Historic county of Ireland
Kildare
County Kildare
Province: Leinster
Open plain, river country and the great grassland of the Curragh.
Kildare is one of Ireland’s great lowland counties. Broad plains dominate its centre, crossed by major river systems and interrupted by remarkably little high ground. The Curragh provides its most distinctive landscape: an immense open grassland whose short turf has helped make the county synonymous with horses and racing.
Towards the west, cultivated ground increasingly gives way to the bog-edge landscapes of the Midlands. Kildare’s defining feature is therefore space — low horizons, grassland, river and bog rather than mountain or coast.
- St Brigid's county and the plains
- County by the 13th century
- The Curragh and horse country
- Named from the church of the oak
County geography
The Curragh
The Curragh is much more than a racecourse.
Its broad natural grassland gives central Kildare one of Ireland’s most recognisable open landscapes. Horse breeding, training and racing developed around that physical environment, giving the county one of its strongest cultural associations.
River country
The Liffey and Barrow systems give Kildare important internal corridors, while other waters drain towards neighbouring basins.
Rivers interrupt an otherwise overwhelmingly open landscape and provide much of the county’s settlement structure.
Towards the bogs
Western Kildare approaches the great raised-bog landscapes of the Midlands.
The transition from grassland and farming plain to bog country adds another distinctive landscape without breaking the county’s generally low and open character.
County questions
Questions about Kildare
Why is Kildare so strongly associated with horses?
Because the county contains an exceptional concentration of racing, breeding and training activity centred especially on the Curragh. The association grows directly from its open grassland landscape.
What does Cill Dara mean?
It means “church of the oak”, preserving the Irish name associated with Kildare.
County record
Names and continuity
- Formal name
- County Kildare
- Province
- Leinster
- Alternative name
- County Kildare
Kildare is one of the twelve geographic counties of Leinster. Its open plain, Curragh grassland, rivers and bog-edge country give it a coherent landscape quite unlike Ireland’s mountain and coastal counties.