Newly announced Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty has 'a great affinity for Kilkenny'

“I have a great affinity for Kilkenny. I am married to a ‘Cat’ after all,” newly announced Late Late Show host and comedian Patrick Kielty told the Kilkenny People in a recent interview.

“Kilkenny is a city associated with comedy. In many ways, following the success of the Cat Laughs, it has become like how Edinburgh is to Scotland,” he said.

“There is a huge appetite for comedy gigs in Kilkenny and so many fantastic venues to perform.

“The thing is the Cat Laughs festival always fell during times in which I was recording stuff or hosting series. I remember doing a chat show on the BBC every Summer and covering comedians heading to Kilkenny.”

On one of the occasions Kielty did make it down to Kilkenny, he confesses that he stayed for longer than he had bargained for.

“I was down in Kilkenny once with Ally McCoist (Scottish footballer) and Fred MacAulay (Scottish comedian) when they did a television chat show together for the BBC.

“Let’s just say at that stage Ally would’ve still been playing and Phil would’ve been partying so a decision was made to change our flights to stay down in Kilkenny to continue to enjoy the local hospitality.

“The problem for me, with that said, has never been in getting to Kilkenny, it’s getting out of Kilkenny!”