County Kildare

County Kildare (Contae Chill Dara) is an  located to the southwest of  in the province of. The name comes from the Irish, meaning church (Cill) of the oaks (Dara).

Kildare is bordered by the counties of, , , , and. Kildare is part of the "", a regional area surrounding Dublin.

Major towns
The town of is the oldest in the county and the most historic. (Nás na Rí in Irish - meaning meeting place of kings) is the county town.

(Droichead Nua) is Kildare's largest town and is situated in the centre of the county, near the plain. It is a thriving and rapidly growing town of over 20,000.

(Maigh Nuad) is the historic educational centre of the county. It contains the and. (Cill Choca) is a town located 6 kilometres (4 miles) from Maynooth.

(Léim an Bhradáin) town is the industrial centre of north Kildare, with large  and  facilities, and the original home of  which has its origins in.

(Cill Droichid) is the largest one street town in Ireland and nearby is the site of the  Golf Course which hosted golf's  2006.

(Mainistir Éimhín) is the site of the Moore Abbey founded by St Evin.

East Kildare's population has increased rapidly, for example the amount of housing in the Naas suburb of has increased sixfold since the mid 1990s.

History
Kildare was d in and assumed its present s in. Main article at.

Transport and infrastructure
County Kildare houses the hub of 's network of major s.

The from Dublin to  travels along the north of the  ing the towns of Leixlip, Celbridge, Maynooth and Kilcock.

The from Dublin to  runs through the county and by-passes the towns of Naas, Newbridge, Kildare and Monasterevin. This road is commonly dubbed the "Naas " because when it was originally up-graded in 1964 the road from Dublin to Naas was a double lane carriageway, one of the first of its kind in Ireland.

The is another  that commences at  and ends at. The first few miles of this are motorway which essentially by-passes Kilcullen. From there it is a single lane carriageway passing towns such as, and  before leaving the County at the  border.

The County is also served by the trains connecting the Dublin to Munster, South Leinster, and South Connaught, with daily connections to, Waterford, Limerick, and. The principal intercity train station in the county is Kildare, however, Newbridge, Sallins and  are also served by a Dublin  train service called the.

Kildare was the centre of Ireland's inland waterway when it was constructed in the 1830s, and 1840s. This connects Kildare with Waterford, Dublin, Limerick and Athlone. The Royal Canal still forms the boundary with County Meath to the North.

Business
At the centre of the Irish motorway system, County Kildare is one of Ireland's premier sites for inward direct investment from the multinational sector. Kildare currently (2006) contians the European base of electronics firms, and, two of the largest employers in this sector in the entire island. Phramaceutical giant has it's European Manufacturing base in County Kildare, with another plant in nearby Newcactle in County Dublin. Major pizza-making, soft drinks, and frozen food enterprises are located in. Large supermarket distribution centres are located in Naas and.

The 's largest military base, it's command headquarters, and it's training centre at the. was the only University outside the Ireland's coastal cities. in Clane is the premier Jesuit college in the east of Ireland. and are also the location of large peat burning power stations operated by the state, and Kildare has historically be an employment centre in this sector.

Kildare is the centre of the Irish horse industry. Kildare has more stud farms than any other county in Ireland, and an important racecources at, near , and at the leading flat national racecourse at. Kildare is also home to the state owned national stud farm, the national equistrian centre in Kill, and the equine auction centre (also in Kill). Most of Ireland's prominent show jumping competitors are located in, or come from county Kildare, especially the areas near Kilcock and Sallins. Several prominent international breeders have substantial stud farms in Kildare, including many from the world.

Ireland's premier golf course, the owned, near , in addition to other prominent courses at Knockanally, Carton Estate, and.

County Kildare has always been one of the richest counties in Ireland outside of Dublin, with the lowest unemployment rates in Ireland, throughout the economic recession of the 1980s. Kildare was the first county in Ireland to experience the economic boom in the early 1990s, mainly as a result of the decision of Intel to locate between Leixlip and Maynooth, and a pick up in construction boom that predated that of other countries.

The county's population has nearly doubled to some 186,000 in 1990-2005. The north eastern region of Kildare, had the highest average per-capita income in Ireland outside in 2003.

Music

 * was born and bred in Celbridge, Co. Kildare.
 * are from County Kildare.
 * winner and famous and    was born in Dublin and lived in County Kildare until he moved to.
 * / band  originate from ,

Politics
Politically the county is divided into two constituencies, Kildare North (three seats, to be increased to four at the next election) and Kildare South (three seats). After the 2007 General Election, the TDs elected were; Bernard Durkan (FG), Emmet Stagg (Lab), Aine Brady (FF), Michael Fitzpatrick (FF), Sean O Fearghail (FF), Sean Power (FF) and Jack Wall (Lab). Nevertheless, the whole county is governed at level by.

Towns


(pop. 10,000) and (pop. 20,000) have both applied to be upgraded to "Town" status.

Major villages

 * Hawkfield
 * , Milltown,
 * Hawkfield
 * , Milltown,
 * Hawkfield
 * , Milltown,
 * , Milltown,
 * , Milltown,

Sport
The nickname for the team is the Lilywhites, a reference to the all-white jerseys they wear. Kildare were the first team to win the All Ireland football Championship in 1928 defeating Cavan 2-6 to 2-5. County Kildare is also known as the Shortgrass County which is a reference to how short the grass is on the commons of. , more well known as The K Club, situated on the at, County Kildare, played host to the 2006.

Horse racing
The  course the home to all five Irish classics is also located in County Kildare along with two other courses  home of the National Hunt Festival of Ireland and Naas Racecourse. The county is known for the quality of horses bred in the many horse stud farms to which it is home to. Kildare is also home to the and many other top farms such as Moyglare Stud and Kildagan Stud.