KILDARE, an inland county in the province of Leinster, in Ireland, is bounded on the north by the county of Meath, on the east by those of Dublin and Wicklow, on the south by that of Carlow, and on the west by the King’s and Queen’s counties. In shape it somewhat resembles a truncated cone, having its base resting on Meath, and its vertex cut off' by the intervention of Carlow. In its greatest length, measured from north to south, it extends forty miles, and twenty-six in its greatest breadth from east to west, comprehending an area of 392,435 acres, or 6132 square miles, of which 325,117 acres are cultivated ground, and 66,447 are unprofitable mountain or bog.

According to some writers, the Eblani were the inhabitants of this county in the time of Ptolemy; others, amongst whom is Whitaker, make it the habitation of the Coriundi. Afterwards it formed part of the territory of Cealan or Galen, which likewise extended over some parts of Wicklow and Carlow. Its present name is derived from Chille or Kill Dara, the forest or church of oaks, the country being formerly covered with trees. The principal family in this district, previously to the arrival of the English, was that of the O’Kellys, whose residence was at the Moat of Ardscull, near Athy. On the death of Dermod M‘Murrough, the last king of Leinster, which occurred shortly after the settlement of the English in it, the county formed part of the palatinate of Leinster, granted by Henry II. to Strongbow. When this extensive inheritance was distributed into five portions, amongst the daughters of William, carl marshal, who derived from Strongbow, by intermarriage, through his only daughter, Kildare fell to the lot of Sybilia, the fourth daughter, who married William de Ferrers, earl of Derby, from whom it descended by marriage to the family of De Vesci, and thence by attainder to that of the Fitzgeralds or Geraldines. The principal families which held under Strongbow and his descendants were those of De Hereford, Fitzhenry, Phepoe, Pippard, d’Angulo or Nangle, and Bermingham. The Fitzgeralds ultimately became possessed of the greater part of it. It was one of the twelve counties into which King John, on his arrival as lord of Ireland, divided that part of the island which acknowledged the English jurisdiction, but was not finally separated from the adjoining county of Dublin, to which it had been attached as a liberty, until the close of the reign of Edward I., when it was empowered to have sheriffs and courts of its own. The county is now divided into the fourteen baronies of Carbery, Ćlane, Connell, Ikeathy and Oughter-any, Kilcullen, Kilkca and Moone, North and South Naas, East and West Narragh and Rheban, East and West Opha-ley, and North and South Salt. These baronies are subdivided into seventy-nine entire parishes, and seven parts of parishes, the remaining parts of which are in some of the adjoining counties.

According to the ecclesiastical arrangements, the county contains 113 parishes, fifty-six of which are in the diocese of Kildare, and fifty-seven in that of Dublin, besides a part of a parish which extends into the diocese of Meath. Kildare diocese extends also into the King’s and Queen’s counties. The bishopric was founded in the sixth century, by St Conleth, who was buried near the great altar of his own church. The chapter consists of a dean, precentor, chancellor, treasurer, four canons, and seven prebendaries. The bishop takes precedence of every other except Meath; all the rest rank according to the dates of their consecrations. Notwithstanding the elevated position he holds, his episcopal income, in consequence of the dilapidations of his predecessors, is extremely small, amounting only to L.520 [7:12:712]a year; neither has he any episcopal residence, so that, in order to supply the deficiency of his revenue, he holds the deanry of Christ Church in commendaro. The city of Kildare is a small, poor place, wholly unworthy of notice, except from the circumstance of being the seat of the bishopric, and from the cathedral, and some monastic remains still existing. This bishopric is one of those to be extinguished. After the demise of the present incumbent it is to merge into the archbishopric of Dublin.

