History of County Kildare facts for kids

County Kildare is a county in the province of Leinster, Ireland. It became a defined area (a diocese) in 1111 and a county (or shire) in 1297. Its current borders were set in 1836. Kildare is located in the Liffey river area, on important routes from Dublin to the south and west. This made it a very important place throughout Irish history.

Ancient History of Kildare

The earliest written records about County Kildare before Christianity come from Ptolemy's map of Ireland in 100 AD. It shows an inland town that might be Rheban on the Barrow River.

A very old sacred site called Knockaulin (also known as Dún Áilinne) was likely abandoned around 400 AD. The monastery at Cill Dara (Kildare) was traditionally founded around 490 AD. St Conleth, the first bishop, died around 520 AD. St Brigid, the founder, died around 524 AD. Her death is celebrated on February 1st, which is also the ancient festival of Imbolc.

The rise of the Uí Dúnlainge family after 633 AD helped make St Brigid famous. She was related to this powerful family, which helped her become one of Ireland's three 'national saints'. This also increased the importance of the monasteries at Kildare and Glendalough.

The first story about St Brigid's life, called Vita Brigitae, was written around 650 AD. It already included famous tales, like how her cloak grew to cover the area now known as the Curragh of Kildare. In 799 AD, a special container made of gold and silver was created for the holy items of St Conleth.

Another important monastery in the county was founded by St Diarmuid at Castledermot. Kildare also has five old round towers in Kildare town, Castledermot, Old Kilcullen, Taghadoe near Maynooth, and Oughter Ard near Ardclough.

Kings of Leinster and Viking Raids

The Uí Dúnlainge family became the powerful Kings of Leinster after a big battle in 738 AD. This family was unusual because the kingship rotated among three related groups from about 750 to 1050 AD. These groups were the Uí Meiredaig (later the O'Tooles), the Uí Faelain (later the O'Byrnes), and the Uí Dúnchada (later the FitzDermots). Their influence helped create many local legends and stories about famous places in Kildare.

In 833 AD, Vikings attacked Kildare monastery for the first of sixteen times. The second and most damaging raid happened three years later. The power of the Uí Dúnlainge family weakened after battles in 999 and 1014. After the last Kildare-based King of Leinster died in 1042, the kingship went to a family from the southeast.

In old Irish writings, Kildare was called "The heart of Ireland."

End of the Abbess's Power

In 1132, Diarmait MacMurrough, the King of Leinster, destroyed Kildare monastery. He forced the abbess (the head nun) to marry one of his followers and put his niece in charge. This ended the only major church role in Ireland that was open to women.

In 1152, a church meeting decided that the Abbess of Kildare would no longer have more power than bishops. When the last abbess died in 1171, the Norman invasion of Ireland brought an end to the famous abbacy.

A visitor in 1186 described the (now lost) Book of Kildare as "dictation of an angel." He also wrote about the sacred fire of Kildare. This fire was seen as a pagan (non-Christian) practice and was put out by the Archbishop of Dublin in 1220. However, old stories say it was relit and burned until 1541.

How Kildare's Borders Changed

Early Church Borders

The first time Kildare's borders were set was in 1111. This defined the area of influence for the Kildare diocese (church district). For a short time, Kilcullen was also a diocese.

Norman Beginnings

After the Norman invasion in 1170, the Normans took over from the Uí Dúnlainge family. Strongbow and his allies divided Kildare among themselves. In 1210, Kildare became one of Ireland's first twelve Norman counties, known as the "Liberty of Kildare." The Normans brought the feudal system, which was how land was owned in Europe at the time.

The County Begins

In 1297, the "Liberty of Kildare" was given to the English crown. This is when "County Kildare" officially began, defined by a new Irish Parliament.

Soon after, the FitzGerald family of Maynooth became the most important family in the county. John FitzThomas FitzGerald became the first Earl of Kildare in 1316.

The Norman settlers also wrote their own stories. Around 1200-1225, the "Song of Dermot and the Earl" was written in Norman-French, mentioning parts of Kildare. Later, around 1300, the "Kildare Poems" were written in medieval English.

Changes to Borders Over Time

The 1297 borders of County Kildare included much of what are now counties Offaly and Laois. These became separate counties in 1556.

County Kildare got its current borders in 1836. At that time, it gained three parts from County Dublin and one part from King's County. A part of Kildare around Castlerickard was given to County Meath.

