Talk:Kilkenny cats
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Paris Figaro c.1863?
[edit]Various sources quote Le Figaro about the American Civil War as saying:
- These Americans are fighting on a military system inaugurated by the Kilkenny cats. The two armies meet and fight and slaughter each other with the utmost fury. Then they fell [sic] back and reorganize for another general massacre. Positively, the war will end when the last man is killed.
Which strikes me as implausuble, unless "Kilkenny cats" was introduced by the translator. I have traced the English quote to...
- Piatt, Donn; Boynton, Henry Van (1893). "Gettysburg". General George H. Thomas, a critical biography. Cincinnati: R. Clarke. p. 229. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
...where it occurs at the end of the chapter on the Battle of Gettysburg; later sources mention it in relation to the Battle of Chickamauga, probably because George Henry Thomas was commander there. Some fix "fell" to "fall".
I can't find any plausible French snippet of the quoted text in the online seach at Gallica. Perhaps Platt & Boynton meant a different Figaro (in a different language) or another French paper (not in Gallica). jnestorius(talk) 18:57, 29 November 2019 (UTC)
Irishtown vs Englishtown origin
[edit]It is my understanding that the term "Kilkenny cats" refers to the disputes between the Englishtown and Irishtown Corporations (Municipal governments) in Kilkenny. The two towns had separate Councils until 1843. There were many court cases related to disputes between the two. I note today Kilkenny City has no city/town council. a source Mrchris (talk) 21:46, 22 December 2019 (UTC)