![SheepGrazingCurragh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/SheepGrazingCurragh.JPG)
The Curragh ( ; ga, An Currach ) is a flat open
plain
In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...
of almost of common land in
County Kildare
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, ...
. This area is well known for Irish
horse breeding
Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in ...
and training. The
Irish National Stud
The Irish National Stud (official name: ''Comhlacht Graí Náisiúnta na hÉireann Teo.'') is a Thoroughbred horse breeding facility in Tully, Kildare, County Kildare, Ireland. It was formally established by incorporation on 11 April 1946 ...
is located on the edge of
Kildare
Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...
town, beside the famous
Japanese Gardens
are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...
. Also located here is Pollardstown Fen, the largest
fen
A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires. T ...
in Ireland. This area is of particular interest to botanists and ecologists because of the numerous bird species that nest and visit there. There are also many rare plants that grow there.
It is composed of a
sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...
y
soil
Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...
formed after an
esker
An esker, eskar, eschar, or os, sometimes called an ''asar'', ''osar'', or ''serpent kame'', is a long, winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, examples of which occur in glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Europe and North Amer ...
deposited a sand load and as a result, it has excellent
drainage
Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditio ...
characteristics. This makes it a popular location for training racehorses.
History
![IMG CurraghCamp](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/IMG_CurraghCamp.jpg)
Used as a meeting site during Pre-Christian societies, the Curragh is shrouded in mythology. The hill to the north of the Curragh is called the
Hill of Allen
The Hill of Allen (''Cnoc Alúine'' in Modern Irish, earlier ''Cnoc Almaine''; also Hill of Almu ) is a volcanic hill situated in the west of County Kildare, Ireland, beside the village of Allen. According to Irish Mythology it was the seat of ...
(Almhain) and is the purported meeting place of the mythical
Fianna
''Fianna'' ( , ; singular ''Fian''; gd, Fèinne ) were small warrior-hunter bands in Gaelic Ireland during the Iron Age and early Middle Ages. A ''fian'' was made up of freeborn young males, often aristocrats, "who had left fosterage but had n ...
. Legend has it that in about 480 AD, when
St Brigid
Saint Brigid of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland ( ga, Naomh Bríd; la, Brigida; 525) is the patroness saint (or 'mother saint') of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish hagiogra ...
became intent on founding a monastery in Kildare, she asked the
High King of Leinster for the land on which to build it. When he granted her as much land as her cloak would cover, she then placed her cloak on the ground to cover the entire Curragh plain.
On 1 April 1234,
The 3rd Earl of Pembroke lost
a battle at the Curragh against a group of men loyal to
King Henry III of England
Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry ass ...
. Lord Pembroke was wounded in the battle and died at his
castle at Kilkenny on 16 April.
![Kildare Curragh wSigns](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Kildare_Curragh_wSigns.jpg)
It was a common site for mustering the armies of
the Pale
The Pale (Irish: ''An Pháil'') or the English Pale (' or ') was the part of Ireland directly under the control of the English government in the Late Middle Ages. It had been reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast st ...
(see
Essex in Ireland
Essex in Ireland refers to the military campaign pursued in Ireland in 1599 by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, during the Nine Years War.
In 1598, Queen Elizabeth I of England had been troubled over the choice of a military commander for Irela ...
). During the
1798 Rebellion
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a Irish republicanism, ...
there was a massacre in the Curragh at
Gibbet Rath. The
Curragh Camp
The Curragh Camp ( ga, Campa an Churraigh) is an army base and military college in The Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. It is the main training centre for the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces and is home to 2,000 military personnel ...
is now located there, where the
Irish Defence Forces
The Defence Forces ( ga, Fórsaí Cosanta, officially styled ) derives its origins from the Irish Volunteers. Whilst the Irish for ''Defence Forces'' is , as Ó Cearúil (1999) points out, the Defence Forces are officially styled . is used in ...
undergo training.
![Footsteps at Donnelly's Hollow on the Curragh in County Kildare](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Footsteps_at_Donnelly%27s_Hollow_on_the_Curragh_in_County_Kildare.JPG)
At a natural bowl-shaped amphitheatre on the Curragh known locally as Donnelly's Hollow the Irish champion boxer
Dan Donnelly defeated the English champion George Cooper in 1815, before a large crowd. Donnelly had a famed reach and the remains of his arm were on show until recently in the Hideout Pub in the nearby town of
Kilcullen
Kilcullen (), formally Kilcullen Bridge, is a small town on the River Liffey in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Its population of 3,473 at the 2011 census made it the 12th largest settlement in County Kildare and the fastest growi ...