By much the greater part of the county is a flat, interrupted only by a range of low hills in the centre, the most northern of which is the hill of Allen, and the southern those of Dunmurry; the land on the eastern boundary, toward Dublin and Wicklow counties, gradually rises as it approaches the adjoining mountain tracts. The general surface stands at an elevation of from 200 to 300 feet above the level of high water, giving birth to several rivers. The Boyne, with its tributary the Blackwater, rises in the bog of Αllen in the northern part, as does the Lesser Barrow, which unites with the Greater Barrow near Ratbangan. The Grces and Lane are small branches of this latter river, joining it near the southern extremity of the county. The Barrow forms the western boundary of the county, except in the neighbourhood of Athy, where the Mearing embraces some land to the west of this river, which should more properly form part of the Queen’s county. The Liffey enters the county from the west near Ballymore-Eustace, and after sweeping through it, at first in a western and then in a northern direction by Kilkullen Bridge, Clane, and Celbridge, receiving in its course the Morrel and the Ryewater, it quits the county at Leixlip. Numerous lesser streams, rising in the more elevated tracts, fall into one or other of these rivers. A great part of the bog of Allen lies in the northern part of the county. This bog is not an interrupted morass, but is intersected in many places by elevated tracts of firm ground, the largest of which, lying in its southern part, has obtained the name of the Island of Allen, in consequence of its being surrounded by an unproductive and half fluid mass. To the south of the town of Kildare is a tract , of undulating ground, covered with fine sward, of a vivid green, uninterrupted by any plantation. It is called the Curragh. It extends nearly five miles in a south-eastern direction, having an average breadth of a mile, and containing 8000 acres. It is used principally as a sheep walk, for which it is peculiarly adapted, from the quality of its herbage and the dry elastic nature of its soil. The pasturage is held by the farmers of the surrounding lands, who pay large rents for the exclusive privilege of grazing sheep on it, in numbers proportioned to the quantity of land without its limits. The most celebrated race-course in Ireland is on the Curragh. The softness and elasticity of the turf render it peculiarly suitable for this sport. Races are held here periodically, at which two plates of L.100 each are granted by the government, to encourage the breeding of running horses. The climate is moister than most other parts of the great limestone plain of Ireland. The soil of the county is generally a rich, heavy loam, on a bottom of limestone or limestone gravel, except in some insulated spots in the hilly districts. Copper ore is said to have been found in the central hills; but, either from deficiency of quality or quantity, or from a still more marked deficiency of fuel, none is now raised. The hill of Allen consists of a gritstone of which millstones are made.

The population was as follows, according to the authorities stated beneath, at the respective dates.

1760 De Burgo 51,726

1772 Beaufort 56,000

1812 Parliamentary return 85,133

1821 Ditto 99,065

1831 Ditto 108,401

The parliamentary return of 1834 being made according to dioceses, an accurate inference of its population at that period cannot be deduced from it. From these returns it appears that the population doubled itself in seventy years. When compared with the acreable contents of the county, it also exhibits an average of one inhabitant to every three acres, or of one family to every eighteen acres, and of 177 inhabitants to every square mile. The proportion of Protestants to Catholics maybe estimated as about one to seven.

This population was represented in the Irish parliament by ten members, two for the county and two for each of the boroughs of Athy, Kildare, Naas, and Harristown. All these boroughs were deprived of the right of returning members by the act of union, and as the reform act has made no alteration in this point, the representation is at present confined to the two county members.

The state of the constituency before and since the alterations made in 1829, and subsequently, respecting the qualifications for exercising the elective franchise, is as follows:

Date. L.50. L.20. L.10. 40s. Total.

1st Jan. 1829, 376 80 — 496 952

1st Jan. 1830, 385 86 25 — * 496

1st May 1832, 221 155 746 '1122

The constabulary consists of five chief constables, forty-five constables, and 179 sub-constables, total 229, who are maintained at an expense of L.9644, being at an average of somewhat more than L.42 each.

The number of children receiving instruction in public schools, according to returns made under parliamentary authority in 1821 and 1824-26, are as follows:

Bovs. Girls. Sex not τ otal .

j - ascertained.

1821, 3398 2393 — 6391

1824-6, 5118 3578 161 .8857

Of the number in the latter return, 1425 were of the established church, 7276 were Catholics, thirty-one dissenters, and 125 whose religious persuasion was unascertained. The number of schools was 214, of which twenty-five containing 1623 pupils, were maintained by grants of public money; twenty-nine, containing 1707 pupils, by voluntary contributions; the remaining 160 schools, containing 5527 pupils, were wholly supported by the fees paid by the parents or guardians of those receiving instruction. The diocesan school for the see of Kildare is held in Naas. The head master receives a salary of L.60 per annum from the bishop, in addition to the pupils’ fees.

