Culture and Creativity Strategy 2023–2027

2023–2027

Kilkenny

Culture and Creativity Strategy 2023–20272 01Creative Ireland Kilkenny

Contents

Foreword 02

01 Creative Ireland 2023–2027 04

02 Culture and Creativity in Kilkenny 06

03 The Creative Ireland Vision for Kilkenny 10

04 How The Creative Ireland Programme Works 11

Principles and Values of Creative Communities

05 The Strategic Priorities for Kilkenny 12

06 Implementation by the Kilkenny Culture 14

and Creativity Team

Map of Kilkenny Council Area 15

Cover Image Credits (L to R):

The Second Chamber, Patrick Browne,

Amanda Burke Photography

Culture and Creativity Strategy 2023–202702 03Creative Ireland Kilkenny

Foreword

County Kilkenny has a proud creative tradition

and abundance of cultural heritage and a rich

natural and built environment, which all together,

contributes to a vibrant creative and cultural sector.

Kilkenny County Council is committed to

supporting all communities in our county to reach

their full potential as creative communities having

positive eﬀects on the health and wellbeing of our

communities, in encouraging social cohesion and

supporting economic growth in the Arts, Tourism

and Creative Industries.

The Cultural Services Team within Kilkenny

County Council played a key role in the development

and implementation of the ﬁrst Kilkenny Culture and

Creativity Strategy 2018–2022.

Despite the signiﬁcant challenges of COVID19

over the past two years, the Heritage, Arts, and

Library departments of the local authority have

delivered strong inclusive projects to engage all of

our communities in creative and cultural initiatives.

During periods of isolation and lockdown the

initiatives provided connections for vulnerable

people including door to door library services,

outdoor performances, on–line learning and mental

health supports. The Creative Ireland Programme

has, through its Pillar 2–“Enabling Creativity in Every

Community”, enabled the Cultural Services Team to

build strong foundations in collaborative working with

individuals and agencies across the county. These

collaborations have included the Kilkenny Carlow

Education and Training Board, the HSE, Kilkenny

Childcare, Butler Gallery and many more.

We welcome the certainty of the Creative

Ireland Programme nationally for the period

2023–2027 and the opportunities that it provides

to build on existing programmes and relationships

in our county to embed culture and creativity in all

services areas within Kilkenny County Council.

The contribution that the creative and cultural

sector can make to our collective wellbeing and

our development as an inclusive society has been

seen in recent years and will be developed further.

The continued development of the vibrant and

successful creative Arts and Tourism sectors will

add to the local economy and support sustainable

local jobs. The Cultural Services team recognise

the importance of tourism and visitors to Kilkenny in

supporting and further developing this new strategy

for the next ﬁve years.

Cultural heritage and an increasingly vibrant

creative economy can increase the attractiveness

of our county for talent, tourism, and investment.

The role of culture in innovation can deliver new

solutions to social and climate challenges as well as

supporting wellbeing, health, life–long learning and

social cohesion.

Utilising creativity and culture to help

address the challenges of climate change, and to

galvanise climate action and support sustainable

development, will be a key focus of this strategy.

The creative and cultural sector relies on

creative talent as our primary source of value. This

strategy will support the development of such talent

to generate an even more vibrant and successful

sector in the future, where skilled, creative

workers and artists can build sustainable jobs and

contribute to Kilkenny’s continued reputation in

Arts, Creativity, Culture and Heritage, that everyone

can experience, enjoy and learn from.

Pat Fitzpatrick

Cathaoirleach, Kilkenny County Council

Knitted Together 2022 project

- Graiguenamanagh Men’s Shed

members Vincent Doran, Paddy

Corbett & Paddy Flood at work

on the stools. Photograph:

Dylan Vaughan photography

Culture and Creativity Strategy 2023–202704 05Creative Ireland Kilkenny

Creative Ireland

2023–2027

The Creative Ireland Programme is an all–of–

government initiative committed to enhancing

access to, engagement with, and enjoyment

of Ireland’s culture and creativity. Within the

broad range of available denitions, creativity

is considered as a set of innate abilities and learned

skills; the capacity of individuals and organisations to

transcend accepted ideas and norms and by drawing on

imagination to create new ideas that bring additional

value tohumanactivity.

