Celbridge
Encyclopedia
Celbridge is a town and townland
on the River Liffey
in County Kildare
, Ireland
. It is 23 km (14.3 mi) west of Dublin. As a town within the Dublin Metropolitan Area and the Greater Dublin Area
, it is located at the intersection of the R403
and R405 regional road
s.
In recent years Celbridge has expanded dramatically, yet most of the towns services and amenities still centre around the single main street. Celbridge largely retains the character which seems to have been lost in many other towns within Dublin's commuter belt.
Cill Droichid meaning "church bridge" or "church by the bridge". The Irish name was historically anglicised
as Kildroicht, Kildrought, Kildroght and Kildrout.
As of the census
of 2006, there were 17,262 people in Celbridge of which 8,732 were male and 8,530 female, 4,307 (25pc) were aged 0–14, 2,678 (15.5pc) were aged 15–24, 6,219 (35pc) were aged 35–44, 3,400 (19.7pc) were aged 45–64 and 658 (3.6pc) were aged 65 years and over. Of these 9,586 were single, 6,602 were married, 715 were widowed and 359 were separated. Only 4,146 (24.4pc) of the 16,980 who were recorded by the census as “usually resident in Celbridge” had been born in Co Kildare. 10,071 (59.3pc) had been born elsewhere in Ireland and 2,763 (16.3pc) were born outside of Ireland.
Despite its size (third largest in the county - and larger than other towns which have town councils such as Leixlip
and Athy
), and numerous proposals, the town does not have a town council. Government acts provide for town councils for towns with a population of greater than 7,500, which Celbridge exceeds twice over, but it still lacks a council, being covered by a Development Plan with less detail and control than a Local Area Plan which a town council could develop. The situation effectively means that Kildare County Council in Naas which is based 20 km (12 mi) away, have full control over zoning land in the area, and this means that they can zone land without specific local knowledge of what is needed.
, opened in 2003 to help address these traffic issues, with some success.
Pay parking applies along Main St. and other roads in the town centre. This applies Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm. Free parking is available at weekends. Car parks are available behind the Castletown Inn, The Mucky Duck Pub and Walsh's Pharmacy.
In 2000, Kildare County Council installed a set of traffic lights at the junction of the Liffey bridge and Main Street, however there was considerable opposition to the lights from the town shopkeepers, who sponsored an advertising supplement in Dublin's Evening Herald
which featured a photograph of a man shaking his fist at the lights to show the traders' opposition to them. Shortly afterwards, a motorist suspiciously reversed into the lights, "accidentally" knocking them over and the council switched them off for good.
The town is served by Dublin Bus
along the 67 route. These routes link the town to the city centre as well as the nearby towns of Lucan
and Maynooth
(but notably, no link to Leixlip exists despite the significant employment there).
Iarnród Éireann
runs commuter rail services to a station in Hazelhatch, about 3 km (2 mi) from Celbridge village. Feeder buses are used to bring passengers to the train station. Commuter suburban rail services from Kildare
to Dublin city centre serve Hazelhatch, although these are quite limited, with the lack of a Sunday service notable. While the service only brings passengers to Heuston station, somewhat west of the city centre, most tickets are in fact valid for feeder services from there such as the Dublin Bus route 90 or the Luas
trams. The station is located on one of the most important InterCity lines in the country, with services to Cork, Limerick and Galway, however these do not stop at Hazelhatch station.
Under the Transport21 plan, Hazelhatch-City will be electrified to provide a new DART service to Balbriggan
, using the underground Interconnector tunnel
in the city centre. This is to be completed by 2015.
Christ Church is the Anglican Parish Church for Celbridge and forms part of the grouped Parish of Celbridge, Straffan and Newcastle-Lyons in the Archdiocese of Dublin and Diocese of Glendalough.
Celbridge Christian Church is a small independent church formed in 2005. Services are each Sunday at 11 at unit 4 , Celbridge Industrial Estate. The church is led by Pastor Paul Carley. Formerly known as Celbridge Pentecostal Church. Other weekday services available on request. Their website is www.celbridgechurch.ie
for boys.
There is also a residential special school, Saint Raphael's, (co-ed, RC) for children with a learning disability. Celbridge also has one of the very few Primary Montessori Schools in Ireland, The Glebe Junior Montessori School (est. 1978). Providing Montessori education to children from 3–12 years, from nursery and Junior infants up to 6th class, its pre-fabricated building is located on the grounds of Barnhall Rugby Club. This is a fee-paying school and is not supported by the Dept. of Education & Science.
Planning for the 2012 St. Patrick's Day Parade is currently under way with a fund raising Halloween Fancy Dress Party coming up in October now
Green’s has a wide range of menus to suit all occasions and are changed regularly. Greens
Halo Cafe is located beside Tesco on the Maynooth Road. Open from 9am to 5pm daily and 11am to 3pm on Sunday. Specialising in Home baking and cooking. The Full Irish Breakfast and the famous Mega Breakfast are a great start to your day. Homemade scones, brown bread and soups are worth seeking out. Excellent coffee is served and is available to take away. Halo Cafe
Michelangelo's Main St. offers a wide variety of cuisine based on an Irish Italian theme. An excellent a la carte menu offering steaks and confit duck is accompanied by a special price menu and a range of pizzas. Michelangelo
Singapore Fame provides a varied menu from Thailand, China and Malaysia. Conveniently located beside the Celbridge House Pub on the Maynooth Road. A reasonably priced wine list is available as well as a full bar service.
Road was opened in 1996, ending 52 years without a home, the club having lost its field in Ballymakeally after a bitter court case in 1944. The Celbridge GAA
club is the third oldest club in Kildare
being formed on the 15 August 1885, eight months after the GAA was founded in Thurles
. In 1890 there were two clubs in the parish, one based in Kilwogan, Celbridge Shamrocks with 64 members with officers listed as WJ Sheridan, Hugh Maguire, Luke Ward and Thomas Connor and the other at Hazelhatch where Irish Harpers had 70 members with officers listed as Ambrose Dwyer, Christy Fitzsimons, Michael Saunders and John Cantwell. Celbridge play at senior level in both codes. They won their first Kildare Senior Football Championship in 2008, defeating Newbridge Sarsfields
by 19 to 010, the Kildare Senior Hurling Championship in 1921, 1925 and 2005, with a "three in a row" string of county hurling titles from 2009, 2010 and 2011 and Kildare Senior Camogie Championship
in 2005. They were defeated senior football semifinalists in 1989, the senior football amalgamated side (with Straffan) lost two replayed SF semifinals in 1974 and 1975 and lost the Senior League final in 1924 and 2008. They were junior football champions in 1923, 1958 and 1986 and Intermediate Football Champions in 1987 and 2003. Susan O'Carroll and Deirdre Corcoran have been nominated for national AllStar awards in camogie
and Susan O'Carroll won a Soaring Star Award in 2009. Celbridge born George Magan was an AllIreland
medalist in 1919.
, (Geographically Balloulster is an area outside of Celbridge but has no actual town and is all residential so most Balloulster inhabitants say they part of Celbridge) and Celbridge Town AFC, which was formed in 1959 and plays home games in St Patricks Park, with eight schoolboy teams and three senior teams. The Senior Sunday team currently play in the Leinster Senior League Division 1, and played Longford Town in the 2007 FAI Ford Cup 2nd Round. The teams play in the blue and white, and are sponsored by the Kildrought Lounge. Vincent McKenna played youth international for Ireland and for League of Ireland side Shelbourne in the 1970s. Celbridge competed in the Leinster Junior cup in 1908–09.
passes through Celbridge and where competitors have to navigate the Vanessa weir and Castletown rapids.
George Magan was Irish cross country champion in 1920 and 1922, Irish Mile champion in 1919, 1921 and 1922, Irish 880 yards champion in 1918, 1919 and 1921, and Irish four mile (6 km) champion in 1921. Jack Guiney was Irish champion in the triple jump and shot in 1937.
, trained by Jack Ruttle out of Hazelhatch Stud was the winner of the Aintree Grand National in 1939. A point to point meeting was held at nearby Windgaps 1912-54.
and all the way to Ballymore Eustace
. http://www.irelandflyfishing.com/fisheries.php?&fisheries_id=29. There are many spots along the river in Celbridge for fishing, from quiet spots in Castletown Grounds or beyond Vanessa Weir to the noisier spot on the wall of the bridge or the footbridge.
http://www.scouts.ie Groups in operation in Celbridge. Each Group may have Beavers (6- to 9-year-olds), Cubs (9- to 12-year-olds), Scouts (12- to 15-year-olds), Ventures (15- to 18-year-olds) and Rovers (18- to 21-year-olds). Sections generally meet once a week at various times and accept both boys and girls. The Groups are 1st Kildare (2nd Celbridge) based in the Mill Community Centre, 3rd Kildare (1st Celbridge) (www.1stcelbridge.net) based in the Slip Hall at Castletown Gates and 19th Kildare based at the Salesian Boys Secondary School
to plan new improvements around the town such as the new playground built for local children.
Planning for the 2012 St. Patrick's Day Parade is currently under way with a fund raising Halloween Fancy Dress Party coming up in October TheCelbridgeParade 2011 YouTube
CelbridgeOnline
from Griffinrath and the nearby high ground sloping down to the Liffey. Recent research has linked Celbridge with the Slí Mór possibly crossing the Liffey at a ford located below the site of the mill directly east of the bridge rather than at Castletown House
, as previously thought. The etymology of the church at Donaghcumper (church of the confluence, "Domhnach" is one of the earliest Irish words for church) suggests it may have existed as a monastic site from the 5th century. Folklore and heroic literature associate the north bank of Celbridge with both Saint Patrick
(hill and church of uncertain antiquity in Ardrass) and Saint Mochua (c570), who was associated with a church in Tea Lane and a well on the site of the current mill where pagan converts were baptised.
The town of Kildrought or Kildroighid developed around the castle, monastery and mill of Kildrought which Thomas deHereford, the Norman Lord of Kildrought erected early in the 13th century. The one long street running between the de Hereford Castle and lands of Castletown, and the mill, had taken shape by 1314 when Henry le Waleys was charged at a Naas court of “breaking the doors” of houses in the town of Kildrought and by night “taking geese, hens, beer and other victuals” against the will of the people of the town.
By the time of the Down Survey (1654–56) the population was 102 and the Dongan family were in possession of all the land in Celbridge. Killadoon House was the home of John Dongan’s brother in law Richard Talbot Earl of Tyrconnell. Dongan died at the Battle of the Boyne and is buried in Tea Lane cemetery. Talbot died immediately before the Siege of Limerick. His widow remained in Killadoon, outliving the two men who took over the town from her husband and John Dongan, Bartholomew Van Homrigh and William Conolly
.
The present day houses in Celbridge Main Street and town centre were built over a period of two hundred years. Celbridge Abbey
was built in 1703 by a Dutchman, Bartholomew Van Homrigh. He was appointed Chief Commissioner for Stores in Ireland for the victorious allied forces of William and Mary
who defeated the Jacobite
alliance, and enforced the Treaty of Limerick
in 1691. He moved to Kildrought Manor in 1695. When William “Speaker” Conolly
purchased the rundown Castletown Estate in 1709 from Thomas Dongan, the restored Earl of Limerick
and later Governor of New York, he complained that "all the Earl's tenants were beggars". Conolly built his new mansion at Castletown, cleared the existing tenantry and began to develop the town. Improvers and speculative developers followed Conolly to Celbridge. The new leases were granted on condition that the builders erect substantial stone houses with gable ends and two chimneys, replacing mud cabins and waste ground.
Existing mercantile buildings such as the 17th century Market House
, where the town's first school was based in 1709, were incorporated in to the expanding mill complex of buildings near the bridge. Developers began to survey e green field sites to the north east of the bridge in the direction of Castletown House. The result was to move the axis of Celbridge away from the bridge, corn and tuck mill and road to St Mochua's church to a new Main Street.
The old Irish name Cill Droichid (Kildrought), meaning the church of the bridge, was anglicised first to Cellbridge and then, after 1724, to Celbridge. Swift in his letters to Vanessa always named the place "Kildrought", but she replied from "Celbridge".
Celbridge's 18th century bridge had to be rebuilt after it was destroyed in a flood in December 1802.
The development of the Main Street commenced with the building of Kildrought House by Joseph Rotheny in 1720 for Robert Baillie, a Dublin upholsterer who was William Conolly's greatest prospect as an improving tenant. A large extension, which included a malt house, was added after Baillie sold in 1749. Kildrought house became home to John Begnall’s Academy after 1782. Among the attendees were the sons of Col George Napier
, George
, Charles
, William
and Henry
, later to be collectively known as “Wellington
’s Colonels, ” and their younger brother Richard Napier
, and John Jebb (1775–1833), later Church of Ireland
bishop of Limerick, Ardfert, and Aghadoe. Jeremiah Haughton, owner of the Mill lived there after 1818. For a time in the early 19th century Kildrought House had a cholera hospital attached to it and served as the local police barracks from 1831 to 1841 when the barrack moved to the site of the current Michaelangelo’s restaurant. After 1861 it was leased by Richard Maunsell of Oakley Park. Next door is the courthouse where the local petty sessions took place every fourth week.
No 22 Main Street, the original home of Conolly’s second agent George Finey was occupied by Richard Guinness for a time and his sons Arthur
, founder of the Guinness brewery, and Samuel. Richard married Elizabeth Clere, proprietor of the White Hart Inn, a public house at the site of the current Londis supermarket. Finey’s successor as Conolly’s agent, Dublin cabinetmaker Charles Davis, built Jasmine Lodge, an impressive fivebay house with a weather vane on the junction of Main Street and the Maynooth Road (1750). It was home to seven generations of Mulligans until 1992. One of the Mulligans had the decorative iron arch to the entrance gate constructed from material salvaged from the GPO Dublin after the 1916 Rebellion The Castletown Inn stands where Isaac Annesley, the early 18th century master stonemason lived. One of the oldest houses in the town. No 59 next door, was renovated in the latter half of the 18th century for Thomas Conolly's huntsman. Christopher Barry’s Auctioneers was built in 1840 by Richard Nelson and let to Chief Constable Marley, it replaced an old dwellinghouse with stables and offices where William Wadsworth, the original Irish Straw Manufacturer and exporter lived and operated at the end of the 19th century. On the corner of the Main Street and Liffey Bridge, Broe’s house and shop (1773) is now the Bank of Ireland. Mattew Gogarty came from Clondalkin in 1818 and established his shop on the other side of the street. James Carberry's Brewery (1709) later became Coyles and eventually Norris’s and the Village Inn. Roseville was built in 1796.
