The "Kilkenny Cats" nickname stems from the feral felines that once inhabited the Dunmore caves in the north of the county.
St Canice's Cathedral, 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.
Nowadays, Kilkenny Castle is effectively three-sided. One of the four walls - and one of the great round drum towers - has disappeared over time.
Where did it go? Well, the Eastern wall and the North-Eastern tower were blown up during the 1650 Cromwellian siege of Ireland.
The Butler family handed Kilkenny Castle over to the people of Kilkenny in 1967 – for £50!
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.