The vision of the Creative Ireland Programme

2023–2027 is to mainstream creativity in the life

of the nation so that individually and collectively,

in our personal lives and in our institutions, we can

realise our full creative potential thereby promoting

individual, community and national wellbeing.

The Creative Ireland Programme will deliver

through collaboration and partnership promoting

understanding and appreciation of the value of

creativity in all its forms — whether through the

arts, culture, heritage, or technology.

The Creative Ireland Programme will

prioritise its work around ﬁve aspects

for the period 2023–2027:

1. Creative Youth

2. Creative Communities

3. Creative Industries

4. Creative Health and Wellbeing

5. Creative Climate Action and Sustainability

Through the Creative Ireland Programme,

Creative Communities supports the partnership

between the Department of Tourism, Culture,

Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, the Department

of Housing, Local Government and Heritage,

and Ireland’s local authorities. This partnership

enables citizens and communities to explore their

culture and creativity at local level and, where

appropriate, leverage that creativity to strengthen

wellbeing, advance social cohesion and support

economic development.

Creative Communities is also innovative in

deploying creativity to achieve greater integration

across targeted policy priorities. This has delivered

new creative engagement initiatives in relation to for

example children and young people, older persons,

climate action, and local economies. Individuals’

and communities’ perception about the role and

value of culture and creativity as central to our

wellbeing in its broadest sense is being enhanced.

The opportunity embraced within the Kilkenny

Culture and Creativity Strategy 2023–2027 is

to support people’s participation, inclusion and

expression within communities, and further

strengthen local creative economies.

Cabinet of Curiosities workshop

– Cruinniú na nÓg 2022.

Photograph: Roisin O’Sullivan

Seán Mac an sSíthigh and Muiris Ó

Súilleabháin pictured at Knockroe

Passage Tomb as part of the

Second Chamber project 2022.

Photograph: The Second Chamber

Culture and Creativity Strategy 2023–202706 07Creative Ireland Kilkenny

Kilkenny County Council will focus on increasing

and diversifying participation in creativity and

culture. In 2019, a photographic collection of the

aesthetic and design qualities of Kilkenny City’s

traditional shopfronts was delivered by Trevor

Finnegan, and commissioned and co–ordinated by

the Heritage Oﬃce.

“The shop has been in my family for generations.

I’m so delighted that the beautiful shopfront

is being photographed as a record for future

generations”–Retailer, Kilkenny City.

This project was intended to increase public

knowledge and awareness of the visual aesthetic

features of Kilkenny shopfronts and inform a

healthy discussion on the character, visual appeal

and cultural heritage that Kilkenny has to oﬀer.

The economic value of culture is also hugely

signiﬁcant. Culture is a key component to the local

and national economy. It supports communities in

their cultural, economic, and social development. In

2021, the World Craft Council oﬃcially accredited

Kilkenny the title of “World Craft Council–World

Craft City and Region” thanks to Made in Kilkenny,

supported by Kilkenny County Council, the Design

and Craft Council Ireland and Cartoon Saloon.

This honorary title has been awarded to four other

cities in Europe in total. It is anticipated that the

World Craft Council network will help to promote

interaction between local Kilkenny crafts and other

creative industries along with highlighting Kilkenny

city and county on a global platform as part of a

network of creative craft cities.

Culture and creativity motivate citizens and

communities to become more engaged in their

surroundings, society, and promotes individual

wellbeing. They are also strong assets for long–term

tourism and creative supports. The Medieval Mile

Museum, based in the medieval 13th century St.

Mary’s Church is an example of this. It opened in

2017 and displays important tombs, artefacts, and

monuments dated from the Middle Ages onwards,

which are available for public viewing. Encouraging

people to participate in cultural and creative

outlets fosters respect, enjoyment, and a greater

Kilkenny is a location rich in cultural heritage

and creativity. Once known as the Capital of

Ireland, it is a city recognised for its medieval

landmarks and its year–round calendar of

festivals, along with its countryside landscape

and native wildlife and plants. Kilkenny’s

culture and creativity are what makes the county

unique, and what gives it its special character

and sense of place, for examplethe passage

tomb of Knockroe, medieval town wall remains

and having the only example in Ireland of a 17th

Century merchant’s house. The history, heritage,

and culture that Kilkenny has to oer are

bountiful, along with its natural biodiversity.

