Film star George Clooney’s great-great-grandfather was baptised Nicholas Clooney in Windgap church, Kilkenny, on July 23, 1829.
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
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 Butler family handed Kilkenny Castle over to the people of Kilkenny in 1967 – for £50!
The "Kilkenny Cats" nickname stems from the feral felines that once inhabited the Dunmore caves in the north of the county.
Kilkenny Castle was founded in Medieval times, but its most significant moments have been played out during more recent history. The castle was featured in Oliver Cromwell's re-conquest of Ireland in 1650; and was besieged during the Irish Civil War in 1922.
