Connecting Kilkenny's uniqueness with a global audience.
Our pride in Kilkenny's creativity, our determination to help it thrive in the future will attract a global audience and encourage them to stay longer.
Picture this. It’s 2030. You’ve just been around the Butler Gallery and had a bite to eat in the cafe. It’s just getting dark, so you stroll over Lady Desart Bridge and up the river bank into the Abbey Quarter.
The elegant lineal structure of St Francis’ Abbey is all lit up against the dark sky, and you wonder how they built something so beautiful, so long ago. The shouts and yelps of the people on the ice rink make you glance over and smile as they glide past. The life of the place is all around and you think to yourself, “This City is beautiful”.
In Kilkenny, we don’t like to blow our own trumpet, but when it comes to raising the profile of the city on a global stage, we are lucky to have so much to feel good about. Design is and always will be something that separates Kilkenny from the rest.
The proud legacy of the Kilkenny Design Workshops (KDW) has many enduring facets, including securing the prestigious World Craft City and Region designation as part of the UNESCO Creative Cities programme. Numerous craft and design practitioners have come to settle in Kilkenny over the last 60 years thanks to the KDW and the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland’s presence in Kilkenny.
The definition of design in Kilkenny will continue to expand with the inclusion of powerhouse creative industries like Cartoon Saloon, plans for the provision of design as a problem solving tool for industry.
The upcoming Design Kilkenny conference happening on the 17th November, 2023 at the Parade Tower of Kilkenny Castle, will focus on Kilkenny's 'Global Ambition'. Speakers from Cartoon Saloon and Nicholas Mosse will examine how our design legacy can improve tomorrow's business culture. This fascinating event is a collaboration between Kilkenny County Council and the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland.
The year-round variety and energy of our festivals, the quality of our food and drink, the skill of our artists and craftspeople, the vibrant stories we tell our visitors about who once walked these streets and why - it’s this pride that runs like lightning through our streets that will make tourists want to come back, to stay a little longer, to have another day exploring, eating and enjoying.
Creative Centre of Thomastown
Creativity in Thomastown, is coming out of the shadows and into the spotlight. The stunning refurbishment and repurposing of The Sessions House in the centre of the town has transformed it from a place where your future was taken from you to a place where futures are forged. Now home to the National Centre of Excellence for Jewellery and Goldsmithing, this creative space continues the town’s long history as a home to craftspeople.
The old Bank of Ireland building in the centre of Thomastown has also been bought by Kilkenny County Council. Once it has been refurbished, it will be leased to the Design & crafts Council of Ireland for use as a Ceramics Centre of Excellence. The combination of these two facilities will not only be a place of learning, together they will attract more tourism to the Thomastown area.
Kilkenny is now a designated World Crafts Council ‘Craft City and Region’.
This prestigious title is the result of plenty of hard work by the team at Made in Kilkenny - a craft collective of designer-makers and Kilkenny County Council. This dedication to making, educating and training crafts proves that Kilkenny is the place to be for creatives!
Kilkenny Design Workshops
The Kilkenny Design Workshops (KDW) opened in 1963 and the makers who have found their home here continue to put Kilkenny on the map. The striking KDW logo was designed in the 1960s by Louis le Brocquy. Its simplicity and style became symbolic of the good quality contemporary design that Kilkenny was known for.
The Design and Crafts Council Ireland and the National Design & Crafts Gallery opened in 2011. The influence of these organisations continues to grow across the whole of Kilkenny County.
Kilkenny Poetry Broadsheet
Kilkenny County Council continues to collate and publish the Kilkenny Poetry Broadsheet, a beautifully illustrated publication that adds poetry to the long list of creative achievements of the residents of Kilkenny County.
Hundreds of poems are submitted for consideration every year and with around 14 chosen each year, we encourage writers across the County to keep writing and keep submitting their work!
What's Next?
Full Forward is one of the hardest positions on any hurling, football or camogie pitch to play. Controlled aggression to win possession must be balanced with speed, agility and a determination to score. A Full Forward cannot score without the full team working hard to get the ball in their hands. Thanks to plenty of support from state agencies, Kilkenny is in a good position. We have a lot of strategies and investments in the pipeline, each of which with an over-arching climate focus.
We have an engaged and interested population who are more than willing to support the city and county. With climate change all around us, we cannot be distracted from our vision of creating a future-ready, citizen centric place where everyone feels welcome and valued. We can’t be complacent, how we play each day, each month, each year will affect our chances of realising this dream. So, let's keep our eyes on the prize.
Let’s get to it.
References
Kilkenny County Council is working hard to live up to its Full Forward position. Each of these projects are explained in a range of detailed and precise plans, reports and strategies.
There are a number of reports that have been referenced in order to complete this document. These reports include, but are not limited to:
2021-2027 Kilkenny City and County Draft Development Plan Volumes 1 and 2
The Kilkenny Sustainable Urban Development Plan
The Abbey Quarter Kilkenny by Design
Healthy Ireland Community Plan - Kilkenny
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSUUng2-NEE
Kilkenny County Council Tourism Development Strategy and Action Plan
Local Area Plans
https://kilkennycoco.ie/eng/services/planning/development-plans/local-area-plans/
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