Kilkenny borders five counties – Tipperary to the west, Waterford to the south, Carlow and Wexford to the east, and Laois to the north.

[8] The River Nore bisects the county and flows through Ballyragget, Kilkenny City and the villages of Bennettsbridge, Thomastown and Inistioge.

Kilkenny's river network helps drain the land giving the county a highly fertile lower central plain.

Special Areas of Conservation, under the European Union Habitats Directive, in County Kilkenny[11] includes Hugginstown Fen[12] south-west of Ballyhale, The Loughans[13] near Urlingford, Cullahill Mountain[14] on the Castlecomer Plateau near Johnstown, Spahill and Clomantagh Hill[15] which form part of an escarpment which links the Slieveardagh Hills with the Castlecomer Plateau, Galmoy Fen[16] north of Johnstown, Lower River Suir[17] south of Thurles, the freshwater stretches of the Barrow/River Nore[18] and Thomastown Quarry, near Thomastown.

[23] Near Fiddown along the River Suir it consists of a long narrow island of marsh/woodland covered in willow scrub and bordered by reed swamps – it is the only known site of its type in Ireland.

Flora of County Kilkenny includes the endangered autumn crocus, also rare species such as the bog orchid, the Killarney fern and the tufted salt-marsh grass.

[25] There are also vulnerable species like lesser snapdragon, meadow barley, small-white orchid, opposite-leaved pondweed, betony, red hemp nettle, narrow-leaved helleborine, lanceolate spleenwort, annual knawel and basil thyme.

These include Oldcourt in Inistioge, Keatingstown, Barna in Freshford, Sawney's Wood in Castlecomer and the Castle Gardens in Kilkenny City.

Important trees in county Kilkenny include two cedars of Lebanon at Kildalton Agricultural College in Piltown, a Monterey cypress, beech, silver fir and two coastal redwood at Woodstock Gardens in Inistioge.

A large area in the north and east contains beds of coal, surrounded by limestone strata, alternated with shale, argillaceous ironstone, and sandstone.

The natural environment and resources of County Kilkenny includes its rivers, wildlife (mammals, birds, plants), woodlands, hedgerows, and diverse landscapes and geological features.

The territory indicated by Ptolemy probably included the major late Iron Age hill-fort at Freestone Hill which produced some Roman finds.

[48] Pope Adrian IV gave Norman King Henry II of England permission to claim Ireland 1154.

In the late 20th century a new economic climate resulted in a renaissance of culture and design, with some at the cutting edge of modern architecture.

The square house consisted of slot-trenches, internal floor surfaces, a hearth and wooden posts at each corner, one of the post-holes was radiocarbon-dated to 3997–3728 BC.

The round stone tower is one feature of early historic architecture not usually found outside Ireland with only three in Scotland and one on the Isle of Man.

After over three centuries as owners, the family was reduced to living as peasants in the castle stables after it was confiscated by Oliver Cromwell and given to his officers after the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.

[51] Jerpoint is notable for its stone carvings, including one at the tomb of Felix Ua Duib Sláin, Bishop of the Diocese of Ossory when the abbey was founded.

Edmund Butler of Pottlerath, a noted patron of literature, successfully petitioned Pope Pius II for the foundation of the friary in 1461.

After Edmund died in 1462, the actual buildings were erected by his son, James, probably after 1467 when he received a papal dispensation to marry his concubine, to whom he was related.

As of the 2016 census, by the Central Statistics Office, County Kilkenny's population was 99,232, of whom 38,722 people reported some level of Irish language usage.

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

One distinct feature of the traditional Irish of Kilkenny (and Laois) as part of the Ossory dialect region was the pronunciation of slender R [ɾʲ] as [ʒʲ] similar to but not exactly like the G in the English word "regime".

Baile Shéamais, in Glenmore, was home to Pádraig Paor who is believed to have been the last traditional native speaker of the Irish language in County Kilkenny.

Audio-recordings were made of his speech in 1936 for the Irish Folklore Commission (Coimisiún Béaloideasa Éireann) by Séamus Ó Duilearga and Risteárd A Breatnach.

The stations served are Dublin Heuston, Newbridge, Kildare, Athy, Carlow, Muine Bheag (Bagenalstown), Kilkenny, Thomastown, Waterford Plunkett.

There are also health centres based around County Kilkenny including in Ballyhale, Ballyragget, Bennettsbridge, Callan, Castlecomer, Clogh, Castlecomer, Freshford, Gowran, Graiguenamanagh, Marley and Tinnahinch in Graiguenamanagh, Inistioge, Johnstown, Loughboy in Kilkenny, Stoneyford, Kilmacow, Mullinavat, Paulstown, Rosbercon, Thomastown, Urlingford and Windgap.

In 1886, after winning the first-ever county championship in Kilkenny they held a fund-raising event in Tullaroan to provide the team with a playing strip.

After intensive debate and consultations the club chose the black and amber stripes as the design for the jerseys that they would wear against Limerick that August.

The first meeting was held in 1914 and the racecourse hosts 16 race days throughout the year including the Thyestes Chase (The Grand National of the South), one of the prestigious steeplechases in Ireland which has been won by three time Cheltenham Gold Cup Winner, Arkle in 1964 and Aintree Grand National winners Hedgehunter and Numbersixvalverde.