Features
The Canal walk the canal that was never finished
The Kilkenny Observer welcomes John Comerford from Kilkenny tours who will bring us on trip to visit various locations in Kilkenny city and county. We hope to bring you a piece of history on the first Friday of each month. To give the full history on each location would take up too many column inches, …
Squeaky Door Collective to exhibit during AKA Festival
Kilkenny’s newest artist collective are putting together an exciting show for the first weekend of AKA Festival 2026. Join Squeaky Door Collective for their opening launch on Friday 7th August between 4-7pm to meet the artists. The exhibition will run from 10-6pm Friday to Sunday, 7th-9th August. Situated in the beautifully lit Saint Patrick’s Community …
How Brendan Corcoran found the tools for truthful acting
P.M O’Sullivan John McGahern, one of Ireland’s best writers, lived by a clear eye. He never joined in reflexive denunciations of Irish religious life. He refused easy dismissals, even after his work and his life suffered profoundly in the aftermath of The Dark (1965), his second novel, being banned ― a sorry event in which …
53 years of heartache to achieve accountability for Bloody Sunday
In Ryan’s bar on Friary Street Kilkenny, an invited audience got to see a preview of Thomas Kinsella’s work, ‘The Butchers Dozen’. Presented by Playactin’ Theatre company, it is a new work with the Dublin poets words forming the background and telling the horrific story of Bloody Sunday. Kinsella’s Butcher’s Dozen is a fierce 1972 …
Pope Leo appoints Ger Nash as Bishop of Ossory
On THE 29TH OF July at 12 noon , Pope Leo XIV appointed Bishop Gerard Nash to minister simultaneously as Bishop of Ferns and as Bishop of Ossory. The two dioceses concerned are now united in persona episcopi, and will be pastorally administered by one bishop, Bishop Nash. The Kilkenny Observer, joined with hundreds of …
Remembering Private Michael Green
Photos jbskilkenny The WW1 monument at the Peace Park in Kilkenny, has attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors since it was unveiled in 2018. Displaying over 800 names of Kilkenny men and women who took part in WW1, the memorial has been visited by locals and tourists alike. Many visit to remember a relative who …
O’Driscoll prepares for Arts festival exhibition
Kurt Vonnegut was an American author known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. His published work includes fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five non fiction works over fifty years; further works have been published since his death. So, it would be fair to say he knows a thing or two about …
Annual Jenkinstown Camino walk
The annual Jenkinstown Camino Walk will take place on Sunday, July 26th, with participants gathering at Jenkinstown Church at 2.30pm. The walk, which has become a valued annual event, offers people an opportunity to come together in a spirit of friendship, faith, and community. This year’s walk will be led by Fr. Willie Purcell and …
Small ripples of artistic creativity celebrated, as AKA reach eleventh festival
Photos: jbs photos kilkenny On a glorious Saturday afternoon, almost 100 people gathered at O’Sullivan’s on John Street for the launch of the 2026 AKA festival. Artists, producers, actors, photographers, sculptors, woodturners and a host of other artistic people joined to welcome another festival rooted in the community. Launching the festival was Ann Mulrooney. With …
“Loneliness is a serious issue in rural Ireland”, says Kilkenny T.D.
By Tom Dayton As Lake Productions enter the final few weeks before their production of ‘the Quiet Land’ by Irish playwright Malachy McKenna, Tom Dayton for the Kilkenny Observer newspaper contacted Peter ‘Chap’ Cleere a T.D for Carlow Kilkenny and Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Agriculture and Rural Affairs to ask him his thoughts on rural …
