a borough town of Ireland, in the county of Kildare and province of Leinster. It is the shire town of that county, and alternately with Athy the assizes town. It is distant above 15 miles south-west from Dublin, in N. Lat. 53° 10' W. Long. 6° 50'. It gives title of viscount to the family of Burke. This place was anciently the residence of the kings of Leinster: the name signifies "the place of elders," for here the states of that province assembled during the 6th, 7th, and 8th centuries, after the Naasfeighan of Carmen had been anathematized by the Christian clergy. On the arrival of the English it was fortified; many castles were erected, the ruins of which are partly visible; and parliaments were held there. At the foot of the mount or rath are the ruins of a house founded in 1484, for eremites of the order of St Augustin. In the 12th century the baron of Naas founded a priory dedicated to St John the Baptist, for Augustinian regular canons. In the centre of this town the family of Euflae erected a monastery for Dominican friars, dedicated to St Euflachius; and it appears that their possessions in Naas were granted them in the year 1355. This place was a strong hold during the civil wars.