Historical Background:

{ See Province of LEINSTER }

FORMATION of COUNTY KILDARE

In the reign of King John, parts of the territories of Moy Liffey, Offaley, Leix, and Cualan, were formed into the county Kildare; but it was only a "liberty" dependent on the Jurisdiction of the Sheriffs of Dublin, until A.D. 1296, in the reign of Edward the First, when Kildare was constituted a distinct county.

It was called Coill-dara, or the "Wood of Oaks," as oak forests abounded there in ancient times; or, according to others, Cill-dara or the "Church of the Oaks," as it is said that the first church founded at the present town of Kildare was built amidst oak trees.

THE EARLY YEARS in KILDARE

The ancient kingdom of Leinster comprised the present counties of Wexford, Wicklow, Carlow, and Queen's County, the greater part of Kildare, of King's County, Kilkenny, and that part of Dublin south of the river Liffey. Parts of Kilkenny bordering on Tipperary, and the southern parts of the King's County, belonged to ancient Munster; and some of the northern part of the King's County belonged to the province of Meath. The above named territories continued to be the limits of Leinster down to the reign of Queen Elizabeth; but in after times the old kingdom of Meath was added to Leinster, and also the county Louth, which was a part of the ancient kingdom of Ulster.

The territories now forming the counties of Dublin and Klldare are connected with some of the earliest events in Irish history: Partholan or Bartholinus, the Scythian, who planted the first colony in Ireland, had his residencie at Binn Eadair, now the Hill of Howth. At this place Bartholinus was cut off by a plague, together with his entire colony; all of whom were buried, according to some authors, at Moy-nEalta or the Plain of Birds, afterwards called Clontarf; but according to O'Brien these people were buried at a place called Tamlachta Muntir Partholain (signifying the burial cairns of the people of Bartholinus), which is now the Hill of Tallaght, near Dublin. Crimthann Niadh-Nar, Monarch of Ireland when Christ was born, had his chief residence and fortress, called Dun Crimthann or Crimthann's Fort, on the Hill of Howth; and so had Conary the great, the 97th Monarch of Ireland. Crimthann Niadh-Nar was a famous warrior, celebrated for his military expeditions to Gaul and Britain; and brought to Ireland from foreign countries many valuable spoils,; amongst other things a gilded war-chariot, two hounds coupled together with a silver chain, and valued at three hundred cows; according to the Glossary of King Cormac MacCullenan of Cashel, this was the first introduction of greyhounds into Ireland. The ancient Irish kings and chieftains (like their Celtic or Scythian ancestors), as well as those of Gaul and Britain, fought in war-chariots, in the same manner as did Maud (elsewhere mentioned), the famous heroine and Queen of Connaught; and as did the British Queen Boadicea, etc. Numerous memorials of the most remote ages still exist in the counties of Dublin and Kildare, as in all other parts of Ireland; of which full accounts may be found in D'Alton's History of the County, and of the Archbishops of Dublin; Ware's and Grose's Antiquities; Vallancey's Collectanea, etc. --  CONNELLAN

THE following accounts of the ancient chiefs of the territories now forming the counties of Dublin and Kildare, together with some of the princes and chiefs of Meath have been collected from the Topographies of O'Dugan, O'Heerin, the Annals of the Four Masters, O'Brien, O'Halloran, MacGeoghegan, Ware, O'Flaherty, Charles O'Connor, Seward, and various other sources.

O'Connor, princes of Offaley; O'Moore, princes of Leix; O'Dempsey, lords of Clanmaliere, all possessed parts of Kildare. The O'Tooles, princes of Imaile, in Wicklow, also possessed some of the southern parts of Kildare; and the O'Tooles, together with the O'Byrnes, extended their power over the southern parts of Dublin, comprising the districts in the Dublin mountains...

• MacFogarty, lords of South Bregia, are mentioned by the Four Masters in the tenth century.

• O'Clardha or O'Carey, chiefs of Cairbre O'Ciardha, now the barony of "Carbery" in the county Kildare.

• O'Murcain or O'Murcan.

• O'Bracain or O'Bracken, chiefs of Moy Liffey. The O'Murcans and O'Brackens appear to have possessed the districts along the Liffey, near Dublin.

• O'Gealbhroin, chiefs of Clar Liffé, or the Plain of the Liffey, a territory on the borders of Dublin and Kildare.

• O'Fiachra, chiefs of Hy-Ineachruis at Almhuin [Allen]; and O'Haodha or O'Hea, chiefs of Hy-Deadhaidh: territories comprised in the county Kildare.

• O'Muirthe or O'Murtha, chiefs of Cineal Flaitheamhuin (or Clan Fleming); and O'Fintighearan, chiefs of Hy-Mealla: territories also situated in the county Kildare, it would appear in the baronies of East and West Ophaley or Offaley.

• O'Cullin or O'Cullen, chiefs of Coille Culluin (or the Woods of Cullen), now the barony of "Kilcullen" in the county Kildare.

• O'Colgan, MacDonnell, O'Dempsey, and O'Dunn, were all chiefs of note in Kildare.

• O'Dubthaigh or O'Duffy, one of the Leinster clans of the race of the Monarch Cahir Mór; and of the same descent as MacMorough, kings of Leinster, and O'Toole and O'Byrne, chiefs of Wicklow. Originally located in Kildare and Carlow, and afterwards in Dublin and Meath, the O'Duffys migrated in modern times to Louth, Monaghan, Cavan, Galway, and Roscommon.

