The "Kilkenny Cats" nickname stems from the feral felines that once inhabited the Dunmore caves in the north of the county.
The population of County Kilkenny is 95,419 according to the 2011 census ... plus an undisclosed number of Kilkenny cats.
One of the most instantly recognised buildings in Ireland, Kilkenny Castle has been an important site since Strongbow constructed the first castle, probably a wooden structure, in the 12th century.
Kilkenny's most one sided All-Ireland finals win was in 2008 when they beat Waterford by 23 points with a scoreline of Kilkenny 3-30 to 1-13 Waterford
As of 2011, Kilkenny had played a total of 371 championship games, winning 265, drawing 16 and losing 90. They had played Dublin the most times(82) .
Kilkenny is 117 kilometres (73 mi) away the capital Dublin and 48 kilometres (30 mi) north from the nearest city Waterford. Wexford is 80 kilometres (50 mi) to the south-east and Limerick is 122 kilometres (76 mi) to the west.
Kilkenny Castle has soared past some incredible competition to take the title of the most popular paid visitor attraction managed by the Office of Public Works (OPW) in Ireland.
AKA is a voluntary run arts festival that showcases the hard work and talent of independent artists and community groups across Kilkenny county and city.