Ardclough
Encyclopedia
Ardclough, officially Ardclogh , is a village and community in the parish of Kill
County Kildare
, Ireland
, two miles (3 km) 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 tower
at Oughterard
. It is the burial place and probable birthplace of Arthur Guinness
, who is said to have returned to the maternal homestead of the Reads at Huttonread to give birth in the tradition of the time.
, Lyons Hill
and Oughterard
on some of the most fertile soils in Ireland. The River Liffey passes within a one kilometre radius. The main transport arteries to the south and south west of Ireland pass through, the main railway line to Cork and Tralee, the canal to Shannonbridge, and the N7 which passes nearby.
While the original townland of Ardclough was situated west of the canal in land that is now inaccessible, and contained the site on the opposite bank of the canal of the original (1810) parish church of Lyons and a group of quarries there, the place now referred to Ardclough approximates more closely to the townlands of Tipperstown and Wheatfield, where housing was built in 1876 and 1989. The development of 54 houses on a nearby site was proposed, but has yet to begin. Construction on a new 16-classroom national school began near the original site of Tipperstown House in January 2011. A new graveyard is also planned on a site south east of the current centre of the village.
and Oughterard in Co Kildare and Windmill Hill, Athgoe, and Rusty Hill in Co Dublin, are composed of clay-slate, grauwacke, grauwaeke-slate, and granite. The grauwacke consists of small and finely rounded and angular grains of quartz, numerous minute scales of mica, small fragments of clay-slate, and sometimes portions of felspar. The grauwacke consists of small and finely rounded and angular grains of quartz, numerous minute scales of mica, small fragments of clay-slate, and sometimes portions of felspar and red sandstone.
.
Hill, rare for a dry-land location from the time. Lyons Hill
was the inauguration site and base for 10 Uí Dúnchada kings of Leinster
. The Battle of Glen Mama, where Brian Boru
defeated Máel Mórda
king of Leinster and Sitric Silkbeard King of Dublin in 999, is believed to have taken place on the Dublin side of Oughterard Hill. The area was accorded its own place-legend in the Dindsenchas
, Liamuin
. Lyons
subsequently became home to the Aylmer, Tyrrell and Lawless families.
founded by St Briga (feast day January 21) around 650 and site of a round tower. Recent research has estimated that the ruined church there dates to 1350, not 1609 as previously believed. It was the site of a Royal Manor. Whitechurch
became an important monastic site after it was established in 1300 and enfifed in 1506. A single headstone is the only reminder of the church of Castledillon
(1000), once a parish of its own. The graveyard beside another disappeared church at Clonaghlis (pre 1206) is still in use while Castlewarden
(c1200) has disappeared.
A mass house built below Oughter Ard
hill in 1714 became the site of the first modern Catholic church in 1810 and a school in 1839. Lyons
parish was united with Oughterard in 1541 and with Kill
in 1693. The centre of the parish moved to Kill in 1823. The former Lyons parish church (built 1810, refurbished 1896 was deconsecrated in 1985 and is now a private house. It was replaced by new church in Tipperstown, designed by Paul O'Daly. A marble font, brought from Rome by Valentine Lawless and presented to the church, was removed to Lyons House for safe keeping but remains the property of the parish.
A well-preserved moated site at Puddlehall dates to the 13th century and was cited by University College Dublin
Professor Sean O Riordain
as one of the finest examples of a moated house in Ireland. Lyons
, Reeves
and Oughter Ard
tower houses date to the 14th century. The large houses of Bishopscourt
(constructed 1790) and Lyons (constructed 1804-10) provided an economic focus of the community in the 19th century, as did the Grand Canal (reached Ardclough 1763) in the vicinity of the 13th lock.
took over construction of the canal in 1768, the proposed canal capacity was reduced from 170 ton barges to 40 ton barges. Canal records show that “ Lyons or Clonaughles lock” was reduced in size in 1783, but the canal through the thirteenth lock serves as a reminder of Omer’s original plan, 20 feet (6.1 m) wide, compared with the 14 feet (4.3 m) width adopted by Trail.
Ardclough bridge was named in original plans for the Bruton family of Clonaghlis but constructed with a name plate bearing the name of the Henry family of Straffan
. From 1777 a local river, the Morrel was proposed as water feeder for the canal, construction resumed and the first passenger boats were towed to Sallins
in February 1779.
Local landowner Valentine Lawless was a canal enthusiast, constructing the Lyons
mill and lockyard village complex in the 1820s and serving as chairman of the Grand Canal Company five times during his lifetime. The canal was an important, if slow, passenger thoroughfare feeding passenger’s to John Barry’s hotel at Lyons. When in 1834 Flyboats increased the average speed for passenger boats from 3 mi/h to 9 mi/h Ireland’s first railway was already under construction.
The canal peaked at 120,615 passengers in 1846, the year construction started on the Dublin-Cork railway line. When a Dublin-Galway railway line was opened in 1850 the closure of the rarely-profitable passenger service followed in 1852. Cargo traffic continued to use the canal for another 108 years, peaking at 379.045 tons in 1865 when an average of 90 barges a day passed through Ardclough. The canal was motorised 1911-24 and closed to cargo in 1960, but is still a popular thoroughfare for leisure boats. The tracks of the ropes of the horse drawn barges can still be traced at Ardclough canal bridge. A folk belief prevailed that the canal was haunted at the thirteenth lock because it had been dug through a graveyard, a possible reference to nearby Clonaghlis graveyard.
