Thanks for the Kilkenny memories

I WOULD like to thank all those who supplied me with valuable information on the characters who brightened up the homes, streets, pubs, theatres and sporting fields of County Kilkenny over the decades.

I will be able to include a considerable amount of this treasure trove of memories and anecdotes in a book I am writing on aspects of Irish folklore and popular culture.

It was good to hear from exiles of the black and amber county now living in places like New York, Boston, Sydney, and Manchester, and indeed across Ireland: Kilkenny folk have a presence in all 32 counties.

A previous book I wrote proved a success only thanks to similar cooperation from those who care about the preservation of our old traditions and particularly Irish story-telling culture. They are the people who know and understand that the craic was invented in Ireland!

John Fitzgerald,

Lower Coyne Street,

Callan,

Co Kilkenny.