Never-before-seen video to shed more light on Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle is the gem in our city’s tourism crown and is an immense treasure trove of physical and social history.

Perhaps the aspect of history that a lot of people are not aware of is the history of the lives of the people who worked there.

More than 3,000 homes to be built in the western environs in Kilkenny City

Thankfully, we will get a fantastic glimpse into this thanks to the late May Byrne, who was recorded back in 2004 speaking about her time working at the Castle for the Butlers of Ormonde.

The footage of that conversation will be officially released soon by the Office of Public Works (OPW), following talks with May’s daughter-in-law Angela.

“Nearly two decades ago now, I took my mother in law May Byrne (she was 92 years old at that time) back to Kilkenny Castle where she worked as a young woman,” Angela explained.

“That visit was facilitated by Frank Kavanagh and we got the young filmmakers in Kilkenny to record us chatting about her time working for the Butlers of Ormonde.

“Her mind was lucid even back then and she brought the story she was sharing with me to life and we ended up talking for more than two and a half hours.

“I offered this footage to national media programmes at the time but none were interested. Now of course we are all interested in our heritage and culture so I approached the Castle about two years ago and they were delighted to have this.”

Edited now and 18 minutes long, the footage is ready to be launched by the OPW on May 29.

“This video is going to be shown in schools across Ireland and will even be offered in our Irish language,” Angela said.

“This is the icing on the cake for me because now it will never die and will live on. We have a voice from the past back in the castle again.”