Station (used until 1947) opened communications to Dublin for cattle and horse dealers. A railway accident
on October 5, 1853, the third worst in Irish rail history, killed 18 people including four children in the townland of Clownings. It occurred in heavy fog when a goods train ran in to the back of a stalled passenger train at a point 974 yards south of the former Straffan
Station. The goods train smashed the first class carriage, which was driven a quarter of a mile through station. The tragedy was the subject of a poem by Donegal-born poet William Allingham
. It was the third worst accident in rail history to that date.
In the Ardclough Sedition Case
in October 1917, Nora J Murray
, a nationalist poet and writer, the headmistress of Ardclough National School was accused by local Irish Unionist Bertram Hugh Barton of 'sedition in time of war' under the Defence of the Realm Act. He complained about her teaching of Irish history, illegal at the time. in a complaint made in the name of one of Barton's tenants, Mrs. Kathleen Bourke. After a local defence fund was mounted by the INTO and the local community, the charged was not pursued by the Dublin Castle regime but Murray she was forced out of the area and the house where she lodged was later burned by the British Army.
The Barnewell homestead at Lyons was the headquarters of anti-treaty forces in north Kildare during the Irish Civil War
.
On June 22, 1975 Whitechurch
resident Christy Phelan was killed when he engaged a group of men planting a bomb on the railway line near Baronrath. The bomb was designed to derail the train headed for the Republican Wolfe Tone commemoration at Bodenstown. His selfless intervention prevented greater loss of life. This is one of a number of British undercover operations carried out against civilian targets in the Republic during the Troubles, currently under investigation by the BarronCommission.
The biggest train robbery to date in the history of Ireland took place at Kearneystown on March 31, 1976 when £150,000 was taken from the Dublin-Cork mail train.
Daniel O’Connell (1775–1847) fought a duel with John d’Esterre at Oughterard in 1815 (February 1).
A cluster of warehouses and workshops at Lyons lockyard village
located on the canal at 53.29947°N 6.55699°W. was largely constructed in the 1820s, featuring a mill (leased to William Palmer 1839 and Joseph Shackleton, second cousin of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton
, 1853, converted to roller mill 1887), hotel (leased by Patrick Barry 1840-60), police station (active 1820-73 ) and boatyard. This complex employed over 100 people at their peak but declined when the focus shifted away from the canal, the decline in fortunes of the Lawless family and most dramatically as a consequence of the accidental burning of the mill in 1903. In September 2006 the buildings were restored as themed residences and a restaurant.
(community associated with Hazlehatch Irish Harpers 1887-8, active as Ardclough 1924-5, refounded 1936) is the smallest community to win a Kildare County Senior Football Championship
, defeating an Army team that featured All Ireland and inter-provincial players in the replayed final of 1949. The hurling
club was founded in 1948. One of the most successful in Kildare, it has won 12 Kildare County Senior Hurling Championships
- in 1968, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 2004, and 2006. In 2006 they went on to become Leinster Intermediate club champions, losing to the eventual All Ireland champions in extra time in the quarter final, and were awarded Kildare GAA
club of the year. Five Ardclough players were selected on the Kildare hurling team of the millennium: Richie Cullen, Tommy Christian, Bobby Burke, Johnny Walsh and Mick Dwane. The 2008 Kildare senior hurling panel includes six Ardclough players.
Ardclough Camogie
club (founded 1962 by Mick Houlihan, revived 1983 by Phyllis Finneran) won a Kildare senior championship in 1968. Bridget Cushen was selected on the Kildare camogie team of the century.
(1911, regarded as probably the finest two year old in Irish racing history), Captain Christy
(winner Cheltenham Gold Cup
, 1974), Star Appeal
(winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
, 1975) and Kicking King
(winner Cheltenham Gold Cup
, 2005). Horse breeder Edward Cub Kennedy came from Baronrath, while father-and-son trainers Pat Taaffe
and Tom Taaffe
came from Alasty. As a jockey Pat Taaffe
(1930–92) rode two winners of the English Grand National
, Quare Times in 1955 and Gay Trip in 1970 and was Irish National Hunt champion six times.
laid out Ireland's first golf course. Ardclough had a soccer club briefly in 1941-3.
in 1914 and at the 1949 Kildare
County Senior Football final. There was a branch of the LDF/FCA
(November 8, 1941), Fianna Fáil
(1931), Labour (1943), Fine Gael
(1943) and Macra na Feirme
(1955). There are active branches of the Irish Countrywomen's Association
(active 1941-42 and revived 1974, with Maura Costello as Chairwoman) and Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann
(branch established in 1966 with Paddy Corry as Chairman).
Kill, County Kildare
Kill is a village and parish in County Kildare, Ireland near the county's border with Dublin beside the N7. Its population of 2,510 makes it the 13th largest town in County Kildare. Kill is the birthpace of the Fenian John Devoy, sometimes regarded as the "grandfather of the modern Irish state"...
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...
, two miles (3 km) 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 tower
Round tower
Round tower may refer to:Types of tower:* Irish round tower, a type of early mediaeval stone tower* Broch, a type of Iron Age drystone structure found in Scotland* Round-tower church, a type of church found mainly in England...
at Oughterard
Oughter Ard
-Arthur Guinness and Other Notable Burials:Until the construction of the turnpike road in the adjoining valley in 1729, Oughterard was situated on the main road from Dublin to Limerick and Cork...
. It is the burial place and probable birthplace 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....
, who is said to have returned to the maternal homestead of the Reads at Huttonread to give birth in the tradition of the time.
Location
Ardclough is located located at 53.29807°N 6.56874°W. just below two detached foothills of the Wicklow MountainsWicklow Mountains
The Wicklow Mountains form the largest continuous upland area in Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into Counties Carlow, Wexford and Dublin. Where the mountains extend into County Dublin, they are known locally as the Dublin Mountains...
