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KILDARK 



KILKENNY. 



403 



called St. John's castle. A parliament was held in Caatle-Dermot in 

 1 499. There is a Roman Catholic chapel in the town. Six fairs are 

 held in the course of the year. Celbbidge. Clane, population 333, 

 a village 6 miles S.W. from Celbridge, on the left bank of the Liifey, 

 which is here crossed by a bridge of six arches. Here are considerable 

 remains of a Franciscan friary, erected in the 13th century. Near 

 the village are the ruins of an old castle and some ancient earth- 

 works. Fairs are held in April, July, and October. Kilcoch, popula- 

 tion 1164, a post- and market-town, situated 19 miles W. from Dublin, 

 on the Dublin and Galway railway and on the banks of the Royal 

 CanaL The town has a dispensary, a church, and a Roman Catholic 

 chapeL The environs are fertUe. Near the town are Donadea Castle, 

 and several other large mansions. Nine fairs are held in the year. 

 Kihullen, or as it is commonly called Old KilcvUen, formerly a walled 

 town, and a place of importance, but now a mere hamlet, stands 2 

 miles S, from Kilcullen Bridge. Fairs are held here in June and 

 October. On the summit of a hill, inclosed by a circular wall, are the 

 ruins of a monastery, part of a round tower, 35 feet high, and many 

 sculptured stone crosses. The rebels were severely defeated at Old 

 Kilcullen in 1798. Kilcullen Bridge, a small market-town prettily 

 situated on the Liffey, 5 miles S. by W. from Naas, has a fever hospital, 

 a dispensary, and 985 inhabitants. Fairs are held in February, March, 

 June, September, and December. About 3 miles N.E. from this 

 place is Uarristown, before the union a parUamentary borough, now 

 a mere hamlet Leurlip, a small town finely situated at the junction 

 of the Rye with the Liffey, 11 miles W. from Dublin, by the mail- 

 coach road and the railway from Dublin to Galway : population, 832. 

 It consists of a single street. The parish church is in the pointed 

 gothic style. The Roman Catholics have a chapel. The Liffey is 

 here crossed by a bridge. Above the town is Leislip Castle, built by 

 Adam de Hereford, one of Strongbow's followers. A little way 

 beyond the castle, the Liffey forms a fine cascade, called the Salmon 

 Leap. The town is a place of resort on account of the beautiful 

 scenery near it. Fairs arc held in Hay, July, and October. llATNOOTn. 

 ifonatterevan, population 996, a poet- and market-town, situated on 

 the Barrow at the junction of the Mountmellick and Athy branches 

 of the Orand CanaJ, 36 miles by railway S.W. from Dublin. The 

 main street is built on only one side and fronts the river, which is 

 here crossed by two bridges. The market-place is a large open area. 

 The parish church and Roman Catholic chapel are the chief buildings. 

 Small docks and storehouseji have been built in the town, in which 

 are a large distillery and brewery, and a dispensary. The trade is 

 chiefly in com and other agricultural produce. The site of the abbey 

 of Mouasterevan is now occupied by the fine mansion of Moore Abbey, 

 the seat of the Marquis of Drogheda on the south side of the town. 

 Fau^ are held ten times in the year. Naas. Neahridge, a small 

 market-town of 934 inhabitants, on the Liffey, and on the railway 

 and mail-coach road from Dublin to Cork, 25 miles S.W. from DubUn, 

 has a large cavalry barrack, a Roman Catholic chapel, a police station, 

 and a dispensary. The town takes its name from a bridge which here 

 spans the Liffey. Near it are the ruins of Great Connell Abbey. Five 

 fiiirs are held in the course of the year. Protperoun, popuUtion 526 

 in 1841 ; 262 in 1851, a miserable decaying village, in which a cotton 

 factory was established in 1780, and long ago abandoned, is situated 

 4 miles N.W. from the Sallins station on the Dublin and Cork rail- 

 way, in a dreary, boggy, flat district. Sallutngan, population lOOt, a 

 market-town on the Little Barrow and the southern branch of the 

 Orand Canal, 5 miles N. by W. from Kildare, contains a church, a 

 Roman Catholic chapel, a Quakers meeting-house, and a dispensary. 

