Kilkenny was given a grant of murage dated 1248.
This was in the form of:-
Wording
…
----
The Earl of Gloucester asks Henry III to grant his burgesses of Kilkenny a murage for seven years to enclose their town, according to the form of the murage of Bristol. The petition is granted. Calendar of Documents Ireland I (1171-1251), 112 (732) {Royal Letters. No. 2517}. Calendared under 1216 as possibly early, but cannot be so.
----
{Early in the reign of Hen. III. ?}
732. The Earl of Gloucester prays the K. to grant to his burgesses of Kilkenny a murage for 7 years to inclose their vill, according to the form of the murage of Bristol;
The K. grants murage;
The Earl also prays that the murage of Thomas town, granted by the justiciary of Ireland, be revoked, as it is prejudicial to the Earl's tenants;
Let it be revoked till the K. grants thereupon. {Royal Letters, No. 2517.}
Granted by Henry III.
Details of the petition which resulted in this grant can be seen
at this link. 
Primary Sources
…
National Archive SC 8/278/13892 (new ref for Royal Letters 2517.)
online referenceSweetman, H.S. (ed), 1875,
Calendar of Documents Ireland 1171-1251 (London) p. 112 No. 732
online copy
Secondary Sources
Munby, J. and Tyler, R., 2005, Kilkenny City Walls: Heritage Conservation Plan (Kilkenny: The Heritage Council) p. 189
Thomas, A., 1992, The Walled Towns of Ireland Vol. 2 (Irish Academic Press) p. 126-32
Bradley, J., 1975-6, 'The town wall of Kilkenny' Old Kilkenny Review Vol. 1.2 (ns) p. 85-103, Vol. 1.3 p. 209-19
Comments
Dated on the guard to? 1266, with reference to CPR 1258-66, p. 573, a ratification of a grant by the King's son to the citizens of Kilkenny of murage for three years. Cal. Docs Ireland, probably in error, attributes this petition to early Henry III (vol. I, p. 112, no.732). (National Archive note)
The endorsement of the petition states 'The king has granted it'.
Thomas writes 'the earliest reference to murage for Kilkenny is dated only to the time of Henry III, 1216-72 (CDI I 732), but can be narrowed down to certainly post-1232 and probably post-1248 (Bradley 89).'
The 1266 date is unsatisfactory, since the details of the grant do not fit with the petition. The suggestion that earl of Gloucester was Gilbert seems to be to fit with this 1266 date; his father Richard, also earl of Gloucester, had inherited the lordship of Kilkenny from his mother, Isabel Marshall, on her death in 1240. Irish records have been split over several archives, some of which have been destroyed, so there is a distinct possibility that the resulting grant is not calendared or otherwise known.
Munby and Tyler date this to c. 1248, presumably based on Bradley. This date is not unreasonable although a date of 1252-3, when Richard was in Ireland, may be worth consideration.
Record created by Philip Davis. This record created 04/02/2009. Last updated on 09/05/2012. First published online 5/01/2013.
