireland. The Ice Dome aims to become the centre of excellence for ice hockey in Ireland. It is currently home to the Irish national ice hockey squad and local team the...

which is the only permanent ice rink in Ireland.

External links

Sport

Tourism

Kilkenny Tourism website
Wikitravel has a Kilkenny guide.

Architecture

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Toponymy

History

Geography

Climate

Governance

Landmarks

Kilkenny Castle and city walls

St. Canice's Cathedral and tower

Bridges

Green's Bridge

John's Bridge

Old Woolen Mills

Culture

Arts and Festivals

Music

Theatre

Film

Radio

Print media

Photography

Awards

Cultural references

Education

Roads

Railway

Industry

Hospitals

Athletics

GAA

Association Football

Rugby

Golf

Ice Hockey

See also

External links

Sport

Tourism

Architecture