A History of County Kildare.

O'FARRELL, Padraic.

Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 2003. viii, 184pp. Illustrated. Paperback.

Very flat, Kildare. It is the flatness of this great limestone plain with its rich pastures and its proximity to Dublin that has made Kildare a place of importance since the dawn of history. Early Christian settlements prospered here, of which the Convent of St Brigid was the most famous. The Normans quickly identified the value of the land and built a series of great tower-houses and castles designed to defend the Pale from the Gaels of Wicklow and the south midlands. Kildare was home to the Geraldines, the Leinster branch of the FitzGerald family which completely dominated political life in late medieval Ireland. The county played a significant role in the 1798 rebellion, and the Curragh Camp has been prominent in a variety of episodes of military history. For many, County Kildare is synonymous with the sport of kings - horse-racing. Home to the Curragh Racecourse, the National Stud and a host of private stables, the county lies at the heart of the vital Irish bloodstock industry. More recently it has seen enormous social and structural change as Ireland has reinvented itself for the twenty-first century. County Kildare is now the location for huge multi-national corporations, economic and political migrants from abroad, and to tens of thousands of new residents who have discovered its agreeable lifestyle and comfortable commuting distance from Dublin.

USED. A very good copy.

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