Kildare

Kildare, a county of the province of Leinster, Ireland, bounded by Dublin, Wicklow, Queen's and King's counties, Meath, and Carlow. Its chief town is Naas, and the other municipal towns are Kildare, Kilkullen, Maynooth (where is the Roman Catholic College), and Athy, besides which there are quite a number of small towns. The area is 418,836 acres, or 654 sq. m.; the surface is generally flat and the soil very productive. A great portion of the county belongs to the central Carboniferous plain of Ireland. In the northern part there is a large extent of bog, and the great Bog of Allen covers some 40,000 acres, intersected by elevated ridges of dry ground. From this bog rises the Hill of Allen, a conical rock of porphyry and greenstone, 300 feet high. Towards the south-east the surface rises to meet the hills of Dublin, and in the south to meet those of Carlow. There are a few small woollen, paper, and corn mills, breweries and distilleries, but agriculture is the main occupation. The most fertile and best-farmed districts are the valleys of the Liffey and the Greese, besides which rivers the county is watered by the Boyne and Blackwater (both having their source in County Kildare), the Barrow and the Lesser Barrow. The Royal Canal, connecting Dublin with the Shannon, traverses the northern portion, and the Grand Canal traverses the valley of the Liffey. To the south of the town of Kildare is the Curragh of Kildare, an undulating plain of bright green grass covering about 8000 acres; a portion of it forms the Newmarket of Ireland, and on another portion is the Curragh Camp. Kildare returns two members to the imperial parliament. Pop. (1841) 114,488; (1891) 70,206, of whom 87 per cent. were Catholics. Kildare is noted for its antiquities. There are old giant stone pillars at Punchestown, Harristown, Jigginstown, and Mullamast, and remarkable earthworks near Naas and elsewhere. There are numerous sepulchral mounds on the Curragh, and also the remains of a stone circle. There are five round towers in the county, and the ruins of a great many religious houses and castles. See works by Rawson (1807) and O'Byrne (1867).