The book was launched by the Mayor of Kildare, Councillor Fionnuala Dukes and is the first comprehensive contribution to the history of Kildare Town in over 50 years.

 

Compiled and edited by Mario Corrigan and Ger Kelly it is published by The Grey Abbey Conservation Project.

As well as the excellent 'Short History of Kildare Town,' by Mark McLoughlin, the book contains over 20 well researched articles on subjects such as

 

St. Brigid

Kildare, the Monastic City

The Norman Invasion

The Abbeys of Kildare

The Fitzgeralds

The 1798 Rebellion and the Gibbet Rath Massacre

Poverty in Kildare

The Military in Kildare

The Coffee House and the Racing Lodges

The National Stud – the first 50 years

The creation of the Japanese Gardens

Recollections of Hospital Street and Blind Lane

Kildare during the Irish Civil War – 1922

The Market House – Kildare Town Heritage Centre

 

There are more than 70 interesting articles from the Kildare Observer and the Leinster Leader from 1880 – 1979 – a wide range of items that made the headlines over 100 years with over 200 captioned photographs of over 1500 people, at numerous social, sporting and workplace events and venues

 

 

All proceeds will go to The Grey Abbey Conservation Project.

 

There was a large turnout on the night and the book was very well received by all who attended.

The Grey Abbey Conservation Project would like to thank all those who made it possible, the contributors and those who who generously donated their photographs. We are extremely grateful for the generous support of KELT without which the book could never have been published and indeed the financial support of the people of Kildare Town at the annual Church Gate Collection.

 We would also like to acknowledge the continued support of FAS and the CE scheme and Kildare County Council.