, Lyons Hill
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...
and Oughterard
Oughter Ard
-Arthur Guinness and Other Notable Burials:Until the construction of the turnpike road in the adjoining valley in 1729, Oughterard was situated on the main road from Dublin to Limerick and Cork...
on some of the most fertile soils in Ireland. The River Liffey passes within a one kilometre radius. The main transport arteries to the south and south west of Ireland pass through, the main railway line to Cork and Tralee, the canal to Shannonbridge, and the N7 which passes nearby.
While the original townland of Ardclough was situated west of the canal in land that is now inaccessible, and contained the site on the opposite bank of the canal of the original (1810) parish church of Lyons and a group of quarries there, the place now referred to Ardclough approximates more closely to the townlands of Tipperstown and Wheatfield, where housing was built in 1876 and 1989. The development of 54 houses on a nearby site was proposed, but has yet to begin. Construction on a new 16-classroom national school began near the original site of Tipperstown House in January 2011. A new graveyard is also planned on a site south east of the current centre of the village.
Geology
The soil is principally a rich loam, varying from 10 to 16 inches (406.4 mm) in depth, and resting on a hard and compact substratum of floetz limestone. The water table is unusually high. The low group of nearby hills, which includes LyonsLyons 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...
and Oughterard in Co Kildare and Windmill Hill, Athgoe, and Rusty Hill in Co Dublin, are composed of clay-slate, grauwacke, grauwaeke-slate, and granite. The grauwacke consists of small and finely rounded and angular grains of quartz, numerous minute scales of mica, small fragments of clay-slate, and sometimes portions of felspar. The grauwacke consists of small and finely rounded and angular grains of quartz, numerous minute scales of mica, small fragments of clay-slate, and sometimes portions of felspar and red sandstone.
Etymology
‘Aclagh’, marked in Alexander Taylor’s map of 1783 on the opposite bank of the canal from the site of the masshouse (later old Ardclough church) and school, is believed to be the first occurrence of the name. Ard Cloch literally means high stone, but there is no high stone in the area today. There has been a suggestion that the name is derived from Ard Clochar, referring to the convent at Oughter ArdOughter Ard
-Arthur Guinness and Other Notable Burials:Until the construction of the turnpike road in the adjoining valley in 1729, Oughterard was situated on the main road from Dublin to Limerick and Cork...
.
Habitat
The area provides a combination of hill, wood and water habitats. More than 35 species of birds have been identified and coarse fishing for pike, perch, roach and rudd is popular along the canal bank.Royal site
The earliest evidence of human habitation at Ardclough was the discovery of a flint dated to 4800–3600BC, at Castlewarden below Oughter ArdOughter Ard
-Arthur Guinness and Other Notable Burials:Until the construction of the turnpike road in the adjoining valley in 1729, Oughterard was situated on the main road from Dublin to Limerick and Cork...
Hill, rare for a dry-land location from the time. Lyons Hill
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...
was the inauguration site and base for 10 Uí Dúnchada kings of Leinster
Kings of Leinster
The following is a provisional list of the kings of Leinster who ruled the Irish kingdom of Leinster up to 1632 with the death of Domhnall Spainnach MacMurrough-Kavanagh, the last legitimately inaugurated head of the MacMurrough Kavanagh royal line...
. The Battle of Glen Mama, where Brian Boru
Brian Boru
Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig, , , was an Irish king who ended the domination of the High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill. Building on the achievements of his father, Cennétig mac Lorcain, and especially his elder brother, Mathgamain, Brian first made himself King of Munster, then subjugated...
defeated Máel Mórda
Máel Mórda mac Murchada
Máel Mórda mac Murchada was King of Leinster.Son of Murchad mac Finn and brother of Gormflaith, he belonged to the Uí Fáeláin sept of the Uí Dúnlainge, whose lands lay around Naas on the middle reaches of the River Liffey, in modern County Kildare.Máel Mórda is best known as the enemy of Brian...
king of Leinster and Sitric Silkbeard King of Dublin in 999, is believed to have taken place on the Dublin side of Oughterard Hill. The area was accorded its own place-legend in the Dindsenchas
Dindsenchas
Dindsenchas or Dindshenchas , meaning "lore of places" is a class of onomastic text in early Irish literature, recounting the origins of place-names and traditions concerning events and characters associates with the places in question...
, Liamuin
Liamuin
“Liamuin” is a poem in Dinnsenchas Erann explaining the medieval Irish placelore relating to nine assemblies and noted places in Ireland. The premise is largely dedicated to the etymological legend for Lyons, a hill, former royal inauguration site and former parish situated near the banks of the...
. 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...
subsequently became home to the Aylmer, Tyrrell and Lawless families.
Historic buildings
There are five medieval churches and three castles in the area. Most important is Oughter ArdOughter Ard
-Arthur Guinness and Other Notable Burials:Until the construction of the turnpike road in the adjoining valley in 1729, Oughterard was situated on the main road from Dublin to Limerick and Cork...
founded by St Briga (feast day January 21) around 650 and site of a round tower. Recent research has estimated that the ruined church there dates to 1350, not 1609 as previously believed. It was the site of a Royal Manor. Whitechurch
Whitechurch, County Kildare
Whitechurch is a townland, monastic site, and former parish situated between Straffan and Kill county Kildare near the M7 motorway in Ireland.-Etymology and history:...
became an important monastic site after it was established in 1300 and enfifed in 1506. A single headstone is the only reminder of the church of Castledillon
Castledillon, County Kildare
Castledillon is a townland and former parish on the River Liffey near Straffan situated on the banks of the River Liffey 25 km upstream from the Irish capital Dublin.-Etymology:...
