Kilkenny Castle: Difference between revisions
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== External links == |
== External links == |
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{{commons category|Kilkenny Castle}} |
{{commons category|Kilkenny Castle}} |
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* [http://dev.kilkenny.ie/eng/About_Kilkenny/History/Famous_Landmarks/Kilkenny_Castle.html Kilkenny famous landmarks] |
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929021126/http://dev.kilkenny.ie/eng/About_Kilkenny/History/Famous_Landmarks/Kilkenny_Castle.html Kilkenny famous landmarks] |
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{{Historic Irish houses}} |
{{Historic Irish houses}} |
Revision as of 05:44, 29 November 2017
Kilkenny Castle | |
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Irish: Caisleán Chill Chainnigh | |
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General information | |
Type | Castle |
Location | Kilkenny, Ireland |
Construction started | 1195 |
Completed | 1213 |
Kilkenny Castle (Irish: Caisleán Chill Chainnigh) is a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland built in 1195 to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways. It was a symbol of Norman occupation and in its original thirteenth-century condition it would have formed an important element of the defences of the town with four large circular corner towers and a massive ditch, part of which can still be seen today on the Parade.
The property was transferred to the people of Kilkenny in 1967 for £50
Previous owners of the castle
Earls of Pembroke
Kilkenny Castle has been an important site since
Butler dynasty
The Castle became the seat to the very powerful family, the Butlers of
Kilkenny castle was the venue for the meeting of the General Assembly, or parliament, of the Confederate Ireland government in the 1640s.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/KilkennyCastlePS.jpg/220px-KilkennyCastlePS.jpg)
The Irish State
The last member of the Butler family sold the castle to the local Castle Restoration Committee in the middle of the 20th century for
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Kilkenny_castle.jpg/220px-Kilkenny_castle.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Kilkenny_Castle_from_river.jpg/220px-Kilkenny_Castle_from_river.jpg)
This strategic site was where the local Kings of Osraige had their chief residence before the Norman invasion.
Twenty years later, de Clare's son-in-law,
The castle was owned by the seneschal of Kilkenny Sir Gilbert De Bohun who inherited the county of Kilkenny and castle from his mother in 1270, in 1300 he was outlawed by Edward I but was reinstated in 1303, he held the castle until his death in 1381. It was not granted to his heir Joan, but seized by the crown and sold to the Butler family.
Butlers of Ormond
The Castle became the seat to a very powerful family, the Butlers of Ormonde or Butler family. They were a remarkable family, resilient, politically astute and faithful to the crown and to Ireland. These loyalties determined their fortunes and career. The Butler family arrived in Ireland with the
By the 18th century, the castle had become run down, reflecting the failing fortunes of the Butler family. However, some restoration was carried out by Anne Wandesford of Castlecomer, who brought wealth back into the family upon marrying John Butler, 17th Earl of Ormonde.
In the 19th century, the Butlers then attempted to restore it to its original medieval appearance, also rebuilding the north wing and extending the south curtain wall. More extensions were added in 1854.
In 1904,
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Kilkenny_castle%2C_Ireland%2C_v2_1841.jpg/220px-Kilkenny_castle%2C_Ireland%2C_v2_1841.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Kilkenny_Castle._County_Kilkenny%2C_Ireland-LCCN2002717434.jpg/220px-Kilkenny_Castle._County_Kilkenny%2C_Ireland-LCCN2002717434.jpg)
The Butler family remained living in the castle until 1935, when they sold its contents for £6,000, moved to London, and abandoned it for thirty years. The impact of rising taxes, death duties, economic depression and living costs had taken their toll. While the Ormondes had received £22,000 in rental income in the 1880s, investment income in the 1930s was in the region of £9,000 and by 1950 these investments yielded only £850. They disposed of the bulk of their tenanted estates in Tipperary and Kilkenny, 21,000 acres (85 km²), by 1915 for £240,000. Death duties and expenses following the death of James Butler, 3rd Marquess of Ormonde in 1919 amounted to £166,000.[3]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Kilkenny_Castle_Auction_1935.jpg/220px-Kilkenny_Castle_Auction_1935.jpg)
In 1967,
Confederate Ireland
In the 17th century, the castle came into the hands of
Irish Civil War
During the Irish Civil War in 1922, Republicans were besieged in the Castle by Irish Free State forces. The Ormondes, together with their pet Pekinese, chose to remain in situ in their bedroom over the great gate, which was the main focus of attack. There was a machine gun outside their door. Only one man was injured but a great deal of damage was inflicted on the castle, which took many years to repair.[6]
Weather record
Ireland's highest officially recognised air temperature, 33.3 °C (91.9 °F), was measured at Kilkenny Castle on 26 June 1887.[7]
Restoration
The rest of the 20th century saw a large amount of restoration and maintenance take place, as well as the castle being opened to visitors.[8] The Butler Gallery, in the castle basement, holds rotating exhibitions put on by the Kilkenny Art Gallery Society in a venue named for Peggy and Hubert Butler.
There are ornamental gardens on the city side of the castle, and extensive land and gardens to the front. It has become one of the most visited tourist sites in Ireland. Now a property in state care. Part of the National Art Gallery is on display in the castle.
Excavations and building surveys by Ben Murtagh in the 1990s revealed traces of an earlier castle, exposed a postern gate (side entrance) and section of the castle ditch facing on to the Parade (now visible), and also partly uncovered the lost south-east side of the castle.
The entrance was through the (now missing) east wall. Various other features of the original castle have also been excavated, including original stone buttressing and a garderobe. Parts of this castle survive to the present day but the castle has changed over centuries. The south curtain wall is long gone, the elaborate entrance gate is a 17th-century addition, and in much of what can be seen from the castle park side is a 19th-century reconstruction.
References
- ^ National Parks and Monuments Service, Kilkenny Castle
- ^ A History of St. Mary’s Church. Text by Imelda Kehoe. Published by the Gowran Development Association 1992
- ISBN 0-86327-850-7.
- ^ "The Butler Society".
- ^ "Irish Tourism Website".
- ^ Melosina Lenox-Conyngham (2006-08-21). "An Irishman's Diary". The Irish Times.
- ^ "Temperature in Ireland". Met Éireann. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
- ^ "Kilkenny Castle Guide". Kilkenny Information Age. Retrieved 2007-03-22.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)