County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, which has a population of 246,977.

Geography and subdivisions

Kildare is the 24th-largest of Ireland's 32 counties in area and the seventh largest in terms of population. It is the eighth largest of Leinster's twelve counties in size, and the second largest in terms of population. It is bordered by the counties of

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

, Laois,

Meath Meath may refer to: General * County Meath, Republic of Ireland **Kingdom of Meath, medieval precursor of the county ** List of kings of Meath ** Meath GAA, including the intercounty football and hurling teams ** Diocese of Meath, in the Roman Cath ...

, Offaly,

South Dublin , image_map = Island of Ireland location map South Dublin.svg , map_caption = Inset showing South Dublin (darkest green in inset) within Dublin Region (lighter green) , area_total_km2 ...

and Wicklow. As an inland county, Kildare is generally a lowland region. The county's highest points are the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains bordering to the east. The highest point in Kildare is Cupidstown Hill on the border with South Dublin, with the better known Hill of Allen in central Kildare.

Towns and villages

* Allen * Allenwood * Ardclough *

Athy Athy ( ; ) is a market town at the meeting of the River Barrow and the Grand Canal in south-west County Kildare, Ireland, 72 kilometres southwest of Dublin. A population of 9,677 (as of the 2016 census) makes it the sixth largest town in Kild ...

* Ballitore *

Ballymore Eustace Ballymore Eustace () is a small town situated in County Kildare in Ireland, although until 1836 it lay within an exclave (a detached "pocket") of County Dublin. It lies close to the border with County Wicklow. The town's name, which is frequent ...

* Calverstown * Caragh *

Carbury Carbery or Carbury may refer to: ;People: * Brian Carbury (1918–1961), New Zealand fighter ace * Douglas Carbery (1894–1959), British soldier and airman * Ethna Carbery (1864–1902), Irish writer * James Joseph Carbery (1823–1887), Irish Dom ...

* Castledermot * Clane * Coill Dubh *

Celbridge Celbridge (; ) is a town and townland on the River Liffey in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is west of Dublin. Both a local centre and a commuter town within the Greater Dublin Area, it is located at the intersection of the ...

* Curragh * Derrinturn * Eadestown * Johnstown * Johnstownbridge * Kilberry * Kilcock * Kilcullen * Kildangan * Kill * Kilmead * Kilmeage * Kilteel * Kildare * Leixlip * Lullymore * Maynooth * Milltown * Moone * Monasterevin * Narraghmore * Nurney * Naas *

Newbridge Newbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Newbridge, New South Wales *Newbridge, Victoria * Newbridge Heights Public School England * Newbridge, Bath, electoral ward *Newbridge, Cornwall, three places in Cornwall with the same name * Newbridge, ...

* Prosperous * Rathangan * Robertstown * Sallins * Straffan *

Staplestown Staplestown () is a village and townland in north County Kildare, Ireland, located 40 kilometres west of Dublin. The village has a church, a school and is home to St Kevin's GAA. The local national (primary) school is Scoil Naomh Mhuire Nation ...

Suncroft Suncroft () is a village in County Kildare, Ireland, south of The Curragh and east of Kildare Town. As of 2016, Suncroft had a population of 746. Name The name Suncroft means "a sun blessed croft". According to local folklore, Suncroft was n ...

* Timolin * Two Mile House

Physical geography

The county has three major rivers running through it: the

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

, the Liffey and the Boyne. The Grand Canal crosses the county from

Lyons Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...

on the east to Rathangan and Monasterevin on the west. A southern branch joins the Barrow navigation at

. The

Royal Canal The Royal Canal ( ga, An Chanáil Ríoga) is a canal originally built for freight and passenger transportation from Dublin to Longford in Ireland. It is one of two canals from Dublin to the River Shannon and was built in direct competition ...

stretches across the north of the county along the border with

. Pollardstown Fen is the largest remaining calcareous fen in Ireland, covering an area of 220 hectares and is recognised as an internationally important fen ecosystem with unique and endangered plant communities, and was declared a National Nature Reserve in 1986. The

Bog of Allen The Bog of Allen ( ga, Móin Alúine) is a large raised bog in the centre of Ireland between the rivers Liffey and Shannon. The bog's 958 square kilometers (370 square miles) stretch into County Offaly, County Meath, County Kildare, County Lao ...

is a large bog that extends across and into County Kildare, County Meath, County Offaly,

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

, and

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces o ...