(1000), once a parish of its own. The graveyard beside another disappeared church at Clonaghlis (pre 1206) is still in use while Castlewarden
Castlewarden, County Kildare
Castlewarden is a townland, monastic site and former parish situated between Ardclough and Kill, County Kildare just off the N7 in Ireland. The district is home to a golf club and a riding school today.-Etymology and History:...
(c1200) has disappeared.
A mass house built below Oughter Ard
Oughter Ard
-Arthur Guinness and Other Notable Burials:Until the construction of the turnpike road in the adjoining valley in 1729, Oughterard was situated on the main road from Dublin to Limerick and Cork...
hill in 1714 became the site of the first modern Catholic church in 1810 and a school in 1839. 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...
parish was united with Oughterard in 1541 and with Kill
Kill, County Kildare
Kill is a village and parish in County Kildare, Ireland near the county's border with Dublin beside the N7. Its population of 2,510 makes it the 13th largest town in County Kildare. Kill is the birthpace of the Fenian John Devoy, sometimes regarded as the "grandfather of the modern Irish state"...
in 1693. The centre of the parish moved to Kill in 1823. The former Lyons parish church (built 1810, refurbished 1896 was deconsecrated in 1985 and is now a private house. It was replaced by new church in Tipperstown, designed by Paul O'Daly. A marble font, brought from Rome by Valentine Lawless and presented to the church, was removed to Lyons House for safe keeping but remains the property of the parish.
A well-preserved moated site at Puddlehall dates to the 13th century and was cited by University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
Professor Sean O Riordain
Seán Ó Ríordáin
-Life:He was born in Baile Mhúirne, County Cork, the eldest of three children of Seán Ó Ríordáin of Baile Mhúirne and Mairéad Ní Loineacháin of Cúil Ealta....
as one of the finest examples of a moated house in Ireland. 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...
, Reeves
Reeves, County Kildare
Reeves is a townland, and tower house situated near Ardclough and Lyons Hill County Kildare, situated on the banks of the River Liffey 20 km upstream from the Irish capital Dublin.-Etymology and history:...
and Oughter Ard
Oughter Ard
-Arthur Guinness and Other Notable Burials:Until the construction of the turnpike road in the adjoining valley in 1729, Oughterard was situated on the main road from Dublin to Limerick and Cork...
tower houses date to the 14th century. The large houses of 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:...
(constructed 1790) and Lyons (constructed 1804-10) provided an economic focus of the community in the 19th century, as did the Grand Canal (reached Ardclough 1763) in the vicinity of the 13th lock.
Grand canal
When work on the Grand Canal begun in 1756 Ardclough’s was one of the first sections to be dug. The canal reached Ardclough in 1763, when the 13th lock, a 137 feet (41.8 m) double lock built with Pozzuolona mortar, was opened, following to the ambitious design of the canal’s original engineer, Thomas Omer. After Omer's plans proved too expensive a new engineer, John TrailJohn Trail
John Trail is an Australian sprint canoer who competed in the mid 1970s. He was eliminated in the semifinals of the K-4 1000 m event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.-References:*...
took over construction of the canal in 1768, the proposed canal capacity was reduced from 170 ton barges to 40 ton barges. Canal records show that “ Lyons or Clonaughles lock” was reduced in size in 1783, but the canal through the thirteenth lock serves as a reminder of Omer’s original plan, 20 feet (6.1 m) wide, compared with the 14 feet (4.3 m) width adopted by Trail.
Ardclough bridge was named in original plans for the Bruton family of Clonaghlis but constructed with a name plate bearing the name of the Henry family of Straffan
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...
. From 1777 a local river, the Morrel was proposed as water feeder for the canal, construction resumed and the first passenger boats were towed to Sallins
Sallins
Sallins is a suburban town in County Kildare, Ireland, situated 3.5 km north of the town centre of Naas, from which it is separated by the M7 motorway. Sallins is the anglicised name of Na Solláin which means "The Willows"....
in February 1779.
Local landowner Valentine Lawless was a canal enthusiast, constructing the 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...
mill and lockyard village complex in the 1820s and serving as chairman of the Grand Canal Company five times during his lifetime. The canal was an important, if slow, passenger thoroughfare feeding passenger’s to John Barry’s hotel at Lyons. When in 1834 Flyboats increased the average speed for passenger boats from 3 mi/h to 9 mi/h Ireland’s first railway was already under construction.
The canal peaked at 120,615 passengers in 1846, the year construction started on the Dublin-Cork railway line. When a Dublin-Galway railway line was opened in 1850 the closure of the rarely-profitable passenger service followed in 1852. Cargo traffic continued to use the canal for another 108 years, peaking at 379.045 tons in 1865 when an average of 90 barges a day passed through Ardclough. The canal was motorised 1911-24 and closed to cargo in 1960, but is still a popular thoroughfare for leisure boats. The tracks of the ropes of the horse drawn barges can still be traced at Ardclough canal bridge. A folk belief prevailed that the canal was haunted at the thirteenth lock because it had been dug through a graveyard, a possible reference to nearby Clonaghlis graveyard.
Notable events
The Great Southern & Western Railway (constructed 1844) and StraffanStraffan
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...