Other notable buildings on Main Street include the Catholic Church (1857 JJ McCarthy Architect), the Holy Faith convent (1877) and Christ Church (Church of Ireland, 1884) which retains the tower of an earlier church (1813). Castletown gates at the end of the street were built in 1783 after a design inspired by Batty Langley
. According to research by local historian Lena Boylan, the work was by a stonemason named Coates and a blacksmith named Behan.
The oldest will in the area is Temple Mills, operated by the Tyrrell family for 300 years, 2 km outside the town on the Ardclough
Road. Joseph Shaw's flax and flour mills was a major employer in the town until its closure after the death of William Shaw.
The Manor Mills (built by Louisa Conolly in 1785-8, extended by Laurence Atkinson 1805, restored 1985) incorporate parts of the old Celbridge Market House. It was purchased by Jeremiah and Thomas Houghton after Atkinson's bankruptcy in 1815. When the Houghton partnership became bankrupt in 1818 Jeremiah took charge of the operation. Houghton told a parliamentary committee that this mill was the biggest wool manufactory in Ireland. the mill was described as employing several hundred people when King George IV of England visited Celbridge in August 1821 and the description "biggest wool manufactory in Ireland" was repeated in the 1845 Parliamentary Gazeteer. It employed 600 people at full capacity, some of them children who were eight and nine years of age. Workers from Yorkshire who came to work in the mill lived in Tea Lane (so called because of the amount of discarded tea leaves on the street) and English Row. The closure of the mills in 1879 caused the population of Celbridge to plunge from a 19th century peak of 1,674 in 1861 (1,391 in 1871) to 988 in 1881 and a low of 811 in 1891
Under the Irish Government regeneration scheme of the 1930s, the Leinster Hand Weaving Company acquired the premises for conversion in to a weaving mill. Celbridge woollen mill was operated by Youghal carpets (acquired 1966, workforce extended from 120 jobs in October 1969.). It was a major employer until its closure in May 1982 with the loss of 220 jobs. This ended two centuries of intermittent wool production in the village. The mill now serves as a community centre. Its warehouses which bear a wallmount dating the Mill to 1785, and a stone commemorating the site of St Mochua’s well.
Mills at Coneyburrow (Newbridge, near St. Wolstan's) were granted to Robert Randall, Dublin paper maker, in 1729, and were later converted for use as a flourmill.
After Celbridge rector Arthur Price
married Richard Guinness and Elizabeth Read (1698–1742), of a brewing family from Bishopscourt
and an aunt of Arthur Guinness
, he took over the town brewery in 1722 and moved it from the site of the Village Inn to where the entrance forecourt of the Holy Faith convent is today. There he placed his land steward and brother-in-law Richard Guinness in charge of production of "a brew of a very palatable nature". In 1752, Dr Price's estate bequeathed £100 to Richard's son, the 27yearold Arthur Guinness to help him expand the brewery, first in 1755 on a new site in Leixlip
and from 1759 in St James’s Gate in Dublin. Some of the blocked up doors from the original PriceGuinness brewery can still be seen on the perimeter walls of the Catholic Church forecourt.
Celbridge workhouse
was constructed between 1839 and 1841 and is the smallest of three workhouses in County Kildare. It was built at a cost of stg£6,800 and was designed to house 519 people from Celbridge, Lucan, Rathcoole, Leixlip, Maynooth and Kilcock, an area containing 25,424 people.
A site on the Maynooth road has a memorial to between 1,500 and 2,500 inmates who died and were buried there during the Great Famine of 1845/47, recently restored by the community. According to Tony Doohan’s “History of Celbridge” during the worst of this disaster, a human being died every hour. Another historian Seamus Cummins suggest that the effects of the famine in the Celbridge Poor Law
District area were less traumatic than elsewhere (such as south Kildare) because of the availability of wage economy employment in the district.
After the 1860s the workhouse was used as a fever hospital, regarded as progressive for its time, as a home for the elderly and infirm, and for unmarried mothers. Orphans and illegitimate children were fostered out in to the village community from the workhouse and also from the Holy Faith convents in Dublin.
In 1918 the workhouse was used as a base by the U.K. Army and, after 1922 the Free State army
. It was visited by General Michael Collins
and there are claims that the barracks was the first in which the uniform of the new Free State army was worn. After 1923 the workhouse was closed and the barracks vacated. By 1933 the Union Paint factory had been established on the site and in 1934 there were plans for a rope factory by Henry's from Cork Street in Dublin. In 1939 the current Garda
barracks was built on part of the workhouse site.
The workhouse is now a paint shop.
The cut stone former Methodist Hall on Ardclough Road fell into disrepair during the 1980s but was acquired and renovated by Cunninghams Funeral Directors in the mid 1990s.
John Wynn Baker
(c.1730–1775), agricultural improver and writer, established the first factory in Ireland in 1765 with the financial assistance of the Dublin Society on a 354 acres (1.4 km²) property in Loughlinstown near the newly constructed Grand Canal at Hazlehatch for manufacturing agricultural implements.
One of Celbridge’s most original industries was the Callender Paper Company established in Celbridge in 1903 to make paper from peat
. Despite the report in the Irish Times of 25/6/1904 that facilities of the company were “totally inadequate to cope with demand” and that “Celbridge peat paper is finding its way into almost every village and hamlet in Ireland” the enterprise had already run into financial trouble by November 1904.
In 1977 French electrical group Telemecanigue invested £6m in establishing a factory on the Maynooth Road, employing 500 people at peak. Schneider MGTE group closed the factory in September 2003.
Six main residential and commercial areas were developed in Celbridge over a period of 250 years: Main Street (1720–50), Tea (or Tay) Lane (1760), Maynooth Road (1790, when construction of Jasmine Lodge replaced six cabins on Main Street and eight cabins on Maynooth Road), English Row (1805–11), Ballyoulster (1948–51), and St Patrick’s Park (two phases 1954-57 and 1964–67). The historical population of the town in the 19th and 20th century period closely mirrored periods of activity and cyclical closure of the town's woollen mills, once the largest in the country.
Celbridge was rezoned for rapid growth under the 1967 Kildare Development Plan
. That year a consortium of Brian and Tony Rhattigan and the McMullan brothers, who owned the Maxol petroleum group, purchased most of the former Castletown Estate for development purposes. Planning permission was granted on appeal for a suburban housing estate along the edge of the avenue leading into Castletown House
. In response Desmond Guinness
personally bought the house in 1967 to save the immediate hinterland from development and established the Irish Georgian Society
in the building.
Permission was granted for the first development of 400 houses within the gates of Castletown in 1969 and the first phase of Castletown Estate was opened by Minister for Industry & Commerce
Justin Keating
on 1 October 1975. This was followed by more than 30 housing developments over the next thirty years. The 1986 census listed Celbridge (+54.9pc) as the fastest growing town in Ireland.
The population, which had been 1,514 in 1966, rose to 1,744 in 1971, 3,230 in 1979, 4,583 in 1981, 7,135 in 1986, 9,629 in 1991, 12,289 in 1996, 14,251 in 2002 and 17,262 in 2006. This new population had a higher proportion of younger people than similar sized towns, had a higher proportion of commuters and one of the highest proportions of clerical workers on the island.
Large estate developments included Abbeyfarm (1990), Beatty Park (1987), Castle Village (1986–90), Castletown Walled Gardens (1983), Castletown Estate (1975–82), Crodaun Forest Park (opened October 1978), the Grove (1979), Oldtown Mill (1999), Primrose Gate (2006), St Raphael’s Manor (1994–98), Wolstan Abbey (2006) and Wolstan Haven (1999).
Medium size developments included Ballygoran View (1998), Beatty Grove (1992), Celbridge Abbey (1992), Dara Court (1976–80), Priory Lodge & Priory Square (1999), Simmonstown Manor (2000), Temple Manor (1992–97), Thornhill Gardens/ Heights (1998), Thornhill Meadows/Ashgrove (1998), Vanessa Lawns (1984), Willowbrook (1984–86). Small estate developments include Ballygoran Court, Ballymakeally Grove/Lawns (2000), Chelmsford (1991), Chestnut Grove (1999), the Courtyard (2001), Elm Park (1994), Grattan Court (1994), Hawthorn View (1992), Killadoon Park (1992), Larchfield Mews, Oakleigh (1979), Simmonstown Park (1980), Small Grove, Temple Lawns/Primrose Hill (1990).
A 2008 planning application by Devondale Ltd for a new Eu750m mixeduse development at Donaghcumper Demesne for offices, shops, restaurants, sixscreen cinema and 108 detached houses on the 98 acres (396,592.3 m²) site, which is being promoted as “a natural extension” to Celbridge, has been criticised by local planners for being “on a city scale rather than a more acceptable town scale.”
is situated at the end of an avenue extending from the main street, and is one of Ireland's finest Palladian country houses. and is Ireland's original and largest Palladian country houses. It was begun in 1722 by William "Speaker" Conolly
(1662–1729), Speaker of the Irish House of Commons
, who came under the influence of the New Junta for Architecture, whose adherents included Alessandro Galilei believed to have designed the main house and Edward Lovett Pearce
believed to have designed the entrancehall and the long gallery in its original form, as well as the colonnades and wings. Pearce did commissions for William Conolly before his speculated involvement with Castletown.
The house was inherited by Tom Conolly (1738–1803) in 1758 and the interior decoration was finished by his wife Lady Louisa (greatgranddaughter of Charles II of England
and Louise de Keroualle) during the 1760s and 1770s.
Two of the bestknown features of Castletown are the "Long Gallery" (an 80 feet (24.4 m) long room decorated in the Pompeian manner in blue and gold), and the main staircase (which is cantilevered and made of white Portland stone
).
Conolly's Folly
(also known as "The Obelisk") is an obelisk structure. It is built to the rear of Castletown House
which contains two follies, both commissioned by the widow of Speaker William Conolly
to provide employment for the poor of Celbridge at a time when famine was rife. As such these monuments serve no real purpose, instead they were dedicated to battles in the 16th century. The Obelisk
was built in 1739 after a particularly severe winter. Designed by Richard Castle
, it is 42 metres high and is composed of several arch
es, adorned by stone pineapples and eagles.
The main avenue from the town is no longer accessible by vehicular traffic which must enter the house from the roundabout off the M4.
Celbridge Abbey
was the childhood (1688–1707) and later adult (171423) home of Bartholomew Van Homrigh’s daughter Esther
(1688–1723), the ill-starred lover of Dean Swift
. The poem in which Swift fictionalised her as "Vanessa
" "Cadenus and Vanessa" (1713) was written seven years before he visited her in Celbridge in 1720. A rock bower associated with the lovers is a 19th century recreation. The current Celbridge Abbey
was constructed by Thomas Marlay
, grandfather of the Irish parliamentarian Henry Grattan
. His daughter Mary was married to James Grattan, Henry Grattan’s father and a member of the Irish House of Commons
. A later occupant was Gerald Dease, a Catholic nobleman who entertained the Empress of Austria during her visit to Ireland. He is buried in a prominent position on front of the local Catholic church, the construction of which he helped to fund. The rock bridge in Celbridge Abbey grounds is now the oldest stone bridge across the Liffey since the removal of John Le Decer’s 1308 bridge three miles downriver at Salmon Leap.
Oakley Park, the current St. Raphael's hospital was built in 1724 to a design by Thomas Burgh for Arthur Price
, when he was created Church of Ireland
Bishop of Meath
. The house was built close to the small stone house of his father vicar of Kildrought and Straffan Samuel Price
. Dr Price had previously been Bishop of Clonfert, Ferns & Leighlin, and later became Archbishop of Cashel. After his departure for Cashel, Oakley Park became home to Col George Napier
, Richard Maunsell, High Sheriff of Kildare and his descendants, and, in 1926 Justin McCarthy. In 1946 it was purchased sold by Philip Guiney the Irish Christian Brothers for use as an industrial school but sold instead to the St John Of God Brothers
and opened as St Raphael's Hospital, a home for intellectually disabled boys in 1953. The grand parents of Henry Grattan are buried in a private graveyard on the site.
The former Collegiate School on the Clane Road was built from 1732 by architect Thomas Burgh who also built the Royal Barracks
and famous library building at Trinity College
both in Dublin. The Collegiate School was founded as a charity school by Lady Louisa Conolly of Castletown (17431821). At the time of Lady Louisa's death it had 600 pupils, and served as a boarding school for Protestant girls until 1973. when the Incorporated Society for Promoting Protestant Schools in Ireland closed the school and transferred the pupils to Kilkenny
. The building reopened as the Setanta Hotel on 25 January 1980.
St Wolstan’s, near the site of the ancient Abbey of St Wolstan’s described by Mervyn Archdall in his "Monasticon Hibernicum" in 1786 was originally a monastery in the Order of St Victor. It was founded c1202 by one of Strongbow
’s companions for Adam de Hereford. It was named for St Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester
, then newly canonised by Pope Innocent III. Before the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries
it had extensive lands in Kildare and Dublin with buildings covering an estimated 20 acres. It was the first Irish Monastery to be dissolved
when Sir Gerald Aylmer
of nearby Lyons
(d. 1559). It became the home to the ill fated Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of Dublin John Alen
(1476–1534). St Wolstan’s and the Archbishop’s cousin, also John Alen, who was master of the rolls, travelled with Aylmer to England in 1536 to receive the bill for suppression of the Irish monasteries. The act of St Wolstan's, introduced in September 1536 as a special commission of dissolution, assured Aylmer and his fellow chief justice and brotherinlaw Thomas Luttrell an annual rent of £4 during the life of Sir Richard Weston, the last prior, while Alen was granted the monastery estates. The house remained with the Alen family for two subsequent centuries. St Wolstan’s was then home to later Bishops of Clogher
(Robert Clayton
) and Limerick, a summer resident of the Viceroy in the 1770s, a boy’s school (sold 1809), home to the Cane family for another century and eventually a holy faith girl’s school (19551999). (Note: A new school building was built on the Clane road. The name St. Wolstan's was retained.)