 There are several large flour-mills here. Three annual fair* are held. 

 RoberUtown, 3 miles W. from Prosperous, a small vilUge, population 

 314 in 1841, and 600 in 1851, is situated in the dreary region of the Bog 

 of Allen, and is mentioned chiefly on account of its standing at the 

 summit level of the Orand CanaL There are seven yearly fairs. 

 Salliru, a village of 308 inhabitants, is a station on the Dublin and 

 Cork railway, 18 miles S.W. from Dublin. It stands on the Grand 

 Canal, and near the right bank of the Liffey. A large inn and extensive 

 ■tores have been erected here by the Grand Canal Company. 



Prior to the Union Kildare was represented in the Irish Parliament 

 by ten members ; two for the county, and two for each of the towns 

 Athy, Kildare, Naas, and Harristown. It is represented in the 

 Imperial Parliament by two county members only. The assizes ate 

 held alternately at Naas and Athy, in each of which there are a 

 county court-house and jaiL The general quarter-sessions are held at 

 Athy, Maynooth, Kildare, and Naas. Petty sessions are held at 13 

 places. The head-quarters of the constabulary force, consistmg of 

 263<nien and officers, are at Athy ; the force is distributed among 5 

 districts, Naaa, Athy, Rathangan, Robcrtstown, and Leixlip; these 

 again are sub-divided into 45 stations. A resident magistrate is 

 itationed at Naas. The district lunatic asylum, to which the county 

 is entitled to send 52 patients, is at Carlow. The Union workhouses 

 are at Athy, Celbridge, and Naaa. A county infirmary is at Kildare, 

 and fever hospitals are at Celbridge, Naas, and Athy; 18 dispensaries 

 •re established in the towns and chief villages. At Newbridge are 

 extensive cavalry barracks, and infantry barracks are at Naaa and 

 Atbj. The staff of the county mihtia is stationed at Johnstown. A 

 •avingi bank is at Celbridge ; the total amount owing to depositors 

 on November 20th, 1862 was 15,24U it. Id. In September 1852 



QlOa. DiV. VOL. lU. 



there were 87 National schools in operation, attended by 4575 male 

 and 4643 female children. Adjoining the town of Maynooth is the 

 Roman Catholic College of St. Patrick, for the education of young 

 men destined for the priesthood ; and at Clongowes, near the village 

 of Clane, is the Jesuit College for the education of the sous of the 

 Roman Catholic gentry, which had 151 students in 1853. 



Numerous earthen works, partly military and partly sepulchral, 

 remain in this county. Of the first class, the most remarkable are the 

 rath of Knockawley, about a mile west from Old Kilcullen ; the moat 

 of Mullaghmast, the ancient Carmon, near Ballytore; and Rath- 

 Ardscull near Athy. There are numerous sepulchral mounds on the 

 Curragh ; and here in the time of Giraldua Cambrenais was a stone 

 monument similar to Stonehenge. Pillar stones of large dimensions 

 are still standing at Mullaghmast, Fumaughts, and Harristown. There 

 are round towers at Kildare, Taghadoe, Kilcullen, Castle-Dermot, and 

 Oughterard. Among other ancient remains are the ruins of numerous 

 religious houses, stone crosses ornamented with curious sculptures, 

 and a great number of feudal castles, many of which are still standing. 

 The castles of Kilkea, Donadea, and Leixlip are still inhabited. 



