This April is the last chance to see the cats before they are auctioned to raise funds for the Kilkenny Civic Trust St Mary’s Alms House renovation project and are delivered to their new owners around the country and the world. The live auction will take place in Butler House Orangeries at 18:30 on 5th May 2022
Visitors are invited to follow the trail on the official Kilkenny Catwalk Trail App and find sculptures that are be located in Kilkenny’s beautiful public spaces many of which are attached to the heritage buildings around the city. The trail is designed to immerse people in Kilkenny’s rich heritage while at the same time supporting our local Tourism and Hospitality businesses.
Visit: www.kilkennycatwalk.ie
This project is a partnership between Kilkenny Civic Trust and Kilkenny County Council and was created by The Art of Tourism who specialise in the delivery of public art trails. The Kilkenny Catwalk Art Trail can be engaged with outdoors, whilst adhering to physical distancing requirements, regardless of restrictions. It provides creative work for mainly local artists and gives local businesses the knock-on benefits of visitors being attracted to Kilkenny to view the new creative and colourful trail.
The Cat model is a 5ft tall fibreglass resin sculpture based on The Secret of Kells character, Pangur Bán, created by four-time Academy Award®, Golden Globe®, BAFTA and Emmy nominated Kilkenny-based animation studio, Cartoon Saloon.
The trail goes live from Kilkenny Day 2021 to April 2022 and people from all over Ireland are invited to get outdoors, follow the trail and enjoy a fun, bright and engaging activity.
“The Kilkenny Catwalk brings business, arts and local communities in Kilkenny together to support our local tourism and hospitality sector and creates an amazing public arts trail, while raising much-needed funds for the Kilkenny Civic Trust for their vital conservation work with the St Marys Almshouse refurbishment project.” Cllr. Andrew McGuinness, Mayor
All of the artists invited to take part in this project will receive a 5ft blank canvas in the shape of Pangur Bán shown above. They will all be decorated in the artist’s unique style! We cannot wait to see this process unravel.
See the complete panel of artists below. Click on the images to learn more about them.
Richard Hearns Bernadette Kiely
Elisabeth Cope
CatWalk Trail Locations
| Castle Park Rose Garden | Butler Gallery |
| Castle Park – Position Cat near the Playground | Talbots Tower |
| Design Council (Castle Yard) | McDonagh Shopping Centre |
| Butler House Gardens | Market Cross Shopping Centre |
| Medieval Mile Museum Grounds | Kilkenny Rivercourt Hotel |
| The Tholsel | Langtons Hotel |
| Rothe House | Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel |
| St Canices Cathedral Grounds | Kilford Arms Hotel |
| Heritage Council |
Contact Information & Media Enquiries
To find out more about this new public art trail, visit www.kilkennycatwalk.ie or email KilkennyCatwalk@gmail.com
Check it out on Social Media:
- Facebook: #Kilkenny-Cat-Walk
- Twitter: #WalkKilkenny
- Instagram: #KilkennyCatWalk
- Kilkenny Catwalk App: will be free and available both for Android and iOS.
- #kilkennycatwalk