.
In 1866, a commission was appointed by the
British Treasury
His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and e ...
to report into the use made of the Curragh and make recommendations on legislation.
It reported in 1868,
and led to the Curragh of Kildare Act, 1868.
On 2 January 1941 the Curragh was
bombed by the Luftwaffe, the air force of the
Third Reich
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, causing slight damage. One SC250 bomb remains unaccounted for.
Legal recognition
The earliest mention of the Curragh in legal documents was
1299
Year 1299 ( MCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* July 4 – Battle of Cape Orlando: A Aragonese-Angevin fleet (some 60 galleys) ...
, when an Act was passed, to prevent swine from feeding on the Curragh plains to the detriment of the sward.
In 1865 the houses of parliament set up a commission to examine the Curragh. The findings of this led to the enactment of the Curragh of Kildare Act 1868. This created the honorary position of a Ranger tasked with the care, management and preservation of the Curragh for the purpose of horseracing and training of horses.
The 1868 act also provided for a second commission to report on the use of the Curragh for common pasture. This report is detailed in the 1870 Curragh of Kildare act. This act specifies sheep grazing rights for the Curragh.
After the Anglo Irish treaty of 1921 the lands of the Curragh passed from the Crown to the Minister for Finance of the Irish State.
In 1961 a new Curragh of Kildare Act repealed the 1868 act and sections of the 1870 act. It also abolished the office of the Ranger and transferred its duties to the department of Defence.
Military
There has been a permanent military presence in the curragh since 1856.
The
Curragh Camp
The Curragh Camp ( ga, Campa an Churraigh) is an army base and military college in The Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. It is the main training centre for the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces and is home to 2,000 military personnel ...
is now home to the
Defence Forces Training Centre
, image = Defense Force Training Centre Flag (Ireland).svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = Flag of the DFTC
, dates =
, country =
, role =
, size =
, command_structure = Defence Forces
, garrison = *Curragh Camp, County Kildare
*Gle ...
of the
Irish Defence Forces
The Defence Forces ( ga, Fórsaí Cosanta, officially styled ) derives its origins from the Irish Volunteers. Whilst the Irish for ''Defence Forces'' is , as Ó Cearúil (1999) points out, the Defence Forces are officially styled . is used in ...
.
Wrens of the Curragh
![The Curragh Wrens](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/The_Curragh_Wrens.jpg)
Records of women, known as
Wrens of the Curragh
The Wrens of the Curragh were a community of women in nineteenth-century Ireland who lived outside society on the plains of Kildare, many of whom were sex workers at Curragh Camp. Records date back to the 1840s of women living on the Curragh near ...
, who were paid for sex work by soldiers at the camp, go back to the 1840s.
They lived in 'nests' half-hollowed out of banks and ditches, which were covered in furze bushes; their lifestyle was communal - money and resources were shared amongst the (up to 60) women who lived there.
Whilst many women were sex workers, others had common-law marriages to soldiers but were barred from living within the camp itself.
The women's presence is no longer reported after the 1880s.
Sport
Horse racing
The
Curragh Racecourse
The Curragh Racecourse -- usually referred to as simply the Curragh -- is one of Ireland's most important Thoroughbred racecourses. It is situated on the Curragh plain in County Kildare, between the towns of Newbridge and Kildare.
History
T ...
on the plain is Ireland's Premier Flat Racecourse. Every year, it hosts all five classic races in the racing calendar: the
Irish Derby Stakes
The Irish Derby (Irish: Dearbaí na hÉireann) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 ...
, the
Irish Oaks
The Irish Oaks is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs (2,414 metres), and it is s ...
, the
Irish 1,000 Guineas
The Irish 1,000 Guineas is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is scheduled to ...
, the
Irish 2,000 Guineas
The Irish 2,000 Guineas is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is s ...
and the
Irish St. Leger
The Irish St Leger is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 6 furlongs (2,816 metres), and it i ...
.
Motor racing
![1903 Gordon Bennett Trophy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/1903_Gordon_Bennett_Trophy._De_Knyff_passes_Winton_repairing_his_car.jpg)
On 2 July 1903, the
Gordon Bennett Cup ran through the Curragh. It was the first international motor race to be held in what was then the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...
. The
Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland wanted the race to be hosted in the United Kingdom (as it existed then), and Ireland was suggested as the venue because racing was illegal on British public roads. Following a lobbying campaign, local laws were adjusted, and Kildare was chosen on the basis of the straightness its roads. As a compliment to Ireland, the British team chose to race in
Shamrock green
Spring green is a color that was traditionally considered to be on the yellow side of green, but in modern computer systems based on the RGB color model is halfway between cyan and green on the color wheel.