Other large houses outside the town include Killadoon a three storey block with a single storey wing built c. 1770 (redecorated 1820) for Nathanial Clements MP, banker and amateur architect. Significantly, it does not appear to have been designed by Clements himself. Pickering Forest is a three storey Georgian house associated with the Brooke (Barons Somerton) and later Ogilby families. Donaghcomper, a Tudor revival house built from William Kirkpatrick c1835, was sold after the death of Ivone Kirkpatrick to J Bruce Bredin, Springfield, associated with the Mitchell family until 1906. Elm Hall was associated with the O’Connor family, Stacumny with the Lambert family, and Ballygoran with the Murray family, while The Grove was home of Dr. C.J. O’Connor. Robert Scott’s house (rebuilt 1780, locally known as the "Shelbourne") fell into ruin and became the site of St Patrick’s Park housing estate.
Castles in the Celbridge area were at Castletown, Posseckstown, Simmonstown, Templemill, Reeves, Lyons, Barberstown and St. Wolstans.
The modern Roman Catholic parish of Celbridge and Straffan comprises the medieval parishes of Kildrought and Straffan
as well as the former parishes of Stacumny, Donaghcomper, Killadoon, Castledillon and Kilmacredock. Donaghcomper Church (c1150) had windows of cut stone inserted into the building in the 14th century. Its ruins are extant in the main graveyard for the town of Celbridge on the Dublin road and members of the Alan family are buried in the church vault. The old parish of Donaghcomper consisted of the modern townlands of Parsonstown, Rinnawad, Ballyoulster, Commons, Coneyburo, Coolfitch, Donaghcomper, Elm Hall, Loughlinstown, Newtown, Reeves, Simmonstown, Straleek and St. Wolstans. The parish of Stacumny (Teach Cumni) originally included the townlands of Ballymadeer, Balscott and Stacumny. The church was burned in 1297, held in 1308 by a parson, Waleys, but not mentioned subsequently. Killadoon from Cill an Dún may get its name from the earthen mound that still stands by the gate leading into the grounds surrounding Killadoon House. On the left hand side of the avenue, as you enter through the gate, there is an overgrown churchyard with some headstones. Killadoon parish embraced the present townlands of Ardrass, Ballymakeally, Crippaun, Killadoon, Killenlea and Posseckstown. Kilmacredock is the smallest of the medieval parishes. A roofless ruin is all that remains of the original church. It is named for Redoc, who had a son who established a religious foundation south west of the present town of Leixlip. Bellingham family members were buried in a vault in the floor of the building, but their remains were removed in the mid-20th century.
Townland
A townland or bally is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. The townland system is of Gaelic origin—most townlands are believed to pre-date the Norman invasion and most have names derived from the Irish language...
on the River Liffey
River Liffey
The Liffey is a river in Ireland, which flows through the centre of Dublin. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the River Poddle and the River Camac. The river supplies much of Dublin's water, and a range of recreational opportunities.-Name:The river was previously named An Ruirthech,...
in County Kildare
County Kildare
County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. It is 23 km (14.3 mi) west of Dublin. As a town within the Dublin Metropolitan Area and the Greater Dublin Area
Greater Dublin Area
Greater Dublin Area , or simply Greater Dublin, is a term which is used to describe the city of Dublin and various counties in the hinterland of the city in Ireland. The term has no basis in law and no local government, department of government or agency of the state is bound by the term...
, it is located at the intersection of the R403
R403 road
The R403 road is a regional road in Ireland, linking the N4 at Lucan in County Dublin to Carbury in County Kildare.It starts, heading west, at a roundabout on the Leixlip Road and crosses the M4 motorway past Weston Airport and into County Kildare.It follows the Dublin Road to Celbridge where it...
and R405 regional road
Regional road
A regional road in Ireland is a class of road not forming a major route , but nevertheless forming a link in the national route network. There are over 11,600 kilometres of regional roads. Regional roads are numbered with three digit route numbers, prefixed by "R" A regional road in Ireland is a...
s.
In recent years Celbridge has expanded dramatically, yet most of the towns services and amenities still centre around the single main street. Celbridge largely retains the character which seems to have been lost in many other towns within Dublin's commuter belt.
Etymology
The name Celbridge is derived from the IrishIrish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
Cill Droichid meaning "church bridge" or "church by the bridge". The Irish name was historically anglicised
Anglicisation
Anglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...
as Kildroicht, Kildrought, Kildroght and Kildrout.
Demographics
Celbridge is the third largest town in County Kildare, the 22nd largest town in the state, and the 36th largest on the island of Ireland. The population increased by 7.8% between 2002 and 2006. Historically this was the town's most rapid growth rate in absolute terms (3,011 in four years). In percentage terms it was a slowdown on previous growth rates which were at one stage the highest in Ireland.As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2006, there were 17,262 people in Celbridge of which 8,732 were male and 8,530 female, 4,307 (25pc) were aged 0–14, 2,678 (15.5pc) were aged 15–24, 6,219 (35pc) were aged 35–44, 3,400 (19.7pc) were aged 45–64 and 658 (3.6pc) were aged 65 years and over. Of these 9,586 were single, 6,602 were married, 715 were widowed and 359 were separated. Only 4,146 (24.4pc) of the 16,980 who were recorded by the census as “usually resident in Celbridge” had been born in Co Kildare. 10,071 (59.3pc) had been born elsewhere in Ireland and 2,763 (16.3pc) were born outside of Ireland.
Politics
Celbridge is located within the Kildare North constituency which elects 4 TDs to the Dáil.Despite its size (third largest in the county - and larger than other towns which have town councils such as Leixlip
Leixlip
-Politics:Since 1988 Leixlip has had a nine member Town Council , headed by a Cathaoirleach , which has control over many local matters, although it is limited in that it is not also a planning authority...
and Athy
Athy
The town developed from a 12th century Anglo-Norman settlement to an important British military outpost on the border of the Pale.The first town charter dates from the 16th century and the town hall was constructed in the early 18th century...
), and numerous proposals, the town does not have a town council. Government acts provide for town councils for towns with a population of greater than 7,500, which Celbridge exceeds twice over, but it still lacks a council, being covered by a Development Plan with less detail and control than a Local Area Plan which a town council could develop. The situation effectively means that Kildare County Council in Naas which is based 20 km (12 mi) away, have full control over zoning land in the area, and this means that they can zone land without specific local knowledge of what is needed.
Transport and access
Celbridge's substantial growth has created considerable traffic congestion. Much of this is attributed to the fact that there is only one bridge over the Liffey in the town, thus creating traffic bottlenecks. Lax enforcement of parking laws and a lack of adequate parking space are also blamed. The Celbridge Interchange (Junction 2a of the M4) which connects the town to the motorway as well as IntelIntel Ireland
Intel Irelands parent company - the giant U.S. based Intel microprocessor business - is a quoted company trading on the NASDAQ exchange. Intel decided in 1989 to build its European manufacturing operations in Leixlip, County Kildare, and formed Intel Ireland to be the holding company. The...
, opened in 2003 to help address these traffic issues, with some success.
Pay parking applies along Main St. and other roads in the town centre. This applies Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm. Free parking is available at weekends. Car parks are available behind the Castletown Inn, The Mucky Duck Pub and Walsh's Pharmacy.
In 2000, Kildare County Council installed a set of traffic lights at the junction of the Liffey bridge and Main Street, however there was considerable opposition to the lights from the town shopkeepers, who sponsored an advertising supplement in Dublin's Evening Herald
Evening Herald
The Evening Herald is a mid-market tabloid evening newspaper published in Dublin, Ireland by Independent News & Media. It is published Monday-Saturday, and has three editions — City Edition, City Final Edition and National Edition...
which featured a photograph of a man shaking his fist at the lights to show the traders' opposition to them. Shortly afterwards, a motorist suspiciously reversed into the lights, "accidentally" knocking them over and the council switched them off for good.
The town is served by Dublin Bus
Dublin Bus
Dublin Bus is a public transport operator in Ireland. It operates an extensive bus network of 172 radial, cross-city and peripheral routes and 18 night routes in the city of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area. The company, established in 1987, is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann which is...
along the 67 route. These routes link the town to the city centre as well as the nearby towns of Lucan
Lucan
Lucan is the common English name of the Roman poet Marcus Annaeus Lucanus.Lucan may also refer to:-People:*Arthur Lucan , English actor*Sir Lucan the Butler, Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend...
and Maynooth
Maynooth
Maynooth is a town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to a branch of the National University of Ireland, a Papal University and Ireland's main Roman Catholic seminary, St. Patrick's College...
(but notably, no link to Leixlip exists despite the significant employment there).
Iarnród Éireann
Iarnród Éireann
Iarnród Éireann is the national railway system operator of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann . It operates all internal intercity, commuter and freight railway services in the Republic of Ireland, and, jointly with Northern Ireland Railways, the...
runs commuter rail services to a station in Hazelhatch, about 3 km (2 mi) from Celbridge village. Feeder buses are used to bring passengers to the train station. Commuter suburban rail services from Kildare
Kildare
-External links:*******...
to Dublin city centre serve Hazelhatch, although these are quite limited, with the lack of a Sunday service notable. While the service only brings passengers to Heuston station, somewhat west of the city centre, most tickets are in fact valid for feeder services from there such as the Dublin Bus route 90 or the Luas
Luas
Luas , also promoted in the development stage as the Dublin Light Rail System, is a tram or light rail system serving Dublin, the first such system in the decades since the closure of the last of the Dublin tramways. In 2007, the system carried 28.4 million passengers, a growth of 10% since...
trams. The station is located on one of the most important InterCity lines in the country, with services to Cork, Limerick and Galway, however these do not stop at Hazelhatch station.
Under the Transport21 plan, Hazelhatch-City will be electrified to provide a new DART service to Balbriggan
Balbriggan
Balbriggan is a town in the northern part of the administrative county of Fingal, within County Dublin, Ireland. The 2006 census population was 15,559 for Balbriggan and its environs.- Name :...
, using the underground Interconnector tunnel
Interconnector (rail tunnel)
DART Underground , previously known as the Interconnector, is a planned railway tunnel in Ireland, projected to run under the city centre of Dublin. The tunnel would allow for the expansion of the electrified DART and the Dublin Suburban Rail network, and connect Heuston Station with Pearse Station...
in the city centre. This is to be completed by 2015.
Churches
Celbridges's two main active Parish Churches are those of St. Patrick (Roman Catholic) and Christ Church (Church of Ireland). St. Patrick's Church sponsors a conservative church magazine circulated locally called the Open Door and holds Tridentine Masses for the evening celebration of Holy Days of Obligation. It forms part of the Catholic Parish of Celbridge and Straffan within the Archdiocese of Dublin.Christ Church is the Anglican Parish Church for Celbridge and forms part of the grouped Parish of Celbridge, Straffan and Newcastle-Lyons in the Archdiocese of Dublin and Diocese of Glendalough.
Celbridge Christian Church is a small independent church formed in 2005. Services are each Sunday at 11 at unit 4 , Celbridge Industrial Estate. The church is led by Pastor Paul Carley. Formerly known as Celbridge Pentecostal Church. Other weekday services available on request. Their website is www.celbridgechurch.ie
Education
Celbridge has six primary schools, Primrose Hill (co-ed, COI), St Brigids (girls, RC), Aghards (mixed, RC), Scoil na Mainistreach (boys, RC) and North Kildare Educate Together (mixed, multi-denominational), and St Patrick's on the Dublin Road (mixed, RC); two secondary schools; St Wolstan's Community School for girls (the only all-female community school in Ireland) and Salesian College CelbridgeSalesian College Celbridge
Salesian College Celbridge is a secondary school catering for male students aged 12–19 around the County Kildare village of Celbridge.-Academic:...
for boys.
There is also a residential special school, Saint Raphael's, (co-ed, RC) for children with a learning disability. Celbridge also has one of the very few Primary Montessori Schools in Ireland, The Glebe Junior Montessori School (est. 1978). Providing Montessori education to children from 3–12 years, from nursery and Junior infants up to 6th class, its pre-fabricated building is located on the grounds of Barnhall Rugby Club. This is a fee-paying school and is not supported by the Dept. of Education & Science.
The Celbridge St. Patrick's Day Parade
The Celbridge St. Patrick's Day Parade was revived in 2011 after a break in 2010. Funding was raised to provide safety barriers along the route and to invite bands to take part in the parade. Over 40 floats, schools, sports clubs and community groups were involved. The 9 strong committee were assisted by over 50 volunteer marshalls on the day. The St. Lawrence O'Toole's Band provided two bands and were keen to show off their world beating marching band skills. The winners of the best float in 2011 was The Balloon Boat created by Party Mad. Celbridge Tidy Towns entered an award winning float as well as organising a band of volunteers to clean up the Main St. following the parade.Planning for the 2012 St. Patrick's Day Parade is currently under way with a fund raising Halloween Fancy Dress Party coming up in October now
Hotels
Setanta House Hotel, located on the Clane Road, and originally an 18th century school, was the only hotel in Celbirdge town and had historic ties with the Connolly family who built Castletown House. As this closed in 2008, the town now has no hotels but still has B&B accommodation.Pubs
Celbridge has The Mucky Duck, The Village Inn, The Kildrought/O'Connors, Speakers, and Castletown Inn located on the main street, Abbey Lodge/McNamees located on the bridge just before the town, and Celbridge House, located on the Maynooth road.Restaurants
Green's Restaurant above the Castletown Inn, Main St. Open evenings and Sunday LunchGreen’s has a wide range of menus to suit all occasions and are changed regularly. Greens
Halo Cafe is located beside Tesco on the Maynooth Road. Open from 9am to 5pm daily and 11am to 3pm on Sunday. Specialising in Home baking and cooking. The Full Irish Breakfast and the famous Mega Breakfast are a great start to your day. Homemade scones, brown bread and soups are worth seeking out. Excellent coffee is served and is available to take away. Halo Cafe
Michelangelo's Main St. offers a wide variety of cuisine based on an Irish Italian theme. An excellent a la carte menu offering steaks and confit duck is accompanied by a special price menu and a range of pizzas. Michelangelo
Singapore Fame provides a varied menu from Thailand, China and Malaysia. Conveniently located beside the Celbridge House Pub on the Maynooth Road. A reasonably priced wine list is available as well as a full bar service.
