Kilkenny is a county in the southeast of the Republic of Ireland — the independent country, not Northern Ireland. People also use the same name for its main city, which sits inside that county. On a map you will see County Kilkenny; in speech, “Kilkenny” often means the city, the county, or both, and listeners pick it up from context. The name looks like English, but it is not built from English kill. It was borrowed from Irish, and it names a place, not an action. You will meet it on signs, in addresses, in sport, and in travel talk. There is also an old story about “the Kilkenny cats,” two cats that fought until almost nothing was left; people once used that for a fight where both sides lose. That saying is old-fashioned. The place name itself is ordinary.