Celbridge (from the ) is a town on the
River LiffeyThe 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 KildareCounty Kildare is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Leinster and was named after the town of Kildare . Kildare is the 25th largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and ninth largest in terms of population...
in
IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
, 22 kilometres (13 miles) from
Dublin CityDublin City may refer to:*Dublin, the capital of the Republic of Ireland*Dublin City F.C.*Dublin City , a constituency between 1801 and 1885...
. As a town within the Dublin Metropolitan Area and the
Greater Dublin AreaGreater Dublin Area , or simply Greater Dublin, is a term which is used to describe the city of Dublin and the surrounding counties of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, Kildare, Meath, South Dublin and Wicklow in Ireland.At the 2006 Irish census, the population of the GDA was...
, Celbridge has expanded dramatically in recent years. It is located at the intersection of the
R403The 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 roadA 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...
s.
Etymology
The name Celbridge is derived from the
IrishIrish is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now only spoken natively by a small minority of the Irish population but also plays an important symbolic role in the life of the Irish state, and is used...
Cill Droichid meaning "Church by the Bridge" and has sometimes been spelled
Kildrought in English.
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
censusA "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.In other words every 10 years...next one would be in 2010 The term is used mostly in connection with...
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.
Road
Celbridge's growth has created traffic congestion, much of caused by the single bridge over the Liffey, which creates a traffic bottleneck. The Celbridge Interchange (Junction 2a of the M4 motorway), which connects the town to both the motorway and
IntelIntel Irelands parent company - the giant U.S. based Intel microprocesser 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.
Kildare County Council installed a set of traffic lights in 2000 at the junction of the Liffey bridge and Main Street, however local businesses were very opposed to the traffic lights as they felt they took away business, and the traffic lights were turned off. Shortly afterwards the lights were destroyed in a traffic accident and they were not replaced.
Bus
The town is served by
Dublin BusDublin Bus is a public transport operator in Ireland. It operates an extensive bus network of 172 radial, cross-city and peripheral routes and 24 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, 67A and 67X routes. These routes link the town to the city centre as well as the nearby towns of Lucan and
MaynoothMaynooth is a university town located in north County Kildare, Ireland, home to both a branch of the National University of Ireland and a Papal University and Ireland's main Roman Catholic seminary, St. Patrick's College...
. It is also serviced by Bus Eireann.
Some other bus operators also serve Celbridge, notably Circle Line (previously Mortons), linking Celbridge to the city and the southside of
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
, including
BallsbridgeBallsbridge is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, named for the bridge spanning the River Dodder on the south side of the city. The sign on the bridge still proclaims it as "Ball's Bridge" in recognition of the fact that the original bridge in this location was built and owned by a Mr...
,
DundrumDundrum , originally a town in its own right, is now a suburban village and district in the county of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Ireland.The area is located in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and Dublin 16....
and
NutgroveNutgrove is an area in Rathfarnham, County Dublin.It is a suburban area at the foot of the Dublin mountains between Churchtown and Rathfarnham around the Nutgrove Shopping Centre....
, The service was suspended in June 2008 amid allegations of uncompetitive practices by
Dublin BusDublin Bus is a public transport operator in Ireland. It operates an extensive bus network of 172 radial, cross-city and peripheral routes and 24 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...
.
Rail
Iarnród ÉireannIarnród 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 through Hazelhatch, 3 km from Celbridge village.
Hazelhatch and Celbridge railway stationHazelhatch and Celbridge railway station serves the village of Hazelhatch and the neighbouring large town of Celbridge in County Kildare.The station opened on 4 August 1846 and closed for goods traffic on 9 June 1947. Because of its distance from other parts of Celbridge, a feeder bus is provided...
opened on 4 August 1846 and closed for goods traffic on 9 June 1947. Feeder buses are used to bring passengers to the train station.
Commuter suburban rail services from
KildareKildare is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. Its population of 7,538 makes it the seventh largest town in Kildare and the 55th largest in the Republic of Ireland, with a growth rate of 32.4pc since the 2002 census...
to
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
city centre serve Hazelhatch. While the service only brings passengers to Heuston Station, west of the city centre, there is no charge for extending the range of most tickets to include feeder bus (numbers 90 and 92) from there to the city centre. Additional charges apply to use the
LuasLuas , also promoted in the development stage as the Dublin Light Rail System, is a light rail or tram 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...
tram services. The station is located on one of the most important
InterCity lines in the country, with services Dublin to Cork, Limerick and Galway. Most inter-city trains do not stop at Hazelhatch station.
Under the
Transport 21Transport 21 is an Irish infrastructure plan, announced on 1 November 2005 in Dublin Castle by the then Irish Minister for Transport Martin Cullen. It aims to greatly expand Ireland's transport network...
plan Hazelhatch-City will be electrified to provide a new
DARTThe Dublin Area Rapid Transit is part of the suburban railway network in Ireland, running mainly along the coastline of Dublin Bay on the Trans-Dublin route, from Greystones in County Wicklow, through Dublin to Howth and Malahide in County Dublin.Trains are powered via a 1500V DC overhead catenary...
service to
BalbrigganBalbriggan is a town in the northern part of Fingal county, within the historic County Dublin, Ireland. The 2006 census population was 15,559 for Balbriggan and its environs.- Name :...
, using the underground
Interconnector tunnelThe Interconnector , also known as DART Underground, is a planned railway tunnel in Ireland, expected to run under the city centre of Dublin...
in the city centre. This is to be completed by 2015.