GAA
Celbridge GAA park and centre on the HazelhatchHazelhatch
Hazelhatch is an area on the border between County Kildare and County Dublin in Ireland. It is located approximately halfway between Celbridge and Newcastle. It is located on the R405 regional road. The Grand Canal passes through the area, and Hazelhatch is one of the places of recreational...
Road was opened in 1996, ending 52 years without a home, the club having lost its field in Ballymakeally after a bitter court case in 1944. The Celbridge GAA
Celbridge GAA
Celbridge is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland. They were awarded Kildare GAA club of the year in 2008, winners of the Kildare senior football championship of 2008, finalists in the senior football league of 1923, 1988 and 2008 and won the Kildare senior...
club is the third oldest club in Kildare
Kildare
-External links:*******...
being formed on the 15 August 1885, eight months after the GAA was founded in Thurles
Thurles
Thurles is a town situated in North Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Eliogarty and is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly...
. In 1890 there were two clubs in the parish, one based in Kilwogan, Celbridge Shamrocks with 64 members with officers listed as WJ Sheridan, Hugh Maguire, Luke Ward and Thomas Connor and the other at Hazelhatch where Irish Harpers had 70 members with officers listed as Ambrose Dwyer, Christy Fitzsimons, Michael Saunders and John Cantwell. Celbridge play at senior level in both codes. They won their first Kildare Senior Football Championship in 2008, defeating Newbridge Sarsfields
Sarsfields GAA (Kildare)
Sarsfields is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Newbridge in County Kildare, Ireland, winner of 21 Kildare Senior Football Championships. The club name is linked to Patrick Sarsfield’s castle in the area and the colours, green with white sash, were based the colours allegedly worn by...
by 19 to 010, the Kildare Senior Hurling Championship in 1921, 1925 and 2005, with a "three in a row" string of county hurling titles from 2009, 2010 and 2011 and Kildare Senior Camogie Championship
Kildare Senior Camogie Championship
Camogie was played in Kildare shortly after the sport was first organized in 1904. However due to sparse records it is not certain when the first senior camogie championship was held.The earliest record of Camogie appears in an advertisement by Athy Ladies Hurling Club advertised a members reunion...
in 2005. They were defeated senior football semifinalists in 1989, the senior football amalgamated side (with Straffan) lost two replayed SF semifinals in 1974 and 1975 and lost the Senior League final in 1924 and 2008. They were junior football champions in 1923, 1958 and 1986 and Intermediate Football Champions in 1987 and 2003. Susan O'Carroll and Deirdre Corcoran have been nominated for national AllStar awards in camogie
Camogie
Camogie is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women; it is almost identical to the game of hurling played by men. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and world wide, largely among Irish communities....
and Susan O'Carroll won a Soaring Star Award in 2009. Celbridge born George Magan was an AllIreland
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier competition in Gaelic football, is a series of games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and played during the summer and early autumn...
medalist in 1919.
Soccer
The town's two main soccer clubs are Ballyoulster United (an amateur football club which partner with English Premier Division club Everton F.C.Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
, (Geographically Balloulster is an area outside of Celbridge but has no actual town and is all residential so most Balloulster inhabitants say they part of Celbridge) and Celbridge Town AFC, which was formed in 1959 and plays home games in St Patricks Park, with eight schoolboy teams and three senior teams. The Senior Sunday team currently play in the Leinster Senior League Division 1, and played Longford Town in the 2007 FAI Ford Cup 2nd Round. The teams play in the blue and white, and are sponsored by the Kildrought Lounge. Vincent McKenna played youth international for Ireland and for League of Ireland side Shelbourne in the 1970s. Celbridge competed in the Leinster Junior cup in 1908–09.
Celbridge Paddlers
Celbridge Paddlers canoeclub is a multidiscipline kayaking club and evolved out of Vanessa Canoe Club. Formed in 1984 it has over 150 members and has been recently represented at world level in sprint, marathon, slalom, wildwater, surf and freestyle. It is affiliated to the national governing body of canoesport in Ireland, the Irish Canoe Union where it has representation up to the role of ICU President. Neil Fleming was a contender for a place on the Irish team at the Beijing Olympics. The annual Liffey Descent Canoe RaceLiffey Descent Canoe Race
The Liffey Descent Canoe Race canoe race is an annual down river canoe and kayak race, of some 18 miles in length, that has been held on the River Liffey in Ireland since 1960. It starts by the K Club above Straffan weir in County Kildare, and finishes by the Trinity Rowing Club in Dublin. It is...
passes through Celbridge and where competitors have to navigate the Vanessa weir and Castletown rapids.
Celbridge Athletic Club
Celbridge Athletic Club was founded by Eamonn O'Keefe, a former International Athlete himself, in response to a need in Celbridge for some form of athletic coaching. He had about twenty athletes who he trained exclusively and who did very well. In the past 12 years the club has gone from strength to strength both in terms of the number of participating athletes, their success in National terms and International and the quality of coaching. In 1992 the club had about 30 athletes today it boasts over 140 active participants plus over twenty senior and masters.George Magan was Irish cross country champion in 1920 and 1922, Irish Mile champion in 1919, 1921 and 1922, Irish 880 yards champion in 1918, 1919 and 1921, and Irish four mile (6 km) champion in 1921. Jack Guiney was Irish champion in the triple jump and shot in 1937.
Rugby
Celbridge Rugby Club, founded by Fr Joseph Furlong, competed in the Towns Cup in 1928/29. Celbridge players compete in the All Ireland League with NUIM Barnhall.Tennis
Celbridge tennis club founded by EJ Connolly, Fr Joseph Furlong, Rev ELB Barker, Mrs Barker and Capt RJC Maunsell in 1923 established itself as the centre of social life in the district. The premises on the Hazelhatch Road were opened in the 1970s.Racing
Celbridge equine racecourse is mentioned in the Freeman’s Journal of 27/9/1763 and 04/10/1763 but was not in use after the end of the 18th century. Locally trained horse WorkmanWorkman (horse)
Workman was a racehorse and the 1939 Grand National Winner, coming in at 100/8 in the colours of millionaire match manufacturer Sir Alexander Maguire. It was ridden by Timmy Hyde and trained by Jack Ruttle out of Hazelhatch Stud...
, trained by Jack Ruttle out of Hazelhatch Stud was the winner of the Aintree Grand National in 1939. A point to point meeting was held at nearby Windgaps 1912-54.
Cricket and polo
A cricket club was active 1880-1902. Kildare county polo club had their grounds on Castletown Estate 1901-1906. Among those who played polo in Celbridge was Prince Heinrich, younger brother to Kaiser William II.Angling
Salmon and Sea trout: 1 January to 30 September : Brown Trout: 1 March to 30 September. The Liffey brown trout are not very big but they are there in good numbers and the water is clean. Trout are found from Islandbridge upstream but the best of the trout fishing is above LeixlipLeixlip
-Politics:Since 1988 Leixlip has had a nine member Town Council , headed by a Cathaoirleach , which has control over many local matters, although it is limited in that it is not also a planning authority...
and all the way to Ballymore Eustace
Ballymore Eustace
Ballymore Eustace is a small town situated in County Kildare in Ireland, although until 1836 it lay within a "pocket" of County Dublin...
. http://www.irelandflyfishing.com/fisheries.php?&fisheries_id=29. There are many spots along the river in Celbridge for fishing, from quiet spots in Castletown Grounds or beyond Vanessa Weir to the noisier spot on the wall of the bridge or the footbridge.
Scouting
There are three separate Scouting IrelandScouting Ireland
Scouting Ireland is the World Organization of the Scout Movement-recognised Scouting association in the Republic of Ireland, although it also has Scout Groups in Northern Ireland. Scouting Ireland is a voluntary, non-formal educational movement for young people...
http://www.scouts.ie Groups in operation in Celbridge. Each Group may have Beavers (6- to 9-year-olds), Cubs (9- to 12-year-olds), Scouts (12- to 15-year-olds), Ventures (15- to 18-year-olds) and Rovers (18- to 21-year-olds). Sections generally meet once a week at various times and accept both boys and girls. The Groups are 1st Kildare (2nd Celbridge) based in the Mill Community Centre, 3rd Kildare (1st Celbridge) (www.1stcelbridge.net) based in the Slip Hall at Castletown Gates and 19th Kildare based at the Salesian Boys Secondary School
Celbridge Amenity Group
The Celbridge Amenity Group is currently working in conjunction with the Kildare County CouncilKildare County Council
Kildare County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Kildare in Ireland. The Council is responsible for Housing and Community, Roads and Transportation, Urban planning and Development, Amenity and Culture, and Environment. The council is governed by the Local Government...
to plan new improvements around the town such as the new playground built for local children.
The Celbridge Parade
The Celbridge St. Patrick's Day Parade was revived in 2011 after a break in 2010. Funding was raised to provide safety barriers along the route and to invite bands to take part in the parade. Over 40 floats, schools, sports clubs and community groups were involved. The 9 strong committee were assisted by over 50 volunteer marshalls on the day. The St. Lawrence O'Toole's Band provided two bands and were keen to show off their world beating marching band skills. The winners of the best float in 2011 was The Balloon Boat created by Party Mad. Celbridge Tidy Towns entered an award winning float as well as organising a band of volunteers to clean up the Main St. following the parade.Planning for the 2012 St. Patrick's Day Parade is currently under way with a fund raising Halloween Fancy Dress Party coming up in October TheCelbridgeParade 2011 YouTube
Celbridge Online
CelbridgeOnline launched in September 2010 as an online business directory with a difference. Listing only businesses with a Celbridge address, the online directory is promoted offline as well as through the internet. This website can be used by people visiting Celbridge as well as local residents. A new feature launched in 2011 is the CelbridgeOnline Noticeboard. People who have something to sell, offering a non commercial service or an event they want to let Celbridge residents know about, can now post their ad on the directory for free.CelbridgeOnline
Origins
There is evidence of 5,000 years of habitation as evidenced by beads and quern stones in the National MuseumNational Museum of Ireland
The National Museum of Ireland is the national museum in Ireland. It has three branches in Dublin and one in County Mayo, with a strong emphasis on Irish art, culture and natural history.-Archaeology:...
from Griffinrath and the nearby high ground sloping down to the Liffey. Recent research has linked Celbridge with the Slí Mór possibly crossing the Liffey at a ford located below the site of the mill directly east of the bridge rather than at Castletown House
Castletown House
Castletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland's is a Palladian country house built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. It formed the centrepiece of a estate...
, as previously thought. The etymology of the church at Donaghcumper (church of the confluence, "Domhnach" is one of the earliest Irish words for church) suggests it may have existed as a monastic site from the 5th century. Folklore and heroic literature associate the north bank of Celbridge with both Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....
(hill and church of uncertain antiquity in Ardrass) and Saint Mochua (c570), who was associated with a church in Tea Lane and a well on the site of the current mill where pagan converts were baptised.
Parish of Kildrought
The original Kildrought parish church (built 14th century, burned 1798) stood in the present graveyard at Tea Lane and houses the mausoleums of the Dongan and Conolly families. It was granted by the Normans to the Abbey of St Thomas in Dublin. PreNorman churches served the adjoining parishes in Donaghcumper and Stacumny (mentioned 1176) to the east, Kilmacreddock to the north east, the tiny parish of Donaghmore (plundered 1150, mentioned in letter 1190) further to the north, Laraghbryan (plundered 1036 and 1171) to the north west, and Killadoon to the south.Town of Kildrought
The town of Kildrought or Kildroighid developed around the castle, monastery and mill of Kildrought which Thomas deHereford, the Norman Lord of Kildrought erected early in the 13th century. The one long street running between the de Hereford Castle and lands of Castletown, and the mill, had taken shape by 1314 when Henry le Waleys was charged at a Naas court of “breaking the doors” of houses in the town of Kildrought and by night “taking geese, hens, beer and other victuals” against the will of the people of the town.
By the time of the Down Survey (1654–56) the population was 102 and the Dongan family were in possession of all the land in Celbridge. Killadoon House was the home of John Dongan’s brother in law Richard Talbot Earl of Tyrconnell. Dongan died at the Battle of the Boyne and is buried in Tea Lane cemetery. Talbot died immediately before the Siege of Limerick. His widow remained in Killadoon, outliving the two men who took over the town from her husband and John Dongan, Bartholomew Van Homrigh and William Conolly
William Conolly
William Conolly , also known as Speaker Conolly, was an Irish politician, Commissioner of Revenue, lawyer and landowner.-Career:...
.
