List of Famous people born in County Kilkenny, Ireland

Phil Hogan is an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as European Commissioner for Trade between 2019 and 2020, and previously European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development between 2014 and 2019.

Yvonne McGuinness is an Irish visual artist who works in a variety of contexts, including video installation and print. Born in Kilkenny, Ireland and now based in Monkstown, County Dublin, her works have been shown in Ireland and the UK, and she holds an MA from the Royal College of Art in London.

George Berkeley – known as Bishop Berkeley – was an Anglo-Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immaterialism". This theory denies the existence of material substance and instead contends that familiar objects like tables and chairs are ideas perceived by the minds and, as a result, cannot exist without being perceived. Berkeley is also known for his critique of abstraction, an important premise in his argument for immaterialism.

Séamus Pattison was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Leas-Cheann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 2002 to 2007, Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 1997 to 2002, Minister of State for Social Welfare from 1983 to 1987 and Father of the Dáil from 1995 to 2007. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency from 1961 to 2007. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Leinster constituency from 1981 to 1983.

Mabel Esmonde Cahill was an Irish female tennis player, active in the late 19th century, and was the first foreign woman to win a major tennis tournament when she won the 1891 US National Championships.

Lady Margaret Butler, Lady Boleyn was an Irish noblewoman, the daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond. She married Sir William Boleyn and through her eldest son Sir Thomas Boleyn, was the paternal grandmother of Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII of England, and great-grandmother of Anne and Henry's daughter, Elizabeth I of England.

Edmund Ignatius Rice,, was a Catholic missionary and educationalist. He was the founder of two religious institutes of religious brothers: the Congregation of Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers.

William Patrick Duggan was an Irish international rugby union player. He won 41 Irish caps, the first in 1975 and finished his international career in 1984 as captain. He toured New Zealand in 1977 with the British and Irish Lions, and at the time played club rugby for Blackrock College RFC, after commencing his career with Sunday's Well RFC in Cork.

Elizabeth Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield (1640–1665) was the second wife of Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Chesterfield.

Charles Agar, 1st Earl of Normanton, was an Anglo-Irish Protestant clergyman. He served as Archbishop of Dublin from 1801 to 1809.