Air
Weston AerodromeWeston Airport or Aerphort Weston in Irish, is a publicly licensed executive airport located on the R403 regional road at Leixlip, County Kildare west of Dublin, in Ireland...
was founded in 1931 (licensed circa 1937) by Darby Kennedy - who from the early 1950s operated a number of DeHavilland
DragonsThe de Havilland DH.84 Dragon was a successful small commercial aircraft designed and built by the de Havilland company.Following the commercial success of its single-engined De Havilland Fox Moth that had first flown in March 1932, that aircraft's original commercial operator Hillman's Airways...
and
Dragon RapidesThe de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide was a British short-haul passenger airliner of the 1930s. Designed by the de Havilland company in late 1933 as a faster and more comfortable successor to the DH.84 Dragon, it was in effect a twin-engined, scaled-down version of the four-engined DH.86 Express...
aircraftAn aircraft is a vehicle which is able to fly by being supported by the air, or in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil An aircraft is a vehicle which is able to fly by being supported...
commercially from the Weston flying field. Weston is owned since 2001 by
Jim MansfieldJames Mansfield is a wealthy Irish businessman, with a property portfolio including CityWest Hotel, several developments local to the Tallaght / Saggart areas, and Weston Airport.- Early life :...
and is primarily used for flight training, executive flights and private general aviation. The main terminal was completed in 2007,along with the control tower, hangar, customs and emigration offices, classrooms for ground-schools and simulator training. Weston is Class C airspace.
Education
Celbridge has five primary schools:Primrose Hill (co-ed, COI), Scoil Naomh Bríd (St. Bridget's) (girls, RC), Aghards (Scoil Mochua) (co-ed, RC), Scoil na Mainistreach (Boys, RC) and North Kildare Educate Together (co-ed, multi-denominational); one special school, Saint Raphael's, (co-ed, RC) for children with a learning disability; two secondary schools;
St Wolstan's Community School for girls (the only single sex community school in Ireland) and
Salesian College CelbridgeSalesian College Celbridge is a secondary school catering for male students aged 12–19 around the County Kildare village of Celbridge. It's yearbook compiled and edited by the student editorial team is the Salesian College Annual Magazine or SCAM.-Academic:...
for boys. A sixth primary school, St Patrick's opened in September 2007 on the Hazelhatch Road due to the rising population. 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 building is located on the grounds of Barnhall Rugby Club.
Politics
Celbridge is located within the Kildare North constituency which elects four TDs to the Dáil. In the past it was only a three seat constituency, but has increased to four due to population growth within the region.
Irish law allows for town councils for towns with a population of greater than 7,500, which Celbridge exceeds twice over, however, despite its size and several proposals, the town does not have a town council. Smaller towns in the area do, such as
LeixlipLeixlip is an urban village in north-east County Kildare, Ireland, east of the midlands of Ireland, situated on the confluence of the River Liffey and the River Rye, on the border of the ancient kingdoms of Leinster and Brega...
and
AthyAthy Athy Athy ( – is a market town situated at the convergence of the River Barrow and the Grand Canal in County Kildare, Ireland, 72 kilometers southwest of Dublin....
. Kildare County Council, responsible for the whole county, have full control over zoning land in the area.
Amenities
The
Setanta House Hotel was the only hotel in Celbridge town until its closure in early 2009, and was originally an 18th century school with historic ties to the Conolly family who built Castletown House. Located on the Clane road, the hotel was host to the only after-hours club in Celbridge.
The Abbey Lodge pub occasionally runs a late bar and has a restaurant.
Other pubs in the town include:
O'Connors Bar and The Kildrought Lounge,
Castletown Inn (also with restaurant),
The Mucky Duck,
The Village Inn and
Celbridge House.
Restaurants include
Michaelangelos,
Delhi Darbar,
China Wall,
Choy's,
Singapore Fame,
Da Mario's and
Cafe La Serre at Lyons Estate outside the village.
Supermarkets: There is a reasonably sized
Tesco on the Maynooth road, as well as an
Aldi, and there are smaller stores on the main street (
Centra and
Spar, formerly Londis). There is also a Polish speciality store.
Origins
There is evidence of 5,000 years of habitation as evidenced by beads and quern stones in the
National MuseumThe 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. The Director of the National Museum is Dr...
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 HouseCastletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland's finest Palladian country house, is an imposing building built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. It formed the centrepiece of a 550 acre 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 PatrickSaint Patrick Irish: Naomh Pádraig) was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognised patron saint of Ireland ....
(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. Pre-Norman 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 de-Hereford, the Norman Lord of Kildrought erected early in the thirteenth 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 ConollyWilliam Conolly , also known as Speaker Conolly, was an Irish politician and landowner.-Career:William Conolly was born the son of an inn-keeper in Ballyshannon, County Donegal. He practised as a lawyer in Dublin for many years and married Katherine Conyngham from County Donegal; they had no children...
.
The 18th century bridge had to be rebuilt after it was destroyed in a flood in December 1802
Kildrought to Celbridge
The houses in Celbridge town centre were built over a period of two hundred years, starting with
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'...
, built in 1703 by a Dutchman, Bartholomew Van Homrigh, who was appointed Chief Commissioner for the Stores in Ireland for the forces of
William And MaryThe phrase William and Mary usually refers to the joint sovereignty over the Kingdom of England, as well as the Kingdom of Scotland, of King William III and his wife Queen Mary II, a daughter of James II...
