History

A hedgerow between a nature reserve and one of Leixlip's cutting edge multinationals is the interface between the romance of the countryside and the most hi-tech industry in Europe. Surrounded by water, two rivers and the Royal canal, with open space and room to grow, Leixlip is poised at the forefront of Irish history, as it has been since the last Ice Age which ended at the top of the cliff behind the north side of Main Street and along the Rye River valley. The Ice Age. A Viking outpost. A Norman stronghold. An outpost of The Pale. Cyberspace.

Leixlip's history has been dictated by its unique location at the confluence of the River Liffey and the Rye Water on the border between the ancient kingdoms of Leinster and Brega. As the Rye flowed mightily beneath the ice face 15,000 years ago, the Liffey found a new course from the Dublin mountains and joined the Rye Water to form the oldest of Ireland's rivers. At Leixlip the waters tumbled down several lesser falls and a grand cataract, a natural course for salmon which glimmered as they swam through the air and water to spawn. With an abundant food source and open fields for crops, Nature gave early man a home, evidence of which is at Cooldrinagh, just off the motorway entrance to Leixlip.

Ancient earthworks including a long mound on an east-west axis is located at Cooldrinagh in the bend of the river as it turns towards Dublin and the sea ten miles downstream. Ancient mysteries abound, waiting to the discovered under the green vista of what is now two golf courses and the newly-acquired public lands of an adjacent demesne which straddle the Liffey.