Monasteries and Religious Houses

New types of monasteries came to Kildare in the 1100s and 1200s. A Cistercian Abbey was built at Monasterevin in 1189, and an Augustinian priory (a type of monastery) was built in Naas in 1200. In 1202, Great Connell Priory, which became one of the best in medieval Ireland, was founded.

In 1223, the last Irish bishop of Kildare was replaced by a Norman bishop, and the church remained under Norman control. Later, a Dominican friary was set up in Athy in 1253, and a Franciscan abbey in Castledermot in 1302. The "Kildare Poems", some of the earliest English writings in Ireland, are thought to have been written by Franciscan friars from Kildare.

The Powerful FitzGerald Family

Between 1470 and 1535, the FitzGerald family became very powerful, making Kildare almost the capital of Ireland. The Irish Parliament met in Naas many times, and also in Kildare and Castledermot.

In 1481, Gerald FitzGerald, known as Gearóid Mór, became the King's Deputy in Ireland. He and other leaders helped crown a pretender to the English throne, but they were later pardoned.

In 1488, Gearóid Mór was one of the first in Ireland to use guns. He imported handguns and used cannons to destroy a castle. He also rebuilt Athy castle in 1506 to protect his southern border. He died in Athy in 1513 from gunshot wounds and was followed by his son, Gearóid Óg.

The FitzGerald family faced accusations of plotting against King Henry VIII. Both Gearóid Mór and Gearóid Óg spent time as prisoners in the Tower of London. In 1534, Gearóid Óg was called to London again, leaving his 20-year-old son, Silken Thomas, in charge. Thomas rebelled in 1534, believing his father had been executed.

In 1535, Maynooth Castle, Silken Thomas's stronghold, was captured after 18 days of cannon fire. Thomas surrendered in October, but despite promises of safety, he and five of his uncles were executed in London in 1537. The FitzGerald lands were taken by the crown. However, Thomas's younger brother, Gearóid, survived and was later given back his family title and lands in 1552.

Religious Changes in Kildare

After King Henry VIII broke away from the Roman Catholic Church in 1533, new bishops were appointed. Some refused to break with Rome, while others, like William Miagh, became the first Protestant bishop of Kildare.

When Queen Mary I brought England back to Catholicism (1555–1558), Thomas Leverous became the first native Kildare bishop in 400 years. But when Queen Elizabeth I became queen in 1558, Leverous refused to swear loyalty to her and lost his position.

From 1570, when the Pope declared Elizabeth a heretic, it became difficult for Catholic families in Kildare to be loyal to both the Queen and their faith. These families, mostly of Norman descent, became known as the "Old English" to distinguish them from newer arrivals who followed the state religion.

Elizabethan Kildare

Queen Elizabeth I gave special rights to Naas in 1568 and Athy in 1613. In 1576, the first record of grazing rights on the Curragh was made. In 1580, during a rebellion, 200 Spanish soldiers who had landed in Ireland were killed by English forces near Naas. In 1581, Catholic martyrs Fr James Eustace and Fr Nicholas FitzGerald were executed in Naas.

Wars of the 1640s

Kildare suffered greatly during the civil wars of the 1640s, known as the Irish Confederate Wars. These wars affected both Ireland and Britain.

The wars in Ireland began with the Irish Rebellion of 1641. In Kildare, Irish Catholic rebels attacked English troops and Protestant settlers. The English forces, led by the Earl of Ormonde, responded harshly. In early 1642, Ormonde's forces burned the town of Lyons Hill, plundered Naas, and destroyed Kildare cathedral with cannons. They also burned Kilcullen and Castlemartin. Father Peter Higgins of Naas was hanged, becoming another Catholic martyr for the county.

Most Kildare landowners joined the Catholic rebels, who formed their own government in Kilkenny. The English forces were weakened by the English Civil War. A ceasefire between the Royalists and Irish Confederates was signed in Naas in 1643.

This ceasefire broke down in 1646. Confederate forces marched through Kildare to attack Dublin. The Royalists then handed Dublin over to Parliamentarian troops. The Confederate armies tried to defeat this new enemy. However, a major Confederate army was destroyed at the battle of Dungans Hill in August 1647, weakening their power in the area.

In 1649, Oliver Cromwell landed in Dublin with many Parliamentarian troops to conquer Ireland. In 1650, Naas and Kildare surrendered to Cromwell's forces. Other towns like Athy and Castledermot were captured without a fight.

