County Kildare

County Kildare Contae Chill Dara
Location
Statistics
Province:	Leinster
County Town:	Naas
Code:	KE
Area:	1,693 km²
Population (2006)	186,075
Website: www.kildare.ie

County Kildare (Irish: Contae Chill Dara) is an Irish county located to the southwest of Dublin in the province of Leinster. The name comes from the Irish, meaning church (Cill) of the oaks (Dara).

Kildare is bordered by the counties of Carlow, Laois, Meath, Offaly, Dublin and Wicklow. Kildare is part of the "Greater Dublin Area", a regional area surrounding Dublin.

Major towns

The town of Kildare is the oldest in the county and the most historic. Naas (Nás na Rí in Irish - meaning meeting place of kings) is the county town.

Newbridge (Droichead Nua) is Kildare's largest town and is situated in the centre of the county, near the Curragh plain. It is a thriving and rapidly growing town of over 20,000.

Maynooth (Maigh Nuad) is the historic educational centre of the county. It contains the National University of Ireland, Maynooth and St Patrick's College, Maynooth. Kilcock (Cill Choca) is a town located 6 kilometres (4 miles) from Maynooth.

Leixlip (Léim an Bhradáin) town is the industrial centre of north Kildare, with large Intel and Hewlett-Packard facilities, and the original home of Guinness which has its origins in Leixlip Castle.

Celbridge (Cill Droichid) is the largest one street town in Ireland and nearby Straffan is the site of the K Club Golf Course which hosted golf's Ryder Cup 2006.

Monasterevin (Mainistir Éimhín) is the site of the 6th century Moore Abbey founded by St Evin.

East Kildare's population has increased rapidly, for example the amount of housing in the Naas suburb of Sallins has increased six-fold since the mid 1990s.

History

Looking east across the broad plains of South Kildare to the distant Wicklow Hills

Kildare was shired in 1297 and assumed its present borders in 1832. Main article at History of County Kildare.

Transport and infrastructure

County Kildare houses the hub of Ireland's network of major roads.

The N4(M4) from Dublin to Sligo travels along the north of the county by-passing the towns of Leixlip, Celbridge, Maynooth and Kilcock.

The N7(M7) from Dublin to Limerick runs through the county and by-passes the towns of Naas, Newbridge, Kildare and Monasterevin. This road is commonly dubbed the "Naas Dual carriageway" because when it was originally up-graded in 1964 the road from Dublin to Naas was a double lane carriageway, one of the first of its kind in Ireland.

The N9(M9) is another National Primary Route that commences at Kilcullen and ends at Waterford. The first few miles of this are motorway which essentially by-passes Kilcullen. From there it is a single lane carriageway passing towns such as Timolin, Moone and Castledermot before leaving the County at the County Carlow border.

The County is also served by the trains connecting the Dublin to Munster, South Leinster, and South Connaught, with daily connections to Cork, Waterford, Limerick, and Galway. The principal Irish Rail intercity train station in the county is Kildare, however, Newbridge, Sallins and Hazelhatch are also served by a Dublin commuter train service called the Arrow.

Kildare was the centre of Ireland's inland waterway when it was constructed in the 1830s, and 1840s. This connects Kildare with Waterford, Dublin, Limerick and Athlone. The Royal Canal still forms the boundary with County Meath to the North.

Business

At the centre of the Irish motorway system, County Kildare is one of Ireland's premier sites for inward direct investment from the multinational sector. Kildare currently (2006) contians the European base of electronics firms, Intel and Hewlett Packard, two of the largest employers in this sector in the entire island. Phramaceutical giant Wyeth has it's European Manufacturing base in County Kildare, with another plant in nearby Newcactle in County Dublin. Major pizza-making, soft drinks, and frozen food enterprises are located in Naas. Large supermarket distribution centres are located in Naas and Kilcock.

The Irish Army's largest military base, it's command headquarters, and it's training centre at the Curragh. Maynooth was the only University outside the Ireland's coastal cities. Clongowes Wood College in Clane is the premier Jesuit college in the east of Ireland. Allenwood and Timahoe are also the location of large peat burning power stations operated by the state, and Kildare has historically be an employment centre in this sector.

