Kildare

Kildare, a town in Kildare county, 30 miles SW. of Dublin. St Bridget (q.v.) founded a nunnery here, and the older name Drum Críaidh was changed to Cil-dara, the cell or church of the oak, from an old tree under whose shadow the saint built her cell. There are remains of three other monastic institutions, and a round tower, the finest in the county, 103 feet high. Kildare was one of the first sees founded in Ireland; its first prelate died in 519. The Protestant see (1550) is now united with Dublin, and the Roman Catholic see forms the diocese of Kildare and Leighlin. After the Norman invasion Kildare became a place of considerable importance, and a parliament was held there in 1309. It suffered severely, however, in the wars of Elizabeth and during the great Civil War, and has never recovered its former standing, although historically one of the most interesting old towns in Ireland. The rebellion of 1798-99 began in Kildare, where, on the night of the 23d May 1798, a number of officers from Dublin were murdered by the insurgents. Prior to the Union it returned two members to the Irish parliament. Pop. (1861) 1426; (1891) 1172.