Station (used until 1947) opened communications to Dublin for cattle and horse dealers. A railway accident
Straffan Rail Accident 1853
The Straffan Rail Disaster on October 5, 1853 occurred when a goods train ran into the back of a stationary passenger train a quarter of a mile south of Straffan Station in County Kildare.-Background:...
on October 5, 1853, the third worst in Irish rail history, killed 18 people including four children in the townland of Clownings. It occurred in heavy fog when a goods train ran in to the back of a stalled passenger train at a point 974 yards south of the former Straffan
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...
Station. The goods train smashed the first class carriage, which was driven a quarter of a mile through station. The tragedy was the subject of a poem by Donegal-born poet William Allingham
William Allingham
William Allingham was an Irish man of letters and a poet.-Biography:He was born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, Ireland and was the son of the manager of a local bank who was of English descent...
. It was the third worst accident in rail history to that date.
In the Ardclough Sedition Case
Ardclough Sedition Case
Ardclough Sedition Case was a complaint and threat of prosecution leveled against “Nora J Murray” , an Irish poetess and school teacher, during the revolutionary period.-Complaint:...
in October 1917, Nora J Murray
Nora J Murray
Nora J Murray was an Irish poetess and school teacher at the heart of the Ardclough Sedition Case, when her teaching of Irish history was the subject of a complaint by a Unionist landlord...
, a nationalist poet and writer, the headmistress of Ardclough National School was accused by local Irish Unionist Bertram Hugh Barton of 'sedition in time of war' under the Defence of the Realm Act. He complained about her teaching of Irish history, illegal at the time. in a complaint made in the name of one of Barton's tenants, Mrs. Kathleen Bourke. After a local defence fund was mounted by the INTO and the local community, the charged was not pursued by the Dublin Castle regime but Murray she was forced out of the area and the house where she lodged was later burned by the British Army.
The Barnewell homestead at Lyons was the headquarters of anti-treaty forces in north Kildare during the Irish Civil War
Irish Civil War
The 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....
.
On June 22, 1975 Whitechurch
Whitechurch, County Kildare
Whitechurch is a townland, monastic site, and former parish situated between Straffan and Kill county Kildare near the M7 motorway in Ireland.-Etymology and history:...
resident Christy Phelan was killed when he engaged a group of men planting a bomb on the railway line near Baronrath. The bomb was designed to derail the train headed for the Republican Wolfe Tone commemoration at Bodenstown. His selfless intervention prevented greater loss of life. This is one of a number of British undercover operations carried out against civilian targets in the Republic during the Troubles, currently under investigation by the BarronCommission.
The biggest train robbery to date in the history of Ireland took place at Kearneystown on March 31, 1976 when £150,000 was taken from the Dublin-Cork mail train.
Daniel O’Connell (1775–1847) fought a duel with John d’Esterre at Oughterard in 1815 (February 1).
Economy
Limestone quarries (sinkhole recorded 1804) made Ardclough townland located at 53.29248°N 6.57296°W. on the canal bank the focus of economic activity from the 1800s until the death of owner Patrick Sullivan in 1879 (peak activity 1850s). This townland was also chosen as the location for Lyons parish church (1811) and St Anne's National School (1834). Boston Lime Company reduced the price to six shillings per load in 1875 but a footnote in the 1891 census returns attributes the decline in population from 75 to 21 in Ardclough townland to the closure of quarries. Stone was brought by light railway to the nearby quays and by canal barge to Sullivan’s lime kiln. Ardclough limestone used on construction of Naas jail and hospital. The census reports of the mid 19th century indicate how the small townland of Ardclough came to give its name to the adjoining district, but by 1901 there were only six people living there.A cluster of warehouses and workshops at Lyons lockyard village
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...
located on the canal at 53.29947°N 6.55699°W. was largely constructed in the 1820s, featuring a mill (leased to William Palmer 1839 and Joseph Shackleton, second cousin of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton
Ernest Shackleton
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE was a notable explorer from County Kildare, Ireland, who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration...
, 1853, converted to roller mill 1887), hotel (leased by Patrick Barry 1840-60), police station (active 1820-73 ) and boatyard. This complex employed over 100 people at their peak but declined when the focus shifted away from the canal, the decline in fortunes of the Lawless family and most dramatically as a consequence of the accidental burning of the mill in 1903. In September 2006 the buildings were restored as themed residences and a restaurant.
Ardclough Relocates
When the GAA club (1936), community hall (1940, reconstructed 2004) and school (1950) were built on a crossroads beneath Henry Bridge located at 53.29807°N 6.86091°W. it shifted the focus of the community to a site in Tipperstown, which is regarded as the modern Ardclough. The population was boosted by houses built at Wheatfield (1940), Boston Hill (1949–51) and Tipperstown (Wheatfield Estate 1976, Lishandra Estate 1989). A new Catholic church designed by Paul O’Daly was sited nearby in 1985.GAA
Ardclough GAAArdclough GAA
----Ardclough is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in Ardclough, County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, whose biggest achievements include winning the Kildare County Senior Football Championship after a replayed final against the Army in 1949, winning 12 Kildare County Senior Hurling Championships,...
(community associated with Hazlehatch Irish Harpers 1887-8, active as Ardclough 1924-5, refounded 1936) is the smallest community to win a Kildare County Senior Football Championship
Kildare Senior Club Football Championship
The Kildare Senior Football Club Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition between the top Kildare Clubs. The winners of the Kildare Championship winners qualify to represent their county in the Leinster Club Championship and in turn, go on to the All-Ireland Senior...
, defeating an Army team that featured All Ireland and inter-provincial players in the replayed final of 1949. The hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
club was founded in 1948. One of the most successful in Kildare, it has won 12 Kildare County Senior Hurling Championships
Kildare Senior Club Hurling Championship
The Kildare Senior Hurling Club Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition between the top Kildare Clubs. The Sean Carey Cup is presented to the winning team...
