Like most counties in Ireland, Kilkenny hosts a wide range of festivals throughout the year. It is known as a county that appreciates the arts but it also likes a good laugh too. Let's look at some of these festivals in greater detail.
Arts Festival
A parade taking place at the annual Kilkenny Arts Festival.
Image courtesy of Kilkenny Arts FestivalArts Festival
Image courtesy of Kilkenny Arts Festival
Image courtesy of Kilkenny Arts Festival
Arts Festival
A parade taking place at the annual Kilkenny Arts Festival.
Image courtesy of Kilkenny Arts FestivalKilkenny Arts Festival
The Kilkenny Arts Festival takes place each summer, usually over a period of 10 days. It was first held in 1974 and was originally a festival for classical music lovers. However, the programme has developed since then.
This year, there were events covering jazz, film, traditional Irish music, visual arts, literature, dance and theatre.
The festival has become so popular that over 70,000 visitors flock to Kilkenny City each August.
Irish Conker Championships
Conker
The Irish Conker Championships take place each year in Freshford, County Kilkenny.
Image courtesy of The Irish TimesConker
Image courtesy of The Irish Times
Image courtesy of The Irish Times
Conker
The Irish Conker Championships take place each year in Freshford, County Kilkenny.
Image courtesy of The Irish TimesThe Irish Conker Championships take place each year in Freshford, County Kilkenny. Visitors from all over Ireland, England and even Australia take part in this 'nutty' event.
The festival was first hosted in 2000 and was the brainwave of Grace Kearney. She noticed that there were 52 Horse Chestnut trees around the village green in Freshford.
Children from St Lachtains School collect almost 30,000 conkers for the event and over 600 people from Under 11s to adults take part.
Tommy Tiernan
Tommy Tiernan is a regular performer at the Cat Laughs Festival in Kilkenny.
Image courtesy of The Irish TimesTommy Tiernan
Image courtesy of The Irish Times
Image courtesy of The Irish Times
Tommy Tiernan
Tommy Tiernan is a regular performer at the Cat Laughs Festival in Kilkenny.
Image courtesy of The Irish TimesCat Laughs
The Cat Laughs is a comedy festival that takes place in Kilkenny City every year. It was first run in 1995 and is generally held during the first weekend in June.
It is mainly comedians from Ireland like Tommy Tiernan and Dara O'Briain that first starred at the festival. Now, comedians from all over the world perform in Kilkenny.
On the Sunday of each festival, a football match takes place between comedians from Ireland and those from arond the world. Commentary on the game is provided by Barry Murphy, who works on RTE's Apres Match team.