County Kilkenny (Contae Chill Chainnigh in Irish) is located in the south east of Ireland in the province of Leinster. It is named after Kilkenny, the main city in the region.

Inhabitants of Kilkenny are often referred to as "Kilkenny Cats"; the phrase is also used to describe the Kilkenny hurling team, one of the most successful teams in the history of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.

It was formerly the Kingdom of Osraige, which existed from at least the 2nd century A.D. until the 13th century. The current Catholic ecclesiastical dioceses of that area is still known as Ossory however the original kingdom was bounded by two of the Three Sisters the rivers Barrow and Suir. The northern limit was, generally, the Slieve Bloom Mountains.

Three qualities of county Kilkenny are; ground without bog, fire without smoke, land without coast. These references are to the small amount of bogland, the anthracite coal from Castlecomer and the minimal exposure of the county to salt water.

source: Wikipedia County Kilkenny