KILDARE (1860) — Encyclopaedia Britannica Historical Editions

KILDARE

Volume 13 · 3,921 words · 1860 Edition

an inland county in the province of Leinster, in Ireland, is bounded on the N. by the county of Kildare. Meath, on the E. by those of Dublin and Wicklow, on the S. by that of Carlow, and on the W. by the King's and Queen's counties and Westmeath. With the exception of a small tract of hilly land, situated between Naas and Blessington, on the eastern side of the county, Kildare presents an unusually flat surface, few portions of which reach an elevation of 300 feet above the level of the sea. This county contains altogether about 52,000 acres of uncultivated land, of which 44,000 acres consist of extensive flow bogs, being a part of the Great Bog of Allen. It has been well ascertained that bogs of this description are susceptible of cultivation, both for corn and green crops, when perfectly drained, and covered with clay and limestone gravel, which occurs abundantly along the bog edges; but it is impossible, without great exertion, and the expenditure of considerable capital, to coat the surface of the bog with gravel at a greater distance from the edge than half an English mile. It appears probable that not more than one-third of these bogs are capable of being improved for cultivation, but that the whole may be drained at a moderate expense, and thereby rendered, to a certain degree, profitable, not only for pasture, but for fuel. Including the bogs and hilly pasture, this county contains about 16,000 acres capable of improvement for cultivation; 31,000 acres may be drained for coarse pasture; and 5000 acres which would not repay the expense of draining. According to the Ordnance Survey Kildare comprises a total area of 418,336 acres, of which 356,786 are arable, 51,854 uncultivated land, 8288 are in plantations, 490 occupied by towns and villages, and 1017 under water. The annual value, according to Griffith's Valuation, is L313,494.

Some writers, in the time of Ptolemy, assert that the Ebhlii were the inhabitants of this county; others, amongst whom is Whitaker, make it the habitation of the Coriandii. Afterwards it formed part of the territory of Ceanan 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 O'Kellys, whose residence was at the Moat of Ardscull, near Athy. On the death of Dermot M'Murrough, the last king of Leinster, which occurred shortly after the settlement of the English, this 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, Earl Marshal, who derived from Strongbow, by intermarriage, through his only daughter, Kildare fell to the lot of Sybilla, the fourth daughter, who married William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, from whom it descended by marriage to the family of De Veschi, and thence by attainer to that of the Fitzgeralds or Geraldines. The principal families which held under Strongbow and his descendants were those of De Hereford, Fitzhenry, Phippeo, Pippard, D'Angulo or Nangle, and Bermingham. The Fitzgeralds ultimately became possessed of the greater portion. 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, Clan, Connell, Ikeathy, Kilcullen, Kilkea and Moone, North and South Naas, East and West Narragh, East and West Offaly, and North and South Salt. These baronies are subdivided into 116 parishes.

According to the ecclesiastical arrangements, the county is partly in the diocese of Kildare, and partly in that of Dublin. 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 bishop took precedence of every other except Meath; all the rest ranking according to the dates of consecration. The episcopal income was latterly extremely small, amounting only to L520 a-year; neither was there any episcopal residence, so that, in order to supply the deficiency of his revenue, the bishops of Kildare held the deanery of Christ Church in commendam. 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. In accordance with the provisions of the Church Temporalities Act, on the decease of the late bishop the see of Kildare was united to the archbishopric of Dublin.

By much the greater part of the county is 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 Boyne rises in a bog or marshy ground to the N. of Carbury, a branch of the Great Bog of Allen. The Lesser Barrow also rises in the Bog of Allen, and unites with the Greater Barrow near Rathangan. The Grees 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 it becomes navigable, and is known by the name of the Barrow Navigation. The Liffey enters the county from the W. near Ballymore-Eustace; and after sweeping through it, at first in a western and then in a northern direction, by Kilkullen Bridge, Clan, and Celbridge, receiving in its course the Morrel and the Rye-water, 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 S. of the town of Kildare is a tract of undulating ground, covered with fine sward, of a vivid green, uninterrupted by any plantation, and well known as the Curragh of Kildare. It extends nearly five miles in a south-eastern direction, having an average breadth of a mile, and containing 8000 acres. It is wholly the property of the crown, and has been long 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 it 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. It is the chief race-course in Ireland, and perhaps the finest in the empire. Races are held here twice a-year, in April and September. During the late war with Russia the Curragh was occupied by a camp, and is now the quarters of a military division, consisting of a cavalry and two infantry brigades. The climate of Kildare 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 billy 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. Kildare. The Hill of Allen, a steep conical elevation, rising to about 300 feet in height, and situated on the S.W. of the cultivated tract of land surrounded with bog and denominated the Island of Allen, consists of a fine-grained gritstone of which mill-stones are made.

