A History of County Kildare (Condensed)

PHILIP I. POWELL

A history of County Kildare

A History of County Kildare

From Prehistory to Oliver Cromwell

Philip I. Powell

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PHILIP I. POWELL

A HISTORY of County Kildare

HISTORIC KILDARE from PREHISTORY to CROMWELL

The earliest and only written records from pre-Christian County Kildare come from the

Greek historian, Ptolemy, whose map of Ireland of 100 A.D., shows an inland town that

maybe Rheban on the River Barrow. Before this time therefore, we must rely on the

archaeological evidence thus far discovered, in an attempt to understand the prehistoric

history of the county. Perhaps the very earliest remains of humankind in County Kildare,

are those at Grange Beg near Kildare town. The megalithic structure, marked on the OSI

map as ‘Druids Altar’, is thought to be that of a Neolithic tomb dating from the 3rd

millennia BC. (2,000-3,000 B.C.) and, consists of a large oval capstone, supported by two

small slabs, covering a small chamber and surrounded by an earth mound 4m. in diameter.

However, archaeologists believe that there is not enough conclusive evidence to definitively

class the structure as a Neolithic tomb. The tomb is located next to a modern home, on

private land. Therefore, the most definitive and earliest evidence of prehistoric activity in

County Kildare must be that of the Stone Circles within the county. Stone circles date from

the early to middle Bronze Age, from around 2,400 - 1,500 B.C., and as of now, three such

circles have been recorded in County Kildare. Of these, two survive at Brewel Hill West &

Broadleas Commons while the other stone circle at Whiteleas, was destroyed within the last

two centuries. The stone circles in Kildare, are circular settings of upright stones with their

broad sides facing inwards, towards the centre, and are primarily a Bronze Age ritual

monument dating from 2,000-1,100 B.C. The Kildare stone circles are commonly known as

the ‘Piper’s Stones’, a tradition explaining them as being people turned into stone for

dancing impiously round a piper, who is sometimes thought to be represented by an

isolated pillar either inside or outside the circle. ‘This folk belief may possible recall,

however faintly, some sort of pagan ritual dance at such of the sites as might presumably

have been sacred’. (Raftery, J., p102). The other most visible and prominent Bronze Age

remains within the county, are those of the huge standing stones, most of which, can be

found in the east of the county and includes the tallest standing stone in Ireland at

Punchestown Great. A Standing Stone, or Gallaun in Irish, is a stone purposely set upright

in the ground, usually with an orientation of NE - SW and are normally 1.6m in height. ‘It

is believed they may represent the spirit of the departed, or is a mark over a grave, (as in

Punchestown Great) or may be just a boundary stone.’ (Raftery, J., p.102). Some standing

stones that have been excavated, revealed cremated human remains and pottery sherds

that date from the Beaker people of the early Bronze Age. Not all of these monoliths are of

the Bronze Age, some maybe later, perhaps from the early Iron Age. When exactly the Iron

Age began in Ireland, is a subject that has been hotly debated by historical scholars. Some

archaeologists believe it may have begun as early as 700 B.C., while others give a more

conservative date of around 200 B.C., or later.

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PHILIP I. POWELL


Ptolemy’s map of Ireland showing Rheban (Rheba), 100 A.D.

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PHILIP I. POWELL


Whichever is the most plausible of dates, by 300 B.C., the art of the La Tène Iron Age Celts

had arrived in Ireland and some of the most imposing of Iron Age monuments began to

appear in County Kildare, in the form of Hill Forts & Barrows, ‘although some may have

been started already during the Bronze Age.’ (Harbison. P., p.9). The most impressive of

these Hill Forts in Kildare and indeed the whole of Ireland, is that at Knockaulin, near

Kilcullen. Dún Áilinne, was the most important of the royal sites in south Leinster and

enclosed an area of 13.8 hectares (34 acres) on this prominent hill-top. Excavations carried

out in the late 1960s and early 1970s by Bernard Wailes 1, showed the site had been

occupied as early as the Neolithic & Bronze Age periods. From around 250 B.C., three

concentric rings of timber uprights were erected close together, the outermost being the

highest, enclosing the central area 28.5m in diameter. Some 200 years later, two further

concentric palisades were built on almost the exact same spot. Dún Áilinne showed little

trace of habitation and we can only conclude that it may have been used for some

occasional or seasonal ritual of which we have no knowledge. Its enormous scale and

continued re-shaping, showed the importance that Dún Áilinne held in the mindset of these

early Iron Age people. But this sacred pre-Christian site at Dún Áilinne was finally

abandoned around 400 A.D., in favour of the Christian site on a neighbouring hill at

Kilcullen, a transition summarized by Aenghus, writing in his Calendar around 800 A.D.