Land Redistribution

The first major map of Kildare, called The Down Survey, was finished in 1656. It was used to redistribute land that had been taken after Cromwell's conquest. After the Treaty of Limerick in 1691, more lands in Kildare were taken from those who supported the losing side. A famous buyer of this land was William Conolly, who built Castletown House in Celbridge, which was then the largest private house in Ireland.

Diocese of Kildare (Church History)

The Catholic diocese of Kildare joined with the Leighlin Diocese in 1676. The last Catholic bishop to live in Kildare was James Gallagher, who often had to hide. His book, "Sixteen Irish Sermons," was an important Irish language religious work.

The Anglican (Church of Ireland) Diocese of Kildare merged with Dublin in 1846. In 1976, the Church of Ireland diocese of Kildare separated from Dublin and joined with Meath.

Georgian Kildare: Prosperity and Progress

Kildare became very prosperous in the 1700s. Economic life focused on large estates and market towns. The Earl of Kildare bought and began rebuilding Carton House near Maynooth in 1739.

Horse racing on the Curragh became more organized in 1717. Maps from the 1750s and 1780s show that boglands in the northwest of the county were being drained for farming.

Turnpike (toll) roads were built from the 1730s, mostly following today's main roads. In the late 1700s, the Grand Canal and the Royal Canal were built through the county, connecting Dublin to the Shannon River. Most Kildare landlords lived on their land and invested their money locally, which helped the county.

Political Representation

In the old Parliament of Ireland (1297–1800), Kildare had 10 seats. Two were for the County Kildare itself, and two each for the towns of Naas, Kildare, Athy, and Harristown.

After the Act of Union 1800 in 1801, Kildare became a single constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons, returning two members until 1885. From 1885 to 1918, it was divided into North Kildare and South Kildare, each returning one member.

Since the creation of the Irish Free State in 1921, Kildare's political representation has changed several times, sometimes merged with other counties, and sometimes divided into North and South Kildare constituencies.

Industrial Revolution in Kildare

Industrial projects began in Kildare in the 1700s. For example, Abraham Shackleton started a project in Ballitore in 1726. Robert Brooke received a large grant to build a cotton mill and a town of 200 houses at Prosperous in the 1780s.

Ireland's first turnpike road was built from Dublin to Kilcullen in 1729. In 1756, work began on the Grand Canal in the north of the county. Arthur Guinness, a brewer from Celbridge, leased a brewery in Leixlip in 1755 and later bought a famous brewery in Dublin. The Royal Canal was dug from Dublin along the north of the county in the 1790s, and the first railways were laid in the 1840s.

Population Growth in Kildare

Early estimates of Kildare's population include 71,570 people in 1788 and 85,000 in 1813. The first official census in 1821 recorded a population of 99,065.

University and Education

Maynooth had Ireland's first 'college' in 1518. It was re-established in 1795 as a seminary for Catholic students. In 1910, it became part of the National University of Ireland and reopened for all students in 1967. Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume studied there.

In 1812, Clongowes Wood College near Clane was founded by the Jesuit order as a secondary school. Famous alumni include James Joyce and three former Taoisigh (Prime Ministers) of Ireland.

Canals in Kildare

Work on the Grand Canal began in 1756 and reached Kildare in 1763. The first part of the Grand Canal opened for goods in 1779 and for passengers in 1780. Ten years later, the Naas branch of the Grand Canal was finished. The canal reached Athy in 1791.

Work on the Royal Canal began in 1789. It reached Kilcock in 1796, but it was never as successful commercially.

Traffic on the Grand Canal was highest in 1846 for passengers and 1865 for cargo. The canal was motorized in the early 1900s and closed for commercial use in 1960. Today, the Grand Canal is used for pleasure boats, and the Royal Canal was restored in 2006. Both canals were greatly affected when railways came to Kildare in the 1840s.

The 1798 and 1803 Rebellions

Many people in Kildare supported the United Irishmen's movement for democracy during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. It's thought that about 10,000 people in Kildare supported the rebellion. Lord Edward Fitzgerald helped organize the United Irishmen in Maynooth.

The first shots of the 1798 rebellion were fired in Kildare on May 23rd. Rebels attacked Kilcullen and Prosperous, but were pushed back at Naas and Clane. A force led by William Aylmer was defeated at the battle of Ovidstown on June 18th.

Sadly, 350 surrendering prisoners were killed in the Gibbet Rath massacre at the Curragh. The fighting in Kildare continued until William Aylmer surrendered in mid-July.

In 1803, Kildare men also took part in a short uprising organized by Robert Emmet. Maynooth was the only town successfully taken by the rebels during this time. Emmet's uniform was later found at Rathcoffey.