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

| Year | Population | |------|------------| | 1760 | De Burgo...51,726 | | 1772 | Beaumont...56,009 | | 1812 | Parliamentary return...85,133 | | 1821 | Ditto...99,045 | | 1831 | Ditto...108,424 | | 1841 | Ditto...114,488 | | 1851 | Ditto...95,888 |

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 no change has since been made, the representation is at present confined to the two county members.

The number of children receiving instruction in public schools, according to returns made under parliamentary authority in 1824-26, was 8857.

Of this number 1425 were of the Established church, 7276 were Catholics, 31 Dissenters; the religious persuasion of the remaining 125 was unascertained. The number of schools was 214, of which 25, containing 1623 pupils, were maintained by grants of public money; 29, 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.

In 1851 the number of schools in the county, and pupils attending them, was ascertained by the Census Commissioners to have been as follows:

| Schools | No. of Schools | No. of Pupils | |---------|----------------|--------------| | Maynooth College | 1 | 505 | | National | 50 | 1867 | | Church Education | 12 | 184 | | Diocesan | 1 | 6 | | Endowed | 5 | 63 | | Private | 44 | 626 | | Boarding | 3 | 95 | | Parochial | 12 | 208 | | Free | 8 | 139 | | Military | 1 | 12 | | Workhouse | 3 | 498 | | Gaol | 1 | 77 | | Total | 141 | 4280 |

The lands are very unequally portioned out. There are a few large estates. That of the Duke of Leinster extends over nearly one-third of the county. Many farmers hold large tracts; many others scarcely sufficient for the sustenance of a family, there being about 7000 holdings of less than 30 acres in extent. The general average of farms is about 17 acres. The larger farms are well cultivated according to the most approved systems, though not with all the neatness and precision which mark the operations of the English agriculturists. The small farmers manage their land in a slovenly manner, and with a persevering attachment to the customs of their forefathers. 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.

The crops grown on the land, and the extent of land under cultivation since 1847, is shown in the following table:

| Years | Corn, Beans, and Pease | Other Crops | Total extent under Crops | |-------|------------------------|-------------|--------------------------| | | Wheat | Oats | Barley, Rye, Beans, and Pease | Total | Potatoes | Turnips | Green Crops | Total | Flax | Meadow and Clover | Total | | 1847 | 27,284 | 40,353 | 4,654 | 72,291 | 5,570 | 10,894 | 1,898 | 18,362 | 29 | 45,479 | 130,171 | | 1848 | 28,124 | 40,512 | 5,109 | 73,745 | 14,269 | 8,852 | 905 | 24,017 | 17 | 46,446 | 144,225 | | 1849 | 26,020 | 41,645 | 6,840 | 74,505 | 11,729 | 9,529 | 1,886 | 23,144 | 21 | 43,851 | 141,291 | | 1850 | 22,737 | 45,791 | 8,196 | 76,724 | 12,158 | 9,622 | 2,534 | 24,314 | 23 | 44,446 | 147,507 | | 1851 | 17,098 | 47,736 | 9,937 | 74,771 | 11,110 | 9,622 | 3,060 | 25,627 | 47 | 45,146 | 142,321 | | 1852 | 13,404 | 49,411 | 9,496 | 72,270 | 10,749 | 10,887 | 3,111 | 24,147 | 17 | 45,146 | 141,830 | | 1853 | 10,658 | 46,716 | 8,852 | 69,226 | 10,715 | 11,985 | 2,965 | 25,695 | 28 | 44,888 | 140,837 | | 1854 | 18,281 | 43,599 | 7,767 | 69,648 | 13,109 | 9,988 | 2,053 | 27,150 | 6 | 45,123 | 139,947 | | 1855 | 20,698 | 43,953 | 6,251 | 70,902 | 14,110 | 10,990 | 1,907 | 27,007 | 9 | 45,707 | 148,625 |

