Crookstown () is a village in the south of

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, ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It lies in the

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

of Crookstown Upper on the

R448 road The R448 road is a regional road in Ireland. It is the designation given to the former N9 national primary road when it was bypassed by the M9 motorway. Route The official description of the R448 from the ''Roads Act 1993 (Classification ...

where it meets the R415 regional road, about south of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. It has a few hundred inhabitants, a church, a primary school, a petrol station/rest area on the N9, restaurant and small hotel and some craft shops. It is less than one kilometre from the larger neighbouring village of

Ballitore Ballitore () is a village in County Kildare, Ireland, sometimes spelt as Ballytore. It is noted for its historical Quaker associations. It was the first planned Quaker village in either England or Ireland - and remains the only one in Europe. ...

, and Crookstown is treated as part of Ballitore for census purposes.

Name

The

Placenames Database of Ireland The Placenames Database of Ireland ( ga, Bunachar Logainmneacha na hÉireann), also known as , is a database and archive of place names in Ireland. It was created by Fiontar, Dublin City University in collaboration with the Placenames Branch of t ...

records Crookstown in Irish as ''Baile an Chrócaigh'' (the town of Chrócaigh). Irish folklorist Tomás MacCormaic has stated that the name is a corruption of ''Bile Mac Cruaich'' (the Sacred Tree of the Sons of Cruaich), an ancient name for the parish of

Narraghmore Narraghmore () is a village in County Kildare, Ireland. It lies within a civil parish of the same name. Nearby villages include Ballytore, Calverstown, and Kilmead. Narraghmore village is 6.4km from Ballytore and has the M9 motorway and R448 ...

, which adjoins Crookstown. The name was recorded in Loca Patriciona, and it is possible that when first translated into English ''Bile'' became ''Baile'', while ''Chrócaigh'' is a modern Irish variation of the personal name ''Cruaich''. The tree was named after the two sons of ''Cruaich mac Duilge'', Macha and h-Eircc, who were part of the

Dál Cormaic Dál Cormaic (also Clann Cormaic, Uí Cormaic Lagen, Moccu Corbmaic) were a Gaelic dynasty located in South Kildare. People Abbán moccu Corbmaic St. Abbán had six brothers: Daman Uí Chormaic of Tígh Damhain (Tidowan), in the barony of Ma ...

, a Gaelic dynasty in the locality in the 5th century.

Public transport

The village is served by bus route 880 operated by Kildare Local Link on behalf of the National Transport Authority. There are several buses each day including Sunday linking the village to

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

Naas Naas ( ; ga, Nás na Ríogh or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 21,393, making it the second largest town in County Kildare after Newbridge. History The name of Naas has been recorded in th ...

as well as villages such as

Moone Moone (; ) is a small village in the south of County Kildare, Ireland. It is on the former N9 road (now by-passed) about south of Dublin. It has only a few hundred inhabitants, a church, a national school, one shop and a small community ce ...

in the area.

References

{{Authority control Towns and villages in County Kildare

Name

Public transport

See also

References