Origins
The name for Kilkenny derives from the Irish 'Cill Chainnigh', meaning the
Church of Cainneach, a site of Catholic worship that was first established
by St. Canice in the sixth century. St. Canice was a learned monk who
founded a monastery at Aghavoe, and which later became the seat of the
diocese of Ossory around the year 1052. Ossory was an ancient kingdom of
Ireland that held a semi-independent position as a state within the
kingdom of Leinster. In the ninth century, the kingdom was ruled by King
Cerball, who allied himself with the Norse invaders and was an ancestor of
some the important historical families in Iceland.
The Norman Invasion
The Normans arrived in Kilkenny in 1170, under the leadership of William
the Earl Marshall. In 1208, a charter was created to attract settlers and
trade to the region. Some of Kilkennys most notable attractions were built
during Marshalls leadership, including the Black Abbey, St. Johns
Cathedral and the spectacular Kilkenny Castle, which was constructed in
1260 on the site of the countys first Norman church. During this period,
the city of Kilkenny had two townships divided by the river Nore:
Irishtown, which had its charter from the bishops of Ossory; and
Englishtown, which was under Norman control. From 1295 to 1365 some twelve
parliaments sat in Kilkenny, providing the legislation and administrative
structure for the city. The Anglo-Norman parliament also began to pass
severe laws seeking to discourage English settlers from adopting Irish
customs. In 1336, the infamous Statute of Kilkenny was founded, which
forbade the Anglo-Irish population to integrate, inter-marry or speak the
Gaelic language. The statute was rigorously enforced, but it failed in its
aim of preventing Anglo-Norman landowners from adopting aspects of Gaelic
culture.
In 1541, Henry VIII became the first monarch to declare himself king
(as opposed to feudal lord) of Ireland. Gaelic rebellion throughout the
16th century intensified, not least because the Catholic bishops in
Kilkenny began to find their position increasingly under threat.
The Tudor Period
In 1601, the army of Queen Elizabeth I defeated the Irish at the battle of
Kinsale, and with the fall of the Irish rebel leader Hugh O'Neill, Ireland
found itself under control for the first time by a strong English central
government. From the 16th century onwards English governments made
strenuous efforts to impose Protestantism, beginning a policy of
Anglicisation which soon spread to the whole of Ireland.
The borough of Kilkenny was raised to the status of a city in 1609. By
1641, the Catholic Confederation of Kilkenny established a provisional
government in Ireland, seeking to resist the English persecution of
Catholicism. The confederation sat for six years and many historians view
this period as the citys golden age. The confederation represented both
the Gaelic Irish and the Anglo-Irish Catholics, and functioned as an
independent Irish Parliament. In 1645, however, the confederation split
into two camps, and the Anglo-Irish Party signed a treaty with the English
Viceroy, bringing disunity and rebellion to the county.
Oliver Cromwell arrived in Kilkenny in 1650, with the aim of
suppressing nationalist extremism. Kilkenny city was besieged by Cromwell
in 1650, and former Gaelic landowners were transplanted from the district
to barren areas of the western province of Connacht. (Cromwells famous
choice to landowners - "To Hell or Connacht" - is remembered to
this day.) Catholics found themselves denied the political rights they had
been promised, and with the passing of the Banishment Act in 1697, all
those holding ecclesiastical jurisdiction were forced to leave the county
by May 1698. The proportion of land held by Gaelic and Anglo-Norman
Catholic proprietors fell from about 49% in 1641 to nearly 10% in 1703.
A brief respite occurred during 1685 when the Catholic King James II
came to the throne, causing severe division in English political forces
and leading to the Williamite Wars in Ireland. Jamess supporters, who were
known as Jacobites, were defeated at the Siege of Derry in 1689 and again
at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, and in that same year, the supporters
of the new Protestant king of England and Scotland, William of Orange, had
again occupied Kilkenny city. Many members of the former Irish army
(Jacobites) were forced to leave Ireland, and instead chose to serve in
the armies of France, Spain, and other European countries. They became
known as "The Wild Geese."
The Eighteenth Century
With the increasing centralisation of British power, and the establishment
of Dublin Castle as the governments administrative headquarters, Kilkenny,
like the rest of the country, began to feel the repercussions of British
rule. The Penal laws were passed in 1704 and barred Catholics from access
to the vote, education and the military. Kilkenny became a hive of
revolutionary activity, and the rebel Whiteboy movement staged protests
and insurrections throughout the country during the eighteenth century.
The Whiteboy movement paved the way for the formation of the United
Irishmen, an organisation led by Wolfe Tone, who pledged to "break
the connection with England, the never-failing source of all our political
evils". The United Irishmen staged an unsuccessful rebellion in 1798,
and Kilkenny city was briefly placed under martial law.
The Nineteenth Century
The Act of Union was passed in 1801. This controversial British
legislation politically unified England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales for
the first time. It also bolstered the status of Protestant landowners, and
the imposition of exorbitant rents and heavy tithes on lands leased by
Catholic tenant farmers brought extreme poverty to the county. Evictions
in Kilkenny throughout the 19th century were all too frequent and often
merciless. The rise of Daniel O'Connell gave the oppressed a voice,
however, and anti-tithe protests and mass meeting were widespread across
the county. In response to public outrage amongst Irish farmers, the first
Tenant Protection Society was established at Callan village, County
Kilkenny. Its aim was to obtain fixed rents for tenant farmers. Its
members also pledged not to take the land of any evicted tenant who had
been prepared to pay a set, fixed rent.
Towards independence
The Easter Rising, which took place in Dublin in 1916, led the way for the
controversial Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1922. The greater part of Ireland
achieved a limited independence as the Irish Free State, but the island
was partitioned: six north-eastern counties remained a part of the United
Kingdom. For the first time, Irish nationalist forces found themselves
bitterly divided, and the Civil War of 1922 saw atrocities on both sides.
Kilkenny Castle was taken over in 1922 by anti-Treaty forces, but the
rebels surrendered peacefully after two days.
With the formation of an independent Irish republic in 1949, Kilkenny,
like the rest of the country, suffered from the effects of a depressed
economy and high emigration. With the establishment of the Kilkenny Design
Workshops in the late 1960s, however, the city gradually adopted its
status as Irelands craft industry capital. In 1967, the Sixth Marquees of
Ormonde presented Kilkenny Castle and part of the grounds to the people of
Kilkenny - a landmark event which formally acknowledged the citys feudal
legacy, and its role in the emergence of Irish independence.
Kilkenny Today
Kilkenny city has become a prosperous city, with a young urban population
of just under 19,000, 7,500 of whom are under 25 years of age. The citys
main industries are brewing and processing, although there is still a very
strong tradition of arts and crafts, and the annual Kilkenny Arts Festival
is one of the highlights of Irelands artistic calendar. In 1997, Kilkenny
was one of the four towns selected to participate in the Eircom
Information Age project, and was awarded IR£1 million to help local
industries develop their e-commerce potential. Kilkenny is to celebrate
its 400th anniversary as a city in 2009.
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