including an interesting series of basic lavas, rises from the plain
north of Kildare town (Hill of Allen and Chair of Kildare), with some
Old Red Sandstone on its flanks. The limestone in this ridge is
rich in fossils of Bala age, and has been compared with that at Portrane
in county Dublin. The low ground is diversified by eskers
and masses of glacial gravel, notably at the dry sandy plateau
of the Curragh; but in part it retains sufficient moisture to give rise
to extensive bogs. The Liffey, which comes down as a mountain-stream
in the Silurian area, forming a picturesque fall in the gorge
of Pollaphuca, wanders through the limestone region between low
banks as a true river of the plain.
Climate and Industries.—Owing to a considerable degree to the large extent of bog, the climate of the northern districts is very moist, and fogs are frequent, but the eastern portion is drier, and the climate of the Liffey valley is very mild and healthy. The soil, whether resting on the limestone or on the clay slate, is principally a rich deep loam inclining occasionally to clay, easily cultivated and very fertile if properly drained. About 40,000 acres in the northern part of the county are included in the Bog of Allen, which is, however, intersected in many places by elevated tracts of firm ground. To the east of the town of Kildare is the Curragh, an undulating down upwards of 4800 acres in extent. The most fertile and highly cultivated districts of Kildare are the valleys of the Liffey and a tract in the south watered by the Greese. The demesne lands along the valley of the Liffey are finely wooded. More attention is paid to drainage and the use of manures on the larger farms than is done in many other parts of Ireland. The pastures which are not subjected to the plough are generally very rich and fattening. The proportion of tillage to pasture is roughly as 1 to 212. Wheat is a scanty crop, but oats, barley, turnips and potatoes are all considerably cultivated. Cattle and sheep are grazed extensively, and the numbers are well sustained. Of the former, crosses with the shorthorn or the Durham are the commonest breed. Leicesters are the principal breed of sheep. Poultry farming is a growing industry.
Though possessing a good supply of water-power the county is almost destitute of manufactures; there are a few small cotton, woollen and paper mills, as well as breweries and distilleries, and several corn mills. Large quantities of turf are exported to Dublin by canal. The main line of the Midland Great Western follows the northern boundary of the county, with a branch to Carbury and Edenderry; and that of the Great Southern & Western crosses the county by way of Newbridge and Kildare, with southward branches to Naas (and Tullow, county Carlow) and to Athy and the south. The northern border is traversed by the Royal Canal, which connects Dublin with the Shannon at Cloondara. Farther south the Grand Canal, which connects Dublin with the Shannon at Shannon Harbour, occupies the valley of the Liffey until at Sallins it enters the Bog of Allen, passing into King’s County near the source of the Boyne. Several branch canals afford communication with the southern districts.
Population and Administration.—The decreasing population (70,206 in 1891; 63,566 in 1901) shows an unusual excess of males over females, in spite of an excess of male emigrants. About 86% of the population are Roman Catholics. The county comprises 14 baronies and contains 110 civil parishes. Assizes are held at Naas, and quarter sessions at Athy, Kildare, Maynooth and Naas. The military stations at Newbridge and the Curragh constitute the Curragh military district, and the barracks at Athy and Naas are included in the Dublin military district. The principal towns are Athy (pop. 3599), Naas (3836) and Newbridge (2903); with Maynooth (which is the seat of a Roman Catholic college), Celbridge, Kildare (the county town), Monasterevan, Kilcullen and Leixlip. Ballitore, one of the larger villages, is a Quaker settlement, and at a school here Edmund Burke was educated. Kildare returned ten members to the Irish parliament, of whom eight represented boroughs; it sends only two (for the north and south divisions of the county) to the parliament of the United Kingdom. The county is in the Protestant diocese of Dublin and the Roman Catholic dioceses of Dublin and of Kildare and Leighlin.