He said:-

‘Ailenn’s proud burgh has perished with its warlike host; great is victorious Brigit, fair is her multitudinous cemetery’.

The introduction of Christianity to County Kildare, traditionally dates from the middle, to

late 5th century, with the foundation of the monastery at Cill Dara in 490 A.D. The first

Bishop of Cill Dara was Conlaed ua hEimri, (St. Conleth) who died around 520 A.D. Naomh Bríd, (St. Brigid) the foundress, died around 521-526 A.D., and her death has been

celebrated traditionally on 1st February, which is also the pre-Christian festival of Imbolc

and her cross is the emblem of the county. Old Kilcullen, strategically placed beside the

pagan, royal site of Dún Áilinne, is believed to have been assigned a bishop, St. Iserninus,

by St. Patrick, which began as a monastic settlement in the period around 448 A.D.

Killashee, near Naas, was also strategically placed next to the residence of the local king of

the Uí Faelain, where Bishop Auxilius founded a church in the 5th century and in the ‘Obits of the Abbots of Killashee’ occur in the Annals from 829 A.D. The power of the old pagan

priest-kings at Dún Áilinne declined, and they were replaced by kings, whose power was

more politically based. Such kings, like the Kings of Leinster, the Uí Dúnlainge, were

unopposed following the death of Aed mac Colggan in the Battle of Ballyshannon, on 19th

August, 738 A.D., and ruled the province from c.738 A.D., until 1050 A.D.

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1 Excavations in 1960s-1970s by Bernard Wailes recovered pottery dating from 1,270 B.C.

PHILIP I. POWELL


Its symbolism reminds us that, in Ireland the arrival of

Christianity did not mark a sudden break with the past.

Indeed, the stone speaks of a remarkable continuity in one

of the most resonant of so-called Celtic rituals: ‘the sword in

the stone’. The idea of the true king being the one who can

pull a sword from a stone is central to the British legends of

King Arthur. The Mullamast Stone functioned, almost

certainly, as the place where the Uí Dúnlainge, Kings of

Leinster, were initiated. It is notable that such an important

ritual object has no Christian symbolism. The Mullamast

Stone has four blade marks on the left hand side and two

very deep ones on the top. The new king seems to have

struck or sharpened his sword against the stone as a key

part of the inauguration ritual. The idea of the ‘sword in the

They claimed descent from Cairbre Lifechair, son of Cormac mac Airt, the legendary High

King of Ireland and the dynasty divided into three kindred, unusually in Ireland, rotating

the kingship between them from c.750 until 1050 A.D. The three kindred were the Uí Meiredaig (O’ Tooles), the Uí Faelain (O’ Byrnes) and the Uí Dúnchada (Mac Gilla Mo-

Cholmóg, later the Fitzdermots2).The Uí Meiredaig kings were based at the Great Rath of

Mullaghmast, ‘Máistín’ & the Rath of Mullaghreelan, ‘Mullach Raeirinne’. The Uí Faelain

kings were based at the Rath of Naas, ‘Nás na Ríogh’, and the Uí Dúnchada kings were

based at the Rath of Lyons Hill, ‘Líamhain’. The coming of Christianity to Ireland did not

mean that the ancient Celtic customs & traditions disappeared altogether. The ‘Mullamast

Stone’, (photo) c. 500-600 A.D., is a sculptured stone that was discovered in 1902, being

used as a sill in the doorway of farm called Prospect Farm, on the east side of the Hill of

Mullaghmast, near Narraghmore. It had come from a Fitzgerald castle in the area that was

demolished pre-1897 but its original location was most likely the royal site at Dún Áilinne,

near Kilcullen. The stone, composed of limestone & one of only five La Tène decorated

stones in Ireland,3 is mostly carved in low relief, with some incised, and with a continuous

abstract La Tène style design of concentric spirals, similar to that on the Turoe Stone in

County Galway, that dates it to the 6th century A.D., after the mission of St. Patrick.

Mullaghmast La Tène Stone stone’ seems to have lasted at least from the 5th or 6th centuries to the 12th century. The

‘Mullamast Stone’, is now on display in the National Museum of Ireland.