Kildrought to Celbridge
The present day houses in Celbridge Main Street and town centre were built over a period of two hundred years. Celbridge Abbey
Celbridge Abbey
-House:The house was built in 1697 by Bartholomew Van Homrigh, who at the time was the Lord Mayor of Dublin. It is, however, more famous, the childhood and later adult home his daughter, Esther Van Homrigh, , who was Dean Swift's 'Vanessa'...
was built in 1703 by a Dutchman, Bartholomew Van Homrigh. He was appointed Chief Commissioner for Stores in Ireland for the victorious allied forces of William and Mary
William and Mary
The phrase William and Mary usually refers to the coregency over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, of King William III & II and Queen Mary II...
who defeated the Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
alliance, and enforced the Treaty of Limerick
Treaty of Limerick
The Treaty of Limerick ended the Williamite war in Ireland between the Jacobites and the supporters of William of Orange. It concluded the Siege of Limerick. The treaty really consisted of two treaties which were signed on 3 October 1691. Reputedly they were signed on the Treaty Stone, an...
in 1691. He moved to Kildrought Manor in 1695. When William “Speaker” Conolly
William Conolly
William Conolly , also known as Speaker Conolly, was an Irish politician, Commissioner of Revenue, lawyer and landowner.-Career:...
purchased the rundown Castletown Estate in 1709 from Thomas Dongan, the restored Earl of Limerick
Earl of Limerick
Earl of Limerick is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland. The earldom was created for the first time in 1686 for Sir William Dongan, 4th Baronet, with remainder, failing male issue of his own, to his brothers Robert, Michael and Thomas and the heirs male of their bodies...
and later Governor of New York, he complained that "all the Earl's tenants were beggars". Conolly built his new mansion at Castletown, cleared the existing tenantry and began to develop the town. Improvers and speculative developers followed Conolly to Celbridge. The new leases were granted on condition that the builders erect substantial stone houses with gable ends and two chimneys, replacing mud cabins and waste ground.
Existing mercantile buildings such as the 17th century Market House
Market Houses in the Republic of Ireland
Market houses are a notable feature of many Irish towns with varying styles of architecture, size and ornamentation making for a most interesting feature of the streetscape. Originally there were three, four or even five bays on the ground floor which were an open arcade. An upper floor was...
, where the town's first school was based in 1709, were incorporated in to the expanding mill complex of buildings near the bridge. Developers began to survey e green field sites to the north east of the bridge in the direction of Castletown House. The result was to move the axis of Celbridge away from the bridge, corn and tuck mill and road to St Mochua's church to a new Main Street.
The old Irish name Cill Droichid (Kildrought), meaning the church of the bridge, was anglicised first to Cellbridge and then, after 1724, to Celbridge. Swift in his letters to Vanessa always named the place "Kildrought", but she replied from "Celbridge".
Celbridge's 18th century bridge had to be rebuilt after it was destroyed in a flood in December 1802.
Celbridge Main Street
The development of the Main Street commenced with the building of Kildrought House by Joseph Rotheny in 1720 for Robert Baillie, a Dublin upholsterer who was William Conolly's greatest prospect as an improving tenant. A large extension, which included a malt house, was added after Baillie sold in 1749. Kildrought house became home to John Begnall’s Academy after 1782. Among the attendees were the sons of Col George Napier
George Napier
Colonel The Hon. George Napier was a British Army officer, most notable for his marriage to Lady Sarah Lennox, and for his sons Charles James Napier, William Francis Patrick Napier and George Thomas Napier, all of whom were noted military officers, collectively referred to as “Wellington’s...
, George
George Thomas Napier
Lieutenant-General Sir George Thomas Napier KCB entered the British army in 1800, and served with distinction under Sir John Moore and the Duke Wellington in the Peninsula--and lost his right arm at the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo, where, as a Major in the 52nd Foot, he led the Light Division's...
, Charles
Charles James Napier
General Sir Charles James Napier, GCB , was a general of the British Empire and the British Army's Commander-in-Chief in India, notable for conquering the Sindh Province in what is now Pakistan.- His genealogy :...
, William
William Francis Patrick Napier
General Sir William Francis Patrick Napier KCB , Irish soldier in the British Army and military historian, third son of Colonel George Napier was born at Celbridge, near Dublin.-Military service:...
and Henry
Henry Edward Napier
-Life:Napier, born on 5 March 1789, was son of Colonel George Napier, younger brother of Sir Charles James Napier, conqueror of Scinde, of Sir George Thomas Napier, governor of the Cape of Good Hope, and of Sir William Francis Patrick Napier, historian and general....
, later to be collectively known as “Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
’s Colonels, ” and their younger brother Richard Napier
Richard Napier
Note that Dr. Richard Napier may be confused with his nephew, Dr. Richard Napier who was also a physician and astrologer.Richard Napier was a prominent English astrologer and medical practitioner.-Biography:...
, and John Jebb (1775–1833), later Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
bishop of Limerick, Ardfert, and Aghadoe. Jeremiah Haughton, owner of the Mill lived there after 1818. For a time in the early 19th century Kildrought House had a cholera hospital attached to it and served as the local police barracks from 1831 to 1841 when the barrack moved to the site of the current Michaelangelo’s restaurant. After 1861 it was leased by Richard Maunsell of Oakley Park. Next door is the courthouse where the local petty sessions took place every fourth week.
No 22 Main Street, the original home of Conolly’s second agent George Finey was occupied by Richard Guinness for a time and his sons Arthur
Arthur Guinness
Arthur Guinness was an Irish brewer and the founder of the Guinness brewery business and family.He was also an entrepreneur, visionary and philanthropist....
, founder of the Guinness brewery, and Samuel. Richard married Elizabeth Clere, proprietor of the White Hart Inn, a public house at the site of the current Londis supermarket. Finey’s successor as Conolly’s agent, Dublin cabinetmaker Charles Davis, built Jasmine Lodge, an impressive fivebay house with a weather vane on the junction of Main Street and the Maynooth Road (1750). It was home to seven generations of Mulligans until 1992. One of the Mulligans had the decorative iron arch to the entrance gate constructed from material salvaged from the GPO Dublin after the 1916 Rebellion The Castletown Inn stands where Isaac Annesley, the early 18th century master stonemason lived. One of the oldest houses in the town. No 59 next door, was renovated in the latter half of the 18th century for Thomas Conolly's huntsman. Christopher Barry’s Auctioneers was built in 1840 by Richard Nelson and let to Chief Constable Marley, it replaced an old dwellinghouse with stables and offices where William Wadsworth, the original Irish Straw Manufacturer and exporter lived and operated at the end of the 19th century. On the corner of the Main Street and Liffey Bridge, Broe’s house and shop (1773) is now the Bank of Ireland. Mattew Gogarty came from Clondalkin in 1818 and established his shop on the other side of the street. James Carberry's Brewery (1709) later became Coyles and eventually Norris’s and the Village Inn. Roseville was built in 1796.
Other notable buildings on Main Street include the Catholic Church (1857 JJ McCarthy Architect), the Holy Faith convent (1877) and Christ Church (Church of Ireland, 1884) which retains the tower of an earlier church (1813). Castletown gates at the end of the street were built in 1783 after a design inspired by Batty Langley
Batty Langley
Batty Langley was an English garden designer, and prolific writer who produced a number of engraved designs for "Gothick" structures, summerhouses and garden seats in the years before the mid-18th century.The eccentric landscape designer, who gave some of his numerous children names like Hiram,...
. According to research by local historian Lena Boylan, the work was by a stonemason named Coates and a blacksmith named Behan.
Temple Mills
The oldest will in the area is Temple Mills, operated by the Tyrrell family for 300 years, 2 km outside the town on the Ardclough
Ardclough
Ardclough, officially Ardclogh , is a village and community in the parish of Kill County Kildare, Ireland, two miles off the N7 national primary road. Amongst its buildings today are a national school, a church, Ardclough GAA Club, and one shop "Buggys". Ardclough also contains the historic round...
Road. Joseph Shaw's flax and flour mills was a major employer in the town until its closure after the death of William Shaw.
Templeplace: a vanished settlement
The now disappeared "town" of Templeplace is recording as having a population of 279 in 1841, 310 in 1851, 382 in 1861, 402 in 1871 and was, after 1881, included in the townland of Newtown “on which it stood” as it "did not contain 20 inhabited houses." A footnote to the census returns comments “the decline in population is attributed to the discontinuance of the flax mill”. The population of Newtown in 1891 was 128, down from 145.Celbridge Mill
The Manor Mills (built by Louisa Conolly in 1785-8, extended by Laurence Atkinson 1805, restored 1985) incorporate parts of the old Celbridge Market House. It was purchased by Jeremiah and Thomas Houghton after Atkinson's bankruptcy in 1815. When the Houghton partnership became bankrupt in 1818 Jeremiah took charge of the operation. Houghton told a parliamentary committee that this mill was the biggest wool manufactory in Ireland. the mill was described as employing several hundred people when King George IV of England visited Celbridge in August 1821 and the description "biggest wool manufactory in Ireland" was repeated in the 1845 Parliamentary Gazeteer. It employed 600 people at full capacity, some of them children who were eight and nine years of age. Workers from Yorkshire who came to work in the mill lived in Tea Lane (so called because of the amount of discarded tea leaves on the street) and English Row. The closure of the mills in 1879 caused the population of Celbridge to plunge from a 19th century peak of 1,674 in 1861 (1,391 in 1871) to 988 in 1881 and a low of 811 in 1891
Under the Irish Government regeneration scheme of the 1930s, the Leinster Hand Weaving Company acquired the premises for conversion in to a weaving mill. Celbridge woollen mill was operated by Youghal carpets (acquired 1966, workforce extended from 120 jobs in October 1969.). It was a major employer until its closure in May 1982 with the loss of 220 jobs. This ended two centuries of intermittent wool production in the village. The mill now serves as a community centre. Its warehouses which bear a wallmount dating the Mill to 1785, and a stone commemorating the site of St Mochua’s well.
Mills at Coneyburrow (Newbridge, near St. Wolstan's) were granted to Robert Randall, Dublin paper maker, in 1729, and were later converted for use as a flourmill.
Brewery
After Celbridge rector Arthur Price
Arthur Price, Bishop of Cashel
Arthur Price was Church of Ireland Archbishop of Cashel from 1744 until his death. Previously he had been Church of Ireland Bishop of Clonfert , Ferns and Leighlin and Meath ....
married Richard Guinness and Elizabeth Read (1698–1742), of a brewing family from Bishopscourt
Bishopscourt, County Kildare
Bishopscourt is a townland and historic site in County Kildare, Ireland near Kill, Ardclough and Straffan and beside the N7 road. The estate was once held by the Bishops of Kildare.-Calendar and historical references:...
and an aunt of Arthur Guinness
Arthur Guinness
Arthur Guinness was an Irish brewer and the founder of the Guinness brewery business and family.He was also an entrepreneur, visionary and philanthropist....
, he took over the town brewery in 1722 and moved it from the site of the Village Inn to where the entrance forecourt of the Holy Faith convent is today. There he placed his land steward and brother-in-law Richard Guinness in charge of production of "a brew of a very palatable nature". In 1752, Dr Price's estate bequeathed £100 to Richard's son, the 27yearold Arthur Guinness to help him expand the brewery, first in 1755 on a new site in Leixlip
Leixlip
-Politics:Since 1988 Leixlip has had a nine member Town Council , headed by a Cathaoirleach , which has control over many local matters, although it is limited in that it is not also a planning authority...
and from 1759 in St James’s Gate in Dublin. Some of the blocked up doors from the original PriceGuinness brewery can still be seen on the perimeter walls of the Catholic Church forecourt.
Workhouse
Celbridge workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
was constructed between 1839 and 1841 and is the smallest of three workhouses in County Kildare. It was built at a cost of stg£6,800 and was designed to house 519 people from Celbridge, Lucan, Rathcoole, Leixlip, Maynooth and Kilcock, an area containing 25,424 people.
A site on the Maynooth road has a memorial to between 1,500 and 2,500 inmates who died and were buried there during the Great Famine of 1845/47, recently restored by the community. According to Tony Doohan’s “History of Celbridge” during the worst of this disaster, a human being died every hour. Another historian Seamus Cummins suggest that the effects of the famine in the Celbridge Poor Law
Poor Law
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws before being codified in 1587–98...
District area were less traumatic than elsewhere (such as south Kildare) because of the availability of wage economy employment in the district.
After the 1860s the workhouse was used as a fever hospital, regarded as progressive for its time, as a home for the elderly and infirm, and for unmarried mothers. Orphans and illegitimate children were fostered out in to the village community from the workhouse and also from the Holy Faith convents in Dublin.
In 1918 the workhouse was used as a base by the U.K. Army and, after 1922 the Free State army
Irish Army
The Irish Army, officially named simply the Army is the main branch of the Defence Forces of Ireland. Approximately 8,500 men and women serve in the Irish Army, divided into three infantry Brigades...
. It was visited by General Michael Collins
Michael Collins (Irish leader)
Michael "Mick" Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance and Teachta Dála for Cork South in the First Dáil of 1919, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. Subsequently, he was both Chairman of the...
and there are claims that the barracks was the first in which the uniform of the new Free State army was worn. After 1923 the workhouse was closed and the barracks vacated. By 1933 the Union Paint factory had been established on the site and in 1934 there were plans for a rope factory by Henry's from Cork Street in Dublin. In 1939 the current Garda
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
barracks was built on part of the workhouse site.
The workhouse is now a paint shop.
Former Methodist Hall
The cut stone former Methodist Hall on Ardclough Road fell into disrepair during the 1980s but was acquired and renovated by Cunninghams Funeral Directors in the mid 1990s.
Other industry
John Wynn Baker
John Wynn Baker
John Wynn Baker , was an agricultural and rural economist.Baker was from 1764 until the time of his death officially connected with the Dublin Society, of which he had previously been an honorary member. His enlightened schemes for the improvement of agriculture received liberal support from the...
(c.1730–1775), agricultural improver and writer, established the first factory in Ireland in 1765 with the financial assistance of the Dublin Society on a 354 acres (1.4 km²) property in Loughlinstown near the newly constructed Grand Canal at Hazlehatch for manufacturing agricultural implements.
One of Celbridge’s most original industries was the Callender Paper Company established in Celbridge in 1903 to make paper from peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
. Despite the report in the Irish Times of 25/6/1904 that facilities of the company were “totally inadequate to cope with demand” and that “Celbridge peat paper is finding its way into almost every village and hamlet in Ireland” the enterprise had already run into financial trouble by November 1904.
In 1977 French electrical group Telemecanigue invested £6m in establishing a factory on the Maynooth Road, employing 500 people at peak. Schneider MGTE group closed the factory in September 2003.
