Leinster wing / full back Luke Fitzgerald and Ulster hooker Rory Best return to the fold having been injured during the autumn Test series, while Jerry Flannery is also included despite currently being sidelined through injury.
There is also a place for young Leinster back row Rhys Ruddock - the son of former Wales coach Mike. Ruddock won a late call up for Ireland's tour of the southern hemisphere last summer and has since impressed for his province, featuring in eight Magners League games so far this term.
The major omissions come in the form of Munster duo Tomas O'Leary and Tony Buckley.
O'Leary has been left out in favour of Eoin Reddan and clubmate Peter Stringer, while Buckley is also overlooked despite starting the Tests against South Africa and Argentina in November.
However, both Buckley and O'Leary will have an immediate chance to make Kidney regret his decision to leave them out as they look set to appear for Ireland's second string, the Wolfhounds, against Scotland A at Netherdale on Friday, January 28.
"As always, the selection of the squad is never an easy one, but certainly the level of competition in each position is probably as great as it has ever been over the last two years," said Kidney, whose side travel to Italy for their Six Nations opener on Saturday, February 5.
"Players have been really pushing their performances for their provinces, so that level of competition can only be good.
"That translates into more competition for each place in the squad and then for the first selection against Italy, which can only be a good thing coming into the Championship.
"The players named today in the Wolfhounds squad are very much in contention for the game against Italy.We have left a vacancy in the squad that we will fill after the provinces play this weekend and weigh up who we want to have game-time and who we want to retain with the senior squad in Limerick."
Ireland Six Nations squad
Backs
Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
Gordon D'Arcy (Leinster)
Gavin Duffy (Connacht)
Keith Earls (Munster)
Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster)
Shane Horgan (Leinster)
Ronan O'Gara (Munster)
Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster)
Eoin Reddan (Leinster)
Jonathan Sexton (Leinster)
Peter Stringer (Munster)
Andrew Trimble (Ulster)
Paddy Wallace (Ulster)
Forwards
Rory Best (Ulster)
Tom Court (Ulster)
Sean Cronin (Connacht)
Leo Cullen (Leinster)
Stephen Ferris (Ulster)
Jerry Flannery (Munster)
John Hayes (Munster)
Cian Healy (Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Leinster)
Shane Jennings (Leinster)
Denis Leamy (Munster)
Mike McCarthy (Connacht)
Donncha O'Callaghan (Munster)
Paul O'Connell (Munster)
Sean O'Brien (Leinster)
Mick O'Driscoll (Munster)
Mike Ross (Leinster)
Rhys Ruddock (Leinster)
David Wallace (Munster)
Ireland Wolfhounds (vs Scotland A, Friday, January 28)
Backs
Isaac Boss (Leinster)
Ian Humphreys (Ulster)
Denis Hurley (Munster)
Keith Matthews (Connacht)
Fergus McFadden (Leinster)
Johne Murphy (Munster)
Niall O'Connor (Ulster)
Tomas O'Leary (Munster)
Eoin O'Malley (Leinster)
AN Other
Forwards
Nigel Brady (Ulster)
Tony Buckley (Munster)
Willie Faloon (Ulster)
Jamie Hagan (Connacht)
Chris Henry (Ulster)
Kevin McLaughlin (Leinster)
Dominic Ryan (Leinster)
Donnacha Ryan (Munster)
Devin Toner (Leinster)
Dan Tuohy (Ulster)
Damien Varley (Munster)
Brett Wilkinson (Connacht)
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