County Kildare
County Kildare information
County Kildare is in Ireland's East Coast and Midlands. It is south of Dublin and also borders County Wicklow and County Laois as well as County Meath. It is named after the town of Kildare.
Kildare is known as "the shortgrass county", revealing its fame for sheep farming in the plains to the south. It is the horsebreeding capital of Ireland and home to the Curragh Racecourse, as well as many studfarms. Historically, it was inside the Anglised area known as "The Pale" and ruled by landlords such as the Fitzgeralds. County Kildare is Ireland's wealthiest county outside Dublin with many middle and upper class residents mainly in the north east of the county.
Image: Looking east across the broad plains of South Kildare to the distant Wicklow Hills.
Towns
Below you will find a list of towns within County Kildare. If a Further information link is available, please click on it to find detailed information including accommodation, restaurants, bars, pubs, shops and more...
Naas
Athy
Clane
Newbridge
Celbridge
Maynooth
Kildare
Leixlip
Lowtown
Horse racing
Kildare is the centre of the Irish horse industry. Kildare has more stud farms than any other county in Ireland. Several prominent international breeders have substantial stud farms in Kildare, including many from the Arab world. In Kildare you will find:
Racecourses - Kildare is famous worldwide for its horse racing. The Curragh horse-racing course is the home to all five Irish Classic Flat races. Also located in County Kildare are two other courses, Punchestown Racecourse, home of the National Hunt Festival of Ireland, and Naas Racecourse, which runs both National Hunt and Flat meetings and is used by top race horse trainers as a test for horses preparing for the Cheltenham festival.
The county is famous for the quality of horses bred in the many stud farms to which it is home, including the Irish National Stud and many other top studs such as Gilltown, Moyglare and Kildangan Stud, and race horse training establishments, such as the Osborne Stables.