Development
Six main residential and commercial areas were developed in Celbridge over a period of 250 years: Main Street (1720–50), Tea (or Tay) Lane (1760), Maynooth Road (1790, when construction of Jasmine Lodge replaced six cabins on Main Street and eight cabins on Maynooth Road), English Row (1805–11), Ballyoulster (1948–51), and St Patrick’s Park (two phases 1954-57 and 1964–67). The historical population of the town in the 19th and 20th century period closely mirrored periods of activity and cyclical closure of the town's woollen mills, once the largest in the country.
Housing estates
Celbridge was rezoned for rapid growth under the 1967 Kildare Development Plan
Kildare County Council
Kildare County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Kildare in Ireland. The Council is responsible for Housing and Community, Roads and Transportation, Urban planning and Development, Amenity and Culture, and Environment. The council is governed by the Local Government...
. That year a consortium of Brian and Tony Rhattigan and the McMullan brothers, who owned the Maxol petroleum group, purchased most of the former Castletown Estate for development purposes. Planning permission was granted on appeal for a suburban housing estate along the edge of the avenue leading into Castletown House
Castletown House
Castletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland's is a Palladian country house built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. It formed the centrepiece of a estate...
. In response Desmond Guinness
Desmond Guinness
Hon. Desmond Guinness is an Irish author on Georgian art and architecture and a conservationist.He was the second son of the author and brewer Bryan Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne and Diana Mitford...
personally bought the house in 1967 to save the immediate hinterland from development and established the Irish Georgian Society
Irish Georgian Society
The Irish Georgian Society aims to encourage an interest in and to promote the conservation of distinguished examples of architecture and the allied arts of all periods in Ireland...
in the building.
Permission was granted for the first development of 400 houses within the gates of Castletown in 1969 and the first phase of Castletown Estate was opened by Minister for Industry & Commerce
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Ireland)
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is the senior minister at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in the Government of Ireland.The current Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is Richard Bruton, TD...
Justin Keating
Justin Keating
Justin Keating was an Irish Labour Party politician, broadcaster, journalist, lecturer and veterinary surgeon. In later life he was President of the Humanist Association of Ireland....
on 1 October 1975. This was followed by more than 30 housing developments over the next thirty years. The 1986 census listed Celbridge (+54.9pc) as the fastest growing town in Ireland.
The population, which had been 1,514 in 1966, rose to 1,744 in 1971, 3,230 in 1979, 4,583 in 1981, 7,135 in 1986, 9,629 in 1991, 12,289 in 1996, 14,251 in 2002 and 17,262 in 2006. This new population had a higher proportion of younger people than similar sized towns, had a higher proportion of commuters and one of the highest proportions of clerical workers on the island.
Large estate developments included Abbeyfarm (1990), Beatty Park (1987), Castle Village (1986–90), Castletown Walled Gardens (1983), Castletown Estate (1975–82), Crodaun Forest Park (opened October 1978), the Grove (1979), Oldtown Mill (1999), Primrose Gate (2006), St Raphael’s Manor (1994–98), Wolstan Abbey (2006) and Wolstan Haven (1999).
Medium size developments included Ballygoran View (1998), Beatty Grove (1992), Celbridge Abbey (1992), Dara Court (1976–80), Priory Lodge & Priory Square (1999), Simmonstown Manor (2000), Temple Manor (1992–97), Thornhill Gardens/ Heights (1998), Thornhill Meadows/Ashgrove (1998), Vanessa Lawns (1984), Willowbrook (1984–86). Small estate developments include Ballygoran Court, Ballymakeally Grove/Lawns (2000), Chelmsford (1991), Chestnut Grove (1999), the Courtyard (2001), Elm Park (1994), Grattan Court (1994), Hawthorn View (1992), Killadoon Park (1992), Larchfield Mews, Oakleigh (1979), Simmonstown Park (1980), Small Grove, Temple Lawns/Primrose Hill (1990).
A 2008 planning application by Devondale Ltd for a new Eu750m mixeduse development at Donaghcumper Demesne for offices, shops, restaurants, sixscreen cinema and 108 detached houses on the 98 acres (396,592.3 m²) site, which is being promoted as “a natural extension” to Celbridge, has been criticised by local planners for being “on a city scale rather than a more acceptable town scale.”
Castletown House
Castletown HouseCastletown House
Castletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland's is a Palladian country house built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. It formed the centrepiece of a estate...
is situated at the end of an avenue extending from the main street, and is one of Ireland's finest Palladian country houses. and is Ireland's original and largest Palladian country houses. It was begun in 1722 by William "Speaker" Conolly
William Conolly
William Conolly , also known as Speaker Conolly, was an Irish politician, Commissioner of Revenue, lawyer and landowner.-Career:...
(1662–1729), Speaker of the Irish House of Commons
Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...
, who came under the influence of the New Junta for Architecture, whose adherents included Alessandro Galilei believed to have designed the main house and Edward Lovett Pearce
Edward Lovett Pearce
Sir Edward Lovett Pearce was an Irish architect, and the chief exponent of palladianism in Ireland. He is thought to have initially studied as an architect under his father's first cousin, Sir John Vanbrugh. He is best known for the Irish Houses of Parliament in Dublin, and his work on Castletown...
believed to have designed the entrancehall and the long gallery in its original form, as well as the colonnades and wings. Pearce did commissions for William Conolly before his speculated involvement with Castletown.
The house was inherited by Tom Conolly (1738–1803) in 1758 and the interior decoration was finished by his wife Lady Louisa (greatgranddaughter of Charles II of England
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
and Louise de Keroualle) during the 1760s and 1770s.
Two of the bestknown features of Castletown are the "Long Gallery" (an 80 feet (24.4 m) long room decorated in the Pompeian manner in blue and gold), and the main staircase (which is cantilevered and made of white Portland stone
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major...
).
Conolly's Folly
Conolly's Folly
Conolly's Folly , a.k.a. The Obelisk or originally The Conolly Folly, is an obelisk structure located near Celbridge and Maynooth, both in north County Kildare, Ireland.-History:...
(also known as "The Obelisk") is an obelisk structure. It is built to the rear of Castletown House
Castletown House
Castletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland's is a Palladian country house built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. It formed the centrepiece of a estate...
which contains two follies, both commissioned by the widow of Speaker William Conolly
William Conolly
William Conolly , also known as Speaker Conolly, was an Irish politician, Commissioner of Revenue, lawyer and landowner.-Career:...
to provide employment for the poor of Celbridge at a time when famine was rife. As such these monuments serve no real purpose, instead they were dedicated to battles in the 16th century. The Obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
was built in 1739 after a particularly severe winter. Designed by Richard Castle
Richard Castle
Richard Edgar "Rick" Castle is a fictional character portrayed by Nathan Fillion in the ABC crime series Castle.-Family life:...
, it is 42 metres high and is composed of several arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
es, adorned by stone pineapples and eagles.
The main avenue from the town is no longer accessible by vehicular traffic which must enter the house from the roundabout off the M4.
Celbridge Abbey
Celbridge Abbey
Celbridge Abbey
-House:The house was built in 1697 by Bartholomew Van Homrigh, who at the time was the Lord Mayor of Dublin. It is, however, more famous, the childhood and later adult home his daughter, Esther Van Homrigh, , who was Dean Swift's 'Vanessa'...
was the childhood (1688–1707) and later adult (171423) home of Bartholomew Van Homrigh’s daughter Esther
Esther Vanhomrigh
Esther Vanhomrigh , an Irish woman of Dutch descent, was a longtime lover and correspondent of Jonathan Swift. Swift's letters to her were published after her death...
(1688–1723), the ill-starred lover of Dean Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
. The poem in which Swift fictionalised her as "Vanessa
Vanessa (name)
The name Vanessa was invented by the Anglo-Irish writer Jonathan Swift for Esther Vanhomrigh, whom Swift had met in 1708 and whom he tutored. The name was created by taking "Van" from Vanhomrigh's last name and adding "Essa", the pet form of Esther. Swift may have also derived the name from the...
" "Cadenus and Vanessa" (1713) was written seven years before he visited her in Celbridge in 1720. A rock bower associated with the lovers is a 19th century recreation. The current Celbridge Abbey
Celbridge Abbey
-House:The house was built in 1697 by Bartholomew Van Homrigh, who at the time was the Lord Mayor of Dublin. It is, however, more famous, the childhood and later adult home his daughter, Esther Van Homrigh, , who was Dean Swift's 'Vanessa'...
was constructed by Thomas Marlay
Thomas Marlay
Thomas Marlay was an Irish judge, remembered now as the builder of Celbridge Abbey and as the grandfather of the statesman Henry Grattan....
, grandfather of the Irish parliamentarian Henry Grattan
Henry Grattan
Henry Grattan was an Irish politician and member of the Irish House of Commons and a campaigner for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century. He opposed the Act of Union 1800 that merged the Kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain.-Early life:Grattan was born at...
. His daughter Mary was married to James Grattan, Henry Grattan’s father and a member of the Irish House of Commons
Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...
. A later occupant was Gerald Dease, a Catholic nobleman who entertained the Empress of Austria during her visit to Ireland. He is buried in a prominent position on front of the local Catholic church, the construction of which he helped to fund. The rock bridge in Celbridge Abbey grounds is now the oldest stone bridge across the Liffey since the removal of John Le Decer’s 1308 bridge three miles downriver at Salmon Leap.
Oakley Park (St Raphael's)
Oakley Park, the current St. Raphael's hospital was built in 1724 to a design by Thomas Burgh for Arthur Price
Arthur Price, Bishop of Cashel
Arthur Price was Church of Ireland Archbishop of Cashel from 1744 until his death. Previously he had been Church of Ireland Bishop of Clonfert , Ferns and Leighlin and Meath ....
, when he was created Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
Bishop of Meath
Bishop of Meath
The Bishop of Meath is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric.-History:...
. The house was built close to the small stone house of his father vicar of Kildrought and Straffan Samuel Price
Samuel Price
Samuel Price was a United States Senator from West Virginia. Born in Fauquier County, Virginia, he moved with his parents to Preston County in 1815. He received a preparatory training, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1832, commencing the practice of his profession in Nicholas and...
. Dr Price had previously been Bishop of Clonfert, Ferns & Leighlin, and later became Archbishop of Cashel. After his departure for Cashel, Oakley Park became home to Col George Napier
George Napier
Colonel The Hon. George Napier was a British Army officer, most notable for his marriage to Lady Sarah Lennox, and for his sons Charles James Napier, William Francis Patrick Napier and George Thomas Napier, all of whom were noted military officers, collectively referred to as “Wellington’s...
, Richard Maunsell, High Sheriff of Kildare and his descendants, and, in 1926 Justin McCarthy. In 1946 it was purchased sold by Philip Guiney the Irish Christian Brothers for use as an industrial school but sold instead to the St John Of God Brothers
Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God
The Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God are a Roman Catholic order founded in 1572. They are also known commonly as the Fatebenefratelli, meaning "Do-Good Brothers" in Italian.-History:...
and opened as St Raphael's Hospital, a home for intellectually disabled boys in 1953. The grand parents of Henry Grattan are buried in a private graveyard on the site.
Collegiate School (Setanta Hotel)
The former Collegiate School on the Clane Road was built from 1732 by architect Thomas Burgh who also built the Royal Barracks
Collins Barracks (Dublin)
Collins Barracks is a former military barracks in the Arbour Hill area of Dublin, Ireland. The buildings are now the National Museum of Ireland, Decorative Arts and History...
and famous library building at Trinity College
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
both in Dublin. The Collegiate School was founded as a charity school by Lady Louisa Conolly of Castletown (17431821). At the time of Lady Louisa's death it had 600 pupils, and served as a boarding school for Protestant girls until 1973. when the Incorporated Society for Promoting Protestant Schools in Ireland closed the school and transferred the pupils to Kilkenny
Kilkenny College
Kilkenny College or KCK is a co-educational secondary school located in Kilkenny, in the South-East of Ireland. It is a private school which caters for both boarders and day students. It is the largest co-educational boarding school in Ireland...
. The building reopened as the Setanta Hotel on 25 January 1980.
St Wolstan's
St Wolstan’s, near the site of the ancient Abbey of St Wolstan’s described by Mervyn Archdall in his "Monasticon Hibernicum" in 1786 was originally a monastery in the Order of St Victor. It was founded c1202 by one of Strongbow
Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , Lord of Leinster, Justiciar of Ireland . Like his father, he was also commonly known as Strongbow...
’s companions for Adam de Hereford. It was named for St Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester
Bishop of Worcester
The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. He is the head of the Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury...
, then newly canonised by Pope Innocent III. Before the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
it had extensive lands in Kildare and Dublin with buildings covering an estimated 20 acres. It was the first Irish Monastery to be dissolved
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
when Sir Gerald Aylmer
Gerald Aylmer, Irish Judge
Sir Gerald Aylmer was a judge in Ireland in the time of Henry VIII and played a key part in enforcing the Dissolution of the Monasteries.-Early life:...
of nearby Lyons
Lyons Hill
Lyons Hill is a restored village, and former parish with church, now part of the community of Ardclough in north County Kildare. At a time when canal passenger boats travelled at Lyons was the nearest overnight stop to Dublin on the Grand Canal. On the hilltop is a trigonometrical point used by...
(d. 1559). It became the home to the ill fated Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of Dublin John Alen
John Alen
John Alen was an English canon lawyer, Archbishop of Dublin, and Chancellor of Ireland.-Life:He was born in Cotteshall, Norfolk.The Alans were a numerous clan and six of his cousins settled in Ireland including his namesake John, who was Lord Chancellor in his turn...
(1476–1534). St Wolstan’s and the Archbishop’s cousin, also John Alen, who was master of the rolls, travelled with Aylmer to England in 1536 to receive the bill for suppression of the Irish monasteries. The act of St Wolstan's, introduced in September 1536 as a special commission of dissolution, assured Aylmer and his fellow chief justice and brotherinlaw Thomas Luttrell an annual rent of £4 during the life of Sir Richard Weston, the last prior, while Alen was granted the monastery estates. The house remained with the Alen family for two subsequent centuries. St Wolstan’s was then home to later Bishops of Clogher
Bishop of Clogher
The Bishop of Clogher is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Clogher in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Following the Reformation, there are now parallel apostolic successions: one of the Church of Ireland and the other of the Roman Catholic Church.-History:Clogher is one...
