Features
The Kilkenny Canal
With thanks to Cois Céim and The Saturday Walkers group The city fathers were very much aware the handicap to the city trade that dependence on land transport represented. They were anxious to see a canal on the Nore to make it navigable from the sea. Goods had always been transported by water but this …
Annual Kilkenny book and coin fair
Sat. 30th July 2022 Club house hotel 11a.m to 5p.m The Annual Kilkenny Book Fair will be held in the Club House Hotel on Saturday 30/07/2022 starting at 11 A.M and finishing at 5 P.M. There will be in attendance around 10 Book sellers from all over Ireland bringing together an eclectic mix of Books, …
The Quiet Land by Malachy McKenna – Lunchtime Theatre
Lunch & Theatre at 3 John’s Quay Rural Ireland today! Two elderly small farmers who have witnessed much change in their community meet between their adjoining farms. An age-old ritual of small talk, farming news, sporting yarns is now peppered with uncertainty and fear. Eamon and Nashee are men of heart, of humour, of hardness …
Mayor Fitzgerald thanks ‘the Saturday Walkers Group’ for keeping the history of Kilkenny alive
At a recent reception at city hall in Kilkenny, Mayor David Fitzgerald welcomed thirty members of The Saturday walkers club. Started in 2012 by then mayor Seán Ó hArgáin, the focus was on Kilkenny being a healthy and active city. According to Seán, “I had recently travelled my own journey of improving my levels of …
Former army band man Charlie releases trumpet classic for home care team
When it comes to music, Charlie Parsons knows a thing or two on that topic. As a former trumpet player in the Army Band he has recently recorded the trumpet classic Il Silenzio in memory of his mother. All proceeds will go to the Carlow / Kilkenny home care team who are very close to …
When women’s hands became fighting tools
‘A Woman’s Culm’ (2021) HDV 17:30 mins by Pauline O’Connell is a single-channel film, an artistic response to the commission call-out under the ‘Local Legacies 1921/2021’ Community Strand of the Decade of Centenaries Programme in County Kilkenny. The short cine-poem, centred on the upland areas along the Castlecomer Plateaux, makes visible rural women’s day-to-day struggles …
Cromwell in Kilkenny
Another legend relates to the profanement of Kilkenny’s Market Cross by Cromwellian soldiers. This magnificent stone structure stood close to the present location of the same name. Four columns supported it and devout folk could ascend it on its four sides by flights of stone steps. From its highest point rose a sculptured figure of …
Jim Carroll – an appreciation
The sudden death of Jim Carroll had a devastating effect on Kilkenny people. Affectionately known as Sag, he spent a lifetime working within the hospitality industry. A gregarious, ebullient and effervescent personality ensured that Jim forever remained well liked. Yet along with the friendliness, the companionable nature, he was a man of steely determination and …
Bruno McCormack: An unlikely tail
This week The Kilkenny Observer is delighted to introduce a short story from a Newpark resident Renowned for sporting prowess over decades, the inhabitants of Newpark regularly brought honours and titles to their beloved estate. High performances delivered accolades in hurling, courtesy of O’Loughlins and Dicksboro. Much to the chagrin of some observers, the other …
The night I almost scored on Ollie
By Frank Cody The Newpark housing estate, when I was a boy, was surrounded by fields. This safe environment granted freedom to frolic and play. Paddy Phelan, John ‘Sundown’ Phelan and Danny McEvoy owned these swards. The Phelan brothers used good farm husbandry to rotate crops of cereals and vegetables. This practice allowed the corncrake …
