March: Kilkenny was looking up to the skies!

The skies above Kilkenny made the news in very different ways, back in March.
Kilkenny pilot George O’Hara landed his penultimate flight at Kerry airport after more than 15,000 successful landings in a storied career.

Captain George retired from commercial aviation, after personally delivering over 3.5 million passengers safely.

Meanwhile, visitors to St Canice’s Cathedral were looking into space when the touring artwork, Museum of the  Moon, was unveiled at St Canice’s Cathedral. The luminous artwork featured  detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface. Suspended metres above ground, visitors could walk underneath and even see the ‘dark side of the moon’!

BELOW: Creator Richard Boland pulls the first pint with general manager Peter Wilson at The Avalon Hotel in Castlecomer for the launch of the HelloYes local craft beer PICTURE: Alf Harvey

The biggest party of the year took over county venues and city streets, for St Patrick’s Day and Tradfest. But it was a wintery one that we headlined: ‘Green, white and cold!’

Parades took place in Goresbridge, Thomastown, Graignamanagh, Urlingford and Kilkenny City, with the latter also playing host to the weekend-long St Patrick’s Festival and Tradfest, which saw tens of thousands of visitors flock to town.

Parade marshalls in the city were Olympian cyclist Mia Griffin and Junior Eurovision Éire 2024 winner Enya Cox Dempsey.
Kilkenny had barely finished one festival when headliners were announced for another!