The number of live stock in the county appears from the following table:

| Horses, with the purposes for which they are kept— | |--------------------------------------------------| | 1. Two years old and upwards—1855...13,521 | | Agricultural...8,679 | | Traffic and manufactures...911 | | Amusement or recreation...1,061 | | 2. One year old, and under two years...1,801 | | 3. Under one year...1,761 | | Total of horses...15,129 |

The dwellings of the middling farmers generally consist of a long building of a single storey, the lower 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 hawe 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 from the feeding of the cattle. 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 off 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 or 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 of the peasantry are made of home-manufactured frieze, or cheap cottons.

Manufactures can scarcely be said to exist here. That of cotton was attempted, without success, at Prosperous, near Clane, where the first cotton-mill in Ireland was erected. 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 Liffey, 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 end, at Hazelhatch, 8 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 7 miles from Dublin, and extending 4 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, bricks, stone, flags, slate, grain of every description, and potatoes.

The remains of antiquity in the county 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 Taghadoe there is another 71 feet high. The third, at Kilcallen, has only 40 feet standing. The fourth, at Oughterard, has suffered still more severely from the ravages of time; its height is but 25 feet. The fifth, which stands in the churchyard 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 20 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 Gobblan, is near the Hill of Carmen or Mullamast, where is also to be seen a large rath, situate 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 Naansteighan, 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 Mullamast, or the Hill of Decapitation. The other raths of most note are those of Ardcull, near Naas, where the English, under Hammoh le Gros, were totally defeated by the Scots, under Edward Bruce, in 1316; and that of Rheban, to the N. of the same town. Others are still to be seen at Naas, Kilkea, Moone, Clane, and Lyons, and at Rathsalagh. 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 still exist. Castle Dermot 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 site of the fine abbey of Monasterevan is occupied by Moore Abbey, the residence of the Marquis of Drogheda. Of that of St Woolstan's, near Celbridge, nothing now remains but two towers and gateways. At old Kilcullen, the site of the monastery is marked by some curious stone crosses. The principal castles are those of Kilkea, built by the seventh Earl of Kildare, lately restored, and now the residence of the Marquis of Kildare; those of Athy and Castle Dermot were built by the eighth Earl of Kildare. Timolin Castle was erected in the reign of King John, by the Lord of Norragh. Rheban, on the Barrow, gave the title of baron to the family of St Michael. The castles of Narraghmore and Harristown also gave baronial titles to their possessors. Amongst the modern seats the most remarkable are—Carton, near the town of Maynooth the princely residence of the Duke of Leinster; Castletown, one of the largest and finest Italian mansions in Ireland, the seat of the Conolly family; Killadon, 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, the residence of Mr Barton; Belan, near Timolin, once the seat of the Earls of Aldborough; and Palmerston, the Earl of Mayo's. At Jigginstown, near Naas, are still to be seen the walls of a large mansion commenced by the unfortunate Earl of Strafford, whilst lord-lieutenant under Charles I., 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 1851, 3908; and of Naas, 3132 souls. The former of these towns is situate 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 to Ross and Waterford. 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. Naas, pleasantly situated on the Liffey, in the centre of a very fertile and well-cultivated tract of country, and communicating with the main trunk of the Grand Canal by a connecting branch, carries on a considerable retail trade. Maynooth is remarkable for several castellated ruins, built at KILMANDJARO, the highest mountain in Africa (with the doubtful exception of Kenya), is in the Djagga country, W.N.W. from Momohaz, S. Lat. 3.40°, E. Long. 36°, about 250 miles from the coast. It is crowned with perpetual snow: estimated height, 20,000 feet. It was discovered in April 1848 by Dr Krapf, a missionary.