The lands are very unequally portioned out. There are a few large estates. That of the Duke of Leinster extends over nearly on,e third of the county. Many of the farmers hold large tracts; many others quantities scarcely sufficient for the sustenance of a family. The general average of farms is from 200 to ten acres. The former are well cultivated according to the most approved systems, though not with all the neatness and precision which mark the operations of the English agriculturist. The small farmers manage their land in a slovenly manner, and with a persevering attachment to the customs of their forefathers. Oxen are worked along with horses in the plough. Mules are to be often seen about the farm-yards. Tillage in partnership is very usual. Wheat is grown in large quantities, the strong loam being well adapted for it. The lands not subjected to the plough are very rich, fattening grounds; but when exhausted by injudicious courses of cropping, the pasture is poor and light. Dairies of any extent are seldom to be met with, except for the purpose of raising veal for the Dublin market. Large flocks of sheep are uncommon. The breeds both of black cattle and sheep are good; that of horses is injured by an excessive passion for breeding racers. The dwellings of the middling farmers generally consist of a long building of a single story, the lower [7:12:713]part formed of stone and mortar, the upper of clay thatched with straw, and divided in the inside into a kitchen and two sleeping rooms, one at each end. In the front is a yard or bawn, enclosed at each side by the stables, barn, and cow-houses, and used as a repository for all the manure collected from the dwelling-house and offices, and for the feeding of the cattle. In the anxiety to collect manure, little attention is paid to neatness; the pile of it is generally heaped up in front, and a trough or cess for collecting the liquid is formed near the family door, to which the pigs have usually free access. The habitations of the labourers or cottiers are very wretched, particularly those living in or near the edges of the bogs. The cabin is sunk beneath the surface of the soil, in order to diminish the quantity of wall to be built. The roof, thatched with sods of turf pared oft" the surface of the bog, is but a few feet above the ground, and assimilates so closely with the appearance of the surrounding fields as to be nearly imperceptible at a short distance, except from the smoke rising out of its openings, or the ingress and egress of children and domestic animals through the hole in the side intended for a door. The food of the peasantry is potatoes, with some milk and butter occasionally. The use of flesh meat is little known, except on a few high holidays. The fuel is universally turf, which may be said to be the only thing the poor man here has in plenty. The clothes are made of home-manufactured frize, or cheap cottons. The English language is in general use.

Manufactures can scarcely be said to exist here. That of cotton was attempted at Prosperous, near Clane, but failed. An extensive woollen factory has been for several years at work near Celbridge, and still continues to produce large quantities of the coarser woollen cloths. Paper is also manufactured in some places, and tanning is carried on to a considerable extent. The county affords many fine sites for water-mills. The beautiful falls of the Liífey, at the salmon-leap near Leixlip, offer a perennial command of water adequate to move very extensive machinery. Many other falls are to be met with on the same river in its course through the county. The locks of the canals also could supply water for many lesser works. The Grand Canal enters the county from the Dublin side, at Hazelhatch, eight miles from the harbour at Portobello, and passes through it in a south-western direction to Sallins, where there is a short branch to the town of Naas. The main trunk proceeds in a western direction to Lowtown, at which place it divides into two branches, the one, proceeding westward to the Shannon, near Banagher, quits the county at Edenderry; the other, which takes a more southern direction, joins the Barrow at Monasterevan, the western bank of which river it follows as far as Athy, where it ceases, the river navigation from that point to the sea being deemed sufficient for the purposes of inland navigation. The summit-level, commencing at the distance of seven miles from Dublin, and extending four miles, is 264 feet above the level of the sea at high water. The Royal Canal, which skirts the northern boundary of Kildare, enters the county at Leixlip, and proceeding by Maynooth, Kilcock, and Cloncurry, quits it for the county of Meath at the Boyne. Both these carry to Dublin large quantities of turf, which is much used for fuel by the lower classes in the metropolis; also bricks, stone, flags, slate, grain of every description, and potatoes; and bring back chiefly manufactured goods, timber, and foreign groceries. The vicinity of the two canals during their transit through the county diminishes considerably the general extension of the benefits that ought to accrue both to the metropolis and to the line of country which they traverse: in one part of their course they approach within four miles of each other.

