About County Kildare
County Kildare sits on the fertile plains southwest of Dublin, a landscape dominated by the great Curragh grassland and the bogs of Allen. The county's proximity to Dublin made it a strategic prize throughout Irish history, and its flat, open terrain has made it the heartland of Irish horse racing and breeding for centuries. The Liffey rises in Kildare's hills before flowing through Dublin to the sea.
History
Kildare was the centre of Saint Brigid's great monastery, one of the most important in early Christian Ireland. The FitzGeralds, Earls of Kildare, were so powerful in the 15th and early 16th centuries that they effectively governed all of Ireland. Their fall, following Silken Thomas's rebellion against Henry VIII, was one of the defining moments in the Tudor conquest of Ireland.
How Kildare families left Ireland
Kildare families, closer to Dublin and with more access to employment, emigrated in somewhat smaller proportions than western counties. However the Famine still devastated the county's poorest communities, and many Kildare families are found across America's east coast, particularly in New York and New Jersey.
Places worth visiting in County Kildare
- Hill of Allen, the legendary seat of Fionn Mac Cumhaill and the Fianna in Irish mythology
- Castletown House, Ireland's largest Palladian country house, at the centre of the Anglo-Irish world
- The Curragh, the ancient grassland that has been the heart of Irish horse racing for 2,000 years
- St Brigid's Cathedral, on the site of Ireland's most important female saint's monastery
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