Gulliver's Travels author, Jonathan Swift, attended Kilkenny College in the late 17th century, and a building at the college was named after him in 2007. Swift's fellow students included playwright William Congreve and the philosopher George Berkeley – after whom California’s Berkeley College is named.
The population of County Kilkenny is 95,419 according to the 2011 census ... plus an undisclosed number of Kilkenny cats.
The "Kilkenny Cats" nickname stems from the feral felines that once inhabited the Dunmore caves in the north of the county.
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) .
All-time top scorer in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is TJ REID with 641 points in 82 games, scoring 30-551.
The architect who built the White House in Washington, D.C., James Hoban, was raised on the Earl of Desart’s estate in Cuffesgrange, near Callan in Co. Kilkenny.