, and moved to Kildrought Manor in 1695. When
William “Speaker” ConollyWilliam Conolly , also known as Speaker Conolly, was an Irish politician and landowner.-Career:William Conolly was born the son of an inn-keeper in Ballyshannon, County Donegal. He practised as a lawyer in Dublin for many years and married Katherine Conyngham from County Donegal; they had no children...
purchased the Castletown Estate in 1709 from Thomas Dongan, the restored
Earl of LimerickEarl of Limerick is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland. There are many titles which have been regranted at different times to different families, and different families have held titles of the same name simultaneously...
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 HouseMarket House, in Fayetteville, North Carolina, is "one of the few structures in America which employs the town hall-market scheme found in England. Meat and produce were sold under the open first-floor arcade while the second floor served as the town hall and general meeting place...
, where the town's first school was based in 1709, were incorporated in to the expanding mill complex of buildings near the bridge and developers began to look at the green field sites to the north east of the bridge towards 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.
Development of name
The old Irish name Cill Droichid (Kildrought), meaning the church of the bridge, was anglicised first to Cell-bridge and then, after 1724, to Celbridge. Swift in his letters to Vanessa always named the place Kildrought, but she replied from Celbridge.
Celbridge Main Street
The development of the Main Street commenced with the building of Kildrought House by Joseph Rotheny in 1720 for
Robert BaillieRobert Baillie was a Scottish divine and historical writer.-Life:Baillie was born at Glasgow, the son of Baillie of Jerviston. Having graduated there in 1620, he gave himself to the study of divinity....
, 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 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...
,
GeorgeLieutenant-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...
,
CharlesGeneral Sir Charles James Napier GCB was a British general and Commander-in-Chief in India, famous for conquering Sindh province in present-day Pakistan.-Early life:...
,
WilliamGeneral 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
HenryHenry Edward Napier , naval officer and historian.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...
, later to be collectively known as “
WellingtonField Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, KP, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Anglo-Irish soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the nineteenth century....
’s Colonels, ” and their younger brother
Richard NapierNote 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 JebbJohn Jebb may refer to:*John Jebb , English clergyman and doctor*John Jebb , bishop of Limerick...
(1775–1833), later
Church of IrelandThe Church of Ireland is a Christian church, an autonomous province of the Episcopal/Anglican Communion, operating across the island of Ireland, and the largest non-Roman Catholic religious body on the island...
bishop of Limerick, Ardfert, and Aghadoe. Jeremiah Haughton, owner of the Mill lived there after 1818. For a time in the early 1800s 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
ArthurArthur Guinness was an Irish brewer and the founder of the Guinness brewery business and family.Arthur Guinness was the founder of the Guinness brewery business, an entrepreneur, visionary and philanthropist. Guinness laid the foundations for Guinness Brewery...
, 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 five-bay 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 LangleyBatty 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 Euclid,...
. According to research by local historian Lena Boylan, the work was by a stone mason named Coates and a blacksmith named Behan.
Temple Mills
The oldest mill in the area is Temple Mills, operated by the Tyrrell family for 300 years, 2 km outside the town on the
ArdcloughArdclough 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 tower at Oughterard...
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 Town
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 Laurence Atkinson 1805, restored 1985) incorporate parts of the old Celbridge Market House. It was purchased by Jeremiah Houghton after Atkinson's bankruptcy in 1815 . Houghton told a parliamentary committee that this mill was the biggest wool manufactory in Ireland . Although Houghton too was bankrupt in 1818, the mill was described as employing several hundred people when King William IV of England visited Celbridge in September 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 nineteenth 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 wall-mount 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 flour-mill.
Brewery
After Celbridge rector
Arthur PriceArthur 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
BishopscourtBishopscourt 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 GuinnessArthur Guinness was an Irish brewer and the founder of the Guinness brewery business and family.Arthur Guinness was the founder of the Guinness brewery business, an entrepreneur, visionary and philanthropist. Guinness laid the foundations for Guinness Brewery...
, 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 27-year-old Arthur Guinness to help him expand the brewery, first in 1755 on a new site in
LeixlipLeixlip is an urban village in north-east County Kildare, Ireland, east of the midlands of Ireland, situated on the confluence of the River Liffey and the River Rye, on the border of the ancient kingdoms of Leinster and Brega...
and from 1759 in St James’s Gate in
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
. Some of the blocked up doors from the original Price-Guinness brewery can still be seen on the perimeter walls of the Catholic church forecourt.
Workhouse
Celbridge
workhouseUnder the Poor Law systems of England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland a workhouse was a place where people who were unable to support themselves could go to live and work. The Oxford English Dictionary's earliest reference to a workhouse dates to 1652 in Exeter. There is, however, some written...
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 LawThe English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late medieval and Tudor 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 armyThe Irish Army is the main branch of the Irish Defence Forces . It was first formed in 1922 after the implementation of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the subsequent foundation of the Irish Free State...
. It was visited by General
Michael CollinsMichael Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance and MP 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...
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 of the Peace of Ireland", often rendered as "The Guardians of the Peace (of Ireland)" and known in everyday speech as the Gardaí is the police force of the Republic of Ireland....
barracks was built on part of the workhouse site.
Other Industry
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 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
peatPeat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter. Peat forms in wetlandbogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests...
. 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 PlanKildare County Council is the local authority for County Kildare, founded by the Local Government Act 1898 along with the other councils of Ireland. It covers the whole of County Kildare, although four towns - Leixlip, Naas, Newbridge and Athy - have separate Town Councils under the Local...