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2 Fitzdermot - It is one of only two attested surnames of native Gaelic-Irish origin with the Norman

French Fitz prefix. 3 The other four La Tène stones are: - Turoe, Co. Galway, Castlestrange, Co. Roscommon,

Killycluggin, Co. Cavan & Derrykeighan, Co. Antrim.

PHILIP I. POWELL


Mr. George Coffey, the Keeper of the Irish Antiquities, noted in a paper to the R.I.A., in

November, 1903, that:-

‘the ornament carved on it is, in my opinion, pre-Christian. The stone evidently stood upright. This is shown by the bands or ornament at the base on the four sides of the stone. The incised patterns have a

late look, and closely resemble the Trumpet patterns of the Christian period. But there is nothing Christian about the stone. It may therefore be placed at the end of the Pagan period. As a transitional

piece, helping to carry over the pre-Christian style into the Christian period, it is an important example for the history of ornament in Ireland’.

Mr. Joseph Raftery stylizes the stone to be the most exquisite of any La Tène decoration in

Ireland. He said:-

‘The Mullamast stone belongs to the best period of the Ultimate La Tène style, to our Iron Age C, and some of its designs appear in almost identical form on a latchet brooch found at Navan Fort, County

Armagh’. (Raftery, J., p.213)

Understanding the language and customs of the Celtic peoples in Ireland before

Christianity and, subsequently the introduction of writing, had long been a mystery, until

the discovery of Ogham Stones and their eventual translation. Ogham stones are usually

upright monoliths, onto which ogham script has been incised, which consists of groups of 1-

5 parallel lines and notches cut along the side or across the edge of a stone, to represent the

sounds of the Ancient Irish language. The inscription usually gives a persons name and

immediate decedent/s or tribal ancestor and functioned as memorials, grave markers or

territorial markers that date from the late 4th to the early 8th century A.D. Eight ogham

stones have been discovered in Kildare to date, from two sites at Killen Cormac, in

Colbinstown and at Donaghmore, in the Carton House Demesne. In 1945, during

archaeological excavations on the passage tomb at Killeen Cormack ‘Cillín Cormaic’, several ogham stones were re-discovered in and around the site. One of these ogham stones,

known as ‘the Drunides Stone’, is probably one of the most important archaeological finds

from this period ever found in Ireland. It is the only ogham stone discovered so far in

Ireland that has both Ogham & Latin inscribed on it and has been dated to 400-550

A.D.(Ziegler, S., p.219). The ogham inscription reads, UVANOS AVI IVACTTOS, and

translates as ‘Uvan grandson of Ivacatt’. The Latin has been interpreted as reading either

‘The Four True Druids’ or ‘The Druid Youths’, due to a partial letter. The stone is now on

display in the National Museum of Ireland. (MacAliaster, R.A.S., p.78-79 & McManus, D., p.61).

The monastic sites in Kildare prospered throughout the following three centuries under the

patronage & protection of the Uí Dúnlainge kings. The early monasteries of wattle, wood

and daub, were replaced by fine stone churches and large communities developed around

these religious centres. The monasteries of Kildare & Old Kilcullen, grew very large and

would equate to small towns by today’s standards.

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PHILIP I. POWELL


However, this peace and prosperity would be shattered by the arrival of a violent force that

had been sweeping through Britain & northern Europe for 50 years, the Vikings. It was

during the reign of Bran mac Fáeláin, King of Leinster that Viking raids began in earnest

in County Kildare. In 833 A.D., the Vikings raided the Kildare monastery for first time and

again, three years later in 836 A.D., in what was the most destructive of sixteen raids in

total. Old Kilcullen too suffered from raids by the Vikings at least twice. In 936 A.D., the

Vikings landed at a location near the present town, led by Amhlaibh, son of Godfrey and

plundered the monastery, and again by Amhlaibh in 944 A.D., when it is reported that a

thousand prisoners were taken. In 837 A.D., a Viking force of sixty ships operating on the

River Liffey, plundered the surrounding plains of north Kildare. However, the Leinster

kings fought back and scored numerous successes against the Norsemen. The Annuls of

Ulster record that in 848 A.D., Lorcán mac Cellaig, King of Leinster, in alliance with

Ólchobar mac Cináeda, led his forces in a victory over the Vikings in the Battle of Sciath Nechtain near modern Castledermot, in which the Viking leader jarl 4 Tomrair, was slain.

