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Castletown House, County Kildare
Photograph: DiggingSpace · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Province of Leinster

County Kildare

Cill Dara

“kill DAR-a” · church of the oak, from cill (church) + dair (oak)

Known as The Thoroughbred County. For the Curragh and the horse country around it: the racecourse, the studs, and the flat limestone grassland that feeds them.

Did you know? A perpetual flame burned for St Brigid at Kildare, by tradition tended by her nuns. The flame was restored in 1993.
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Kildare by the numbers
Leinster province 246,977 people · 2022 census 1,695 km² · 24th of 32 by size County town Naas -17% in the Famine · 114,488 people in 1841, 95,000 in 1851 (approx.) 14 baronies · 1,210 townlands 1930s folklore · the Schools' Collection ↗ 8 surnames 11 towns on the site 2,699 daily Irish speakers Highest point Cupidstown Hill, 379 m 4 senior All-Irelands 30 notable people born here 1,581 historic buildings recorded Everything on the site about Kildare ↓
Carlow Cavan Cork Donegal Dublin Clare Galway Kerry Kildare Kilkenny Laois Leitrim Limerick Longford Louth Mayo Meath Monaghan Offaly Roscommon Sligo Tipperary Waterford Westmeath Wexford Wicklow Antrim Armagh Down Fermanagh Londonderry Tyrone

Open the atlas ↗

The history of Kildare

Kildare was made a shire in 1297 and took its present borders only in 1832, when a number of detached pieces were tidied away. It was the home of the FitzGeralds, the Earls of Kildare, and parts of it lay within the Pale, the area around Dublin where English law held. The county's Wikipedia history is short; the county's saints, castles and monuments elsewhere on this page say more.

Drawn from the History section of the Wikipedia article on County Kildare ↗, rewritten here and adding nothing it does not say; licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. The chronology above is this site's own; where the two differ, the article is the one to check.

The land — from Wikipedia

Kildare is the 24th-largest of Ireland's 32 counties in area and the seventh-largest in terms of population. It is the eighth largest of Leinster's twelve counties in size, and the second largest in terms of population. It is bordered by the counties of Carlow, Laois, Meath, Offaly, South Dublin and Wicklow. As an inland county, Kildare is generally a lowland region. The county's highest points are the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains bordering to the east. The highest point in Kildare is Cupidstown Hill on the border with South Dublin, with the better-known Hill of Allen in central Kildare.

Read the full article ↗ · Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Clans & surnames of Kildare
Bermingham Mac Fheorais Norman · “from Birmingham, England” Carey Ó Ciardha / Ó Cearaigh Gaelic septs (several) · “descendant of Ciardha, 'the dark one' — among several distinct roots” Cullen Ó Cuilinn Gaelic sept · “descendant of Cuileann, 'holly'” Fitzgerald Mac Gearailt Norman dynasty · “fitz Gerald — son of Gerald (of Windsor)” Killeen Ó Cillín Gaelic septs (several) · “descendant of Cillín, a pet form of Ceallach” Lyons Ó Laighin Gaelic sept · “descendant of Laighean, 'lance, spear'” O'Toole Ó Tuathail Gaelic sept · “descendant of Tuathal, 'ruler of the people'” Woulfe de Bhulbh Norman · “le woulf — 'the wolf'”

Tap a name for its full page — story, homeland map and neighbours. Or see all surnames from County Kildare, with the other counties each name is tied to.

Towns, saints and legends of Kildare

Towns. Naas Nás na Ríogh (26,180, 2022), Newbridge Droichead Nua (24,366, 2022), Celbridge Cill Droichid (20,601, 2022), Maynooth Maigh Nuad (17,259, 2022), Leixlip Léim an Bhradáin (16,733, 2022), Athy Baile Átha Í (11,035, 2022), Kilcock Cill Choca (8,674, 2022), Clane Claonadh (8,152, 2022), Monasterevin Mainistir Eimhín (5,307, 2022), Kilcullen Cill Chuilinn (3,815, 2022), Kildare Cill Dara. What every town name means →

Saints. St Brigid of Kildare (1 February), St Laurence O'Toole (14 November).

