These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
Cill Chainnigh· Irish · main form · validated name
Kilkenny· English · main form
Place & story
Between neighbouring counties
Lewis’s 1837 county opening places Kilkenny inland between Carlow and Wexford, Tipperary, Waterford and the then Queen’s County. Its territorial discussion repeatedly uses the Nore and Barrow to distinguish areas. These river references are helpful geographical anchors, but a historical region should not be reconstructed from a translated name alone. The source’s proposed etymology for Ossory is not adopted here as established linguistic evidence.[2]
Ossory and the county
The directory describes parts of the county in relation to Ossory and records other older districts in the north and between the rivers. Political territory, diocese and later county were not necessarily coextensive. A reference to Ossory in church or family records can therefore require more information before it is assigned to a Kilkenny parish. The record’s date and institution are as important as the familiar regional label.[2]
City and market hinterland
Lewis treats Kilkenny city, including Irishtown, as a county of itself, while his Callan entry describes a separate regional market on the King’s River. Buyers linked Callan with several neighbouring towns beyond the county. The county story consequently includes both civic jurisdictions and rural exchange networks. For a household, preserve the townland, parish and street where given, and distinguish county residence from a market, diocesan or city connection. Lists of medieval landholding families provide context rather than personal genealogical proof.[3][4]
Figures cover the whole county including its cities. CSO recommends this series for long-term comparison, although minor boundary changes have occurred.
View population figures
County Kilkenny, including its cities — census population
placenames