Kilkenny Castle is a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland. It was the seat of the Butler family. Formerly the family name was FitzWalter. The castle was sold to the Irish government in the middle of the 20th century for £50. It has since been refurbished and is open to visitors. Part of the National Art Gallery is on display in the castle. There are ornamental gardens on the town side of the castle, and extensive land and gardens to the front.
Kilkenny castle was the venue for the meeting of the General Assembly, or parliament, of the Confederate Ireland government in the 1640s.
The present castle is located on a prominent vantage point at a bend in the rive Nore. This strategic site was where the local kings; O'Carrolls (0840 AD), O'Dunphys, Fitzpatricks, had their castle(s) prior to the Norman invasion. Richard de Clare (also known as Strongbow) built the first Norman tower on the site in 1172. Twenty year's later, de Clare's son-in-law, William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, built the first stone castle on the site, of which three towers still remain. The entrance was through the (now missing) east wall. Various other features of the original castle have also been excavated, including original stone buttressing and a toilet chute.
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