- in 1968, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 2004, and 2006. In 2006 they went on to become Leinster Intermediate club champions, losing to the eventual All Ireland champions in extra time in the quarter final, and were awarded Kildare GAA
Kildare GAA
For more information see Kildare Senior Club Football Championship or Kildare Senior Club Hurling Championship.The Kildare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association , or Kildare GAA, is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kildare...
club of the year. Five Ardclough players were selected on the Kildare hurling team of the millennium: Richie Cullen, Tommy Christian, Bobby Burke, Johnny Walsh and Mick Dwane. The 2008 Kildare senior hurling panel includes six Ardclough players.
Ardclough 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....
club (founded 1962 by Mick Houlihan, revived 1983 by Phyllis Finneran) won a Kildare senior championship in 1968. Bridget Cushen was selected on the Kildare camogie team of the century.
Equestrianism
Notable Ardclough horses in both flat and national hunt (once described as "the four horses of the Ardcloughalypse") include The TetrarchThe Tetrarch
The Tetrarch was an undefeated Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and an influential sire, who was voted Britain's Two-Year-Old of the 20th Century.-Breeding:...
(1911, regarded as probably the finest two year old in Irish racing history), Captain Christy
Captain Christy
Captain Christy was an Irish-bred and Irish-trained racehorse, who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup as a novice.In spite of an alarming tendency to make mistakes, Captain Christy was one of the very best Irish chasers of his era and his 30 lengths demolition of Bula in the 1975 King George VI Chase at...
(winner Cheltenham Gold Cup
Cheltenham Gold Cup
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in the United Kingdom which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 3 miles and 2½ furlongs , and during its running there are twenty-two fences to be jumped...
, 1974), Star Appeal
Star Appeal
Star Appeal was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred who became the only German-trained racehorse ever to win the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. He was initially raced in Ireland, where his first trainer was John Oxx. He then moved to Germany where he achieved success with his third trainer, Theo Grieper.Star...
(winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year, usually on the first Sunday in October.Popularly referred to as the...
, 1975) and Kicking King
Kicking King
Kicking King is a National Hunt racehorse trained in Ardclough, Co. Kildare, Ireland, by Tom Taaffe. He is best known for his victory in the 2005 Cheltenham Gold Cup, the major Chase run at the Cheltenham Festival...
(winner Cheltenham Gold Cup
Cheltenham Gold Cup
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in the United Kingdom which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 3 miles and 2½ furlongs , and during its running there are twenty-two fences to be jumped...
, 2005). Horse breeder Edward Cub Kennedy came from Baronrath, while father-and-son trainers Pat Taaffe
Pat Taaffe
Pat Taaffe died in 1992 in Dublin Hospital, aged just 62. His health had been poor for some time.Taaffe is a National Hunt jockey who famously rode Arkle to win three Cheltenham Gold Cups between 1964 and 1966...
and Tom Taaffe
Tom Taaffe
Tom Taaffe is an Irish horse trainer based at Portree Stables, Boston, Straffan, in County Kildare.He began training in 94/95 jumps season, having had a successful career as a professional jump jockey for the Arthur Moore stable....
came from Alasty. As a jockey Pat Taaffe
Pat Taaffe
Pat Taaffe died in 1992 in Dublin Hospital, aged just 62. His health had been poor for some time.Taaffe is a National Hunt jockey who famously rode Arkle to win three Cheltenham Gold Cups between 1964 and 1966...
(1930–92) rode two winners of the English Grand National
Grand National
The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
, Quare Times in 1955 and Gay Trip in 1970 and was Irish National Hunt champion six times.
Other sports
David Ritchie who lived at OughterardOughterard
Oughterard is a small town on the banks of the Owenriff River close to the western shore of Lough Corrib in County Galway, Ireland. The population of the town in 2006 was 1,305...
laid out Ireland's first golf course. Ardclough had a soccer club briefly in 1941-3.
Clubs
Ardclough had a brass band which performed at BodenstownBodenstown
Bodenstown is a townland on the outskirts of Sallins in County Kildare, Ireland.The most notable local features are a golf club and the parish cemetery for Sallins. The cemetery is best known as the gravesite of Theobald Wolfe Tone, the eighteenth century Irish revolutionary and leader of the...
in 1914 and at the 1949 Kildare
Kildare GAA
For more information see Kildare Senior Club Football Championship or Kildare Senior Club Hurling Championship.The Kildare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association , or Kildare GAA, is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kildare...
County Senior Football final. There was a branch of the LDF/FCA
FCA
FCA may refer to:In economics:* False Claims Act, United States federal law* Fellow of Chartered Accountants, senior member of the largest Canadian accountancy body for chartered accountants and auditors....
(November 8, 1941), Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna 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...
(1931), Labour (1943), Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
(1943) and Macra na Feirme
Macra na feirme
Macra na Feirme , abbreviated MnaF, is an Irish, voluntary, rural youth organisation. It was founded in 1944 by Stephen Cullinan, a rural science teacher....
(1955). There are active branches of the Irish Countrywomen's Association
Irish Countrywomen's Association
The Irish Countrywomen's Association is the largest women's organisation in Ireland, with over 15,000 members. Founded in 1910, it exists to prove social and educational opportunities for women and to improve the standard of rural and urban life in Ireland...
(active 1941-42 and revived 1974, with Maura Costello as Chairwoman) and Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann
Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann is the primary Irish organisation dedicated to the promotion of the music, song, dance and the language of Ireland. The name of the organisation is often abbreviated to Comhaltas or CCÉ...