The Creative Ireland Culture and Creativity

Strategy in Kilkenny is overseen by our Cultural

Services Team. The Cultural Services Team

is comprised of the Arts, Heritage, Libraries,

Conservation and Architecture services, with an

ambition that all citizens have equal access to the

range of culture that Kilkenny has to serve. Quoted

by Laura Ní Fhlaibhín: “As a Creative Associate, I

was delighted to have been oﬀered the opportunity

to support a pilot programme with Heritage in

Schools. Funded by Kilkenny County Council, the

Heritage Council & Creative Ireland, the project

centred on Kilkenny’s heritage, emphasizing

biodiversity, and the initiative combined resources

from both the Creative Schools & Heritage in

Schools Programmes. The partnership between

the two programmes worked very successfully, &

eased communication and planning between all

parties”. The Heritage in Schools Visits project

allowed 3,948 primary school children throughout

County Kilkenny to creatively explore and learn

about their local heritage and culture, co–ordinated

by the Heritage–in–Schools programme and the

Heritage Oﬃce of Kilkenny County Council. This

project promoted the importance of national

and local heritage in schools across Kilkenny,

Culture and Creativity

in Kilkenny

enabling primary school children who may not

have resources or facilities to engage in their local

heritage to participate.

The Creative Ireland Kilkenny Culture and

Creativity Strategy integrates with themes of

the Kilkenny County Council Cultural Strategy

2018–2022. The Cultural Strategy plan focuses on

the socialand economic value of culture that echo

Kilkenny’s Creative and Culture Strategy. The social

value of culture provides positive outcomes to all

members of our community–it encourages people

to share cultural experiences, to access resources

and education, to become more involved in their

community. It focuses on wellbeing, health and

social cohesion as signiﬁcant beneﬁts of culture.

Focusing on the wellbeing of our people leads to

healthier communities who become more engaged

with their environment and talents.

There are a variety of culture–based strategies

published by Kilkenny County Council in

collaboration with various organisations:

— The Kilkenny County Council Corporate Plan

2014–2019

— Kilkenny Age Friendly Strategy Plan 2017–2022

— The Kilkenny County Development Plan 2014–

2020

— Kilkenny Local Economic and Community Plan

2016–2021

— Kilkenny County Councils Tourism Statement of

Strategy 2017–2022

— Healthy Ireland Community Plan 2018–2021

— Kilkenny County Councils Tourism Statement of

Strategy 2017–2022

— Creative Ireland Kilkenny has worked alongside

these plans and will ensure that cultural impact

will be central to future plans and policies.

understanding to the value of culture that Kilkenny

has to provide.

The Kilkenny County Library Service plays

a formative role in the development of creative

communities. Our library service focuses on an

intergenerational approach and encourages the

social value of culture by providing access to public

spaces in eight areas of Kilkenny City and County.

It aims to enhance the lives of the communities in

Kilkenny and encourage culture, lifelong learning,

and imagination. The Kilkenny City Mayfair Library

is due to be opened in 2023. Located within the

former Smithwicks Brewery site, it is anticipated

that this new library will include dedicated areas

for access to culture, heritage, local studies, online

resources, multi–cultural, and social inclusion

programmes. Bookville, facilitated by the Kilkenny

Library Service and Kilkenny Arts Oﬃce is an

exciting book festival orientated towards children

and families. Feedback from parents and teachers

surround Bookville events are as follows;

“The variety of workshops oﬀered has been

great. The boys loved the creativity and the

intimate nature of the sessions, it has been great

for their learning and promoting curiosity in

discovering new things”.

Kilkenny is fortunate to have a wide range of cultural

and artistic infrastructure; Evans Home Butler

Gallery, the Watergate Theatre, the Medieval Mile

Museum, Barnstorm Theatre Company, Ballykeefe

Amphitheatre and the Young Irish Filmmakers to

name a few. Kilkenny County Council is proud to

have a strong alliance with these organisations

and to provide a diverse arts environment

around Kilkenny City and County. Creative

Ireland Kilkenny will continue to ensure that Arts,

Culture and Creativity will all be co–ordinated as

a driving force for the county making a positive

contribution towards inclusive social and economic

development recognising the societal right that all

citizens have access to these opportunities.