The remains of antiquity are numerous. There are five round or pillar towers. That at Kildare is said to be the most perfect in Ireland; it is 130 feet high. At Tag-hadoe there is another seventy-one feet high. The third, at Kilcullen, has only forty feet standing. The fourth, at Oughterard, has suffered still more severely from the ravages of time; its height is but twenty-five feet. The fifth, which stands at Castledermot, is used as a belfry, and by a casual spectator might be mistaken for the trunk of a lofty tree, in consequence of its being enveloped with a covering of ivy from its base to its summit. Several of the upright stones, supposed to be relics of the worship of Baal, are also to be seen. One at Punch’s Town stands twenty feet above the ground; another, with a conical top, is at Harristown; two others, situated at Jigginstown, are known by the name of the long stones; another, called the Gobhlan, is near the hill of Carmen or Mullamast, where is also to be seen a large rath, situated on the summit of a hill of some elevation, near which are sixteen smaller raths or hillocks. These are said to have been the seats of the elders when the assembly of the states of Southern Leinster, under the name of Naasteighan, was held on this eminence. At a later period it became more memorable from a tragedy acted upon it by some of the English settlers, who, having invited the neighbouring Irish chieftains to a conference there, for the amicable settlement of their disputes as to territorial boundaries, fell upon them unexpectedly, and slaughtered them to a man. The pit into which the heads of the victims of this murderous act of treachery were flung is still shown; and the place thence acquired its name of Mnllamast, or the Hill of Decapitation. The other raths of most note are those of Ardscull, near Naas, where the English, under Hamo de Gras, were totally defeated by Edward Bruce in 1315; and that of Rheban, to the north of the same town. Others are still to be seen at Naas, Kilkea, Moone, Clane, and Lyons, and at Rathsallagh. The abbey of Kildare is one of the oldest in Ireland. It is said to have been founded by St Brigid, and was the place where the sacred fire was kept, which, after being extinguished by Henry de Loundres, archbishop of Dublin, in 1220, was again lighted and kept burning till the reformation. The ruins of the building in which it was kept are still shown. There were, besides this, an abbey of gray friars, and another of Carmelites or white friars, in the town. Castledermot had also three great monasteries. A parliament was held in one of them in the year 1499. Naas had an Augustinian and a Dominican abbey. The fine abbey of Monasterevan was converted into a mansion-house for the Moore family. Of that of St Woolstan’s, near Celbridge, nothing now remains but two towers and gateways. The commander}'of Tully, formerly belonging to the knights-’templars, is now held in commendam with the bishopric of Kildare. At old Kilkullen, the site of the monastery is marked by some curious stone crosses. The principal castles are those of Kilkea, said to be built by De Lacy in 1180; those of Athy and Castledermot were built by the eighth Earl of Kildare. Timolin Castle was erected in the reign of King John, by the Lord of Norragh. Rhcban, on the Barrow, gave the title of baron to the family of St Michael. The castles of Narraghinore and Harristown also gave baronial titles to their possessors. Amongst the modern seats, the most remarkable are Carton, belonging to the Duke of Leinster, a princely residence, near the town of Maynooth; Castletown, the seat of the Conolly family, and Killadoon, that of Lord Leitrim, in the same neighbourhood; Lyons, on the banks of the canal, the splendid mansion and demesne of Lord Cloncurry; Straffan, on the Liffey, between Celbridge and Clane, belonging to the Henry family; Belan, near Timolin, that of the Earl of Aidborough; and Palmerston, the Earl of Mayo’s. At Jigginstown, near Naas, are still to be seen the walls of a large mansion commenced by [7:12:714]the unfortunate Lord Strafford, whilst lord-lieutenantunder Charles II., but never finished.

There is no large town in the county. The population of neither of the assize-towns amounts to 5000 souls. That of Athy, the larger, was, in 1831, 4494; and of Naas, 3808 souls. The former of these towns is situated on the banks of the Barrow, which is here crossed by a bridge, and owes much of its small population to its being the point of connection between the still-water navigation of the Grand Canal, which terminates here, and the river navigation of the Barrow. It was incorporated by James I. under the care of a sovereign, two bailiffs, and twelve burgesses. The assizes are held here once a year; and its old castle has been converted into a prison for the temporary detention of culprits. A free school, capable of receiving 270 children, is the only modern public building of any importance. Naas, situated on the Liffey, and communicating with the main trunk of the Grand Canal by a connecting branch, though less populous than Athy, has a better right to the name of the county town, as being the site of the principal prison; besides which, it can boast of a large Catholic chapel, a sessions-bouse, and a market-house. In other respects it presents nothing worthy of notice. Maynooth is remarkable for several castellated ruins, built at various times by members of the Fitzgerald family; and for being the site of the Roman Catholic College, founded for the education of the priesthood, and supported by an annual parliamentary grant. Its population is only 2052 souls. The other towns whose population exceeds one thousand souls are, Kildare, 1753; Kilcock, 1730; Celbridge, 1645; Monasterevan, 1441; Castledermot, 1375; Clane, 1216; Rathangan, 1165; Leixlip, 1156; Prosperous, 1038.