placenamesKilkenny
Cill Chainnigh
A surviving charitable building in the city records provision for older residents and successive campaigns of conservation.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Cill Chainnigh · Irish · main form · validated name
- Kilkenny · English · main form
Place & story
Accommodation and communal life
Richard Shee founded the alms house near Saint Mary’s Church to accommodate six men and six women. The women occupied the ground floor, the men the first floor, and a master who led prayers lived in the loft. Communal fireplaces served the building. Its inscriptions preserve two dates: 1581 on the front coat-of-arms plaque and 1582 at the rear. These details describe an institution within Kilkenny’s civic centre, rather than a general account of the surrounding county. [2]
Recording the building through repair
Restoration took place in 1978–81. A further council conservation campaign in 2021 replaced cement pointing with lime mortar, stripped and re-slated the roof, renewed leadwork and removed later additions associated with the tourist office. The works also enabled detailed interpretation, laser scanning and photogrammetry. The resulting digital records document the alms house’s fabric alongside the repairs, adding a modern survey to its long history of charitable and later civic uses. [2]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Kilkenny. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Digital Recordings of Kilkenny’s Medieval Buildings: Shee Alms House · Kilkenny County Council
- The Shee Almshouse in Kilkenny, from photographs taken in 2009 and 2013 illustration: based on a Shee Almshouse, Kilkenny by Eirian Evans. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation from two credited facade photographs; cream margins, softened light, omitted passing person, wires and readable commercial signs. Secondary photograph verifies masonry hidden by primary passerby. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0. Additional reference: Shee Alms House, Kilkenny by Kenneth Allen, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.