In 1922, the Butler family - namely Lord and Lady Ossory - were residents of the castle. The Irish Civil war, raged around them. Lord Ossory memorably wrote that he was woken at the "unreasonable hour of 5.30am" by his butler, who brought the news that Republican forces had seized and occupied his castle.
The "Kilkenny Cats" nickname stems from the feral felines that once inhabited the Dunmore caves in the north of the county.
Kilkenny have only met neighbours Carlow once in the hurling championship. That was in 1993 when Kilkenny won 5-19 to 16 points. Kilkenny have met Lancashire more times – twice(1905, 1913) .
The last witch in Ireland, reputedly Dame Alice Kyteler, was born in Kilkenny in 1280. Widowed four times, she was accused of poisoning all of her husbands. Although her former home was burned down, you can now dine at Kyteler’s Inn on the site of the house
The Butler family handed Kilkenny Castle over to the people of Kilkenny in 1967 – for £50!
Irish legend describes Dunmore Cave, seven miles north of Kilkenny, as one of Ireland’s darkest places and the site where the monster Luchtigen 'The Lord of the Mice' was killed.