And again, The Annals of Ulster state that, in 902 A.D., Cerball mac Muirecáin, King of

Leinster, together with Máel Finnia mac Flannacain, King of Brega, lead an expedition to

Dublin which drove the ‘foreigners’, the Vikings and Norse-Gaels, from Ireland. But the

Leinster Kings also saw the great wealth that the new Viking settlement at Dublin, ‘Diflin’ in Old Norse, generated from commerce & metalworking and through alliances &

intermarriages, began to forge greater links with the Norse-Gaels. This eventually led to

great conflict between the forces of King Máel Mórda of Leinster & King Sigtrygg Silkbeard

of Dublin and those of the High King of Ireland, Máel Sechnaill II & the King of Munster,

Brian Boru, which culminated in the Battle of Glenn Máma in 999 A.D. The Battle of Glenn

Máma, Cath Ghleann Máma, ‘the Glen of the Gap’, took place in what is now, present day

west County Wicklow, in a narrow valley, where the armies of Máel Sechnaill II & Brian Boru inflicted a crushing & decisive defeat on those of Máel Mórda & Sigtrygg Silkbeard.

The battle resulted in the submission of Máel Mórda and Sigtrygg Silkbeard to Brian Boru.

This submission did not last however, and eventually resulted in a second Leinster revolt

against Brian and the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 A.D. Brian Boru perished at Clontarf but

so too did Máel Mórda and with his death, the power of the Uí Dúnlainge waned. After the

death of the last Kildare-based King of Leinster, Murchad Mac Dunlainge, in 1042 A.D., the

great Kildare dynasty of the Uí Dúnlainge and their centuries hold on the kingship of

Leinster, had come to an end. The Kingship of Leinster reverted to their great rivals the Uí Cheinnselaig based in the south east, in present day County Wexford. Although these

Viking raids brought great death and destruction to the communities and monasteries of

Kildare, it also brought about an explosion in Irish decorative art in the form of the High

Crosses & Architectural masonry in the form of Round Towers.

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4 He is called jarl (Earl) and deputy of the King of Lochlann.

PHILIP I. POWELL


Irish Architecture in Ireland & were

built from around the end of the 10th

century to the middle of the 12th century.

County Kildare has some of the finest

examples of round towers in Ireland,

such as those at Kildare Cathedral in

Kildare town & Taghadoe near

Maynooth. They are tall & slender, with

a doorway about 10 feet from the

ground, with windows at the top, just

below the conical roof and originally

there were a number of wooden landings,

joined by flights of stairs. They had

many functions and one was probably to

act as a bell tower to call monks in from

The Irish High Cross, Ardchros in Irish or ‘Celtic Cross’ as it is sometimes known, date

from around the 8th - 9th century A.D., to the late 12th century A.D. & are one of the most

iconic of crosses. They are found in other lands where a Celtic language is spoken & this

gives them their alternative name. There are two main periods evident in the carving of the

High Crosses. The early period around the 8th-9th century have highly decorated panels

(usually on the east & west faces) bearing figures from the Bible. The east face panels

usually illustrate scenes from the Old Testament, while the west face panels are usually

reserved for the New Testament. The Crucifixion generally occupies the centre of the west

face and some of the finest examples of these early High Crosses of exquisite workmanship

and elaborate design can be seen in Castledermot & Moone. Other High Crosses of less

elaborate carving, can be seen at Ballymore Eustace, which has a large boss at the centre of

a tall cross. The Round Tower, Cloigtheach in Irish or ‘Bell Tower’, was a celebration of

Conjectural drawing of an early monastic site

the surrounding fields for pray. They also served as storage places for monastic treasures

and possibly as a place of refuge in times of danger, such as Viking raids. Their great

height suggests they were intended to be seen from afar, perhaps to guide weary travellers

and pilgrims to the monastic site. With the death of Máel Mórda mac Murchada at Clontarf

in 1014 A.D., the kingdom of Leinster saw much in-fighting between the incumbent kings,

the Uí Dúnlainge of Kildare and the Uí Cheinnselaig kings who were centred around Ferns,

County Wexford. Eventually the Uí Dúnlainge kings of Kildare, relinquished their hold on

the kingship of Leinster and the Uí Cheinnselaig assumed kingship over Leinster with

Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó in 1042 A.D. In earlier times, the Uí Cheinnselaig had been

prominent, but their power had been broken by the Uí Dúnlainge at the battle of Áth Senaig in 738 A.D. In 1126 A.D., Diarmait Mac Murchada, ‘Diarmait of the Foreigners’,

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and in Kildare, as else where, these early

