List of Kilkenny people

This is a list of Kilkenny people including those who were born in County Kilkenny, in Ireland and have lived there for most of their lives. Also included on the list are people who were not born in County Kilkenny, but have lived there for most of their lives or are associated with County Kilkenny.

Art

Actors

James O'Neill (1847–1920)

Writing

Deborah Alcock (1825–1913), author
John Banim (1798–1842), novelist
Hubert Butler (1900–1991), essayist
James Graves (1815–1886), antiquarian and author
Constantia Grierson (1705–1732), editor, poet, and classical scholar
Thomas Kilroy (born 1934), playwright and novelist
John Locke (1847–1889), poet, writer and Fenian
Dónall Mac Amhlaigh (1926–1989), writer
Brian Mac Giolla Phádraig (c.1580–c.1652), scholar and poet
Francis MacManus (1909–1965), novelist
Gerardine Meaney, Irish feminist critic
John O'Donovan (1806–1861), scholar
Standish James O'Grady (1846–1928), author, journalist, and historian^[1]
Katharine A. O'Keeffe O'Mahoney (1852–1918), educator, lecturer, writer
Richard Lalor Sheil (1791–1851), politician, writer and orator

Music

John Martyn (1948–2009)
Seamus Moore (born 1947)
George William Torrance (1835–1907)
Ronan Tynan (born 1960)
Robert Grace

Military

John Barry (1873–1901), recipient of the Victoria Cross
Dan Bryan (1900–1985), Army officer
John Byrne (1832–1879), recipient of the Victoria Cross
William Dowling (1825–1887), recipient of the Victoria Cross
Frederick Hall (1885–1915), recipient of the Victoria Cross
Walter Hamilton (1856–1879), recipient of the Victoria Cross
Robert Johnston (1872–1950), recipient of the Victoria Cross
John Ryan (1823–1858), recipient of the Victoria Cross

Business

Patrick Cudahy (1849–1919), Meat Packer and philanthropist
James Butler (1855–1934), American Grocery Store and Racetrack owner
Sean O'Farrell (1909–1972), National Ploughing Association and National Ploughing Championships

Politicians

Liam Aylward (born 1952)
Bobby Aylward
Edward Butler (1823–1879), Australian politician
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde (1610–1688)
James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde (1665–1745)
Piers Butler, 1st Earl of Ormonde (c.1467–1539)
Thomas Butler, Earl of Ossory (1634–1680)
Robert Cane (1807–1858)
Kieran Crotty
John Dunn, Jr. (1827–1909), American politician
Kathleen Funchion
Jim Gibbons (1924–1997), Irish politician, Minister of Agriculture
Phil Hogan (born c. 1965)
John McGuinness (born 1955)
Malcolm Noonan, former Mayor of Kilkenny and Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform since 2020
Séamus Pattison
John Paul Phelan
Ann Phelan
James Stephens (1825–1901), Fenian
Margaret Tynan (1930–2007), first woman Mayor of Kilkenny

Judicial

Peter Smithwick (born 1937), President of the District Court of Ireland 1988-2005

Religious

William Carrigan (1857–1924)
James J. Davis (1852–1926)
Michael Anthony Fleming (c.1792–1850)
Thomas Francis Hendricken (1827–1886)
John Ireland (1838–1918)
Edmund Ignatius Rice (1762–1844)

Science, education and technology

Robert Barber (1749–1783)
George Berkeley (1685–1753)
Abraham Colles (1773–1843)
Peter Wyse Jackson (born c.1955)
Aoife Gowen

History

John Bradley (historian) (1954-2014)
James Graves (antiquarian) (1815 – 1886)
Margaret Phelan (1902-2000), historian
John G. A. Prim (1821 – 1875), antiquarian

Sport

D.J. Carey (born 1970)
Eddie Keher (born 1941)
Maeve Kyle (born 1928)
James Mason (1849–1905), Irish-born chess player
Sinead Delahunty-Evans, Olympic athlete
Paddy Mullins (1919–2010), Racehorse trainer
Sean Patrick Maguire (born 1993) Footballer
Michael Drennan (born 1994) Footballer

Hurling

Players

Managers

People who lived or were educated in Kilkenny

Robert Blackburn (educationalist), born in Kilkenny in 1927.
Michael Byrne (1761–?)
John Clyn (14th century)
William Congreve (1670–1729)
Joseph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes
Henry Flood (1732–1791), Statesman and orator
Oisín Kelly (1915–1981)
Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence (1338–1368)
Theobald Mathew (1790–1856)
Séamus Pattison (born 1936)
Robert Clarke Shearman (1825–1910), New Zealand policeman and farmer, born in Kilkenny
Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)

People who died or are buried in Kilkenny

John Lavery (1856–1941)

Other people associated with Kilkenny

Max Adrian (1903-1973), actor, noted for Shakespearean roles and a favourite of Ken Russell
Anne Anderson, Irish ambassador to the United States
Lady Mary Butler (1689–1713)
Mabel Cahill, U.S. Open Tennis Champion
Senator Ellen Cuffe, Countess of Desart (1857–1933), philanthropist
Patrick Joyce, aka Achmet Borumborad, a Kilkenny man who masqueraded as a Turk for a period in the late eighteenth century in Dublin.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]
Dame Alice Kyteler (1280–c.1325)
Saint Brendan (460–577)
Saint Canice (525–599)
Saint Fiachra (died 670)
Saint Finbarr (c.550–c.620)
Saint Kieran (350–400)
Thomas Nash, Irish fisherman, settled in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada; founder of Branch, Newfoundland and Labrador^[6]

References

External links

Kilkenny Genealogy – Surnames

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[2]

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