History of Stoneen, Kilkenny, Ireland

"COUNTY KILKENNY, an inland county in the province of Leinster, Ireland, bounded on the N. by Queen's County, on the E. by Carlow and Wexford, on the S. by Waterford, and on the W. by Tipperary. Its greatest length N. and S. is 46 miles, and greatest breadth E. and W. 24. It comprises an area of 796 square miles, and contains a population, by the census of 1861, of 124,516. According to Ptolemy it was originally inhabited by the Brigantes and Caucoi, and it subsequently became part of the kingdom of Ossory. In 1247, when Leinster was divided among the daughters of William, Earl of Pembroke, Kilkenny was allotted to his third child, Isabella, and through her descended to the earls of Ormonde. Its early history was occupied in struggles between the houses of Ormonde and Desmonde. In the rebellion of 1641 Kilkenny fell into the power of the Irish. At the accession of William III. most of the leading county families, the Graces, the Walshes, the Butlers, the O'Shears, &c., revolted,...