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St
Canice is the patron saint of our school, our parish
and our city. He was born in Co. Derry in the Valley
of the Roe. His father was a poet, but a poor one and
Canice had to be raised by his mother, Mella's, family.
Canice studied in Ireland and in Wales. The Osraighe
tribe had been pushed out of Munster by the Eoghanachta
and were living in this area. They appealed to the Ui
Neill tribe in Ulster for help. As part of the aid package,
St Canice came to the region, setting up his base in
Aghaboe, Co Laois. He lived and preached here until
about the year 600A.D.
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the oldest part of Kilkenny so called because the citizens
of Kilkenny used to go there to practise archery. |
Talbot's
Inch is a townsland in the parish of St Canice's. It is
named after the prominent Norman family of Talbot. John
Talbot was Sheriff of Kilkenny between 1334 and 1340 and
his son, Robert Talbot, built the great city walls of
Kilkenny. Their family tomb is in St Canice's Cathedral.
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St
Canice's Cathedral was built between 1202 and 1286. It
is the second biggest mediaeval cathedral in Ireland.
It was built on the site of the early monastic settlement
of St Canice of the 7th century. Kilkenny gets its name
from St Canice. The round tower was built around 1470.The
master mason responsible for much of the Gothic stonework
was known as the Gowran Master because he worked on the
church in Gowran as well. There used to be wonderful 14th
century stained glass in some of the windows but Cromwell's
soldiers smashed it.
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