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 Topography
The central part of County Kilkenny is undulating limestone plain, bordered in some areas
by gently sloping hills. In the north are the attractive uplands of the Castlecomer
district, and the Slieveardagh Hills and Booley Hills extend across the County Tipperary
border on the west. There are many pleasant landscapes, especially in the Rivers Nore and
Barrow valleys, and the historic county town has numerous points of interest. Kilkenny is
also an excellent sporting county, with good opportunities for hunting, angling, shooting
and golf. Kilkenny is famous for its hurling teams and the ancient Irish game is regarded
and practised almost as an art-form in the county.
History
The city is named after the sixth-century church founded by St Canice. It was the capital
of the Kingdom of Ossory in pre-Norman times and after the invasion it passed into the
hands of William le Mareschal, Strongbow’s son-in-law. In 1391 the Earl of Ormonde
bought the lordship from Mareschal’s descendants.
 Kilkenny was the venue of many parliaments
during the fourteenth century, including that of 1366 which passed the infamous Statute of
Kilkenny. This statute made it high treason for an Anglo-Norman to marry an Irishwoman,
forbade Irishmen to live in walled towns and laid down severe penalties for an
Anglo-Norman who adopted the language, custom or dress of the Irish. The statute was
rigorously enforced but failed completely in its aim of stopping the absorption of the
invaders into the Irish way of life.
The city’s most glorious period was from 1642 to 1648. This was when the
Confederation of Kilkenny, which represented both the Old Irish and the Anglo-Irish
Catholics, functioned as an independent Irish Parliament. In 1645 Archbishop Rinuccini
arrived in the city as papal nuncio, bringing from Pope Innocent X arms for 6,000 men and
£20,000. Later the Confederation split into two camps and the Anglo-Irish Party made a
treaty with the English Viceroy. Rinuccini supported the Old Irish and their brilliant
military leader, Owen Roe O’Neill. But the disunity within the confederation, coupled
with O’Neill’s death, led to inevitable defeat. In 1650, after several days of
siege by Cromwell, a treaty was signed which allowed the Irish Army to march out from
Kilkenny with full honours.
St Canice’s Cathedral (Church of Ireland) dates from the thirteenth century and may
be on the site of the sixth-century church of St Canice. Much repair and restoration has
been carried out over the centuries, especially after the havoc wrought by Cromwell’s
solders who left it a roofless ruin. Despite these depredations the cathedral, with its
massive squat tower and stepped battlements, retains its original austere lines. Notable
features are the fine Early English west window, the east window, the beautiful groining
of the central tower and the quatrefoil windows of the clerestory.
The interior has many fine medieval monuments, carrying effigies and other sculptures.
Among them are the earliest dated monument (1285),commemorating the son of Henry de Ponto
of Lyra and found between the pillars of the north aisle. Also in the north aisle is the
monument to Edmund Purcell (1549), Captain of Ormonde’s Gallowglasses. This carries a
mailed half-figure, the emblems of the Passion and a reference to the denial of St Peter
in the representation of a cock crowing on the edge of the high priest’s pot, in
which it was cooking. By the north wall of the choir there is a tomb bearing the figure of
Franciscan Bishop de Ledrede, who died in 1360. In the south transept of the choir is a
monument to a prominent member of the confederation, Bishop Rothe and in the south
transept the alter tomb of the 8th Earl of Ormonde and his countess (1539). Near the south
door is the tomb of the 1st Viscount Mountgarrett, with an armoured effigy. Nearby is the
tomb of Bishop Walsh (1585)and, in the south aisle, a female effigy wearing the old Irish
cloak. The tomb of Bishop Hacket (1478), is also in the south aisle. At the south-west end
of the nave is a black marble twelfth-century font. ‘St Ciaran’s Chair’, in
the north transept, is also of black marble, with thirteenth-century sculpture on the
arms.
Outside, close to the south transept, stands a round tower 100 feet high and 46.5 feet in
circumference at the base. This is a relic of the ancient church which occupied the site,
though the original conical cap has been replaced by a slightly domed roof. The top storey
has six windows instead of the usual four, and each of the other five storeys has an
unusually wide single window. To the north-west of the cathedral is St Canice’s
Library, which has 3,000 volumes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Leading to
the cathedral from Irishtown are St Canice’s Steps (1614) with fragments of old
sculptures set in the walls.
Kilkenny Castle, at the south-eastern end of the city, is a magnificent building on high
ground beside the river. It was built in the thirteenth century in place of an earlier
motte fortress erected by Strongbow. Though much altered, the structure retains the lines
of a medieval fortress. Today it forms three sides of a quadrangle, and three of the four
original round corner-towers remain.
From the fourteenth century the castle was the main seat of the Butlers, the Earls and
Dukes of Ormonde, who play a large part in Irish history. Today the castle is in state
care, having been handed over to the city of Kilkenny by the Marquess of Ormonde, prior to
restoration and opening to the public. In the old castle stables is the Kilkenny Design
Centre where an exhibition hall is open to visitors. |
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