Ireland · 13th century
Kilkenny Castle (Irish: Caisleán Chill Chainnigh pronounced [ˈkaʃlʲaːnˠˈçiːl̪ʲˈxan̪ʲiː]) is a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland, built in 1260 to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways. It was a symbol of Norman occupation, and in its original 13th-century condition, it would have formed an important element of the town's defences with four large circular corner towers and a massive ditch, part of which can still be seen today on the Parade.
In 1967, Arthur Butler, 6th Marquess of Ormonde, sold the castle for £50 to the Castle Restoration Committee for the people of Kilkenny. The castle and grounds are now managed by the Office of Public Works, and the gardens and parkland are open to the public. The Parade Tower is a conference venue. Since 2002, ceremonies for conferring awards and degrees on the graduates of the Kilkenny Campus of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, have been held at the castle.
Text adapted from “Kilkenny Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Kilkenny Castle ranks #651 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #5 of the 178 mapped in Ireland. Founded 1260, it is older than 67% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 1080 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 9,777 times in the last 60 days, more than 93% of the atlas. 8 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Waterford, 44 km away. See how Ireland compares in the castle statistics.
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