. Kildare has of bog (almost 14% of Kildare's land area) mostly located in the south-west and north-west, a majority of this being Raised Bog. It is a habitat for over 185 plant and animal species. There are of forested land in Kildare, accounting for roughly 5% of the county's total land area. of this is coniferous, while there is of broadleaf and the remaining area are unclassified species.

Coillte Coillte (; meaning "forests"/"woods") is a state-owned commercial forestry business in Ireland based in Newtownmountkennedy. Coillte manage approximately 7% of the country’s land, and operates three businesses - their core forestry business, a ...

and

Dúchas Dúchas, sometimes Dúchas: The Heritage Service, was an executive agency of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands of the Government of Ireland responsible for Heritage management, including: * natural heritage (including ...

currently own 47% of the forestry. Coillte runs Donadea Forest Park which is in North-Central Kildare. The forest covers of mixed woodland (60% broadleaf, 40%

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

) and is the largest forest park in Kildare.

History

Kildare was

shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...

d in 1297 and assumed its present borders in 1832, following amendments to remove a number of enclaves and exclaves. The county was the home of the powerful

Fitzgerald family The FitzGerald/FitzMaurice Dynasty is a noble and aristocratic dynasty of Cambro-Norman, Anglo-Norman and later Hiberno-Norman origin. They have been peers of Ireland since at least the 13th century, and are described in the Annals of the ...

. Parts of the county were also part of the Pale area around Dublin.

Governance and politics

Local government

Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county. The council has 40 members, elected in the local electoral areas of: Athy (5 seats),

(4 seats), Leixlip (3 seats), Clane (5 seats), Maynooth (5 Seats), Kildare (5 seats),

(6 Seats) and Naas (7 Seats). These form the municipal districts of Athy, Celbridge–Leixlip, Clane–Maynooth, Kildare–Newbridge, and Naas. The current council was elected in May 2019. Kildare County Council nominates three councillors to the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly, where there are part of the Mid-East strategic planning area committee.

Former districts

Kildare was formerly divided into the

rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...

s of Athy No. 1, Celbridge No. 1, Edenderry No. 2, and Naas No. 1, and the urban districts of

and Naas. The rural districts were abolished in 1925.

or Droichead Nua, within the former rural district of Naas No. 1, had town commissioners, and Leixlip was given that status too in 1988. The urban districts of Athy and Naas and the town commissioners of Newbridge and Leixlip became town councils in 2002. All town councils in Ireland were abolished in 2014.

National elections

For elections to

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...

, there are two constituencies in the county: Kildare North (4 seats) and Kildare South (4 seats). At the

2020 Irish general election The 2020 Irish general election took place on Saturday 8 February, to elect the 33rd Dáil, the lower house of Ireland's parliament. The election was called following the dissolution of the 32nd Dáil by the president, at the request of the Ta ...

, Kildare North returned Catherine Murphy (SD), Réada Cronin (SF), Bernard Durkan (FG), and James Lawless (FF), while Kildare South returned Sean Ó Fearghaíl (FF) (returned automatically as outgoing Ceann Comhairle), Patricia Ryan (SF), Martin Heydon (FG), and Cathal Berry (Ind). For elections to the European Parliament, it is part of the Midlands–North-West constituency (4 MEPs).

Demographics

The county's population has nearly doubled to 186,000 from 1990–2005. The northeastern region of Kildare had the highest average per-capita income in Ireland outside County Dublin in 2003. East Kildare's population has increased rapidly, for example, the amount of housing in the Naas suburb of Sallins has increased sixfold since the mid-1990s. the population of the county was 246,977. Ethnically, the 2016 census recorded County Kildare as 84% white Irish, 9% other white ethnicities, 2% black, 2% Asian, 1% of other ethnicities, and 2% not stated. For religion, the census recorded a population that was 80% Catholic, 9% of other stated religions, 10% with no religion and 2% not stated.

