Culture in Kilkenny
No matter how you define “Culture”, Kilkenny has got you covered. With it’s hilarious comedy, epic Summer Festivals , or our thriving Music, Arts and Craft scene Kilkenny City and County is the cultural heartbeat of Ireland.
More than just that, amidst Kilkenny’s narrow winding streets and idyllic rural villages you will find some of the most unique dining and shopping experiences you will find anywhere in Ireland.
They offer their visitors excellent contemporary exhibitions, which reflect the constantly changing nature of visual art practice. Providing a platform for the best of Irish art today and demonstrating a strong commitment to presenting the work of artists of international repute, they aim to stimulate, inspire and challenge their audience.
Kilkenny-based Cartoon Saloon is an Academy Award®-nominated animation studio formed by Paul Young, Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey in 1999. From award-winning short films such as From Darkness, Cúilín Dualach/Backwards Boy, Old Fangs, The Ledge End Of Phil, and Somewhere Down the Line, to TV series like Skunk FU! and now Puffin Rock (launched on RTEjr in Jan 2015 and to be broadcast worldwide later this year), Cartoon Saloon has carved a special place in the international animation industry.
In early November 2017 MacDonagh Junction will launch the Kilkenny Famine Experience, a free, self-guided, audio visual tour that will recall the human story of the Kilkenny famine inmates around the buildings of the former famine Workhouse (now Workhouse Square, MacDonagh Junction). Visit Workhouse Square to see the old structure merged with modern award winning architecture and visit the memorial garden at Goods Shed Square.
Rothe House is a unique Tudor merchant’s townhouse, built between 1594 and 1610. The property comprises three houses, three enclosed courtyards and a large garden to the rear. The property is a lot bigger than it looks from the street! To accommodate his growing family, on this long, narrow plot John Rothe Fitzpiers built three houses, one behind the other, with cobbled courtyards in between. To the rear is a half-acre garden that runs all the way back to the City Wall.
Education is at the heart of the National Craft Gallery. Through each exhibition we run tours, talks, workshops and inspiring schools programmes to engage students, families, designer makers and visitors.