Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/431

Rh KILKENNY. 423 KILKENNY. 1 is of inferior quality, being sulphxireons, and chiefly used for smelting and smiths' work. The principal collieries are at Castlecomer, Clough, and Newtown. The sub- stratum is chiefly limestone, with clay, slate, and sand- stone, but iron, marblo, manganese, and marl are also found. There are chalybeate springs at Ballyspellin. The soil is light, loamy, and Tery fertile in the valleys. The climate, owing to the general slope of the surface to the S.E., causing the waters to ran off rapidly, is very dry and healthy. The occupations of the people are almost entirely agricultural, and but few manufactures are carried on, the only articles of export being flour, beer, whisky, and leather. The woollen manufacture and the linen trade, once so important, are now almost extinct. Its chief industry is in the flour mills, of which there are great numbers. The grain is sent to Dublin. The condition of the poor is wretched in the extreme, all articles of food and clothing being very expensive. The principal towns are, Kilkenny, with a population in 1861 of 14,174, and Callan; with 2,322. The former is the county town, where the assizes are held, and here also is the headquarters of the police force. It is in the Leinster circuit, and in the south- eastern or Curragh military district. The barrack stations are at Kilkenny and Castlecomer. The county contains numerous traces of antiquity. On the summit of Tory Hill is a circular space covered with stones, and tearing a curious inscription. There are various crom- lechs, the most remarkable of which is at Kilmogue. Ruths are very numerous, especially at Galmoy and near the Nore. At Earlsrath is a large fort enclosed by a fosse, and at Callan, Kilkenny, and Castlecomer, are extensive moats. In this county were two very cele- brated monasteries of the Cistercian order, one at Jer- point and the other at Graig ; also numerous castles, the chief of which is Grandison Castle, in Iverk. Among the resident landowners are, Viscount Clifden, Sir Charles Cuffe, Bart., the Earl of Desart, Lord Mount- garret, Viscount Ashbrook, the Earl of Bessborough, James Aylward, George Bryan, &c. KILKENNY, a county of a city, market town, muni- cipal and parliamentary borough, and the capital of the county of Kilkenny, in the prov. of Leinster, Ireland, 73 miles S.W. of Dublin. It has stations on the Kil- kenny branch of the Great Southern and Western and on the Wuterford and Kilkenny railways. It comprises an area of 26J square miles, or 17,012 acres, and con- tains a population, by the census of 1861, of 17,441 within the parliamentary, and 13,019 within the municipal limits, having decreased above 6,000 since 1851. It returns one member to Parliament, and had in 1859 a constituency of 585. Its name is derived by some from the word Kyle-ken-ni, " the wooded head or hill near the river ; " and by others, with more proba- bility, from the dedication of its church to St. Canice, on the removal of the ancient see of Ossory to this town, in 1052. Little is known of its history till the invasion of Strongbow in 1172, when ho and his followers erected here a fortress which was attacked and destroyed in ir.ci, by Donald O'Brien, king of Thormond. On the marriage of Strongbow with the daughter of Dermot nurrough, king of Leinster, this portion of tho i ory was granted to him, and so descended to his ssor, William Lo Mareschal, who founded the tie, and also restored the town, which became >f tho principal residences of his descendants, and ad of the palatinate of Kilkenny. At this time arose that part of the present city called Kilkenny, in udistinction to the original town on the opposite bank, called Irishtown ; each had its separate govern- . tin' former under the lords of the castle, and the r under the bishops of Ossory. It became soon i tant as a place of assembly. In 1294 here was . :i groat council of the barons of the English pale, and in 1309 a parliament assembled in the town, enact- vero laws against tho English settlers who adopted rish customs. The celebrated Statute of Kilkenny, !i the Brehon law was abolished, was passed in the parliament hold here in 1367. In 1399 Richard II., on his journey through the S. of Ireland, was received here and entertained by the Earl of Ormond, to whoso family Kilkenny had passed by purchase. In 1400 the town was encompassed by a wall, and the townsmen received a grant of tolls for murage. In the contest between the houses of York and Lancaster, it was be- Beigcd and taken by tho Earl of Desmond, a Lancas- trian. At the outbreak of the parliamentary war, in 1641, parliaments and vice-royal courts were no longer assembled here, but it became instead tho chief quarters of the Roman Catholic party appointed to manage affairs. In 1650 it was attacked by Cromwell, and after a brave defence succumbed, tho parliamentary general compli- menting the citizens on their skill and gallantry. The town is well built, and has a prosperous and cheerful appearance. It is divided into two unequal portions by the river Nore. The larger portion containing the castle is on the western bank, and near tho northern extremity is that part called Irishtown, where stands the cathedral. Tho streets are irregular, but its castle, cathedral, and other remains of ancient edifices, give it a venerable and imposing magnificence. Kilkenny proper is by far the most handsome and modern part of this city. The houses are large and built mostly of stone. Its chief buildings are the cathedral, two parish churches, seven Roman Catholic chapels, two monas- teries, a convent, Presbyterian, and Methodist meeting houses, two colleges, the county-court house, the county and city prisons, county infirmary, fever hospital, the Tholsel barracks, workhouse, and Kilkenny Castle, tho residence of the Marquis of Ormonde. The Horti- cultural Society holds here two meetings a year. The Kilkenny hunt is considered the most celebrated in Ireland. Along the bank of the Nore is a promenado called the Mall, extending above a mile in length, and which has recently been much improved. The river is spanned by two bridges, called St. John's Bridge and Green's Bridge. Here is the headquarters of a military district, which embraces Kilkenny, Water- ford, Wexford, Carlow, and Queen's County, with parts of Wicklow, and Tippcrary. It is also the headquarters of the district police, and the station of a resident magistrate. The net annual value of property under the Tenement Valuation Act is 17,488. There were until recently two municipal corporations, that of tho English town or city of Kilkenny, first incorporated by William Le Mareschal the elder, and that of Irishtown, or St. Canice, incorporated by King Edward IV. Tho corporation of the city of Kilkenny was styled " the mayor and citizens of the city of Kilkenny," and had a revenue of upwards of 2,000 per annum. That ot Irishtown bore tho style of "the portreeve, burgesses, and commons of the borough of Irishtown," and had an income of 15. By tho Municipal Reform Act they have been formed into one borough. Tho corporation consists of a mayor, 2 sheriffs, 18 aldermen, 36 common- councilmen, and a number of freemen. The mayor is chosen annually, and is custos rotttlonnn, and holds a court of conscience weekly, in which debts not exceeding 2 may be recovered. Assizes for the county are held in the new court-house ; quarter and petty sessions are also held in the town. The ancient castle of Kilkenny is situ- ated on an eminence overlooking the Noro. It forms two sides of a quadrangle containing three of tho round towers of the ancient castle. It has been greatly improved by the Ormonde family latterly. Several of its rooms are hung with rich tapestry, and it contains a fine collection of paintings. Next to the castle in interest is tho cathedral church of St. Canice. It is situated on a gentle elevation at the western extremity of tho town, and is a spacious cruciform building, in the early English stylo of architecture, with a low, massy tower supported on columns of black marble, and lofty pointed arches. The exterior walls are embattled, and at tho W. end tho pinnacles form two spires. The length is 22G feet, and breadth. 123 feet. The interior is very imposing: the nave is separated from the aisles by a range of five clustered columns, and lighted by a large W. win- dow and five clerestory windows. The choir haa a