Ethnic Groups

Urban areas and populations

Health care

County Kildare hospitals include

Naas General Hospital Naas General Hospital ( ga, Ospidéal Ginearálta an Náis) is a general hospital located on the Craddockstown Road at Naas in County Kildare in Ireland. It was founded in 1841 and is managed by Dublin Midlands Hospital Group. History The hosp ...

and Clane General Hospital.

Transport

Road

County Kildare houses the hub of Ireland's network of major roads. The N4 (M4) from Dublin to

Sligo Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...

travels along the north of the county by-passing the towns of Leixlip, Maynooth and Kilcock. The M7 from Dublin to Limerick runs through the county and bypasses the towns of Naas, Newbridge, Kildare and Monasterevin. This road is colloquially referred to as the "Naas

Dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

" because when it was originally up-graded in 1964 the road from Dublin to Naas was a double-lane carriageway, one of the first of its kind in Ireland. The M9 is another motorway that commences at Kilcullen and ends at Waterford. It is motorway standard for its entire length.

Rail

The county is also served by the trains connecting with Dublin, southern Leinster, Munster and Connacht, with daily connections to Cork, Waterford, Limerick, and Galway. The principal Irish Rail InterCity train station in the county is Kildare, however, Newbridge, Sallins and

Hazelhatch Hazelhatch () is a townland in South Dublin on the border with County Kildare in Ireland. It is located on the R405 regional road, approximately halfway between Celbridge and Newcastle. The Grand Canal passes through the area, and Hazelhat ...

are also served by South Western Commuter services, while Maynooth, in northern County Kildare, is served by Western Commuter and Sligo InterCity services.

Waterway

Kildare is the centre of Ireland's Grand Canal network built in the late 18th century. This connects Kildare with Waterford, Dublin, Limerick and Athlone. The

runs west from Dublin and parts of it form the boundary with County Meath.

Irish language

There are 4,491 Irish speakers in County Kildare; 2,451 attending the seven Gaelscoils (Irish language primary schools) and one Gaelcholáiste (Irish language secondary school). According to the Irish Census 2006, 2,040 people in the county identify themselves as being daily Irish speakers outside the education system.

Education

* Two third-level educational institutions – St. Patrick's College founded by King George III in 1795 to educate Ireland's Catholics and Maynooth University founded in 1997 – are located in Maynooth. They share campus space and many facilities. The two institutions were formally separated in 1997. Maynooth University is the only university in the Republic of Ireland not situated in a city. * Clongowes Wood College is a private secondary boarding school for boys, located near Clane. Founded by the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits) in 1814, it is one of Ireland's oldest Catholic schools. * Newbridge College is a co-educational fee-paying secondary school. The Dominican Order founded Newbridge College in 1852 as a boarding school for boys. * Leinster Senior College is a small private fee-paying secondary school geared solely towards the Leaving Certificate. * The town of Clane is home to another educational institute, Clane College, a provider of further education to the wider Kildare community. *

Naas C.B.S. Naas C.B.S. ( ga, Méanscoil Iognáid Rís Nás na Riogh) is a Christian Brothers secondary school in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland. History Méanscoil Iognáid Rís is a voluntary secondary school under the trusteeship of the Edmund Rice Sch ...

, Saint Mary's College Naas and Piper's Hill College are the three main secondary schools in Naas.

Sport

GAA

The nickname for the Kildare GAA team is the ''Lilywhites'', as a result of its early jerseys being made from the bags of the Lilywhite Bakery. The all-white jerseys they wear are in reference to this. In 1928, Kildare became the first team to win the Sam Maguire trophy for the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, defeating Cavan 2–6 to 2–5. However, since then Kildare has reached the All-Ireland Football Championship Final on four occasions, the last being in 1998, but has failed on all four attempts. County Kildare is also known as the ''Shortgrass County'' which is a reference to how short the grass is on the commons of the Curragh.

