County Kildare takes its name from St. Brigid’s monastery beneath an oak tree; Cill Dara, the church of the oak tree.
This 6th century saint is one of the three patrons of Ireland. Little factual evidence is known about the saint but it is traditionally believed that she founded a monastery at Kildare which was unique in that it was a mixed community of nuns and monks. It was there that she died in 525 AD. The eternal fire, which was tended by the nuns there, was extinguished at the time of the Reformation.
The stories about Brigid have been linked to a pagan sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Brigda on the same site, beneath the oak trees. Many miracles are attributed to Brigid, one of which explains her links with the Curragh plains. In reward for curing the local king of an ailment he offered her whatever she wished for. Her request was that he give her as much ground as her cloak would cover to graze her flock of sheep on the plain. He agreed, and when she spread her cloak it marvellously spread out to cover the entire plain.
As an inland county, Kildare's landscape shares many of its features with its neighbours, but it has the advantage of the Wicklow mountain range to the east, with the foothills spreading westwards to meet the Curragh of Kildare. It extends into the undulating central lowlands, beneath which the layers of carboniferous limestone, sand and gravel provide good drainage. The great raised Bog of Allen on the western side of the county, with its covering of black peat and mantle of heather and gorse, is a dramatic contrast to the well-tilled fields of south Kildare, or to the bright green paddocks and the wooded estates of the livestock and stud farms scattered throughout the county.
Three great rivers water the county, the Liffey which flows northwards from the Wicklow mountains to enter the sea at Dublin, the Barrow which forms the border of the county with Laois, and the legendary Boyne, the fount of which is beneath the historic hill of Carbury. Both the Grand and Royal canals traverse the county, the Royal along the northern boundaries, and the Grand which crosses the county from Lyons on the east to Rathangan and Monasterevan on the west, and with a line southwards to join the Barrow navigation at Athy.
Kildare has a long and well-documented history with abundant physical evidence of ancient habitation. The tall granite standing stones at Punchestown, the stone circle at Broadlease, the hill forts at Dun Ailinne, Sillagh and Hughstown, and the many raths and other earthworks of the Curragh are all reminders of early settlers.
There are early Christian sites at Kildare, Taghadoe, Old Kilcullen and Timolin.
At Moone there is one of the most beautiful High Crosses to be found in Ireland.
Castledermot traces its roots to the 9th Century hermitage of St. Diarmada on the banks of the Graney river. It too has the remains of a fine High Cross and a Round Tower.
This 6th century saint is one of the three patrons of Ireland. Little factual evidence is known about the saint but it is traditionally believed that she founded a monastery at Kildare which was unique in that it was a mixed community of nuns and monks. It was there that she died in 525 AD. The eternal fire, which was tended by the nuns there, was extinguished at the time of the Reformation.
The stories about Brigid have been linked to a pagan sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Brigda on the same site, beneath the oak trees. Many miracles are attributed to Brigid, one of which explains her links with the Curragh plains. In reward for curing the local king of an ailment he offered her whatever she wished for. Her request was that he give her as much ground as her cloak would cover to graze her flock of sheep on the plain. He agreed, and when she spread her cloak it marvellously spread out to cover the entire plain.
As an inland county, Kildare's landscape shares many of its features with its neighbours, but it has the advantage of the Wicklow mountain range to the east, with the foothills spreading westwards to meet the Curragh of Kildare. It extends into the undulating central lowlands, beneath which the layers of carboniferous limestone, sand and gravel provide good drainage. The great raised Bog of Allen on the western side of the county, with its covering of black peat and mantle of heather and gorse, is a dramatic contrast to the well-tilled fields of south Kildare, or to the bright green paddocks and the wooded estates of the livestock and stud farms scattered throughout the county.
Three great rivers water the county, the Liffey which flows northwards from the Wicklow mountains to enter the sea at Dublin, the Barrow which forms the border of the county with Laois, and the legendary Boyne, the fount of which is beneath the historic hill of Carbury. Both the Grand and Royal canals traverse the county, the Royal along the northern boundaries, and the Grand which crosses the county from Lyons on the east to Rathangan and Monasterevan on the west, and with a line southwards to join the Barrow navigation at Athy.
Kildare has a long and well-documented history with abundant physical evidence of ancient habitation. The tall granite standing stones at Punchestown, the stone circle at Broadlease, the hill forts at Dun Ailinne, Sillagh and Hughstown, and the many raths and other earthworks of the Curragh are all reminders of early settlers.
There are early Christian sites at Kildare, Taghadoe, Old Kilcullen and Timolin.
At Moone there is one of the most beautiful High Crosses to be found in Ireland.
Castledermot traces its roots to the 9th Century hermitage of St. Diarmada on the banks of the Graney river. It too has the remains of a fine High Cross and a Round Tower.