KILDARE, county of Kildare, Ii-eland, a small market and episco- 

 pal town, and previous to the Union a parliamentary borough, is 

 situated in 53° 10' N. lat, 6° 54' W. long., on high ground hjilf a milo 

 W. from the Curragh of Kildare, and 30 miles S.W. from Dublin by 

 the Dublin and Cork railway. The population in 1841 was 1629 ; in 

 1851 it was 1298. The town, which is distinguished at a considerablo 

 distance by its round tower 130 feet high, is interesting for its antiqui- 

 ties : these include the ruined cathedral, a small part of the chapel of 

 St Bridget, locally called the ' Fire-House,' in which tho ' ceaseless 

 fire,' a relic probably of the Baal worship of the ancient Irish, was 

 maintained till 1220 ; the ruins of a Franciscan abbey, on the south 

 side of the town ; and the round tower before mentioned. The choir 

 of the old cathedral is now used as the parish cliurch and nominal 

 cathedraL In the cathedral is the family vault of the earls of Kildare ; 

 in it the dukes of Leinster are buried. Kildare was famous as a seat 

 of learning in the middle ages. The present town consists of one 

 tolerably good street, on which abut several miserable lanes. The 

 chief buildings are the Roman Catholic chapel, a nimnery or friary, 

 the county infirmary, and the market-house, in which petty sessions 

 are held weekly. During the Curragh races the town is well fre- 

 quented. The market is held on Thursday. Quarter sessions are 

 held twice a year. The old castle of Kildare, built soon after the 

 Anglo-Norman invasion, and subsequently often repaired, still 

 remains. 



The see of Kildare is in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin. The 

 diocese comprises parts of the county of Kildare and of King's and 

 Queen's counties. The chapter consists of a dean, precentor, chan- 

 cellor, archdeacon, 8 prebendaries, and 4 canons. . The number of 

 benefices is 44. The foundation of this see is ascribed to St Conlaeth 

 in the 6th century. The first Protestant bishop of the see was con- 

 secrated in 1550. By the Church Temporalities Act the see of Kildare 

 is now united to that of Dublin. 



KILFENORA, a bishop's see in the archiepLscopal province of 

 Dublin in Ireland, comprises the baronies of Burrin and Corcomroe, 

 in the county of Clare. The chapter consists of a dean, precentor, 

 and archdeacon. The number of benefices is seven. 'The see was 

 anciently called Fenabore and Cellumabrach. There is no authentic 

 mention of it till 1265, when one Christian was bishop. Kilfenora 

 was united to Clonfert in 1741, to Killaloe in 1752, and under the 

 Church Temporalities Act it is now united with Killaloe, Clonfert, 

 and Kilmacdungh. The cathedral serves as a parish church ; it is a 

 respectoble building, with a massive square tower. 



'The episcopal city of Kilfenora, now a poor hamlet, is situated 

 134 nules N.W. from EnnU, m 52" 57' N. lat, 9° 12' W. long. The 

 population in 1841 was 621 ; in 1851 it was 387. Kilfenora is 

 unquestionably of high antiquity. It is stated in the ' Ulster 

 Annals ' that the abbey and town were burned by Murtough O'Brien 

 in 1055. A fragment of the old abbey still remains, and near it are 

 several ancient crosses. Many ruined castles and old forts are in the 

 vicinity of the village. The laud about Kilfenora is fertile and well 

 cultivated. 



KILGERRAN. [Pembbokesbibe.] 

 KILHAM. [YoRKsuiBE.] 

 KILIA. [Bessababia.] 

 KILKEE. [Clabe.] 



KILKEEL, county of Down, Ireland, a post-town and the seat of a 

 Poor-Law Union, in the barony of Moume, is situated near the mouth 

 of the river Kilkeel, in a mountainous district, in 54° 3' N. lat, 6" 1' 

 W. long., 65 miles N. by E. from Dublin, and had in 1851 a population 

 of 1163, besides 185 in the workhouse. Kilkeel Poor-Law Union com- 

 prises 10 electoral divisions, with an area of 81,829 acres, and a popu- 

 liition in 1851 of 24,728. The town contains a small church, some 

 Dissenting meeting-houses, and a few shops. Four fairs are held in 

 the year. Near the town the Rosstrevor road skirts the extensive 

 demesne of Moume Park, the seat of the Earl of Kilmorey. 



KILKENNY, an inland county of the province of Leinster, in 

 Ireland, is bounded N. by Queen's County, E. by the counties of 

 Carlow and Wexford, S. by the county of Waterford, and W. by 

 Tipperary. It Uog between 62° 13' oud 62° 63' N. lat, 6° 65' and 



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