Golf

The

Michael Smurfit Sir Michael Smurfit, KBE (born 7 August 1936), is an English-born Irish businessman. In the "2010 Irish Independent Rich List" he was listed at 25th with a €368 million personal fortune. Early life Smurfit, who was born in St Helens, ...

owned K Club, situated on the River Liffey near Straffan played host to the 2006

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

. Carton House Golf Club is located in Maynooth. The Golfing Union of Ireland, the longest established golf union in the world, have their national headquarters on the estate. This facility also comprises the GUI National Academy, an teaching facility for up-and-coming golfers, as well as being a facility available to all golfers in Ireland. Other prominent courses are located at Knockanally and Clane.

Horse racing

Kildare is famous worldwide for its horse racing. The Curragh horse-racing course is the home to all five Irish Classic Flat races. Also located in County Kildare are two other courses, Punchestown Racecourse, home of the National Hunt Festival of Ireland, and Naas Racecourse, which runs both National Hunt and Flat meetings and is used by top racehorse trainers as a test for horses preparing for the Cheltenham festival. The county is famous for the quality of horses bred in the many stud farms to which it is home, including the Irish National Stud and many other top studs such as Gilltown, Moyglare and Kildangan Stud, and race horse training establishments, such as the Osborne Stables.

Motorsports

Kildare is the home to Mondello Park, Ireland's only international motorsport venue. Established by Martin Birrane in 1968 on , and redeveloped in 1999/2000, the facility incorporates of race track, 24 race garages and 12 Hospitality Suites. The Circuit also has of extreme off-road driving trails and a off-road activities centre and the Museum of Motorsport. Mondello Park was awarded the FIA International race track status in 2001. It is host to National and International Race events, Motor Shows, Car & Bike Track days, Training Schools and Corporate Events.

Soccer

Kildare County F.C. was a League of Ireland club from 2002 until 2009, based in Newbridge, where Leinster Senior League side

Newbridge Town F.C. Newbridge Town are a Senior Division Leinster Senior League side. A group of boys had decided they wanted to form a soccer team and approached Joe Barry and Tony Hannigan, both of whom had organised and played soccer for many years. Newbridge ...

was invited to join the league in 2002, however, a broader Kildare-based franchise was created instead, playing out of

Station Road, Newbridge Station Road is a football ground and training complex located in Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Leinster Senior League outfit Newbridge Town F.C. It was also the home of now defunct Eircom League Division One side Kildare ...

Places of interest

Castledermot Abbey Castledermot Abbey () is a ruined Franciscan friary in Castledermot, County Kildare, Ireland. It was founded at some point before 1247. A previous monastery had been founded on the same site by Diarmait, a son of Áed Róin, King of Ulster, in ...

Castledermot Round Tower Castledermot Round Tower is a 10th-century round tower in Castledermot, County Kildare, Ireland. The tower, and the high crosses nearby, are a National Monument. Building The tower is complete, although the original cap has been replaced with ...

* Castletown House * Curragh * Maynooth Castle * The Wonderful Barn

Notable people

Arthur Guinness Arthur Guinness ( 172523 January 1803) was an Irish brewer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. The inventor of Guinness beer, he founded the Guinness Brewery at St. James's Gate in 1759. Born in Celbridge, County Kildare around 1725, Guinness ...

: Politician and brewer, founder of Guinness * George Barrington: pickpocket, socialite * Eamon Broy: policeman *

Domhnall Ua Buachalla Domhnall Ua Buachalla (; en, Daniel Richard "Donal" Buckley; 3 February 1866 – 30 October 1963) was an Irish politician and member of the First Dáil who served as third and final governor-general of the Irish Free State and later served as a ...

: Governor-General of the Irish Free State * Ambrose Bury: Canadian politician * Paul Cullen (bishop): Archbishop of Dublin and Archbishop of ArmaghJohn N. Molony, 'Cullen, Paul (1803–1878)', ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published in hardcopy 1969, accessed online 7 November 2014
/ref> * John Devoy: Fenian *

Charles FitzClarence Brigadier General Charles FitzClarence (8 May 1865 – 12 November 1914) was an Anglo-Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commo ...