. That year a consortium of Brian and Tony Rhattigan and the McMullan brother, who owned the Maxol 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 HouseCastletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland's finest Palladian country house, is an imposing building built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. It formed the centrepiece of a 550 acre estate...
. In response
Desmond GuinnessHon. Desmond Guinness is an Irish author on Georgian art and architecture and a conservationist.Born on 8 September 1931, 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 SocietyThe 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 Castletown Gates in 1969 and the first phase of Castletown Estate was opened by
Minister for Industry & CommerceThe Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment is the senior minister at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in the Government of Ireland.The current Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment is Mary Coughlan, TD...
Justin KeatingJustin Keating is a former senior Irish Labour Party politician. He is currently President of the Humanist Association of Ireland....
on October 1 1975.
This was followed by more than 30 multiple 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, Ballymakealy 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 mixed-use development at Donaghcumper Demesne for offices, shops, restaurants, six-screen cinema and 108 detached houses on the 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, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland's finest Palladian country house, is an imposing building built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. It formed the centrepiece of a 550 acre 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" ConollyWilliam Conolly , also known as Speaker Conolly, was an Irish politician and landowner.-Career:William Conolly was born the son of an inn-keeper in Ballyshannon, County Donegal. He practised as a lawyer in Dublin for many years and married Katherine Conyngham from County Donegal; they had no children...
(1662-1729), Speaker of the
Irish 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...
, who came under the influence of the New Junta for Architecture, whose adherents included
Alessandro GalileiAlessandro Maria Gaetano Galilei was a Florentine mathematician, architect and theorist, a member of the same patrician family as Galileo...
believed to have designed the main house and
Edward Lovett PearceSir 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 entrance-hall 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 (great-granddaughter of
Charles II of EnglandCharles II was the King 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. The English Parliament did not proclaim Charles II king at this time. Instead they passed a statute making such a...
and Louise de Keroualle) during the 1760s and 1770s.
Two of the best-known features of Castletown are the "Long Gallery" (an long room decorated in the Pompeian manner in blue and gold), and the main staircase (which is cantilevered and made of white
Portland stonePortland 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 FollyConolly'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 HouseCastletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland's finest Palladian country house, is an imposing building built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. It formed the centrepiece of a 550 acre estate...
which contains two follies, both commissioned by the widow of Speaker
William ConollyWilliam Conolly , also known as Speaker Conolly, was an Irish politician and landowner.-Career:William Conolly was born the son of an inn-keeper in Ballyshannon, County Donegal. He practised as a lawyer in Dublin for many years and married Katherine Conyngham from County Donegal; they had no children...
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 1500s. The
ObeliskAn obelisk is a tall, narrow, four-sided, tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top...
was built in 1739 after a particularly severe winter. Designed by
Richard CastleRichard "Rick" Castle is a fictional character portrayed by Nathan Fillion in the ABC crime series Castle. Richard Castle is a New York Times bestselling author.-Family Life:...
, it is 42 metres high and is composed of several
archesArches may refer to:* Arches of the foot* Arches National Park in the U.S. state of Utah* Arches, Cantal, a commune of the Cantal département, in France* Arches, Vosges, a commune of the Vosges département, in France...
, 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-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 (1714-23) home of Bartholomew Van Homrigh’s daughter
EstherEsther Vanhomrigh , an Irish woman of Dutch descent, was a longterm lover and correspondent of Jonathan Swift. Swift's letters to her were published after her death...
(1688–1723), the ill-starred lover of
Dean SwiftJonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
. The poem in which Swift fictionalised her as "
VanessaThe 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....
" "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-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 Marley, grandfather of the Irish parliamentarian
Henry GrattanHenry Grattan was a member of the Irish House of Commons and a campaigner for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century...
. His daughter Mary was married to James Grattan, Henry Grattan’s father and a member of the
Irish 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...
. 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 PriceArthur 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 IrelandThe Church of Ireland is a Christian church, an autonomous province of the Episcopal/Anglican Communion, operating across the island of Ireland, and the largest non-Roman Catholic religious body on the island...
Bishop of Meath. The house was built close to the small stone house of his father vicar of Kildrought and Straffan
Samuel PriceSamuel 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 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...
, 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 BrothersThe 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 BarracksCollins 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 CollegeTrinity College Dublin , corporately designated as the Provost, Fellows and Scholars of 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", and is the only constituent college of...
- both in
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
. The Collegiate School was founded as a charity school by Lady Louisa Conolly of Castletown (1743-1821). 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
KilkennyKilkenny 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 school's students are mainly Protestant ,...
. . The building reopened as the Setanta Hotel on January 25 1980.
St Wolstan's
St Wolstan’s, near the site of the ancient Abbey of St Wolstan’s described by
Mervyn ArchdallMervyn Archdall DL was an Irish antiquary and clergyman of the Church of Ireland.-Life:He was descended from John Archdall, of Norsom or Norton Hall, in Norfolk, who settled at Castle Archdall, co. Fermanagh. He was born in Dublin 22 April 1723...
in his "Monasticon Hibernicum" in 1786 was originally a monastery in the Order of St Victor. It was founded c1202 by one of
StrongbowRichard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, Lord of Leinster, Justiciar of Ireland , known as Strongbow, was a Cambro-Norman lord notable for his leading role in the Norman invasion of Ireland....