Legends set here. Hill of Allen — Fionn's fort. On the atlas →

First names that belong here. Bríd, Fionn, Lorcán, Gearóid, Rathnait, Connlaodh.

Irish in Kildare today

At the 2022 census, 95,484 people in Kildare said they could speak Irish. 2,699 speak it every day outside school, and 5,857 weekly.

8 primary schools here teach entirely through Irish (2025/26, 2,491 pupils), and 2 secondary schools.

CSO, Census 2022, table SAP2022T3T2CTY. Every county compared →

The top of Kildare

Cupidstown Hill (Cnoc Bhaile Cupid), 379 metres, in the Wicklow Mountains.

Rivers and loughs: River Barrow, River Liffey, River Boyne.

MountainViews, via Wikipedia. Every county's highest point → · Rivers and loughs →

Kildare in the All-Ireland

Hurling: no senior title.
Football: 4 senior titles (1905, 1919, 1927, 1928); 5 finals lost.

Every county's All-Ireland titles →

Born in Kildare

From Wikidata: people whose recorded birthplace is in the county, who have a Wikipedia article and are no longer living, with dates shown only where the article confirms them, ordered by how many languages Wikipedia covers them in. Traditional birthplaces of early saints are as Wikidata records them. Dates are left off where the sources disagree.

People in Kildare, census by census

Kildare had 114,488 people in 1841 and has 246,977 now (+116%). its low point 57,892 in 1936, -49% of 1841. It is one of the counties that has recovered its pre-Famine population.

1821183118411851186118711881189119011911192619361946195119561961196619711979198119861991199620022006201120162022
99,065108,424114,48895,72390,94683,61475,80470,20663,56666,62758,02857,89264,84966,43765,91564,42066,40471,97797,185104,122116,247122,656134,992163,944186,335210,312222,504246,977

Census returns as tabulated in the county's Wikipedia article. All 32 counties, 1821 to today →

Hidden Kildare — the places the buses miss
  • Dún Ailinne
    The royal site of Leinster: a 13-hectare hilltop enclosure whose vast timber circles were built for ceremonies, then dismantled and burned.
On the ground in Kildare

Every pin is placed by its documented coordinates. All the monuments of Ireland →

Everything on the site about County Kildare

The county

History

Monuments and heritage

Coast and country

People and culture

Quick answers
What is the Irish name for County Kildare?

Cill Dara. Kildare is one of the 12 counties of Leinster (Cúige Laighean).

Who ruled County Kildare in the Middle Ages?

Around 1014 it was held by Kingdom of Leinster (Mac Murrough); by 1450, The English Pale. The full era-by-era chronology is on this page.

What surnames come from County Kildare?

Names historically associated with Kildare include Bermingham, Carey, Cullen, Fitzgerald, Killeen, Lyons, O'Toole, Woulfe.

What does Cill Dara mean?

Cill Dara, said “kill DAR-a”, means church of the oak — from cill (church) + dair (oak). Brigid's foundation, built beside an oak she is said to have chosen herself.

What is the population of County Kildare?

246,977 at the 2022 census, against 114,488 in 1841, before the Famine.

What is the county town of Kildare?

Naas. County Kildare covers about 1,695 km², which makes it the 24th largest of the 32 counties.

Who are famous people from County Kildare?

Among the best-known people born in Kildare are Ernest Shackleton, Kathleen Lonsdale, Arthur Guinness, Willoughby James Hamilton, Charles Handy, Liam O'Flynn. The full list, with their birthplaces, is on this page.

What did the Famine do to County Kildare?

The census counted 114,488 people in Kildare in 1841 and 95,000 in 1851 (the 1851 figure is approximate): a change of -17% in ten years, through death and emigration.

Sources for this page

A clean copy for school projects or the family file; collapsed sections print in full.

The chronology of who held the county is this site's own reading of the standard histories onto today's county borders, and says so where the fit is rough. Quoted passages are marked and licensed. Spotted an error? Say so — corrections are credited.

Trace your ancestors in Kildare

Free, from the holding institutions. How to begin: the six-step guide → · Spotted an error on this page? Suggest a correction.