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Kilkenny Castle is one of the most instantly recognised buildings in Ireland. There has been a castle on this site
since 1172 when the Norman Knight, Richard de Clare, called Strongbow, built a wooden tower on this rocky
height overlooking the River Nore. The first stone castle was built here 20 years later by Strongbow's son-in-law
William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke. Three of this castle's original four towers survive today.
The Butler family bought the Castle in 1391 and lived there until 1935. They were Earls, Marquesses and Dukes of
Ormonde and lived in the castle for over 500 years. They were a remarkable family, resilient, politically astute
and faithful to the crown and to Ireland as dictated by the politics of the times. Kilkenny castle was the venue
for the meeting of the General Assembly, or parliament, of the Confederate Ireland government in the 1640s.
The property was given to the Nation in 1967 and the castle and grounds are now managed by the Office of
Public Works. The gardens and parkland adjoining the castle are open to the public and the Parade Tower is a
conference venue.
Collectively, Kilkenny people are known as 'The Cats', most specifically in the arena of hurling, and celebrated by
the limerick:
"There once was two cats of Kilkenny
Each cat thought there was one cat too many
So they fought and they fit
And they scratched and they bit
'Til instead of two cats there weren't any."
The origin of this seems to have been the two 'tribes' of cats that lived in Kilkenny in medieval times, one tribe in
Irishtown and the other 'foreign' tribe in the walled Englishtown, who would fight each other at every
opportunity.
KILKENNY CASTLE
(S8x32)
Bill Forbes Craigievar Book 2
1- 8
1s+2s set, 1s cross RH & cast 1 place, 1s dance in to meet partner &
face down, 1s turn 3s with nearer hand to face up
9-16
1s dance reflection reels of 3 on sides (1s dancing in & up between
2s to start)
17-24
1s petronella turn to middle as 2L+3L & 2M+3M change pl RH, set in
lines across, 1s petronella turn to sides as 2s+3s cross RH & set on
sides
25-32
1s dance Diag R&L (1M crossing down & 1L crossing up)