’s companions for Adam de Hereford. It was named for St Wulfstan,
Bishop of WorcesterThe Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England.The diocese covers the county of Worcestershire, the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, and parts of the City of Wolverhampton. The Episcopal see is at the Cathedral Church of...
, then newly canonised by Pope Innocent III. Before the time of the
Dissolution of the MonasteriesThe Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, denotes the administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, nunneries and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their income, disposed...
it had extensive lands in Kildare and Dublin with buildings covering an estimated 20 acres. It was the first Irish Monastery to be
dissolvedThe Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, denotes the administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, nunneries and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their income, disposed...
when Sir
Gerald AylmerSir Gerald Aylmer , was a judge and enforcer for English king Henry VIII in Ireland at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries.-Early life:...
of nearby
LyonsLyons 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 AlenJohn Alen was an English canon lawyer, Archbishop of Dublin, and Chancellor of Ireland.-Life:He was educated at Oxford and Cambridge, graduated in the latter place, and spent some years in Italy, partly at Rome, for studies and for business of Archbishop Warham of Canterbury...
(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 brother-in-law 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
ClogherThe 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 ClaytonSir Robert Clayton , 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 (1955-1999). (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 c1770, (redecorated 1820) for Nathanial Clements MP, banker and amateur architect. Siginificantly, it does not appeared 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 associated with the Lambert family, Ballygoran associated with the Murray family, while The Grove was home of Dr CJ 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
The modern parish of Celbridge and Straffan comprises the medieval parishes of Kildrought and
StraffanStraffan is a village in County Kildare, Ireland, situated on the banks of the River Liffey, 25 km upstream of the Irish capital Dublin....
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 fourteenth century. Its ruins are extant in the main graveyard for the town of Celbridge on the Dublin road and Memebrs 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 bruned 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, Ballymakealy, Crippaun, Killadoon, Killenlea and Posseckstown. Kilmacredock is the smallest of the medieval parishes. A roofless ruin is all that remains of the original church. named for Redoc 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.
Celbridge Christian Church
Formed in 2005 this is a small independent church. Services are each Sunday at 11 at unit 4 , Celbridge Industrial Estate. The church is lead by Pastor Paul Carley. Formerly known as Celbridge Pentecostal Church.
Other weekday services available on request
Born or Resident
- John Alen
John Alen was an English canon lawyer, Archbishop of Dublin, and Chancellor of Ireland.-Life:He was educated at Oxford and Cambridge, graduated in the latter place, and spent some years in Italy, partly at Rome, for studies and for business of Archbishop Warham of Canterbury...
Archbishop of DublinArchbishop 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.
- Simon Bradstreet
Simon Bradstreet was a colonial magistrate, businessman and governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.- Life and career :...
(1792-1853) of Stacumney, founder member of the Catholic Association and associate of Daniel O’Connell.
- Ben Briscoe
Ben Briscoe is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála for 37 years, representing a series constituencies in Dublin...
(1934-) former Fianna FáilFianna Fáil – The Republican Party , shortened to Fianna Fáil is a political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the largest party in both houses of the Oireachtas, Ireland's bicameral parliament, and the leading party in a coalition government with the Green Party, which also has the support...
politician who was a Teachta DálaA Teachta Dála is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower chamber of the Oireachtas of Ireland. The official translation of Teachta Dála is Deputy to the Dáil, a more literal translation isAssembly Delegate...
(TD) for 37 years, representing a series of constituencies in DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
and Lord Mayor of Dublinright|thumb|325px|[[Mansion House, Dublin|The Mansion House]], on [[Dawson Street]], is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin.The Lord Mayor of Dublin is the symbolic head of the city government of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The Lord Mayor is elected to office annually by members...
in 1989, the city;s millennium year.
- William "Speaker" Conolly
William Conolly , also known as Speaker Conolly, was an Irish politician and landowner.-Career:William Conolly was born the son of an inn-keeper in Ballyshannon, County Donegal. He practised as a lawyer in Dublin for many years and married Katherine Conyngham from County Donegal; they had no children...
(1662–1729) the most powerful and wealthiest politician in Ireland in the first decades of the 18th century.
- Lady Louisa Conolly
Lady 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 NapierSarah Lennox may refer to:* Lady Sarah Lennox , daughter of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, love of George III* Sarah Lennox, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox , daughter of William Cadogan, Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Caroline...
(1745–1826), wife of George 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 Richmond and 2nd Duke of Lennox, KG, KCB, PC, FRS was the son of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond and a grandson of King Charles II....
. Their lives were celebrated in Stella TillyardStella Tillyard is a British author, best known for the best-selling Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa and Sarah Lennox, 1740-1832 which was made into a BBC Miniseries in 1999.-List of works:...
's book Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa, and Sarah Lennox and a six part BBC TelevisionBBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which began in 1932. The British Broadcasting Corporation has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927.-History of BBC Television:...
series based on the book.
- Tom Conolly (1738–1803) radical Irish politician of the 1780s and Grand Nephew of William "Speaker" Conolly
William Conolly , also known as Speaker Conolly, was an Irish politician and landowner.-Career:William Conolly was born the son of an inn-keeper in Ballyshannon, County Donegal. He practised as a lawyer in Dublin for many years and married Katherine Conyngham from County Donegal; they had no children...
.
- Seven Celbridge-born sisters of Tom Conolly, Catherine, wife of Ralph Gore, earl of Rosse, Annie, who married George Byng, Harriet, who married John Staples, Frances, who married William Howe
William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, KB, PC was a British General who was Commander-in-Chief of British forces during the American Revolutionary War, one of the three Howe brothers...