The Creative Ireland Programme has made

substantial impact across Kilkenny in the last ﬁve

Culture and Creativity Strategy 2023–2027 09Creative Ireland Kilkenny08 Creative Ireland Kilkenny

years. The total Creative Communities investment

between 2018–2022 amounted to €834,305. This

funding has given access to over 100 projects

being held throughout Kilkenny. The programme

has dismantled barriers and encouraged inclusive

access and participation across all age groups and

communities in Kilkenny.

One particular project funded by the Creative

Ireland Programme, Knitted Together–is now in

its third year. This project enables us to work with

a diverse range of groups and individuals across

the county and beyond, focussing on the older

generation and intergenerational activity. To date

we have engaged with over 400 participants,

resulting in hundreds of beautifully knitted and

crocheted blankets being created. All of the

blankets were, in turn, donated to local charity

shops to raise much needed funds. The ambition

to foster community spirit and connection and to

mitigate against the eﬀects of social isolation was

further elevated in 2022 as it was the ﬁrst year of

the project where groups and individuals were able

to gather together to create without restriction.

This was facilitated by hosting a number of very

successful Maker–Meet–Ups. These sessions are

designed to support and encourage participants

involved in the project and to ensure they get to

socialise, to exchange skills and ideas and enjoy

creating together.

The activity of making is the constant in this

project, the foundation from which many positive

factors will emerge, supporting positive ageing

by creating social connections, skill exchanges,

positive reinforcements and friendships. Whilst

there will be joy and appreciation for the ﬁnished

items, the emphasis and beneﬁts lie in the process.

“Knitted Together was amazing. We held a coﬀee

morning so people could pop in and discuss the

blankets. It raised awareness about the shop

too”.–Rachel, NCBI Charity Shop, Castlecomer.

The Heritage, Arts, and Library services within

Kilkenny County Council, working with many

other stakeholders across Kilkenny have very

eﬀectively achieved engagement in creativity

and culture amongst marginalised groups in our

society. A creative writing initiative that ran in 2021,

developed by award winning writer and poet Colm

Keegan, called The Writing Home Programme,

promoted creative engagement speciﬁcally

for homelessness service users and providers.

The six–week workshop programme received

funding and support from the Creative Ireland

Kilkenny programme. By promoting engagement

with creativity within marginalised groups this

programme promoted self–expression and enabled

those in emergency accommodation to recognise

their creative contribution to society. Organiser

Colm said:

“At times the work shared was incredible, other

times truly heart–breaking, but to work through

the whole process, from participants saying they

didn’t see themselves as artists to six sessions

later, standing up and celebrating their powerful

work at the end, either on stage, to camera or

in print, it was always inspiring, especially given

the incredibly diﬃcult circumstances. Making

art is a transformative process that profoundly

impacts the individual, but it can go even further

than that. I believe this transformative process

could be used to improve a multitude of systems

in Ireland, especially those tasked with caring for

people in challenging circumstances. Initiatives

like this, help systems not just to function better,

but to understand those they serve better.

This documentary aims to bear witness to that

process, and to advocate for this approach.”

This project has been recognised for its educational

and training initiative by the local government

All Ireland Community and Council Awards by

receiving a gold award in 2021. Engaging with

groups who have never previously had a creative

experience is transformative and has been

achieved in Kilkenny.

The Kilkenny Creative Ireland Programme

will focus on the wellbeing of our citizens and

communities across the whole Kilkenny region.

It will share the responsibility of enabling access,

engagement and participation of culture and

creativity and ensure that Kilkenny is a region that

supports and encourages the creative wellbeing of

its people. The Cultural Services Team of Kilkenny

Knitted Together Launch 2022 –

Grandmother Monica Dunne and

her grandchildren Lucy Hayes (9)

and Billy Hayes (5). Photograph:

Patrick Browne

County Council will continue to embed creativity in

policy in collaboration with its mission of “Creating

and sustaining great places and communities”.

The Creative Ireland programme has enabled

access, engagement and participation in creativity

and culture, ensuring that Kilkenny is a county that

supports and encourages the creative wellbeing of

its people, particularly through the challenges of the

COVID–,19 pandemic.

Innovative projects delivered in collaboration

with artists, makers, educators, state agencies and

voluntary groups have provided positive impacts

for a huge number of people living and visiting our

county. It is our ambition to expand those positive

impacts through integrated policies, increased

collaboration, and investment in the creative and

cultural sector going forward.