Military Presence and New Towns

One result of the rebellion was the creation of a temporary military camp at the Curragh in 1805. In 1816, a new town called Newbridge began when a military barracks was built near a bridge over the Liffey. In 1855, a permanent camp for 10,000 soldiers was built on the Curragh.

Local Politics and Leaders

In the 18th century, two very powerful politicians lived in Kildare: William Conolly at Castletown House and John Ponsonby at Bishopscourt.

After the Act of Union 1800 in 1801, Kildare had two seats in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The La Touche and Fitzgerald families controlled local politics for a long time. In 1898, Stephen J Brown was elected the first chairman of the first directly elected Kildare County Council.

With the rise of the Home Rule movement (which wanted more self-governance for Ireland), nationalist politicians like James Carew (owner of the Leinster Leader newspaper) became important.

Railways in Kildare

Map of the Dublin Suburban network

Construction on the railway line from Dublin to Cork began near the Dublin-Kildare border in January 1846. By June, the line reached Sallins. The first train ran to Carlow in 1846 and to Cork in 1850.

In 1853, a serious train accident happened at Straffan Station, killing 18 people. As train traffic decreased, Straffan Station closed in 1947, and Hazelhatch and Sallins stations closed in 1963.

In 1995, a section of the line reopened for a new Dublin commuter service called the Arrow. Sallins and Hazlehatch stations reopened as part of this line. Another reopened line runs west, serving Leixlip, Maynooth, and Kilcock.

Sporting Revolution

The Turf Club was founded at the Curragh horse racing track in 1790 to regulate horse races. The most important flat race in Ireland, the Irish Derby, was established in 1866.

The Turf Club also regulated famous bare-knuckle boxing matches on the Curragh in 1814 and 1815, which attracted huge crowds. In 1846, the first railway trip organized for a sporting event in the world brought people to the Curragh races.

Punchestown Races were reorganized in 1861, and the 1868 meeting attracted an estimated 150,000 spectators.

Athletes and Horses

Alexander Winton at the 1903 Gordon Bennett Trophy, in Athy.

Cricket clubs were set up from the 1850s, and Ireland's first golf course was laid out on the Curragh in 1852. In 1871, County Kildare Cricket Club was formed to promote various sports.

Kildare people also gained fame in sports in the USA. Clane-born Jack Kelly, known as Jack (Nonpareil) Dempsey, won the world middleweight boxing title in 1884 and held it for seven years. In 1893, Clane-born Tommy Conneff set a new world record for the mile run. In 1903, the Gordon Bennett Cup Motor Race was held in Athy, setting new speed records.

The GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) was established in Kildare in 1887. Kildare GAA helped make Gaelic football a major sport.

In 1995, the European Open golf tournament moved to the K Club at Straffan. This course also hosted the Ryder Cup in 2006.

In 2000, Kildare was named the "Thoroughbred County" because of its strong tradition in horse racing. In that year, Kildare-trained racehorses won major races in England and Ireland. Ted Walsh from Kill trained winners of the Irish and English Grand Nationals. Sindaar, trained by John Oxx on the Curragh, won the Irish and English Derbies. Ted Walsh is the father of famous jockey Ruby Walsh. Kildare's reputation as a horse breeding capital remained strong, even after the famous kidnap of the English Derby winner Shergar in 1983.

A New State for Ireland

Evictions in Clongorey

Kildare did not take part in the Fenian rebellion of 1867, but John Devoy was born in Kill. Events like the Clongorey evictions (when people were forced out of their homes) made the county more political.

Several Kildare politicians have held high positions since Ireland gained independence. These include Dónal Ó Buachalla, the last Governor General of the Irish Free State, who participated in the 1916 Easter Rising. Other notable figures include William Norton, leader of the Labour Party and Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister), and Charlie McCreevy, who served as Minister for Finance and later as an EU Commissioner.

Towns and Modern Trends

Kildare's population dropped to a low of 57,892 in 1936. Athy was historically the largest town, but Naas briefly overtook it in 1901. By 1956, Newbridge became the largest town. In 1986, Leixlip was the largest, and Celbridge was the fastest-growing town in Ireland.

In 2002, the census recorded Kildare's highest-ever population of 163,995, a big increase from 1996. New roads and infrastructure projects helped change the county's population. Major motorways like the M7, M4, and M9 were built, including bypasses for towns like Naas, Newbridge, Kildare, Maynooth, and Kilcullen.