, a British general during the American Revolutionary War, Caroline, who married John Hobart, second earl of Buckinghamshire, Lucy, and Jane who had an ill-fated marriage to duelist and adventurer George Robert Fitzgerald, famous for having survived twelve duels, more than any other known Irish duelist.
- Gerald R Dease (1831-1903) chamberlain to successive Lord Lieutenants
- Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick
Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick , was the most personally popular colonial governor of New York and so is the colonial governor most admired by historians and contemporaries alike...
(1634-1715), a member of Irish ParliamentThe Parliament of Ireland was a legislature that existed in Dublin from 1297 until 1800. It comprised two chambers: the House of Commons and the House of Lords...
, Royalist military officer during the English Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The first and second civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war saw fighting between supporters of...
, and governor of the Province of New YorkThe Province of New York resulted from the capture of the Dutch Republic colony of Provincie Nieuw-Nederland in 1664 by the Kingdom of England, and included all of the present U.S. state of New York. The province was renamed for James, Duke of York, brother to Charles II of England immediately...
.
- Arthur Guinness
Arthur Guinness was an Irish brewer and the founder of the Guinness brewery business and family.Arthur Guinness was the founder of the Guinness brewery business, an entrepreneur, visionary and philanthropist. Guinness laid the foundations for Guinness Brewery...
(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 BishopscourtArdclough 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 tower at Oughterard...
, who was agent and receiver of Dr Arthur PriceArthur 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.
- Aidan Higgins
Aidan Higgins is an Irish writer.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 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, the novel by Aidan Higgins , was adapted for the screen by Harold Pinter, directed by David Jones, filmed for BBC Television in association with Radio Telefis Eireann, and first broadcast in September 1978 as a 90-minute BBC2 Play of the Week...
by British playwright Harold PinterHarold Pinter, CH, CBE , was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor, director, political activist and poet. He was among the most influential British playwrights of modern times...
, in association with Radio Telefís ÉireannRaidió Teilifís Éireann is the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on 31 December 1961, making it one of the oldest continuously...
.
- Joshua Jacob (c.1802–1877), founder of the White Quakers, lived in Celbridge in the 1840s.
- Ivone Kirkpatrick
Sir Ivone Augustine Kirkpatrick KCMG, KCB was a British diplomat.Kirkpatrick left school to join the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and was wounded in the Great War. He was mentioned in despatches twice and awarded the Belgian Croix de guerre. After being wounded he was sent to Holland as a spymaster...
(1897–1964), diplomatist, British Chancellor in Berlin before the second world war, Under-Secretary of the British Foreign Office 1953-57, chairman of the British Independent Television Authority 1957-62 and diehard supporter of old-empire British aggression, lived at Donaghcomper.
- James Lambert (1802-1877). Merchant and politician. Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1856.
- Donal MacIntyre
This page is about the journalist. For others of similar name see Donald MacIntyreDonald MacIntyre , is an Irish investigative journalist, specialising in hard hitting investigations, undercover operations and television exposes...
(b1966). Campaigning television journalist.
- Vincent McKenna (b1955) soccer player for Shelbourne (1971-8) and Dundalk (1978-80) who played five times for Ireland youths, including the 1972 European finals, and won an inter-league cap.
- Col 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...
(1751–1804) and his sons GeorgeLieutenant-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), CharlesGeneral Sir Charles James Napier GCB was a British general and Commander-in-Chief in India, famous for conquering Sindh province in present-day Pakistan.-Early life:...
(1782–1853), WilliamGeneral 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 , naval officer and historian.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...
(1789–1853), later to be collectively known as “WellingtonField Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, KP, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Anglo-Irish soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the nineteenth century....
’s Colonels.”
- Art O'Connor
Arthur 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...
(1888-1950), Minister for Agriculture in the second Dáil cabinet (1921) and briefly leader of Sinn Féin after the foundation of Fianna FáilFianna Fáil – The Republican Party , shortened to Fianna Fáil is a political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the largest party in both houses of the Oireachtas, Ireland's bicameral parliament, and the leading party in a coalition government with the Green Party, which also has the support...
by Eamon De ValeraÉamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in 20th century Ireland...
(1927).
- Anthony O'Reilly (1900-1923) volunteer during the War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence was a guerrilla war mounted against the British government in Ireland by the Irish Republican Army . It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence, and ended with a truce in July 1921...
and on the anti-treaty 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 anti-treaty side after a raid on BaldonnelCasement Aerodrome or Baldonnel Aerodrome is an airfield to the south west of Dublin, Ireland situated off the N7 main road route to the south and south west...
. He was captured after the battle of Pike's Bridge and executed by firing squad in Portobello 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 January 8 1923, the 44th of the 77 Republicans executed by Free State forces during the 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 Fáil – The Republican Party , shortened to Fianna Fáil is a political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the largest party in both houses of the Oireachtas, Ireland's bicameral parliament, and the leading party in a coalition government with the Green Party, which also has the support...
party in Celbridge is named in his honour.
- Arthur Price
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 ....
(1678/9–1752) serial bishop of four different Church of IrelandThe Church of Ireland is a Christian church, an autonomous province of the Episcopal/Anglican Communion, operating across the island of Ireland, and the largest non-Roman Catholic religious body on the island...
dioceses, culminating in the Archbishopric of Archbishop of Cashel, and beneafactor to Brewer Arthur GuinnessArthur Guinness was an Irish brewer and the founder of the Guinness brewery business and family.Arthur Guinness was the founder of the Guinness brewery business, an entrepreneur, visionary and philanthropist. Guinness laid the foundations for Guinness Brewery...
