The Butler family handed Kilkenny Castle over to the people of Kilkenny in 1967 – for £50!
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.
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.
The population of County Kilkenny is 95,419 according to the 2011 census ... plus an undisclosed number of Kilkenny cats.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.
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) .