History and Antiquities.—According to a tale in the Book of Leinster the original name of Kildare was Druim Criaidh (Drumcree), which it retained until the time of St Brigit, after which it was changed to Cilldara, the church of the oak, from an old oak under whose shadow the saint had constructed her cell. For some centuries it was under the government of the Macmurroughs, kings of Leinster, but with the remainder of Leinster it was granted by Henry II. to Strongbow. On the division of the palatinate of Leinster among the five grand-daughters of Strongbow, Kildare fell to Sibilla, the fourth daughter, who married William de Ferrars, earl of Derby. Through the marriage of the only daughter of William de Ferrars it passed to William de Vescy—who, when challenged to single combat by John Fitz Thomas, baron of Offaly, for accusing him of treason, fled to France. His lands were thereupon in 1297 bestowed on Fitz Thomas, who in 1316 was created earl of Kildare, and in 1317 was appointed sheriff of Kildare, the office remaining in the family until the attainder of Gerald, the ninth earl, in the reign of Henry VIII. Kildare was a liberty of Dublin until 1296, when an act was passed constituting it a separate county.
In the county are several old gigantic pillar-stones, the principal being those at Punchestown, Harristown, Jigginstown and Mullamast. Among remarkable earthworks are the raths at Mullamast, Knockcaellagh near Kilcullen, Ardscull near Naas, and the numerous sepulchral mounds in the Curragh. Of the round towers the finest is that of Kildare; there are remains of others at Taghadoe, Old Kilcullen, Oughterard and Castledermot. Formerly there were an immense number of religious houses in the county. There are remains of a Franciscan abbey at Castledermot. At Graney are ruins of an Augustinian nunnery and portions of a building said to have belonged to the Knights Templars. The town of Kildare has ruins of four monastic buildings, including the nunnery founded by St Brigit. The site of a monastery at Old Kilcullen, said to date from the time of St Patrick, is marked by two stone crosses, one of which is curiously sculptured. The fine abbey of Monasterevan is now the seat of the marquess of Drogheda. On the Liffey are the remains of Great Connel Abbey near Celbridge, of St Wolstan’s near Celbridge, and of New Abbey. At Moone, where there was a Franciscan monastery, are the remains of an ancient cross with curious sculpturings. Among castles may be mentioned those of Athy and Castledermot, built about the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion; Maynooth Castle, built by the Fitzgeralds; Kilkea, originally built by the seventh earl of Kildare, and restored within the 19th century; and Timolin, erected in the reign of King John.
KILDARE, a market town and the county town of county
Kildare, Ireland, in the south parliamentary division, a junction
on the main line of the Great Southern & Western railway,
30. m. S.W. from Dublin, the branch line to Athy, Carlow and
Kilkenny diverging southward. Pop. (1901), 1576. The town
is of high antiquarian interest. There is a Protestant cathedral
church, the diocese of which was united with Dublin in 1846.
St Brigit or Bridget founded the religious community in the 5th
century, and a fire sacred to the memory of the saint is said to
have been kept incessantly burning for several centuries (until
the Reformation) in a small ancient chapel called the Fire House,
part of which remains. The cathedral suffered with the town
from frequent burnings and destructions at the hands of the Danes
and the Irish, and during the Elizabethan wars. The existing
church was partially in ruins when an extensive restoration was
begun in 1875 under the direction of G.E. Street; while the choir,
which dated from the latter part of the 17th century, was rebuilt
in 1896. Close to the church are an ancient cross and a very fine
round tower (its summit unhappily restored with a modern
battlement) 10512 ft. high, with a doorway with unusual ornament
of Romanesque character. There are remains of a castle of the
13th century, and of a Carmelite monastery. From the elevated
situation of the town, a striking view of the great central plain
of Ireland is afforded. Kildare was incorporated by James II.,
and returned two members to the Irish parliament.
KILHAM, ALEXANDER (1762–1798), English Methodist, was born at Epworth, Lincolnshire, on the 10th of July 1762. He was admitted by John Wesley in 1785 into the regular itinerant ministry. He became the leader and spokesman of the democratic party in the Connexion which claimed for the laity the free election of class-leaders and stewards, and equal representation with ministers at Conference. They also contended that the ministry should possess no official authority or pastoral prerogative, but should merely carry into effect the decisions of majorities in the different meetings. Kilham further advocated the complete separation of the Methodists from the Anglican Church. In the violent controversy that ensued he