.
- Damien Rice
Damien Rice is an Irish singer/songwriter and musician. As a musician he plays the guitar, cello, violin, piano and drums.
...
(b1973) noted indie musician
- John Sheehan (1809–1882), a radical journalist who wrote under the pseudonym of “the Irish Whisky-Drinker’ 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 Mahony
For the American basketball player, see Francis Mahoney.Francis 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...
, [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 CastleThe Dublin Castle administration in Ireland was the government of Ireland under British rule from the twelfth century until 1922.- History of executive :...
in the satirical weekly paper “The Comet”. Sheehan was a contemporary of the EnglishEngland 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 and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
author William 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 “PendennisPendennis 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 Walsh
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 independentIn politics, an independent is a politician who is not affiliated with any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do not feel that any major party addresses...
to Kildare County CouncilKildare County Council is the local authority for County Kildare, founded by the Local Government Act 1898 along with the other councils of Ireland. It covers the whole of County Kildare, although four towns - Leixlip, Naas, Newbridge and Athy - have separate Town Councils under the Local...
at the 1999 local electionsThe 1999 Irish local elections were held in all the counties and county boroughs of Ireland on 10 June 1999, on the same day as the European elections.- Results :- County councils :- City councils :- See also :...
with the highest personal vote in the county. Joined the Progressive DemocratsThe Progressive Democrats , commonly known as the PDs, is a free market liberal party in the Republic of Ireland...
(PDs), stood unsuccessfully for Dáil Éireannis the principal chamber of the Oireachtas . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote . Its powers are similar to those of lower houses under many other bicameral parliamentary systems and it is...
in 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 2005On 31 October 2004, the Teachta Dála for Kildare North, Charlie McCreevy, officially resigned as a member of Dáil Éireann to take up his new position as a European Commissioner. His resignation resulted in the need for a by-election...
. Member of the Seanad 2002-7.
Lived briefly or were educated in Celbridge
- William Baillie
General William Baillie, was a Scottish professional soldier who commanded a regiment under Gustavus Adolphus in Sweden before returning to Scotland in 1639....
(1723–1810), art dealer and printmaker, was the second son of Robert Baillie of Celbridge.
- John Wynn Baker (c.1730–1775), who established the first factory in Ireland in 1765 is buried at Celbridge.
- Caroline Blackwood
Lady Caroline Maureen Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood was a writer and artist's muse, and the eldest child of Basil Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 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 Carey
James Carey was a Fenian and informer.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 eighteen years continued in the employment of Mr. Michael Meade, builder, Dublin...
the Fenian informer immortalized in George D Hodnett’s song “Take me up to Monto” was from Celbridge.
- Henry Grattan
Henry Grattan was a member of the Irish House of Commons and a campaigner for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century...
(1746-1821) 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 (1934-2006), member of the Birmingham Six
The 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...
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 Kavanagh
Arthur MacMorrough Kavanagh , Irish politician, son of Thomas Kavanagh, M.P., who traced his descent to the ancient Kings of Leinster , was born in County Carlow, Ireland....
, (1831–1889), Church of IrelandThe Church of Ireland is a Christian church, an autonomous province of the Episcopal/Anglican Communion, operating across the island of Ireland, and the largest non-Roman Catholic religious body on the island...
bishop John JebbJohn Jebb may refer to:*John Jebb , English clergyman and doctor*John Jebb , bishop of Limerick...
(1775–1833), and broadcaster Ruth Buchanan.
Claims to fame
- Celbridge is the birthplace of Progressive Rock Group "Johnny and the Hooverbags" who dominated the prestigous Kildrought talent contest through the mid-noughties.
- Celbridge is the hometown of Séan O'Neill, long-time patron of Macaris take-away, whose consumption of dinner boxes both endears and disgusts in equal measures. He once attempted to pursue a career as hip-hop innovator and urban poet with disastrous consequences.
- Celbridge is the largest town in Ireland to have only one commercial street, and no town council despite its large population.
- Weston Airport
Weston Airport or Aerphort 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 Max is a British 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, Jack Seddon,...
directed by John GuillerminJohn Guillermin is a British film director, writer, and producer who was most active in big budget, action adventure movies throughout his lengthy career...
(1966).
- Castletown House
Castletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland's finest Palladian country house, is an imposing building built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. It formed the centrepiece of a 550 acre estate...
served as a location for the 1975 film Barry LyndonBarry Lyndon is a period film by Stanley Kubrick loosely based on the novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray. It recounts the exploits of unscrupulous 18th century Irish adventurer Barry Lyndon, particularly his rise and fall in English society...
directed by Stanley KubrickStanley Kubrick was an American director, writer, producer, and photographer of films, who lived in England during most of the last 40 years of his career...
and several subsequent TV and film productions.
- Graham Linehan
Graham Linehan is an Irish television writer, actor and director who, often in partnership with Arthur Mathews, has written or co-written a number of popular television comedies...
, writer and co-creator of hit TV series "Father TedFather Ted is a situation comedy television programme produced by Hat Trick Productions for Channel 4. The show depicts the lives of three Irish Catholic priests on the remote fictional Craggy Island off the west coast of Ireland. It ran for three series, totalling 25 episodes, between 21 April...
