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.
Collectively, Kilkenny people are known as 'The Cats', most specifically in the arena of hurling
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.
All-time top scorer in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is TJ REID with 641 points in 82 games, scoring 30-551.
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.
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) .
