<< Back to previous page

Celbridge

Celbridge has a population of over 15,000 people.

It is situated close to the K Club, one of Ireland's premier golf clubs, which is home to the Smurfit European Open , and hosted the Ryder Cup in 2006.

Local History
Celbridge is a growing town on the river Liffey about 12 miles from Dublin. This town is steeped with charm and character. The River Liffey flows through the town giving an air of peaceful, watery stillness. The Irish name for Celbridge is " Cill Droicid ", meaning "the church of the bridge".

Castletown House , Ireland's finest Palladian Country House and Celbridge Abbey Grounds, home of Vanessa Van Homrigh during her relationship with the 18th century churchman and satirist Jonathan Swift, are located in Celbridge. Celbridge Abbey was built by Bartholomew Van Homrigh, Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1697. He secured the chain of office from William of Orange which is still worn by Lord Mayors of Dublin today. His daughter Vanessa planted the grounds for her friend and admirer Jonathan Swift. Following the death of Vanessa, Celbridge Abbey came into possession of the Lord Chief Justice, Thomas Marley, grandfather of Henry Grattan.

Much of Celbridge town was rebuilt after 1798. In the 1870's two mills had been opened in Celbridge, one for the manufacture of women's hair clips and the other, which employed 300 people, was for the making of linen tape. In the 1830's Celbridge was home to 270 houses and the population was estimated at 1,647. There was a Parochial House, four private schools and a fever hospital.

Things To Do

Monument to Speaker Connolly
When visiting Celbridge, you must seek out the Monument in the Protestant church to William Connolly, Speaker in the Irish house of commons when Queen Anne reigned.

Castletown House
At the end of a long tree lined avenue lies Castletown House, one of Ireland's most imposing mansions, built in the year 1722. Much of its internal design was the work of Lady Louisa Lennox who married into the Connolly family when she was only 15 years of age. From the back of the house, roughly two miles away, an Obelisk can be seen. It is mounted on a series of stone arches and stands amazingly 140ft high and is known as, ‘Connolly's Folly'. Castletown House has recently undergone refurbishments and is open to tourists.