(Robert Clayton
Robert Clayton
Sir Robert Clayton was a British merchant banker, politician and Lord Mayor of London.Robert Clayton was born in Northamptonshire, England. He became an apprentice to his uncle, a London scrivener, where he met a fellow apprentice, Alderman John Morris...
) and Limerick, a summer resident of the Viceroy in the 1770s, a boy’s school (sold 1809), home to the Cane family for another century and eventually a holy faith girl’s school (19551999). (Note: A new school building was built on the Clane road. The name St. Wolstan's was retained.)
Other houses
Other large houses outside the town include Killadoon a three storey block with a single storey wing built c. 1770 (redecorated 1820) for Nathanial Clements MP, banker and amateur architect. Significantly, it does not appear to have been designed by Clements himself. Pickering Forest is a three storey Georgian house associated with the Brooke (Barons Somerton) and later Ogilby families. Donaghcomper, a Tudor revival house built from William Kirkpatrick c1835, was sold after the death of Ivone Kirkpatrick to J Bruce Bredin, Springfield, associated with the Mitchell family until 1906. Elm Hall was associated with the O’Connor family, Stacumny with the Lambert family, and Ballygoran with the Murray family, while The Grove was home of Dr. C.J. O’Connor. Robert Scott’s house (rebuilt 1780, locally known as the "Shelbourne") fell into ruin and became the site of St Patrick’s Park housing estate.
Castles in the area
Castles in the Celbridge area were at Castletown, Posseckstown, Simmonstown, Templemill, Reeves, Lyons, Barberstown and St. Wolstans.
Churches and parishes
Straffan
Sruthán was mistakenly cited by Thomas O'Connor in the Ordnance Survey Letters in 1837, and adopted as the Irish form of Straffan. Seosamh Laoide used it in his list of Irish names of post-offices published in Post-Sheanchas . An Sruthán gained currency among those involved in the Irish revival...
as well as the former parishes of Stacumny, Donaghcomper, Killadoon, Castledillon and Kilmacredock. Donaghcomper Church (c1150) had windows of cut stone inserted into the building in the 14th century. Its ruins are extant in the main graveyard for the town of Celbridge on the Dublin road and members of the Alan family are buried in the church vault. The old parish of Donaghcomper consisted of the modern townlands of Parsonstown, Rinnawad, Ballyoulster, Commons, Coneyburo, Coolfitch, Donaghcomper, Elm Hall, Loughlinstown, Newtown, Reeves, Simmonstown, Straleek and St. Wolstans. The parish of Stacumny (Teach Cumni) originally included the townlands of Ballymadeer, Balscott and Stacumny. The church was burned in 1297, held in 1308 by a parson, Waleys, but not mentioned subsequently. Killadoon from Cill an Dún may get its name from the earthen mound that still stands by the gate leading into the grounds surrounding Killadoon House. On the left hand side of the avenue, as you enter through the gate, there is an overgrown churchyard with some headstones. Killadoon parish embraced the present townlands of Ardrass, Ballymakeally, Crippaun, Killadoon, Killenlea and Posseckstown. Kilmacredock is the smallest of the medieval parishes. A roofless ruin is all that remains of the original church. It is named for Redoc, who had a son who established a religious foundation south west of the present town of Leixlip. Bellingham family members were buried in a vault in the floor of the building, but their remains were removed in the mid-20th century.
Born or resident
- Thomas RochfortThomas RochfortThomas Rochfort was a distinguished Irish judge and cleric who held the offices of Solicitor General for Ireland, Master of the Rolls in Ireland, and Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin....
( died 1522 ) Dean of St. Patrick's CathedralSt. Patrick's CathedralSt. Patrick's Cathedral may refer to:Northern Ireland*St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh *St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh Republic of Ireland*St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, Church of IrelandAustralia...
and Master of the Rolls in IrelandMaster of the Rolls in IrelandThe office of Master of the Rolls in Ireland originated in the office of the keeper of the Rolls in the Irish Chancery and became an office granted by letters patent in 1333. It was abolished in 1924....
, born at Killadoon ,where his father was Lord of the Manor. - John AlenJohn AlenJohn Alen was an English canon lawyer, Archbishop of Dublin, and Chancellor of Ireland.-Life:He was born in Cotteshall, Norfolk.The Alans were a numerous clan and six of his cousins settled in Ireland including his namesake John, who was Lord Chancellor in his turn...
Archbishop of DublinArchbishop of Dublin (Roman Catholic)The Archbishop of Dublin is the title of the senior cleric who presides over the Archdiocese of Dublin. The Church of Ireland has a similar role, heading the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough. In both cases, the Archbishop is also Primate of Ireland...
, and Chancellor of Ireland, (1476–1534), casualty of the "Silken Thomas" Fitzgerald rebellion in 1534,and his cousin John AlanJohn AlanSir John Alan, or Alen was a leading statesman in Ireland in the mid -sixteenth century. he held the offices of Master of the Rolls in Ireland , Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland and Lord Chancellor of Ireland.- Family :...
( c.1500-1561 ), also Lord Chancellor, buried at Donoghcomper. - Simon BradstreetSimon BradstreetSimon Bradstreet was a colonial magistrate, businessman, diplomat, and the last governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Arriving in Massachusetts on the Winthrop Fleet in 1630, Bradstreet was almost constantly involved in the politics of the colony but became its governor only in 1679...
(1792–1853) of Stacumney, founder member of the Catholic Association and associate of Daniel O’Connell. - Ben BriscoeBen BriscoeBen Briscoe is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician.-Member of Dáil Éireann:He was a Teachta Dála for 37 years, representing a series of constituencies in Dublin....
(1934) former Fianna FáilFianna FáilFianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
politician who was a Teachta DálaTeachta DálaA Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...
(TD) for 37 years, representing a series of constituencies in Dublin and Lord Mayor of DublinLord Mayor of DublinThe Lord Mayor of Dublin is the honorific title of the Chairman of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The incumbent is Labour Party Councillor Andrew Montague. The office holder is elected annually by the members of the...
in 1989, the city's millennium year. - William "Speaker" ConollyWilliam ConollyWilliam Conolly , also known as Speaker Conolly, was an Irish politician, Commissioner of Revenue, lawyer and landowner.-Career:...
(1662–1729) the most powerful and wealthiest politician in Ireland in the first decades of the 18th century. - Lady Louisa ConollyLady Louisa ConollyLady Louisa Conolly , known from 1743 to 1758 as Lady Louisa Lennox, was the third of the four Lennox Sisters immortalised in Stella Tillyard's book Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa, and Sarah Lennox and the BBC television series based on it.The Lennox sisters were daughters of Charles Lennox,...
(1743–1821), wife of Tom Conolly and her sister Sarah NapierLady Sarah LennoxLady Sarah Lennox was the most notorious of the famous Lennox Sisters, daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond.-Early life:...
(1745–1826), wife of George NapierGeorge NapierColonel The Hon. George Napier was a British Army officer, most notable for his marriage to Lady Sarah Lennox, and for his sons Charles James Napier, William Francis Patrick Napier and George Thomas Napier, all of whom were noted military officers, collectively referred to as “Wellington’s...
, both daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of RichmondCharles Lennox, 2nd Duke of RichmondThe 2nd Duke of Richmond has been described as early cricket's greatest patron. Although he had played cricket as a boy, his real involvement began after he succeeded to the dukedom...
. Their lives were celebrated in Stella TillyardStella TillyardStella Tillyard is a British author and historian born in 1957, best known for the best-selling Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa and Sarah Lennox, 1740-1832 which was made into a BBC Miniseries in 1999.-From academic to novelist:...
's book Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa, and Sarah Lennox and a six part BBC TelevisionBBC TelevisionBBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
series based on the book. - Tom Conolly (1738–1803) radical Irish politician of the 1780s and Grand Nephew of William "Speaker" ConollyWilliam ConollyWilliam Conolly , also known as Speaker Conolly, was an Irish politician, Commissioner of Revenue, lawyer and landowner.-Career:...
. - Seven Celbridgeborn sisters of Tom Conolly, Catherine, wife of Ralph GoreRalph Gore, 1st Earl of RossGeneral Ralph Gore, 1st Earl of Ross , known as Sir Ralph Gore, 6th Baronet from 1746 until 1764, subsequently as The Lord Gore until 1768 and then as The Viscount Belleisle until 1772, was an Irish soldier, politician and peer.-Background:Born at Belle Isle Castle, he was the second son of Sir...
, earl of Rosse, Annie, who married George ByngGeorge Byng (1735–1789)George Byng was a British Member of Parliament.He sat for Wigan from 1768 to 1780 and Middlesex from 1780 to his death.He was the son of Robert Byng and grandson of George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington...
, Harriet, who married John StaplesJohn StaplesJohn Staples was an Irish Member of Parliament.He sat in the Irish House of Commons for Newtown Limavady from 1765 to 1768, for Clogher from 1768 to 1776, for Ballyshannon from 1776 to 1783, for Newtown Limavady again from 1783 to 1795 and for County Antrim from 1796 to 1800, and then for Antrim...
, Frances, who married William HoweWilliam Howe, 5th Viscount HoweWilliam Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, KB, PC was a British army officer who rose to become Commander-in-Chief of British forces during the American War of Independence...
, a British general during the American Revolutionary War, Caroline, who married John Hobart, second earl of Buckinghamshire, Lucy, and Jane who had an illfated marriage to duelist and adventurer George Robert FitzgeraldGeorge Robert FitzGeraldGeorge Robert Fitzgerald, aka Fighting Fitzgerald, Irish eccentric, died 1786.FitzGerald was of the family of Turlough, Castlebar. A highly eccentric character, he is said to have become so after a blow to the head sometime in his 20's....
, famous for having survived twelve duels, more than any other known Irish duelist. - Gerald R Dease (18311903) chamberlain to successive Lord Lieutenants
- Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of LimerickThomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of LimerickThomas Donegan, 2nd Earl of Limerick was a member of Irish Parliament, Royalist military officer during the English Civil War, and governor of the Province of New York...
(16341715), a member of Irish ParliamentParliament of IrelandThe Parliament of Ireland was a legislature that existed in Dublin from 1297 until 1800. In its early mediaeval period during the Lordship of Ireland it consisted of either two or three chambers: the House of Commons, elected by a very restricted suffrage, the House of Lords in which the lords...
, Royalist military officer during the English Civil WarEnglish Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, and governor of the Province of New YorkProvince of New YorkThe Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
. - Arthur GuinnessArthur GuinnessArthur Guinness was an Irish brewer and the founder of the Guinness brewery business and family.He was also an entrepreneur, visionary and philanthropist....
(1725–1803) founder of the famous brewery is buried in Oughterard cemetery, near the plot of his uncle William Read. He was the son of Richard Guinness and Elizabeth Read (1698–1742) from BishopscourtArdcloughArdclough, officially Ardclogh , is a village and community in the parish of Kill County Kildare, Ireland, two miles off the N7 national primary road. Amongst its buildings today are a national school, a church, Ardclough GAA Club, and one shop "Buggys". Ardclough also contains the historic round...
, who was agent and receiver of Dr Arthur PriceArthur Price, Bishop of CashelArthur Price was Church of Ireland Archbishop of Cashel from 1744 until his death. Previously he had been Church of Ireland Bishop of Clonfert , Ferns and Leighlin and Meath ....
and lived in Celbridge at the time of Arthur's birth. Local publican has erected a plaque asserting Arthur was born in what would have been a malting house in 1725. - Aidan HigginsAidan Higgins-Life:His upbringing in a landed Catholic family in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland, provided material for his first experimental novel, Langrishe, Go Down...
(b1927), writer whose 1972 novel, 'Balcony of Europe' was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Celbridge provided material for his 1966 experimental novel, 'Langrishe, Go Down which won the James Tait Black Memorial PrizeJames Tait Black Memorial PrizeFounded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards...
for fiction and was later adapted as a BBC television filmLangrishe, Go Down (film)Langrishe, Go Down, the novel by Aidan Higgins , was adapted for the screen by Harold Pinter, directed by David Jones, filmed for BBC Television in association with Raidió Teilifís Éireann, and first broadcast in September 1978 as a 90-minute BBC2 Play of the Week...
by British playwright Harold PinterHarold PinterHarold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
, in association with Radio Telefís ÉireannRaidió Teilifís ÉireannRaidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
. - Joshua Jacob (c.1802–1877), founder of the White Quakers, lived in Celbridge in the 1840s.
- Ivone KirkpatrickIvone KirkpatrickHis Excellency Sir Ivone Augustine Kirkpatrick GCB, GCMG was a British diplomat who served most notably as the British High Commissioner in Germany after the war, and as the Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office -Summary:Kirkpatrick left school to join the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers...
(1897–1964), diplomatist, British Chancellor in Berlin before the second world war, UnderSecretary of the British Foreign Office 195357, chairman of the British Independent Television Authority 195762 and diehard supporter of oldempire British aggression, lived at Donaghcomper. - James Lambert (18021877). Merchant and politician. Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1856.
- Donal MacIntyreDonal MacIntyreDonal MacIntyre is an Irish investigative journalist, specialising in investigations, undercover operations and television exposés. His work is in the area of care homes for the elderly and the learning disabled...
(b1966). Campaigning television journalist. - Vincent McKenna (b1955) soccer player for Shelbourne (19718) and Dundalk (197880) who played five times for Ireland youths, including the 1972 European finals, and won an interleague cap.
- Col George NapierGeorge NapierColonel The Hon. George Napier was a British Army officer, most notable for his marriage to Lady Sarah Lennox, and for his sons Charles James Napier, William Francis Patrick Napier and George Thomas Napier, all of whom were noted military officers, collectively referred to as “Wellington’s...