Kildare is the centre of the Irish horse industry.^{[citation needed]} Kildare has more stud farms than any other county in Ireland, and an important racecources at Punchestown, near Naas, and at the leading flat national racecourse at the Curragh. Kildare is also home to the state owned national stud farm, the national equistrian centre in Kill, and the equine auction centre (also in Kill). Most of Ireland's prominent show jumping competitors are located in, or come from county Kildare, especially the areas near Kilcock and Sallins. Several prominent international breeders have substantial stud farms in Kildare, including many from the Arab world.

Ireland's premier golf course, the Michael Smurfit owned K Club, near Straffan, in addition to other prominent courses at Knockanally, Carton Estate, and Clane.

County Kildare has always been one of the richest counties in Ireland outside of Dublin, with the lowest unemployment rates in Ireland, throughout the economic recession of the 1980s. Kildare was the first county in Ireland to experience the Celtic Tiger economic boom in the early 1990s, mainly as a result of the decision of Intel to locate between Leixlip and Maynooth, and a pick up in construction boom that predated that of other countries.^{[citation needed]}

The county's population has nearly doubled to some 186,000 in 1990-2005. The north eastern region of Kildare, had the highest average per-capita income in Ireland outside County Dublin in 2003.

Music

• Damien Rice was born and bred in Celbridge, Co. Kildare.
• Bell X1 are from County Kildare.
• Australian Idol 2006 winner and famous Australian and Irish singer-songwriter Damien Leith was born in Dublin and lived in County Kildare until he moved to Australia.
• Punk Rock / Irish Music band Blood or Whiskey originate from Leixlip, County Kildare

Politics

Politically the county is divided into two Dáil constituencies, Kildare North (three seats, to be increased to four at the next election) and Kildare South (three seats). After the 2007 General Election, the TDs elected were; Bernard Durkan (FG), Emmet Stagg (Lab), Aine Brady (FF), Michael Fitzpatrick (FF), Sean O Fearghail (FF), Sean Power (FF) and Jack Wall (Lab). Nevertheless, the whole county is governed at local authority level by Kildare County Council.

Towns and villages in Kildare

Towns

• Athy
• Leixlip
• Newbridge
• Naas

Maynooth (pop. 10,000) and Celbridge (pop. 20,000) have both applied to be upgraded to "Town" status.

Major villages

• Allen, Allenwood, Ardclough
• Ballitore, Ballymore Eustace, Ballynadrumny
• Calverstown, Caragh, Carbury, Castledermot, Celbridge, Clane, Coill Dubh
• Eadestown
• Hawkfield
• Kilcock, Kilcullen, Kildare, Kildangan, Kill, Kilmead, Kilteel
• Lullymore
• Maynooth, Milltown, Monasterevin
• Narraghmore, Newbridge, Nurney
• Prosperous
• Rathangan
• Sallins, Straffan, Suncroft
• Two-Mile-House

Sport

The nickname for the Kildare GAA team is the Lilywhites, a reference to the all-white jerseys they wear. Kildare were the first team to win the Sam Maguire All Ireland football Championship in 1928 defeating Cavan 2-6 to 2-5. County Kildare is also known as the Shortgrass County which is a reference to how short the grass is on the commons of the Curragh. The Kildare Hotel and Golf Club, more well known as The K Club, situated on the River Liffey at Straffan, County Kildare, played host to the 2006 Ryder Cup.

Horse racing

The Curragh horse-racing course the home to all five irish classics is also located in County Kildare along with two other courses Punchestown Racecourse home of the National Hunt Festival of Ireland and Naas Racecourse. The county is known for the quality of horses bred in the many horse stud farms to which it is home to. Kildare is also home to the Irish National Stud and many other top farms such as Moyglare Stud and Kildagan Stud.

External links

• County Kildare Community Network
• http://www.kildare.ie
• http://www.kildarecoco.ie

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