Stepping into Kilkenny's History

11th and 12th centuries St. Canice’s Round Tower. Cill Chainnigh was the centre of power in Kingdom of Osraighe.

1169 Robert FitzStephen and Meiler FitzHenry landed at Bannow Bay and helped Diarmaid Mac Murchadha recover the kingdom of Leinster. After capturing Wexford, they made their first raid into Osraighe.

1205 Start of work on Cathedral of St. Canice

1207 William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, gave Kilkenny its first charter as a town

1225 Black Abbey founded by William Marshall the younger

1244 The Bishop of Ossory gave the Dominicans of the Black Abbey the right to draw water from St. Canice’s Well (Kenny’s Well)

1260 (approximately) Building of the Talbot Tower at south-west corner of wall

1300 – 1400 Kilkenny City walls built

1324 Trial of Alice Kyteler for witchcraft. Petronilla de Media was found guilty and burned.

1348-49 Friar John Clyn wrote an account of the Black Death in Kilkenny

1366 Lionel, Duke of Clarence held a parliament at Kilkenny. A series of laws called the ‘Statutes of Kilkenny’ were passed.

1391 James Butler, third Earl of Ormond bought Kilkenny Castle

1461 James Butler, fifth Earl of Ormond was executed after the battle of Towton in England.

1515 Thomas, the 7th Earl of Ormonde died. After his death Sir Piers Rua Butler became the chief power in Ormond, but did not get the title of 8th Earl until 1538


1540 St. Francis Abbey and St. John’s Priory suppressed

1543 Black Abbey suppressed

1546 James, the 9th Earl of Ormond (Séamus Bacach) was poisoned at a feast at Holborn in London

1564 A great flood took place in which St. John’s Bridge and Castle fell down

1566 Grace’s Old Castle handed over as a gaol

1582 The Shee Almshouse in Rose Inn Street was founded by Sir Richard Shee

1594 – 1610 Rothe House built

Seventeenth Century – The Butts Cross was erected to the memory of Sir Richard Shee of Bonnetstown, and stands where the Bonnetstown Road meets the Granges Road

1609 A Charter of James I granted city status to Kilkenny, and its chief magistrate was to be known
as Mayor instead of Sovereign

1642 Confederation of Kilkenny. Confederate Catholics set up a legislative assembly in Kilkenny.

1650 After a short siege and assault, Kilkenny surrendered to Cromwell

1676 The Duke of Ormonde presented a silver mace to the City of Kilkenny

1698 The Second Duke of Ormonde had a new entrance gate built in the west wall of the castle

1759 – 1761 The Tholsel (city Hall) in High Street was built

1763 A great flood swept away the bridges in the city. The present Greens Bridge was built in 1765

1771 The Market Cross, built in 1335 was removed

1782 County Hall, formerly Kilkenny College built

1786 Butler House built

1830 Kilkenny Courthouse

1843 – 1857 St. Mary’s Cathedral was built

1842 Kilkenny Workhouse was built to house 1,200 paupers

1843 Daniel O’Connell held a Monster Meeting at the Race Course a few miles south of Kilkenny

1846 Famine fever killed at least 1,300 people in Kilkenny in the year beginning September 1846

1848 First railway engine arrived in Kilkenny in April. In July the first excursion by rail to Thomastown took
place.

1890 After the Parnell split, the Parnellite candidate was defeated in the Kilkenny by-election

1904 King Edward VII visited Kilkenny

1904 Kilkenny won their first All-Ireland Hurling Title

1909 The O’Loughlin Memorial Church of St. John the Evangelist was built

1910 A new St. John’s Bridge was built

1935 Kilkenny Castle closed and the Ormonde family left Ireland

1965 Kilkenny Design Workshops opened in the former castle stables

1967 The Marquess of Ormonde presented Kilkenny Castle to the people of Kilkenny