Kilkenny Castle stands on a magnificent site on the southern extremity of the town. A natural stronghold, it overlooks the two fords of the Nore (now furnished with bridges) and the entire Norman town. Beneath its walls the river bends eastward for half a mile before resuming its southward course. The first defences thrown up by Strong-bow were probably earthen. The building of the stone fortress fell to his successor William, the Earl Marshall. The enclosing walls were begun about 1195 and the Castle itself in the early years of the 13th century. It can boast of 700 years of continuous occupation and, of course, of frequent rebuilding and repair. Ownership passed, by purchase, from the descendants of William Marshall to the Butlers, Earls of Ormonde in 1391. This influential Norman family had earlier contracted a royal alliance and throughout most of their long career in Kilkenny they enjoyed the royal favour, frequently acting as King's Deputy or Viceroy During the Confederation 1642 -48 the Castle was in the hands of a Catholic Branch of the Butlers (Mountgarrett) and was used for the administration of the Confederacy and for the reception of dignatories such as the Papal Nuncio, Rinuccini. The building received a severe battering on the South side from the Cromwellian army which attacked it in 1650. The attackers found it too formidable a fortress and retired, eventually gaining entry to the city at another point.