The Healthy Kilkenny programme aims to

create resilient communities, improve the health

and wellbeing of our citizens, and reduce health

inequalities in the most disadvantaged areas in

Kilkenny. The Healthy Kilkenny programme will

continue to work in collaboration with Creative

Ireland to target hard to reach groups with the

shared objective to create resilient, creative, and

healthy communities.

Culture and Creativity Strategy 2023–202710 11Creative Ireland Kilkenny

Kilkenny’s Creative Ireland Programme aims to

empower creatives and communities to express

creativity throughout society and relevant

programmes and policies. Its vision is that every

person living in Kilkenny will have the opportunity

to fully realise his or her creative potential. This

Creative Ireland vision is also integral to Kilkenny

County Council’s current plan: “Kilkenny County

Council Cultural Strategy 2018–2022” and future

programmes. This plan identies ve strategic

priorities with clear objectives to full the

Council’s creative vision for Kilkenny:

— Enable best practice delivery of culture

and creativity

— Increase and diversify participation in culture

and creativity

— Support culture and creativity in rural and

urban areas

— Engage children and young people in culture

and creativity

— Communicate the value of culture and creativity

These strategic priorities will enable the Cultural

Services team to concentrate on areas which will

lead to a more integrated cultural oﬀering into the

future. These actions promote participation in our

culture and creativity across all age, social, and

socioeconomic groups of Kilkenny, and encourage

the best practice in the delivery of culture. Kilkenny

is currently reviewing its Local Economic and

Community Plan (LECP) and has brought forward

these objectives in drafting up this new plan for all

sectors in Kilkenny. Similarly, the Creative vision

for Kilkenny has been referenced in our Traveller

Action Plan, Active Travel Plan, Healthy Ireland

Kilkenny Plan, Migration Action Plan and Corporate

Plan, to ensure more co–ordinated creative

outcomes for all communities in its county.

The Creative Ireland

Vision for Kilkenny

We believe that creativity and culture are deeply

connected, but they are diﬀerent. Creativity is the

process where, either individually or with others,

we make something new. Culture comes from that

creative process and allows us to encounter things

in the world that deﬁne places and people, like

museums, galleries, festivals and events, waterways

and castles, digital spaces and musical awakenings.

Creativity and culture together help us to make

sense of ourselves, of each other and of the world

around us.

The Kilkenny Culture and Creativity Team will

be broadened to include all service areas within

the local authority and will engage directly with

other communities and stakeholders across the

county who form a vibrant creative and cultural

sector, outside of the local authority. Close co–

ordination of activities either by private companies,

individuals or state agencies will help to recognise

and champion creative activities and cultural

experiences for people living in and visiting every

town and village in Kilkenny.

It is envisaged that encouraging engagement

with our natural environment will foster the

development of creative solutions at local

level to impact climate change. Closer working

relationships with our Local Enterprise Oﬃce and

existing creative enterprises will grow the creative

and cultural economy going forward.

By 2027, we want Kilkenny to be a county

where the creativity of everyone is valued and given

the chance to ﬂourish, where everyone has access

to a range of high quality and participative

cultural experiences.

Creative Communities will continue to support

local authorities as a wellbeing strategy through:

— Policy — Working in partnership across

government supporting local authorities to

deliver relevant local, regional, and national

policies and priorities;

— Practice — Flexible, cross–cutting Culture

and Creativity Teams providing an agile and

adaptable approach central to the delivery of

Creative Communities as it addresses locally–

relevant priorities;

— Participation — Providing more opportunities

for people to engage with and enjoy culture and

creativity at local level in ways that underpin

equality of access; and

— Partnership — Between central and local

government, and Kilkenny County Council and

our local culture and creative sectors.

This approach is based on addressing

a shared, strategic agenda while delivering on

the challenges and opportunities unique to each

local authority area.

The Creative Communities partnership

will be delivered in line with the following

principles and values:

i. Broaden access to, and participation in,

cultural and creative activities locally.

ii. Use culture and creativity as a catalyst for

collaboration and innovation in achieving

greater wellbeing, social cohesion, and

economic development.

iii. Strengthen the capacity of local authorities

to integrate culture and creativity across

place–making, regeneration, renewal, and the

development of more vibrant, creative, and

sustainable places.

iv. Investing in culture and creativity to support

environmental, social, and economic returns

that help deliver local authority agendas — from

local and regional, to national and international.

v. Build on the agility and integrated approach of

Culture and Creativity Teams to sustain further

delivery of targeted collaborative programmes.

