Kilkenny - Geography

Geography

See also: Geography of Ireland and Demographics of Ireland

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1821	23,230	—
1831	23,741	+2.2%
1841	19,071	−19.7%
1851	15,257	−20.0%
1861	13,235	−13.3%
1871	12,710	−4.0%
1881	12,299	−3.2%
1891	11,048	−10.2%
1901	10,609	−4.0%
1911	19,514	+83.9%
1926	10,046	−48.5%
1936	10,237	+1.9%
1946	10,291	+0.5%
1951	10,572	+2.7%
1956	12,328	+16.6%
1961	12,081	−2.0%
1966	12,030	−0.4%
1971	13,306	+10.6%
1981	16,886	+26.9%
1986	17,517	+3.7%
1991	17,669	+0.9%
1996	18,696	+5.8%
2002	20,735	+10.9%
2006	22,179	+7.0%
2011	24,423	+10.1%

Kilkenny it is situated in the Nore Valley on both banks of the River Nore, at the centre of County Kilkenny in the province of Leinster in the south-east of Ireland. The first edition of the Ordnance Survey map for Kilkenny was in 1837, is held the County Library.

The elevation is 60 metres (200 ft) above mean sea level. The area of Kilkenny borough is 3.74 square kilometres (1.44 sq mi). Kilkenny is the smallest city in Ireland and although all cities in Ireland are by the coast or along a river Kilkenny is the only city that is not tidal.

Kilkenny is 117 kilometres (73 mi) from the capital Dublin and 48 kilometres (30 mi) north from the nearest city Waterford. Wexford is 80 kilometres (50 mi) to the south-east and Limerick is 122 kilometres (76 mi) to the west.

Kilkenny borough has a population of 8,591, however the majority of the population of Kilkenny live outside the borough boundary. Kilkenny City borough and its environs had a population of 22,179 in 2006.

Changes as of the 2006 census, by the Central Statistics Office, Kilkenny Town Borough had a population of 8,661 which was an increase of 70 persons over the 2002 figure of 8,591 or 0.8%. The Town Environs had a population of 13,518 which was an increase of 1347 persons over the 2002 figure of 12,144 or 11.3%. Overall both the Borough & Environs had a population of 22,179 in 2006 which was an increase of 1444 persons over the 2002 figure of 20,735 or 6.96%. People from Kilkenny are often referred to as 'Cats'.

Disposable household income per person as of 2005 was 18,032 euro and the index of disposable household was 89.4.

Kilkenny is multilingual but predominantly English-speaking, with Irish being the second most commonly spoken language. In recent decades, with the increase of immigration on an all-Ireland basis, many more languages have been introduced into Kilkenny.

The main religion is Catholic, however there are Church of Ireland, Presbyterian, Methodist, Jewish and other religious traditions living in Kilkenny.