(1751–1804) and his sons GeorgeGeorge Thomas NapierLieutenant-General Sir George Thomas Napier KCB entered the British army in 1800, and served with distinction under Sir John Moore and the Duke Wellington in the Peninsula--and lost his right arm at the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo, where, as a Major in the 52nd Foot, he led the Light Division's...
(1784–1855), CharlesCharles James NapierGeneral Sir Charles James Napier, GCB , was a general of the British Empire and the British Army's Commander-in-Chief in India, notable for conquering the Sindh Province in what is now Pakistan.- His genealogy :...
(1782–1853), WilliamWilliam Francis Patrick NapierGeneral Sir William Francis Patrick Napier KCB , Irish soldier in the British Army and military historian, third son of Colonel George Napier was born at Celbridge, near Dublin.-Military service:...
(1785–1860), and HenryHenry Edward Napier-Life:Napier, born on 5 March 1789, was son of Colonel George Napier, younger brother of Sir Charles James Napier, conqueror of Scinde, of Sir George Thomas Napier, governor of the Cape of Good Hope, and of Sir William Francis Patrick Napier, historian and general....
(1789–1853), later to be collectively known as “WellingtonArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonField Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
’s Colonels.” - Art O'ConnorArt O'ConnorArthur O'Connor was an Irish politician, lawyer and judge. He was born in 1888, the second son of Arthur O'Connor of Elm Hall, Celbridge, Co. Kildare and his second wife Elizabeth . He was educated at Blackrock College, Co. Dublin...
(18881950), Minister for Agriculture in the second Dáil cabinet (1921) and briefly leader of Sinn Féin after the foundation of Fianna FáilFianna FáilFianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
by Éamon de ValeraÉamon de ValeraÉamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...
(1927). - Anthony O'Reilly (19001923) volunteer during the War of IndependenceIrish War of IndependenceThe Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
and on the antitreaty side during the Civil War, born in Celbridge workhouse and fostered by the Julia and Mary Cummins in Simmonstown Castle. He joined the Free State Army, then defected to the antitreaty side after a raid on BaldonnelCasement AerodromeCasement Aerodrome or Baldonnel Aerodrome is a military airbase to the south west of Dublin, Ireland situated off the N7 main road route to the south and south west. It is the headquarters and the sole base of the Irish Air Corps, and is also used for other government purposes...
. He was captured after the battle of Pike's Bridge and executed by firing squad in Portobello BarracksCathal Brugha BarracksCathal Brugha Barracks is an Irish Army barracks in Rathmines, Dublin. A key military base of the Irish Defence Forces, it is the headquarters of the Eastern Command, and houses the Military Archives of the Department of Defence.-History and name:...
on 8 January 1923, the 44th of the 77 Republicans executed by Free State forces during the Civil WarIrish Civil WarThe Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire....
. His remains were reinterred in Donacomper cemetery in 1924. The older of two cumanns of the Fianna FáilFianna FáilFianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
party in Celbridge is named in his honour. - Arthur PriceArthur Price, Bishop of CashelArthur Price was Church of Ireland Archbishop of Cashel from 1744 until his death. Previously he had been Church of Ireland Bishop of Clonfert , Ferns and Leighlin and Meath ....
(1678/9–1752) serial bishop of four different Church of IrelandChurch of IrelandThe Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
dioceses, culminating in the Archbishopric of Archbishop of Cashel, and beneafactor to Brewer Arthur GuinnessArthur GuinnessArthur Guinness was an Irish brewer and the founder of the Guinness brewery business and family.He was also an entrepreneur, visionary and philanthropist....
. - Damien RiceDamien RiceDamien Rice is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who plays guitar, piano, clarinet and percussion....
(b1973) noted indie musician - John Sheehan (1809–1882), a radical journalist who wrote under the pseudonym of “the Irish WhiskyDrinker’ grew up in Celbridge, the son of Thomas Sheehan, a grazier, and Alicia Dunn. A notorious incident in which Sheehan’s colleague satiric poet and journalist Francis Sylvester MahonyFrancis Sylvester MahonyFrancis Sylvester Mahony , also known by the pen name Father Prout, was an Irish humorist. He was born in Cork, Ireland, to Martin Mahony and Mary Reynolds. He was educated at the Jesuit Clongowes Wood College, Kildare, and later in Saint Acheul, a similar school in Amiens, France and then at Rue...
, [pseud. Father Prout] (1804–1866) fell out with Celbridge parish priest Daniel Callinan took place at Sheehan’s home in Celbridge in 1830. Sheehan served a prison sentence in 1833 as a result of his attacks on Dublin CastleDublin Castle administration in IrelandThe Dublin Castle administration in Ireland was the government of Ireland under English and later British rule, from the twelfth century until 1922, based at Dublin Castle.-Head:...
in the satirical weekly paper “The Comet”. Sheehan was a contemporary of the EnglishEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
author William Makepeace ThackerayWilliam Makepeace ThackerayWilliam Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.-Biography:...
as a young man in Paris, and he is believed to be the original of “Captain Shandon” in “PendennisPendennisPendennis is a novel by the English author William Makepeace Thackeray. It is set in 19th century England, particularly in London. The main hero is a young English gentleman Arthur Pendennis who is born in the country and sets out for London to seek his place in life and society...
.” - Kathleen WalshKate Walsh (politician)Kate Walsh was an Irish Progressive Democrats politician and community activist from Celbridge, County Kildare...
(1947–2007), politician. Winner of the Lady Mayoress of Celbridge charity competition 1985, elected as an independentIndependent (politician)In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
to Kildare County CouncilKildare County CouncilKildare County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Kildare in Ireland. The Council is responsible for Housing and Community, Roads and Transportation, Urban planning and Development, Amenity and Culture, and Environment. The council is governed by the Local Government...
at the 1999 local electionsIrish local elections, 1999The 1999 Irish local elections were held in all the counties, cities and towns of Ireland on 10 June 1999, on the same day as the European elections.- Results :18 Workers' Party councillors had left the party in 1992 upon the creation of Democratic Left...
with the highest personal vote in the county. Joined the Progressive DemocratsProgressive DemocratsThe Progressive Democrats , commonly known as the PDs, was a pro-free market liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland.Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Malley and other politicians who had split from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats took liberal positions on...
(PDs), stood unsuccessfully for Dáil ÉireannDáil ÉireannDáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...
in 2002Irish general election, 2002The Irish general election of 2002 was held on Friday, 17 May 2002 just over three weeks after the dissolution of the 28th Dáil on Thursday 25 April by President Mary McAleese, at the request of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern...
and 2005Kildare North by-election, 2005-See also:* List of Irish by-elections* Parliamentary constituencies in the Republic of Ireland...
. Member of the Seanad 20027. - Aidan Goggins (b1984) Trader for investment arm of Allied Irish noted for contrarian positions on Irish Life and Permanent and currently co-author of 2011 book 'The Health Delusion'
Lived briefly or were educated in Celbridge
- William BaillieWilliam Baillie (engraver)Captain William Baillie. This well-known amateur acquired a distinguished reputation as an engraver. He was born at Killbride, County Carlow, in 1723, and passed the early part of his life in the army, from which he retired with the rank of captain of cavalry...
(1723–1810), art dealer and printmaker, was the second son of Robert Baillie of Celbridge. - John Wynn BakerJohn Wynn BakerJohn Wynn Baker , was an agricultural and rural economist.Baker was from 1764 until the time of his death officially connected with the Dublin Society, of which he had previously been an honorary member. His enlightened schemes for the improvement of agriculture received liberal support from the...
(c.1730–1775), who established the first factory in Ireland in 1765 is buried at Celbridge. - Caroline BlackwoodCaroline BlackwoodLady Caroline Maureen Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood was a writer and artist's muse, and the eldest child of the 4th Marquess of Dufferin and Ava and the brewery heiress Maureen Guinness....
(1931–1996), writer, lived for a time in Castletown, originally with her husband, the depressive American poet Robert Lowell (1917–1977) and then with the poet Andrew Harvey (b 1951). - Francis Carey, a bricklayer and father of James CareyJames CareyJames Carey was a Fenian and informer most notable for his involvement in the Phoenix Park murders.Carey was son of Francis Carey, a bricklayer, who came from Celbridge, in Kildare, to Dublin, where his son was born in James Street in 1845. He also was a bricklayer, and for 18 years continued in...
the Fenian informer immortalized in George D Hodnett’s song “Take me up to Monto” was from Celbridge. - Henry GrattanHenry GrattanHenry Grattan was an Irish politician and member of the Irish House of Commons and a campaigner for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century. He opposed the Act of Union 1800 that merged the Kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain.-Early life:Grattan was born at...
(17461821) renowned 18th Irish patriot politician, lived with his uncle Colonel Thomas Marlay at Celbridge Abbey between 1777 and 1780. He afterwards wrote: "Along the banks of that river, amid the groves and bowers of Swift and Vanessa, I grew convinced that I was right". - Richard McIlkenny (19342006), member of the Birmingham SixBirmingham SixThe Birmingham Six were six men—Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Joseph Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker—sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 in the United Kingdom for the Birmingham pub bombings. Their convictions were declared unsafe and quashed by the Court of...
miscarriage of justice case, resided in the town until his death on 22 May 2006. - Those educated at Celbridge include the disabled world traveller and politician Arthur Macmorrough KavanaghArthur MacMorrough KavanaghArthur MacMorrough Kavanagh , Irish politician, son of Thomas Kavanagh, M.P., who traced his descent to the ancient Kings of Leinster , was born at Borris House, County Carlow, Ireland....
, (1831–1889), Church of IrelandChurch of IrelandThe Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
bishop John Jebb (1775–1833), and broadcaster Ruth Buchanan.
Claims to fame
- Weston AirportWeston AirportWeston Airport or Aerfort Weston in Irish, is a publicly licensed executive airport located on the R403 regional road at Leixlip, County Kildare west of Dublin, in Ireland...
served as a location for the aerial scenes during the filming of The Blue MaxThe Blue MaxThe Blue Max is an 1966 British war film about a German fighter pilot on the Western Front during World War I. It was directed by John Guillermin, stars George Peppard, James Mason and Ursula Andress, and features Karl Michael Vogler and Jeremy Kemp. The screenplay was written by David Pursall,...
directed by John Guillermin (1966). - Castletown HouseCastletown HouseCastletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland's is a Palladian country house built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. It formed the centrepiece of a estate...
served as a location for the 1975 film Barry LyndonBarry LyndonBarry Lyndon is a 1975 British-American period romantic war film produced, written, and directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray which recounts the exploits of an 18th century Irish adventurer...
directed by Stanley KubrickStanley KubrickStanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
and several subsequent TV and film productions. - Graham LinehanGraham LinehanGraham Linehan is an Irish television writer, actor, comedian and director who, often in partnership with Arthur Mathews, has written or co-written a number of popular television comedies...
, writer and cocreator of hit TV series "Father TedFather TedFather Ted is a comedy series set in Ireland that was produced by Hat Trick Productions for British broadcaster Channel 4. Written jointly by Irish writers Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan and starring a predominantly Irish cast, it originally aired over three series from 21 April 1995 until 1 May...
", was married in the church on main street. Celbridge is also mentioned in an episode of Father Ted, and an episode of Alan PartridgeAlan PartridgeAlan Gordon Partridge is a fictional radio and television presenter portrayed by English comedian Steve Coogan and invented by Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Stewart Lee and Richard Herring for the BBC Radio 4 programme On The Hour...
that Linehan scripted. - Celbridge served as summer residence to two Lord LieutenantLord Lieutenant of IrelandThe Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was the British King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
s of Ireland prior to the building of the Viceregal LodgeÁras an UachtaráinÁras an Uachtaráin , formerly the Viceregal Lodge, is the official residence of the President of Ireland. It is located in the Phoenix Park on the northside of Dublin.-Origins:...
in the Phoenix Park, Castletown HouseCastletown HouseCastletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland's is a Palladian country house built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. It formed the centrepiece of a estate...
in the 1740s and St Wolstan’s in the 1770s. - Celbridge was where Eoghan Rua Ó Néill and Thomas PrestonThomas Preston, 1st Viscount TaraThomas Preston, 1st Viscount Tara was an Irish soldier of the 17th century. He was a descendant of Sir Robert de Preston, who in 1363 purchased the lands of Gormanston, County Meath, and who was keeper of the Great Seal in Ireland some years later....
pitched their joint camp in June 1647 preparing for an attack on Dublin which never took place. - Celbridge, best known for Damien Rice, is also home to the bands JuniperJuniper (band)Juniper were an Irish rock band from County Kildare, most widely-known today as a precursor to Damien Rice and Bell X1. The band consisted of Rice , Paul Noonan, Brian Crosby, Dominic Philips and David Geraghty...
, Bell X1 and Mary Kate Geraghty, lead singer of Fight Like ApesFight Like ApesFight Like Apes are an Irish alternative rock band formed in Dublin in 2006.Their current members are Mary-Kate "MayKay" Geraghty , Jamie "Pockets" Fox and Tom Ryan , while original member Adrian Mullan left the band in 2010 due to creative differences...
. - Barbra StreisandBarbra StreisandBarbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
performed in Celbridge at Castletown HouseCastletown HouseCastletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland's is a Palladian country house built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. It formed the centrepiece of a estate...
on 14 July 2007 as part of her European tour.
See also
- List of towns in the Republic of Ireland | Market Houses in IrelandMarket Houses in the Republic of IrelandMarket houses are a notable feature of many Irish towns with varying styles of architecture, size and ornamentation making for a most interesting feature of the streetscape. Originally there were three, four or even five bays on the ground floor which were an open arcade. An upper floor was...
External links
- Map of Celbridge
- Development Plan
- Local area plan
- Hot debate on Celbridge local area plan (Kildare Today)
- County Kildare Heritage Site
- Kildare Archaeological Society
- Reminiscence of local schoolteacher traces bus service back to 1920
- Slater's Directory 1846
- History of workhouse by Henry Bauress, Leinster Leader, Feb 23 2006
- Aghards national school website introduction to history of town
- St Mochua national school website introduction to history of town
- Cunninghams Funeral Directors, Ardclough Road, Celbridge, Co. Kildare