How The Creative Ireland Programme Works

Principles and Values of Creative Communities

Culture and Creativity Strategy 2023–202712 13Creative Ireland Kilkenny

Vibrant communities:

— Promote active participation in creativity and

culture across all ages, communities and

abilities in our county.

— Support the development of skills and talents

in the creative and cultural sector through

education, training and new enterprise and

investment opportunities.

— Expand our Cultural and Creativity Team and

actively engage with other agencies and bodies

and individuals operating in the creative and

cultural sector on a regular basis to co–ordinate

actions for the county.

Town Centre First:

Kilkenny County Council’s contribution will be

aligned to the Creative Ireland Programme.

Regeneration projects will be focused on

investment in both tangible and intangible

resources and supports. Kilkenny County Council

will continue to invest in tangible infrastructure to

support creativity and culture and to protect our

collective heritage including museums, theatres,

civic spaces, public infrastructure, and parks.

— Investment in intangible resources including

artists, creatives, local services, and tourist

experiences will be supported to strengthen

Kilkenny’s creative and cultural sector.

— Towns and villages are made up of a rich

tapestry of people, places, heritage, and

culture Kilkenny County Council will work to

build cohesive and creative communities and

facilities within the existing natural and built

environment of our settlements.

Climate Action:

— Harnessing the potential of culture and

creativity to help galvanise climate action

in County Kilkenny will be a key focus of the

Kilkenny Culture and Creativity Strategy 2023–

2027. Kilkenny County Council recognises

that Culture and Creativity can meaningfully

connect people with the profound changes that

are happening in our environment, society and

economy arising from climate change, and can

help transform that connection into behaviour

change or climate action

— The Council will encourage creative and

cultural projects which align with the aims

and objectives of the ﬁve–year County

Kilkenny Climate Action Plan 2023–2026,

currently in preparation. Themes may

include, but are not limited to, the following:

emissions, energy, climate justice, the circular

economy, Sustainable Development Goals,

decarbonisation, nature–based solutions, green

infrastructure, transport, recording culture

threatened by climate–induced managed

retreat etc.

— Creative solutions will deliver active

participation in climate change initiatives.

Kilkenny County Council will encourage

community engagement with environmental

sustainability.

Local Economic Development:

— At the heart of every creative district beats the

pulse of its creative economy. Kilkenny County

Council will develop opportunities to establish

sustainable creative enterprises, to support full

time artists, and to attract investment in our

existing creative industries.

— Culture and heritage deﬁne Kilkenny as a

destination and Kilkenny County Council will

actively support initiatives to allow residents

and visitors to have quality cultural experiences

through the promotion and interpretation

of heritage sites and the provision of quality

cultural events and festivals, museums, and

destination visitor experiences.

The Culture and Creativity Team in Kilkenny

have reviewed the outputs of the Creative

Ireland Programme over the last ve years and

have recognised the strong achievements in

engagement with diverse and marginalised

groups in our county, the development of inter–

generational programmes and the creation of

strong online content, accessible to all. Building

on these strengths in delivery, the next Creative

Ireland Programme in Kilkenny will endeavour

to improve accessibility and develop the creative

economy through closer co–ordination of all

activities and initiatives within the creative and

cultural sector.

As part of a consultation process to engage with all

stakeholders and to prioritise the areas for action,

these high–level priorities of the Creative Ireland

Programme are reﬂected in the priorities listed

hereunder. These priorities were circulated within

all sections of the local authority and stakeholders

across the county as part of a consultation process

to prioritise the areas for action in the Kilkenny

Creative Ireland Programme 2023 to 2027.

— Making counties great places to live, work, visit

and invest in

— Housing

— Climate action (including sustainable/ active

travel) and biodiversity

— Local economic development

— Attracting inward investment

— Town Centre First (Challenges to retail

economy) and/ or rural economy

— Changing population /demographics

— Post–COVID renewal and resilient communities

— Digitalisation and ongoing transformation

The Strategic Priorities

for Kilkenny

Based on the preliminary results of the 2022

Census, 103,685 people currently live in County

Kilkenny.1 Data from the 2022 Census is not

yet available regarding the age demographics

of Kilkenny, however in the 2016 Census, young

people (aged 0–24) stood at 32,977 with 25,944

aged under 18. With the notable elderly dependency

rates and higher youth category it is important to

take this into account for our strategic priorities.