• O'Fagan or MacFagan are considered by some to be of English descent. D'Alton, in his "History of the County Dublin," mentions some of this family who, in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries were high sheriffs, in Meath and Dublin. In former times the Fagans of Feltrim, near Dublin, and other parts of that county, were highly respectable, and held extensive possessions.

• O'Murphy, chiefs in Wexford, were also numerous in the counties of Dublin and Meath.

• O'Mullen, numerous in Meath, Dublin, and Kildare.

• MacGiolla-mocholmog or Gilcolm, and O'Dunchada or O'Donoghoe, are mentioned by O'Dugan as lords of Fingal, near Dublin: and there was another MacGiollamocholmog, lord of a territory on the borders of Wicklow.

• O'Muircheartaigh, O'Moriarty, or O'Murtagh, chiefs of the tribe of O'Maine; and O'Modarn, chiefs of Cineal Eochain, are mentioned by O'Dugan as chiefs of the Britons or Welsh; and appear to have been located near Dublin.

• MacMuireagain, lords of East Liffey, in the tenth  century.

MAJOR LANDHOLDERS in KILDARE

In the county Kildare, the following have been the chief families of Anglo-Norman and English descent:

Earl Strongbow (a quo, probably the names "Strong" and "Stronge") having become heir to the kingdom of Leinster, as son-in-law of Dermod MacMurrough, king of that province, as already mentioned, gave grants of various parts of Leinster to his followers.

Amongst other grants, Strongbow gave in Kilare:

• to Maurice Fitzgerald, Naas and Offelan, which had been part of "O'Kelly's Country;"

• to Myler Fitzhenry he gave Carbery;

• to Robert de Bermingham, Offaley, part of "O'Connor's Country;"

• to Adam and Richard de Hereford, a large territory about Leixlip, and the district called De Saltu Salmonis or the Salmon Leap (on the banks of the river Liffey, between Leixlip and Celbridge), from which the baronies of North and South "Salt" derive their name;

• and to Robert FitzRichard he gave the barony of Narragh.

The county Kildare, in the thirteenth century, became the inheritance of Sibilla, one of the daughters of William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, by Isabella, daughter of Strongbow, and grand-daughter of Dermod MacMurrough, King of Leinster; and Sibilla having married William Ferrars, Earl of Derby, he became in right of his wife lord of Kildare; which title passed (by intermarriage of his daughter Agnes) to William de Vesey, a nobleman of the De Veseys, barons of Knapton in Yorkshire; and this William de Vesey was appointed by King Edward the First lord justice of Ireland, and was lord of Kildare and Rathangan. But having some contests with John FitzThomas Fitzgerald, baron of Offaley, who charged him with high treason, it was awarded to decide their disputes by single combat. De Vesey, having declined the combat and fled to France, was attainted, and his posessions and titles were conferred on Fitzgerald, who, A.D, 1316, was, by King Edward the Second, created earl of Kildare; and his descendants were, in modern times, created dukes of Leinster.

The family of De Riddlesford, in the reign of King John, got the district of Castledermot, which was part of the territory of O'Toole, prince of Imaile, in Wicklow;

and Richard de St. Michael got from King John the district of Rheban, near Athy, part of "O'Moore's Country;"

and from the St. Michaels, lords of Rheban, the manors of Rheban and Woodstock in Kildare, with Dunamase in the Queen's County, passed to the Fitzgeralds, barons of Offaley, A.D. 1424, by the marriage of Thomas Fitzgerald with Dorothea, daughter of Anthony O'Moore, prince of Leix.

In Kildare, the following have been denoted MAJOR LANDOWNERS since the Anglo- Norman invasion:

• Fitzgerald, barons of Offaley, earls and marquises of Kildare, and dukes of Leinster.

• The title of "Earl of Leinster" was, A.D. 1659, borne by the family of Cholmondely; and the title of "Duke of Leinster" was, A.D. 1719, held by a descendant of Duke Schomberg.

• De Yesey or De Vesci, lords of Kildare and Rathangan.

• De Lounder, barons of Naas;

• Preston, also barons of Naas.

• St. Michael, barons of Rheban.

• FitzEustace, barons of Kilcullen in Kildare, of Portlester in Meath, and viscounts of Baltinglass in Wicklow.

• Bourke, barons of Naas, and earls of Mayo.

• Bermingham, barons of Carbery.

• Wellesley, barons of Narragh.

• Allen, viscounts of Allen in Kildare, and barons of Stillorgan in Dublin.

• Burgh, barons Down.

• Pomeroy, barons Harberton, and viscounts of Carbery.

• Agar, barons of Somerton, and earls of Normanton.

• Lawless, barons of Cloncurry.

• The barons De Roebeck.

• Moore, earls and marquises of Drogheda, and barons of Mellifont in Louth, reside at Monasterevan in Kildare.

• Scott, earls of Clonmel;

• The family of Clements, earls of Leitrim, had seats in Kildare.

The other denoted MAJOR LANDOWNERS in Kildare have been those of:

Aylmer, Archbold, Bagot, Burgh or Bourke, Butler, Brereton, Burrough, Boyce, Dungan or Dongan, Keating, Eustace or FitzEustace, Preston, Lawless, Wogan, Warren, White, Woulfe, Ponsonby, Nangle, Hort, etc. Some of the Aylmers of Kildare became barons of Balrath in Meath; and Arthur Woulfe, chief justice of the Queen's Bench, who was created "Viscount Kilwarden," was of the Wolfes or Woulfes of Kildare.