ST. KIERNAN'S COLLEGE
From Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland (1900)
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Description of County Kilkenny | St. Canice's | St. Kiernan's College | Ruins at Kells | Celtic Cross, Kells | Kilkenny Map
ST. KIERNAN'S COLLEGE.—This splendid structure is one of the finest of modern Irish institutions of learning. The saint whose name it bears is said to have preceded St. Patrick in his mission by thirty years, and to have been the first to preach the Christian faith in Ireland. He is also said to have been the founder of the see of Ossory, early in the 5th century, at a place call Sagir, in the Kings County. The chair of St. Kiernan, a curious stone seat, stands in the north transept of the old cathedral of St. Canice. There is, perhaps, no city in Ireland that contains so many interesting, striking, and picturesque ruins as Kilkenny, or that has been the scene of more important historical events. For many years it was the capital of the English Pale, and many parliaments were held there from 1309 down, noted chiefly for the atrocious laws enacted against the native Irish.
Description of County Kilkenny | St. Canice's | St. Kiernan's College | Ruins at Kells | Celtic Cross, Kells | Kilkenny Map