Having learned from the successes of previous

projects in Kilkenny and identiﬁed the need for

improved collaboration and co–ordination with

areas such as enterprise, tourism, and climate

action to embed the creative and cultural sector

in all aspects of life in Kilkenny, additional focus

is placed on broader stakeholder and citizen

engagement, policy development and co–ordinated

resourcing in our next programme.

Kilkenny is home to the Design and Craft

Council of Ireland, the Heritage Council, the Butler

Gallery, the Watergate Theatre, Cartoon Saloon,

and the Kilkenny Arts Festival and other festivals.

All of these entities play an important part

in deﬁning Kilkenny’s reputation as an attractive

location for people to develop cultural and creative

enterprise, to visit for a cultural and creative

experience and to celebrate our natural and built

environment.

Increased engagement with all such

stakeholders will allow the creative and cultural

agenda to inﬁltrate all policy areas and investment

proposals in the coming years.

The empowerment of all residents in Kilkenny

to increase participation in cultural and creative

programmes and opportunities does contribute

to social cohesion, wellbeing and integration and

it is proposed to promote increased engagement

through collaboration and accessibility to

programmes for all.

It is the strategic objective of Kilkenny County

Council to strengthen creativity in all areas across

our county through the following objectives:

Culture and Creativity Strategy 2023–202714 15Creative Ireland Kilkenny

Map of Kilkenny

Kilkenny has a Culture and Creativity Team

in place to guide and oversee implementation

of this Strategy.

The Culture and Creativity Teams are the

cornerstone of Creative Communities across

all thirty–one local authorities in Ireland. These

teams bring together a signiﬁcant range and

level of expertise. In many cases, include

professionals from architecture, archives, the

arts, climate action, community, enterprise and

environmental development, heritage, information

and communication technologies, Irish language,

libraries, spatial planning, tourism and more. This

depth of technical expertise aﬀords each local

authority a level of insight, resources, and delivery

experience which few other public or private sector

organisations can match.

The role of this team is to:

— Provide a collective forum for the ambition of

culture and creativity within the local authority;

— Focus on diversity and inclusivity and enable

harder to reach communities to participate in

cultural and creative activities;

— Build on existing in–house expertise and

strategies across areas of wellbeing, social

cohesion, and economic development to

leverage culture and creativity to deliver on

targeted local authority agendas.;

— Enable a shift in how the cultural and creative

sector is valued within and across local

authorities and ensure that culture and

creativity is embedded across local authority

plans, policies, and project teams;

Implementation by the Kilkenny

Culture and Creativity Team

— Drive cross–collaborative actions that support

change and positive outcomes locally, and

potentially between local authorities at

regional level;

— Be innovative and take risks–try new projects

and new ways of working.

The delivery of the Strategy is led by the Director

of Services for Community, Library, Arts, Heritage

and Fire Service and the members of the Culture

and Creativity Team for Kilkenny County Council,

including Senior Executive Oﬃcer, Arts Oﬃcer,

County Librarian, Heritage Oﬃcer, Climate

Action Oﬃcer, Biodiversity Oﬃcer, Tourism

Oﬃcer, Architectural Conservation Oﬃcer,

Executive Architect, Healthy Kilkenny Co–

Ordinator, Community Worker, Senior Enterprise

Development Oﬃcer, Environmental Awareness

Oﬃcer, Communications and Corporate Oﬃcer,

and the Environmental Project Worker.

These structures and processes are a critical

success factor that will enable Creative

Communities to deliver on strategic priorities for

Kilkenny County Council for 2023–2027.

Culture and Creativity Strategy 2023–202716 17Creative Ireland Kilkenny

A Government of Ireland Initiative.

Tionscnamh de chuid Rialtas na hÉireann.

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CreativeIrl

creativeirl

creativeireland

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creativeireland.gov.ie

18 Creative Ireland Kilkenny

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Inspiring and transforming people,

places and communities through creativity.