: soldier * Lord Edward FitzGerald: revolutionary * Michael Gorman: American politician * Gabriel Hayes: sculptor and coin designer *

John Vincent Holland John Vincent Holland VC (19 July 1889 – 27 February 1975), was World War I Irish soldier, and the recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces ...

: soldier *

Michael Kelly Lawler Michael Kelly Lawler (November 16, 1814 – July 26, 1882) was a volunteer militia soldier in the Black Hawk War 1831–1832, an officer in the United States Army in both the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. In the latter confl ...

: soldier * Kathleen Lonsdale: scientist * John de Robeck: admiral * Ernest Shackleton: explorer *

Barry St. Leger Barrimore Matthew "Barry" St. Leger (bapt. 1 May 1733 – 23 December 1793) was a British Army officer. St. Leger was active in the Saratoga Campaign, commanding an invasion force that unsuccessfully besieged Fort Stanwix. St. Leger remaine ...

: soldier

Sports

* Larry Tompkins: Eadestown GAA * Leighton Aspell: twice Grand National-winning jockey * Nonpareil Dempsey: boxer * Matt Goff: Gaelic footballer * Willoughby Hamilton: tennis player * Jimmy O'Brien: plays for the Ireland national rugby sevens team * Ruby Walsh : National Hunt Jockey * Nathan Collins : Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. and

Republic of Ireland national football team , FIFA Trigramme = IRL , Name = Republic of Ireland , Association = Football Association of Ireland (FAI) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , website fai.ie, Coach = Stephen Kenny (foot ...

. *

Mark Travers Mark Travers (born 18 May 1999) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club AFC Bournemouth. He has represented the Republic of Ireland at youth international level up until under-21 level as well as the Republic o ...

: A.F.C. Bournemouth and

* Andrew Omobamidele : Norwich City F.C. and

Conn McDunphy Conn McDunphy (born 3 February 1997) is an Irish cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team . Major results ;2017 : 2nd Time trial, National Under-23 Road Championships : 5th Time trial, National Road Championships ;2018 : 1st Sta ...

: Professional Cyclist, 2020 Cycling Ireland National Time Trial Champion.

Writers, musicians, and entertainers

* Devon Murray: actor * Damien Molony: actor * Aisling Bea: actress, comedian * Aidan Higgins: writer * Teresa Brayton: writer * Molly Keane: novelist * Emily Lawless: writer *

Mary Leadbeater Mary Leadbeater (; December 1758 – 27 June 1826) was an Irish author and diarist. Early years and education Leadbeater was born in Ballitore, Athy, County Kildare, Ireland. She was the daughter of Richard Shackleton (1726–1792) by his second ...

: writer * John MacKenna: playwright, author, actor * Paul Mescal: actor * Bell X1 are from

, County Kildare. * Luka Bloom is from

* Joseph Doyle, bassist from Irish band The Frames is from Allenwood * Graham Hopkins, drummer with The Frames, The Swell Season, and Therapy? is from Clane * Damien Leith, Australian Idol 2006 winner and singer-songwriter lived in Milltown until he moved to Australia. *

Jack Lukeman Jack Lukeman (born Seán Loughman 11 February 1973), usually simply known as Jack L, is an Irish songwriter, musician, record producer, vocal artist and broadcaster. History A native of Athy Co. Kildare Ireland, Jack Lukeman attended a youth c ...

, otherwise known as Jack L, is from

* Dónal Lunny was raised in Newbridge. * Miracle Bell, Indie-pop band, hail from Naas. * Christy Moore, folk musician, was born in Newbridge. * Liam O'Flynn from the band Planxty is from Kill * Damien Rice was born in

* Heidi Talbot is from Kill

Twinning

County Kildare is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with the following places: * Deauville, France * Lexington, Kentucky, USA Both are major centres of the Thoroughbred breeding industry in their respective countries.

References

External links

Kildare Fáilte's Tourism PagesCounty Kildare Community NetworkKildare County CouncilKildare Gaelscoil stats 2010–2011Irish Census 2006
{{Authority control Kildare Kildare Kildare