", was married in the church on main street. Celbridge is also mentioned in an episode of Father Ted, and an episode of Alan PartridgeAlan Gordon Partridge is a fictional television and radio 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 Lieutenant
The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , also known as the Judiciar in the early mediaeval period and as the Lord Deputy as late as the 17th century, was the King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great...
s of Ireland prior to the building of the Viceregal LodgeViceregal Lodge is a name for the official residence of a Viceroy. As Viceroy may refer to different offices in different countries, there are different Viceregal Lodges. You may want to know about...
in the Phoenix Park, Castletown HouseCastletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland's finest Palladian country house, is an imposing building built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. It formed the centrepiece of a 550 acre estate...
in the 1740s and St Wolstan’s in the 1770s.
- Celbridge was where Eoghan Rua Ó Néill and Thomas Preston
Thomas 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 Juniper
Juniper were a rock band from County Kildare, Ireland, most widely-known today as a precursor to Damien Rice and Bell X1. The band released two EPs, The J-Plane and Manna and appeared on a compilation album, Natural Born Elvis ....
, Bell X1 and Mary Kate Geraghty, lead singer of Fight Like ApesFight Like Apes are an Irish alternative rock band formed in Dublin in 2006. Their members are Mary-Kate "MayKay" Geraghty , Jamie "Pockets" Fox , Tom Ryan and Adrian Mullan . They are known for their elongated record titles, usually inspired by B movies...
.
- Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, film and theatre actress. She has also achieved note as a composer, liberal political activist, film producer, and film director. She has won two Academy Awards, ten Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, and a Peabody all by the age of...
performed in Celbridge at Castletown HouseCastletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland's finest Palladian country house, is an imposing building built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. It formed the centrepiece of a 550 acre estate...
on 14 July 2007 as part of her European tour.
Sports and Hobbies
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 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.
GAA
Celbridge GAA park and centre on the
HazelhatchHazelhatch 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 Ballymakealy after a bitter court case in 1944. The
Celbridge GAACelbridge 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
KildareKildare is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. Its population of 7,538 makes it the seventh largest town in Kildare and the 55th largest in the Republic of Ireland, with a growth rate of 32.4pc since the 2002 census...
being formed on the 15 August 1885, eight months after the GAA was founded in
ThurlesThurles is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is situated on the River Suir, with a population of around 8,000. It is twinned with Bollington in England and Salt Lake City, Utah, United States....
. 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 SarsfieldsSarsfields 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 1-9 to 0-10, the Kildare Senior Hurling Championship in 1921, 1925 and 2005 and
Kildare Senior Camogie ChampionshipCamogie 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 semi-finalists in 1989, the senior football amalgamated side (with Straffan) lost two replayed SF semi-finals 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. Susan O'Carroll and Deirdre Corcoran have been nominated for national All-Star awards in
camogieCamogie is an Irish team sport. Played with a stick and ball, it is the women's variant of hurling, and is organised by the Camogie Association of Ireland...
. Celbridge born George Magan was an
All-IrelandThe All-Ireland Senior Football Championship is the premier "knockout" competition in the game of Gaelic football played in Ireland. The series of games are organized by the Gaelic Athletic Association and are played during the summer months with the All-Ireland Football Final being played on the...
medalist in 1919. Mark Shaw, Brian Donovan, and Mick Wright played senior football for Kildare.
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 Football Club are an English professional football club from the city of Liverpool. Having competed in the top division for a record 107 seasons, they have played more top-flight league games than any other English team and have won the League Championship 9 times — the fourth highest...
http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/-everton-in-ireland-launched.html), 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 1A, 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 1908-9.
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 Barnhall.
Tennis
Celrbidge 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.
Athletics
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 champion in 1921. Jack Guiney was Irish champion in the triple jump and shot in 1937.
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.
Celbridge Paddlers
Celbridge Paddlers canoe-club is a multi-discipline 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 canoe-sport 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 RaceThe 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.
Scouting and Guiding
There are three separate
ScoutA Boy Scout is a boy or a girl, usually 11 to 18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split this age group in a junior and a senior section...
troops in operation in Celbridge. Each troop accepts both boys and girls in the 3 main program sections, and are: 1st Kildare (2nd Celbridge), 3rd Kildare (1st Celbridge), and 19th Kildare.
There is one Irish Girl Guides Guide unit (age 10-15) in operation in Celbridge, two Ladybird units (age 5-7), and two Brownie units (age 7-10).
Celbridge Amenity Group
The Celbridge Amenity Group is currently working in conjunction with the
Kildare County CouncilKildare County Council is the local authority for County Kildare, founded by the Local Government Act 1898 along with the other councils of Ireland. It covers the whole of County Kildare, although four towns - Leixlip, Naas, Newbridge and Athy - have separate Town Councils under the Local...
to plan new improvements around the town such as the new playground built for local children.
Celbridge Youth Drama
Celbridge Youth Drama was founded in 2002 to provide an outlet for young people in the Celbridge area, between the ages of 15 and 25 who have an interest in all aspects of Drama - on stage and behind the scenes.
Fishing in the River Liffey
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 is an urban village in north-east County Kildare, Ireland, east of the midlands of Ireland, situated on the confluence of the River Liffey and the River Rye, on the border of the ancient kingdoms of Leinster and Brega...
and all the way to
Ballymore EustaceBallymore Eustace is a small town now 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.
See also
- List of towns and villages in Ireland
- Market Houses in 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...
External links