Guide to County Kildare in Ireland

County Kildare

Kildare is located in the province of Leinster just west of Dublin, making it an ideal base from which to commute into the capital city. As a result, it is one of the more densely populated rural counties of Ireland with a rapidly growing population now approaching 200,000. The area is well-served for car drivers needing to head out west or into Dublin with both the M4 and M7 motorways passing through the county.

The Curragh horse-racing course, the host track for all five Irish classics is located in County Kildare, as are 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 area at farms such as the Irish National Stud, the Moyglare Stud and Kildagan Stud. Kildare also has famous sporting links with the game of golf. Amongst the numerous high quality golf courses in the county, the cream of the crop is the K Club in Straffan where the 2006 Ryder Cup team challenge was played, closely followed by the PGA National course within the Palmerston House country estate.

The largest town is the county town of Naas with a population of some 25,000. Newbridge, Celbridge and Leixlip are the next largest towns, and all three are set in scenic locations yet the housing areas are just minutes from fast motorway connections. Maynooth remains quaint with its historic educational establishments, the second oldest university in Ireland now called NUIM, and Maynooth College which is the national RC seminary.

Some growing towns lie a little farther afield westwards, like Kilcock, Kildare town, Monasterevin and Athy. Other places to consider in the county of Kildare include Allenwood, Ballymore Eustace, Brownstown Cross Roads, Carragh, Castledermot, Clane, Coil Dubh (Blackwood), Derrinturn, Johnstown, Kilberry, Kilcullen, Kill, Kilmeage, Milltown, Nurney, Prosperous, Rathangan, Rathcoffey, Robertstown, Sallins and Suncroft.