(branch established in 1966 with Paddy Corry as Chairman).
Lived in Ardclough
- Gerald AylmerGerald Aylmer, Irish JudgeSir 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:...
(c1500-1559), judge and enforcer for English King Henry VIIIHenry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
in Ireland at the time of the Dissolution of the MonasteriesDissolution of the MonasteriesThe 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...
, - Philippa Bayliss (1940-) artist, lived in the former school house on Ardclough canal bank between 1978 and 2002.
- James Butler (1390–1452), fourth earl of Ormond (the White Earl) who was granted Castlewarden and Oughterard in 1412 for his support for the Lancaster cause.
- Ronan KeatingRonan KeatingRonan Patrick John Keating is an Irish recording artist, singer-songwriter, musician, and philanthropist. Keating debuted on the professional music scene alongside Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately, in 1994 as the lead singer of Boyzone. His solo career started in 1999, and...
(1977-) lead singer with BoyzoneBoyzoneBoyzone are an Irish boy band comprising Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating,Shane Lynch, and formerly Stephen Gately. Boyzone have 19 singles in the top 40 UK charts and 21 singles in the Ire charts. The group currently have 6 UK number one singles and 9 number one singles in Ireland with 12...
, lived briefly in Tipperstown (1998–2000). - Valentine B Lawless 2nd baron Cloncurry (1773–1853), financier of the 1798 and 1803 rebellions and United Irish organiser in London who became a British Peer in September 1831 to add to his Irish title.
- Valentine F Lawless 4th baron Cloncurry (1840–1928), Unionist ConservativeConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
member of the English House of LordsHouse of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, High Sheriff of Kildare 1867, chairman of the Property Defence Association during the Land WarLand WarThe Land War in Irish history was a period of agrarian agitation in rural Ireland in the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s. The agitation was led by the Irish National Land League and was dedicated to bettering the position of tenant farmers and ultimately to a redistribution of land to tenants from...
(1880). A notorious evicting landlord, he owned 6121 acres (24.8 km²) in County KildareCounty KildareCounty 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...
, 5137 acres (20.8 km²) in County LimerickCounty LimerickIt is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
, 923 acres (3.7 km²) in County DublinCounty DublinCounty Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...
and 306 acres (1.2 km²) in County MeathCounty MeathCounty Meath 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 ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...
. - Nora J MurrayNora J MurrayNora J Murray was an Irish poetess and school teacher at the heart of the Ardclough Sedition Case, when her teaching of Irish history was the subject of a complaint by a Unionist landlord...
(1888–1955) Carrick on Shannon born poetess, author of "A Wind Upon the Heath" (1918), school teacher at Ardclough and subject of a notorious "sedition in the classroom"Ardclough Sedition CaseArdclough Sedition Case was a complaint and threat of prosecution leveled against “Nora J Murray” , an Irish poetess and school teacher, during the revolutionary period.-Complaint:...
case in November 1917 when local Unionist landlord Bertram Hugh Barton (1858–1927) complained about her teaching of Irish history. - Brabazon Ponsonby (1679–1758) founder of one of the most powerful political dynasties of the 18th century. Ponsonby descendants include Sir Alec Douglas-HomeAlec Douglas-HomeAlexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel, KT, PC , known as The Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963 and as Sir Alec Douglas-Home from 1963 to 1974, was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1963 to October 1964.He is the last...
(British Prime MinisterPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
from 1963-4) and The Duke of Cambridge, heir to the British throne. - John Ponsonby (1713–1789) of BishopscourtBishopscourt, County KildareBishopscourt 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:...
, speaker of the Irish House of CommonsIrish House of CommonsThe 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...
(1756–1769) - William Brabazon PonsonbyWilliam Ponsonby, 1st Baron PonsonbyWilliam Brabazon Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby , PC was a leading Irish Whig politician, being a member of the Irish House of Commons, and after 1800, of the United Kingdom parliament. Ponsonby was the son of the Hon...
, (1744–1806) leader of the Irish Whigs (1789–1803). - George PonsonbyGeorge PonsonbyGeorge Ponsonby PC , was a British lawyer and Whig politician. He served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1806 to 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents.-Background and education:...
(1755–1817) first counsel to the revenue commissioners. - Mattew Read (1713–1790) brewer and uncle of 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....
, who may have been born in the family homestead (and his maternal family home) at Oughterard. - David George Ritchie (1819–1889), sportsman and resident at Oughterard House, who laid out the first golf course in Ireland on the CurraghCurraghThe Curragh is a flat open plain of almost 5,000 acres of common land in County Kildare, Ireland, between Newbridge and Kildare. This area is well-known for Irish horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is located on the edge of Kildare town, beside the famous Japanese Gardens. Also...
in 1851. - Tony RyanTony RyanThomas Anthony "Tony" Ryan was an Irish multi-millionaire, philanthropist and businessman.He was a founder of Guinness Peat Aviation as well as co-founder of Ryanair with Christy Ryan and Liam Lonergan...
(1936–2007), aviator, founder of RyanairRyanairRyanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....
and Guinness Peat AviationGuinness Peat AviationGuinness Peat Aviation was a Commercial Aircraft Sales and Leasing company set up in 1975 by Aer Lingus, the Guinness Peat Group and Tony Ryan, then an Aer Lingus executive.-History:...
and patron of the arts purchased a home in LyonsLyons HillLyons 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...
some years before his death. He is buried in Clonaghlis. - Lydia Shackleton (1828–1914), botanical artist, lived in Ardclough between April 1853 when she moved to the family's newly acquired mill at LyonsLyons HillLyons 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...
