Launch of the Closh Times Mural

A great KKB community event  too place with the launch of the  Closh Times Mural at  the Closh.

The mural project was supported by KKB, CKETB, and the Kilkenny Volunteer centre.  Graham Carew artist  designed the mural. Keep Kilkenny Beautiful have been working with the local community over the last number of years to develop a new biodiversity garden and mural in the area. The mural depicts scenes from the rising, Civil War and more contemporary images. The launch took place as part of Heritage week 2024 in Kilkenny. St Mary’s Centre also hosted a reception following the launch.

Kilkenny City No4 in latest 2024 IBAL survey

 

KKB congratulates all of our   voluntary groups, businesses  and Kilkenny CoCo  and all those who have  assisted in achieving our  current  consistent high  standard in the IBAL  survey!

Kilkenny: 4th out of 40 towns / cities surveyed. Cleaner than European Norms.
Kilkenny has scored very well, as we have come to expect from the former IBAL multiple-winner. It has consistently been a high-ranking town for many years. With so many top-ranking sites, some are worth mentioning. Kilkenny Train Station (Exterior and Interior) was an excellent environment and clearly one where the station staff are clearly very proud of their station. Parliament Street was an exceptionally freshly presented shopping street, with attractive paving and all elements in very good order. The Bring Facility at St Canice’s has often been littered in previous surveys – not so, this time around.

Passing of Margaret Walsh

It is with deep sadness and regret that we learned of the passing of our beloved KKB former committee member and Hon. Secretary  Margaret Walsh. Margaret was the loveliest and most lighthearted person you could meet. She lifted the spirits of everyone when in her company. We were so happy she was able to attend the celebration of our KKB volunteers in the Tholsol last November.

Margaret was especially honoured at that event, with a presentation of a Lifelong Achievement Certificate from the Mayor Cllr Joe Malone. Margaret was loved by many and will be missed by all the members in KKB who knew her. May you rest at peace Margaret. Ar dheis Dé go Raibh a hAnam.

Margaret (centre) receiving a Lifelong Achievement Certificate from  Mayor Cllr Joe Malone on Sat 18th Nov 2023 at  the Tholsol, High St., Kilkenny.

Margaret (right)  with  Elaine Bradshaw  (left)   who both   received Lifelong Achievement Certificates from  Mayor Cllr Joe Malone

 

Kilkenny Castle park visit June bank holiday

Kilkenny Castle park  is a wonderful place to  visit  in June  and soak up the summer sun.

Once through the  main castle gate and into the grounds there is so much to see.

Visiting the formal gardens is always a treat.

Why not be a little bit more adventurous. Take one of the rambling forest walks and also enjoy the   wild flower meadows. There has also been  extensive  new tree planting  and an oak tree nursery has been established.  The grounds are open to all (without  entry fee)  every day from early to late.

 

 

 

Kilkenny Countryside Park is open for visitors

Kilkenny Countryside Park is open for visitors. The former Kilkenny dump has been rehabilitated as the new country Park and is open to visitors. From the city centre cycle access can be via Bleach road, there is also parking available off the bleach road, adjacent to the park entrance at Castlecomer road or alternatively parking at Dunmore church and access the park via the historic mass path.A recycle centre is located adjacent all recycle items can be returned and segregated.

New planting is ongoing and attractive seating and activity centres for both young and old and our doggy friends are provided.There is even a hurling wall protecting the great hurling tradition of Kilkenny.

Hurling wall with two sides

There area also sustainable toilet facilities. the park closes each evening the time varies depending on the time of year. there is extensive new planting.

IBAL – Kilkenny City 4th in 2023

After a  year of  extensive work  to keep Kilkenny  beautiful by all  it is wonderful to be acknowledged by IBAL  with a   fantastic result for Kilkenny City in  2023. “Cleaner than European Norms” and 4th in Ireland.  This is    a reflection  on the tremendous work undertaken by  our volunteers, our community, our businesses  and  Kilkenny CoCo.  Congratulations also to Maynooth  who took the  No. 1 position in 2023

An Taisce Report – IBAL Anti-Litter League, Survey 2, 2023
Kilkenny: 4th out of 40 towns / cities surveyed. Cleaner than European Norms.
As always, a very strong performance by Kilkenny with eight out of the ten sites surveyed getting the top litter grade and no heavily littered sites. Top-ranking sites included Bottle Bank at St Canice’s Car Park, St. Kieran’s Street, The Mall, High Street and Kilkenny Castle Park – these sites weren’t just good with regard to litter, but the overall presentation and maintenance of same was excellent. A fairy recent addition to Kilkenny is the lovely Riverside Garden and Skatepark site – it has been very attractively laid out but not nearly as clean as neighbouring sites.
R712 Approach Dublin Road direction: Grade A. There were no obvious litter issues along this busy approach, creating a positive first impression of Kilkenny.
R712 from Castlecomer Roundabout: Grade A. Road surface, markings and signage were all in very good condition along this tree lined route. Footpath / bicycle track were freshly presented. All was in good order with regards to litter.
Canice’s Car Park: Grade B. There was a virtual absence of litter on the main surface of the car park. It was the litter in the surrounding shrubbery which brought down the litter grade – as well as isolated items, there were a couple of bags of discarded rubbish. Care needs to be taken that this doesn’t build up even further.
Bottle Bank, St. Canice’s Car Park: Grade A. This small facility was excellent in terms of overall presentation, with an absence of litter. The individual recycle bin units and the signage associated with the use of same were in very good condition.
High Street: Grade A. A pristine street. High Street is very attractively laid out with lovely paving, wooden seating, bicycle parking, bollards, extensive visitor information notices and some lovely colourful planter boxes. It’s well served by litter bins and the street cleaner was very thorough as it was exceptionally clean.
Kilkenny Castle Park: Grade A. A wonderful resource and lovingly tended – it is such a tribute to the users of this vast expanse of green space that it was so so clean. All aspects within the park were in very good condition e.g., litter bins, visitor information signage, playground equipment, life-belt at the pond feature etc. As well as the typical visitor information signage, one of the notices related to ‘Dignity in the Workplace’.
St. Kieran’s Street: Grade A. This narrow, pedestrianised shopping street was very much deserving of the top litter grade. Clearly a careful eye is kept on the closed down premises as there was no litter directly associated with them. A colourful mural takes away the bare look of one site and the ‘’Food for Life’ premises has taken great care to enhance their shopfront with some lovely wall paintings.
The Mall: (the Parade) Grade A. Preparations was underway for the Christmas Market. The area was surveyed at a busy lunchtime with plenty of lunchtime outdoor dining. Despite the activity, it was a very clean site. The Mall is a very freshly presented environment with plenty of seating, ‘olde’ style street lamps, bicycle parking, visitor information signage and plenty of litter bins throughout.
Riverside Garden and Skatepark: Grade B. This is a fairly new addition to Kilkenny (June 2021) and has been very attractively laid out, with great care taken at the older, historic waterfront buildings. The paving, seating, planted areas, ‘olde’ style street lamps etc. were lovely. There were plenty of combined litter bins / recycle bins throughout the long stretch of pathway leading to the Skatepark. Overall, the area was very mixed with regards to litter – some parts were spotless, others were far from spotless, resulting in an overall Grade B status. This could easily slide to a seriously littered site if allowed to build up any further.
Dunnes Stores Shopping Centre: Grade A. There was a virtual absence of litter at his busy shopping environment. Some of the pedestrian pathway paint was beginning to wear away.