County Kilkenny, Ireland Genealogy

Ireland County Kilkenny.

Kilkenny is an inland county in the province of Leinster. The name Kilkenny is taken from the Gaelic Cill Cheannaigh, which translates as the Church of Canice. St. Canice established a monastery in the area during the sixth century and St. Canice's Cathedral was built in Kilkenny City during the thirteenth century; the second largest cathedral in “Ireland”. The county covers 796 square miles (2,062 sq km). Its length is 45 miles from the bend of the river Suir (west of Waterford City) to the north at the townland of Clogh. Its breadth is 23 miles.

In the early seventeenth century, Kilkenny City became the meeting place of an independent Irish government, called the Confederation of Kilkenny, which was created in opposition to the English-controlled parliament in Dublin. This rebellion ended in 1650 by Cromwell. Cromwell used the St. Canice's Cathedral in Kilkenny City to house his horses. Cromwell’s army brought to a close what is arguably the most distinguished period in the county’s history when the Confederation fell.

The population was 181,946 in 1821 and grew to 202,420 in 1841. It then began to decrease to 158,748 in 1851 and was only 70,965 in 1926. In 2006, the population was 87,558. The predominant religion in the county is Roman Catholic. In 1861, 94.9% of the population was Roman Catholic followed by the Church of Ireland at 4.8% with 0.2% being Presbyterian and 0.1% being Methodists. Overtime there has been little change in the percentage of religous preference. In 1911, Roman Catholics represented 94.97%% of the populaton; the Church of Ireland was 4.48% with 0.28% and 0.10% being Presbyterian and Methodist, respectively.

General County Research Information
Further information about County Kilkenny is available at the GenUKI site.

Civil Jurisdictions and Parish Research Information
A map of the Civil Parishes of County Kilkenny is available at Irish Times site.