, where she was housekeeper for her elder brother Joseph, until 1860. - John Swayne (d. 1439-42), who was clerk of the diocese of Kildare then canon and prebend of Lyons, before becoming 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...
(1417) and then Armagh (1418). - Ali O'Neill (Nun) 1994–Present: Funny and quite attractive for a nun. Pity she doesn't know the 24 hour clock!
Born in Ardclough
- Emily LawlessEmily LawlessEmily Lawless was an Irish novelist and poet from County Kildare.-Biography :She was born at Lyons House below Lyons Hill, Ardclough, County Kildare. Her grandfather was Valentine Lawless, a member of the United Irishmen and son of a convert from Catholicism to the Church of Ireland. Her father...
(1845–1913) writer and granddaughter of Valentine Lawless born in LyonsLyons HillLyons 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...
. - Charlie McCreevyCharlie McCreevyCharles "Charlie" McCreevy is a former Irish politician. He was the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services from 2004–2010. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD in 1977 and held the seat in Kildare until 2004 when he became Ireland's European Commissioner...
(1948-) Minister for FinanceMinister for Finance (Ireland)The Minister for Finance is the title held by the Irish government minister responsible for all financial and monetary matters. The office-holder controls the Department of Finance and is considered one of the most important members of the Government of Ireland.The current Minister for Finance is...
in the Government of Ireland (1997–2004) and European CommissionerEuropean CommissionerA European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each Member within the college holds a specific portfolio and are led by the President of the European Commission...
for the Internal Market and Services (2004-) grew up on the Grand Canal in the lock house at 14th lock and played under-age hurling and football for Ardclough. - George PonsonbyGeorge PonsonbyGeorge Ponsonby PC , was a British lawyer and Whig politician. He served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1806 to 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents.-Background and education:...
(1755–1817) opposition leader in the British House of CommonsBritish House of CommonsThe House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
at Westminster and leader of the WhigBritish Whig PartyThe Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
Party (1808–1817), born in BishopscourtBishopscourt, County KildareBishopscourt 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:...
he lived in Newlands in a house formerly owned by Arthur WolfeArthur Wolfe, 1st Viscount KilwardenArthur Wolfe, 1st Viscount Kilwarden KC was an Irish peer, politician and judge.Wolfe was born at , near Naas, being the fifth son of John Wolfe and his wife Mary Philpot. Wolfe was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and was called to the Irish Bar in 1766...
. - Mary Ponsonby, wife of Charles GreyCharles Grey, 2nd Earl GreyCharles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, KG, PC , known as Viscount Howick between 1806 and 1807, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 22 November 1830 to 16 July 1834. A member of the Whig Party, he backed significant reform of the British government and was among the...
, British Prime MinisterPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
from 1830 to 1834 and best known nowadays as the Earl Grey of the tea brand. - Major-General Sir William Ponsonby (1772–1815) whose inept charge at the Battle of WaterlooBattle of WaterlooThe Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
resulted in his death at the hands of the Polish Lancers and was studied as an example of failed battle strategy for generations afterwards, - Mary RedmondMary RedmondMary Redmond was an Irish sculptress born in Nenagh, County Tipperary in 1863, and then raised in Ardclough, County Kildare, where her father came to work in the limestone quarries....
(1863–1930) sculptress responsible for the statue of Father Mattew on O’Connell Street Dublin was born in Ardclough and spent her childhood at the Canal Bank where her father was a quarry manager. Her first work was with clay at a sinkhole near her home. - Fintan Farrell an EU Rights achtivest
- Fionn CarrFionn CarrFionn Carr is an Irish rugby union player. Carr currently plays for Leinster, who play in the RaboDirect Pro12 competition, involving teams from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Italy. Carr has represented Ireland at Schools, Under 19's, under 21's and at A level. He plays as a winger or...
, Connaught Rugby Player
Buried in Ardclough
- John Philpot CurranJohn Philpot CurranJohn Philpot Curran was an Irish orator, politician and wit, born in Newmarket, County Cork. He was the son of James and Sarah Curran.-Career:...
(1750–1817) lawyer, patriot and friend of Valentine Lawless, had his body deposited temporarily in the mausoleum at Lyons before being removed to a grave at Glasnevin, where it now reposes. - 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 Mattew Read. He was the son of Richard Guinness and Elizabeth Read (1698–1742) from BishopscourtBishopscourt, County KildareBishopscourt 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:...
, 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. - Arthur WolfeArthur Wolfe, 1st Viscount KilwardenArthur Wolfe, 1st Viscount Kilwarden KC was an Irish peer, politician and judge.Wolfe was born at , near Naas, being the fifth son of John Wolfe and his wife Mary Philpot. Wolfe was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and was called to the Irish Bar in 1766...
(1739–1803) first Viscount KilwardenViscount KilwardenViscount Kilwarden, of Kilwarden in the County of Kildare, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 29 December 1800 for Arthur Wolfe, 1st Baron Kilwarden, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland. He had already been created Baron Kilwarden, of Newlands in the County of...
, judge and most famous victim of the rebellion of Robert Emmett is buried in the family vault of the Wolfes in Oughterard cemetery. He was born in Forenaghts, and lived at Newlands. A former Solicitor-General for IrelandSolicitor-General for IrelandThe Solicitor-General for Ireland was the holder of an Irish and then United Kingdom government office. The holder was a deputy to the Attorney-General for Ireland, and advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. At least one holder of the office, Patrick Barnewall played a significant role in...
and Chief Justice of the Kings Bench for Ireland, he had been created Baron Kilwarden on 3 July 1798.