The modern spring green, when plott ...
which later became known as
British racing green
British racing green, or BRG, is a colour similar to ''Brunswick green'', ''hunter green'', ''forest green'' or '' moss green'' ( RAL 6005). It takes its name from the green international motor racing colour of the United Kingdom. This originat ...
.
The route consisted of several loops of a circuit that passed-through Kilcullen
Kilcullen (), formally Kilcullen Bridge, is a small town on the River Liffey in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Its population of 3,473 at the 2011 census made it the 12th largest settlement in County Kildare and the fastest growi ...
, the Curragh, Kildare
Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...
, Monasterevin
Monasterevin (), also Monasterevan, and Mevin is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. The town lies on the River Barrow and the Barrowline, a canal branch of the Grand Canal. The population was 4,246 at the 2016 Census.
Location and Access
Situ ...
, Stradbally
Stradbally () is a town in County Laois, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, located in the midlands of Ireland along the N80 road, a National Secondary Route, about from Portlaoise. It is a townland, a Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish an ...
, Castledermot
Castledermot () is an inland village in the south-east of Ireland in County Kildare, about from Dublin, and from the town of Carlow. The N9 road from Dublin to Waterford previously passed through the village but upon completion of a motorway ...
, 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 ...
, and Athy. The race was won by the Belgian racer Camille Jenatzy
Camille Jenatzy (1868, Schaerbeek – 8 December 1913, Habay la Neuve) was a Belgian race car driver. He is known for breaking the land speed record three times and being the first man to break the 100 km/h barrier.
He was nicknamed ''Le ...
, driving a Mercedes.[
After The Emergency both motor cars and motorcycle racing took place on occasions drawing crowds up to 30,000. For eight years from 1947 until 1954 cars competed, while motorcycle racing continued until 1967. The first race was run by the ]Leinster Motor Club
Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...
on 12 July 1947 over a course known as the "Short circuit" but eight years later the death of Don Beauman
Donald "Don" Bentley Beauman (26 July 1928 – 9 July 1955) was a British Formula One driver who took part in one World Championship Grand Prix.
Beauman was born in Farnborough, Hampshire, the only son of Brigadier General Archibald Bentley B ...
during at a different Irish venue plus other fatal racing accidents in 1955 brought an end to motor car racing at the Curragh. The 1951 Wakefield Trophy was won by the then 22-year-old Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of comp ...
.
Education
The Curragh Camp has two primary schools ( national schools); Curragh Girls' National School, Curragh Boys' National School. It has one secondary school, the Curragh Post Primary School (PPS), which has been situated beside the parade ground since 1933. Curragh Girls' School and Curragh PPS have approximately 200 pupils with a population of 191 as of 2015/16 school year. The Curragh Boys' School has 112 pupils.
Cultural references
*The Curragh plains were used to film the battle scenes in the film ''Braveheart
''Braveheart'' is a 1995 American historical drama film directed and produced by, and starring Mel Gibson. Gibson portrays Sir William Wallace, a late-13th century Scottish warrior who led the Scots in the First War of Scottish Independence ag ...
''.
*An Irish folk song is called ''The Curragh of Kildare
The Curragh of Kildare, also known as The Winter it is Past, is a folk song particularly associated with the Irish tradition.
Elements of some versions of the song suggest that it dates from at least the mid 18th century. The Curragh of Kildare sp ...
''.
*The 2020 film ''Dating Amber
''Dating Amber'' (originally titled ''Beards'') is an Irish comedy-drama film directed by David Freyne. The film features two closeted teenagers in 1990s Ireland who decide to start a fake relationship. The film was produced with assistance fro ...
'' was filmed and set in the Curragh.
See also
*Curragh Incident
The Curragh incident of 20 March 1914, sometimes known as the Curragh mutiny, occurred in the Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. The Curragh Camp was then the main base for the British Army in Ireland, which at the time still formed part of the U ...
Notes
a. According t
''Leinster Leader'', 11 April 1903
Britain had to choose a different colour to its usual national colours of red, white and blue, as these had already been taken by Italy, Germany and France respectively. It also stated red as the colour for ''American'' cars in the 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup.
References
External links
Curragh history and information
*
Ireland's oldest golf course
The Curragh Racecourse
{{County Kildare
Geography of County Kildare
Sports venues in County Kildare
Tourist attractions in County Kildare
Archaeological sites in County Kildare