county in Leinster, Ireland. The county is named for its town, from Irish Cill Chainnigh "Church of (St.) Kenneth" (see kil-). The story of the Kilkenny cats, a pair of which fought until only their tails were left, is attested from 1807.
Entries linking to kilkenny
kil-
first element in many Celtic place names, meaning "cell (of a hermit); church; burial place," from Gaelic and Irish -cil, from cill, gradational variant of ceall "cell, church, burial place," from Latin cella (see cell).