Videos & Pocasts
Discover a variety of topics from your homeThe videos and podcasts are offering an exciting opportunity to dive into Kilkenny Castle lesser-known history and to explore its collections from a new perspective.
Podcasts
Skeletons in their closets
The late 18th and early 19th century turned out to be a time of great change and upheaval for the landed gentry in general and the Butler family in particular. A court case and a high profile divorce caused the Butler family to be embroiled in a Regency Scandal. If you would like to know more about the skeletons in their closets, please do sit back and let us fill you in…..
Who were the Butlers?
A short introduction to the powerful Anglo-Norman family who made Kilkenny Castle their principal Irish residence
Moments in Time – 1870 to 1970
This exhibition captures ‘moments in time’ from the lives of the last five Marquesses of Ormonde, over a period of one hundred years. The early 20th century images were taken when the Castle was inhabited sporadically as a family home and the Butlers spent increasingly more time in England. The entire world order changed rapidly in the first half of the twentieth century, the displayed images record Kilkenny Castle and its family as the old order was slowly fading away.
The women of Kilkenny Castle: Isabel de Clare
There have been many strong influential women associated with Kilkenny Castle throughout the centuries and today we are delighted to shine a light on Isabel De Clare.
The Silver Inventories of the Dukes of Ormonde
From preserving spoons to silver tables, the various household plate inventories of the 1st & 2nd Duke of Ormonde give us a fascinating glimpse into the use of silver in the ducal residences over a forty year period.
Videos
A Glimpse of Kilkenny Castle
To celebrate Bealtaine, join us on a virtual tour of selected rooms within this great historic site. Discover from the comfort of your home the hidden treasures and sumptuous rooms that lies behind the walls of Kilkenny Castle.
Click on the link below to view our video on the OPW YouTube Channel
Women in the Letters of the First Duchess of Ormonde
This year to mark International Women’s day, OPW-Kilkenny Castle is delighted to host a free talk by Dr Naomi McAreavey on the “Women in the Letters of the First Duchess of Ormonde”
The first duke and duchess of Ormonde were the ultimate power couple of seventeenth-century Ireland. But while James Butler (1610–88) is well known to Irish history, his wife Elizabeth Butler, née Preston (1615–84) is not. Yet Elizabeth’s 300-odd surviving letters – the subject of a forthcoming exhibition in Kilkenny Castle – reveal her importance in the social, cultural, and political life of seventeenth-century Ireland. In this talk, Dr Naomi McAreavey will demonstrate the importance of the duchess’s female friendships and alliances to her activities, arguing that the mobilization of her female network helped optimise her family’s political position and ensure their adaptability and survival during periods of crisis. The talk will show that female alliances were key to the political agency of women like the duchess, and that our understanding of seventeenth-century Irish history must take into account the activities of women.
Dr Naomi McAreavey is a lecturer of Renaissance literature at University College Dublin. She is the editor of Elizabeth Butler, the letters of the first Duchess of Ormonde. This volume is the first to bring together the entire extant correspondence of one of the most significant women in early modern Ireland.
Click on the link below to view our video on the OPW YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtLGIXOE9MY
The Ladies of Llangollen
As part of the National LGBTI+ inclusion strategy – Kilkenny Castle is delighted to present an online talk by Lori Moriarty on The Lives and Afterlives of the Ladies of Llangollen
On the evening of March 30th, 1778, Sarah Ponsonby dressed in men’s clothes, armed with a pistol and carrying her dog Frisk, climbed out of the parlour window of Woodstock House in Co. Kilkenny. Under the cover of darkness she met Eleanor Butler who had executed a similar escape from Kilkenny Castle, with the plan to ride as far as Waterford in order to catch a ship to England in the hopes of beginning a new life together. This was to be the first attempt of several.
Join me as I trace the story of the women who became known as ‘The Ladies of Llangollen’ and also examine the many afterlives of their story. From ‘extraordinary female affection’ (St James Chronicle, 1790) to ‘Ladies ahead of their time’ (The Telegraph, 2002) theirs was a truly fascinating journey.
Click on the link below to view our video on the OPW YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMEiZKFESNg
Visite Virtuelle du Château de Kilkenny
Pour célébrer la journée internationale de la Francophonie, nous vous invitons à découvrir le Château de Kilkenny avec cette visite virtuelle en français
Cliquez sur le lien suivant pour regarder la vidéo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBNN6BIosZ0&t=3s
Outdoor Tour of Kilkenny Castle
From a medieval castle to a luxurious Victorian residence, if you look closely you can track the development and evolution of Kilkenny Castle by exploring its exterior. Join one of our guides for a short walk around the castle and grounds and let us showcase its rich history hidden in plain sight in the walls of Kilkenny Castle.
Click on the link below to view our video on the OPW YouTube Channel