Kilkenny Archaeological Society

04/06/2026

🌿 Kilkenny Archaeological Society Annual Garden Party 🌿

Join us for our Annual Garden Party in the beautiful surroundings of Rothe House & Garden.

📅 Saturday, 13 June 2026
🕒 3.00pm – 5.00pm
📍 Entry via New Building Lane
💶 €10 per person (payable at the gate)

Your ticket includes strawberries & cream, cake, savouries and a glass of wine.

Entertainment will be provided during the afternoon, with details to be announced shortly.

🌦 If the weather is unkind, the event will move indoors to the Tudor Kitchen.

We look forward to welcoming members and friends for an enjoyable afternoon.

02/06/2026

👏 Thank You from Fadó Fadó 2026

As we conclude this year’s Fadó Fadó: Sparking Memories competition, we would like to sincerely thank all of the students, teachers, parents, judges, partners and supporters who helped make the 2026 competition such a success.

The creativity, enthusiasm and dedication shown by students across the county was truly inspiring, with projects exploring local history, family stories, archaeology, folklore, music, farming, castles and community life.

Thank you also to Rothe House and the Kilkenny County Council Library Service, and everyone involved in organising and supporting the project.

We are already looking forward to Fadó Fadó 2027 and continuing to inspire young people to discover and share Kilkenny’s rich history and heritage.

Please sign up to our newsletter for future updates (see our webstie at https://kilkennyarchaeologicalsociety.ie/).

01/06/2026

🏆 TY Category Winner – Fadó Fadó 2026

Congratulations to Adam Staunton of St. Kieran’s College, Kilkenny, winner of the TY Category with his project:

📖 “Ballyragget Castle and Townland”

Adam explored the history of Ballyragget Castle and the wider townland, examining local folklore, the Battle of Ballyragget, important local landmarks and notable figures connected with the area.

Read the full project here

Well done Adam on a fascinating and engaging project 👏

01/06/2026

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🏆 3rd Year Category Winner – Fadó Fadó 2026

Congratulations to Ava Dollard of Presentation Secondary School, Kilkenny, winner of the 3rd Year Category with her project:

📖 “Kilfane”

Ava’s project explored the history and legends of Kilfane, including Kilfane House, Cantwell Fada and the Norman influence on the area. The project combined detailed research with a strong personal connection to place and community.

Well done Ava on an excellent project 👏

30/05/2026

🏆 Primary Category Winner – Fadó Fadó 2026

Congratulations to Jane Comerford of St. Colman’s NS, Clara, winner of the Primary Category with her project:

📖 “If These Walls Could Talk”

Jane explored ten generations of the Comerford family at Coolgreaney House using census records, Land Commission documents, family records and photographs. Her project brought local history to life through family stories, farming history and everyday life across generations.

Well done Jane on a wonderful piece of research and storytelling 👏

29/05/2026

📚 Fadó Fadó 2026, Celebrating Kilkenny’s Young Historians

The Fadó Fadó: Sparking Memories – Kilkenny Young Researchers Competition returned for 2026 with another fantastic response from schools across the county.

Organised by Kilkenny Archaeological Society, Rothe House and Kilkenny County Council Library Service’s Local Studies Department this year’s competition invited students to explore local history through family stories, landmarks, folklore and historical events.

The response was overwhelming, with more than 160 entries submitted from primary and post-primary schools across Kilkenny.

A prize-giving ceremony took place at the Mayfair Library on Tuesday, 21 April 2026, where students, teachers, families and invited guests gathered to celebrate the remarkable standard of research and creativity shown throughout the competition.

The winning projects, alongside many other excellent entries, can now be viewed on the Kilkenny Library Digital Archive (https://digital-archive.kilkenny.ie/).

Over the coming days we will be sharing some of this year’s winning projects and celebrating the incredible work carried out by young historians across the county.

14/05/2026

The Kilkenny Archaeological Society invites you to:

“Cardinal St. John Henry Newman”
A lecture by Fr. Tom Norris

📅 Wednesday, 20 May 2026
🕢 7.30pm
🎟 €8 Members | €10 Non-Members

Fr. Tom Norris will explore the life and thought of St. John Henry Newman, one of the most influential religious thinkers of the modern era.

All welcome.

16/04/2026

09/04/2026

2026 marks the 110th anniversary of the Easter Rising. To mark the occasion, historian Orla Murphy explores the aftermath in Kilkenny through a series of letters sent by Tom Treacy of Dean Street to his wife between May and July 1916. Letters that have never been made public before.

A powerful local perspective on a defining moment in Irish history.

📍 Rothe House, Kilkenny
📅 Wednesday, 15 April
⏰ 7.30pm
🎟️ €8 members | €10 non-members

All are welcome.

13/03/2026

Kilkenny Archaeological Society invites you to our next lecture at Rothe House.

James Eogan, Senior Archaeologist with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, will present an illustrated talk on the remarkable archaeological discoveries made during the construction of the New Ross Bypass.

Excavations uncovered 36 previously undocumented sites in the fertile Barrow Valley, revealing evidence of settlement, burial, farming and industry spanning nine millennia, from the earliest hunter-gatherers to the early modern period.

James will discuss the most significant discoveries and what they tell us about the people and communities who lived and worked in this landscape over thousands of years.

📍 Rothe House, Kilkenny
📅 Wednesday 18 March 2026
🕢 7.30pm

Admission: €8 members / €10 non-members.