Normans established themselves in hastily built

fortifications called ‘mottes’, consisting of flat

topped mounds of earth, with a wooden tower on

top, and around the base was an enclosure called

a ‘bailey’. The wooden towers have long since

disappeared but some mottes can still be seen in

places like Ardscull in Athy and Carrigeen in

Clane. By the late 12th - early 13th century, the

Norman FitzGeralds in Kildare had secured

their hold on their newly won territories. They

started to replaced their wooden ‘motte &

bailey’ forts with stronger fortifications and a

great wave of stone castle building began. This

started, probably in the late-1180s, when

Maurice Fitzgerald erected Maynooth Castle

and Hugh de Lacy built Kilkea Castle. Richard

St. Michael, Baron of Rheban built Woodstock

Castle in Athy in the early 13th century, at the

same time that Adam de Hereford built Leixlip

Castle & the de Wogan’s were building a castle

great-grandson of Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó, became King of Leinster, which would led to

the invasion & subsequent conquest of Ireland by the Anglo-Normans, beginning in 1169

A.D. In 1167, Diarmait was deprived of the kingdom of Leinster by Ruaidri Ua Conchobair,

High King of Ireland, on the grounds that he had abducted the wife of the King of Breifne.

To regain his kingdom, Diarmait sought help from King Henry II of England and in return,

Diarmait pledged an oath of allegiance to Henry. Diarmait had done nothing unusual, in

fact, many deposed kings had sought help from abroad for the repossession of the thrones.

But Henry II had other ideas and seized upon the opportunity to expand his kingdom,

much as his predecessors had done in England the previous century. Henry sent troops in

1169 A.D., and among them was the very first Geraldine in County Kildare, Maurice

FitzGerald. Maurice FitzGerald, (pictured below) Lord of Llanstephan (1105 – 1177 A.D.),

was a Cambro-Norman nobleman and one of the first Normans to arrived in Ireland in

1169 A.D., to assist the exiled Irish King of Leinster Diarmait Mac Murchada regain his

kingdom and a major figure in the Norman invasion of Ireland. He settled in Ireland,

becoming Lord of Maynooth & Naas, and with his son, Gerald FitzMaurice, they founded

the FitzGerald dynasty that were to play important roles in Irish history. Gerald

FitzMaurice, by right of his wife, the heiress Eve de Bermingham, was granted the barony

of Offaly, and thus became the 1st Lord of Offaly. He is the ancestor of the Kildare branch

of the dynasty. The Norman lords overran the province within thirty years of their arrival

Maurice FitzGerald,Lord of Llanstephan

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PHILIP I. POWELL


at Rathcoffey House. The ever present treat of conflict with the native Irish, saw these

castles undergo constant re-shaping and modifications throughout the 14th century, adding

bawns, towers & battlements. The 15th century would witness a new wave of castle building

in Kildare but unlike the great early Norman fortifications of the 13th century, these were

smaller and less impressive. They were square or rectangular in shape, with vaulted roofs

and fine examples of these later Norman castles in Kildare, can be seen at Whites Castle,

Athy, Kilteel Castle, near Naas and Grange Castle, near Edenderry, County Offaly. From

the 12th century onwards, religious worship in County Kildare also underwent great

changes, in parallel with the great castle building of the Norman Lords. The foundation of

new religious orders saw the arrival of the first Cistercians to Kildare, with the building of

an abbey in Monasterevin.

Conjectural drawing of an early Norman motte & bailey

Although it is believed that St. Emin founded a monastery here around 800 A.D. (Gwynn and Hadcock, p.398), sometime between 1177 & 1181 A.D., Dermot O'Dempsey, King of

Offaly, founded an abbey dedicated to St. Mary & St. Benedict, probably on its site, and

shortly afterwards it became the Cistercian Abbey of Rosglas or ‘de Rosea Vallis’, of which

no visible remains survive. (Gwynn and Hadcock, p.142). They were followed by the

Augustinians, who founded priories in Naas in 1200 A.D., and shortly after in Great

Connell in 1202 A.D. and the Dominicans who established a friary at Athy in 1253 A.D.

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But it would be the Franciscan Order that would have the biggest impact in County

Kildare, founding abbeys in Castledermot in 1247 A.D., Clane in 1258 A.D. and the Grey

Abbey in Kildare town in 1260 A.D. Other lesser orders, such as the Knights Hospitaller,

were also very active in Kildare and they founded Black Abbey in Kildare town in 1212

A.D. The arrival of these new religious orders to Kildare & Ireland, sounded the death

knell for the old Irish monasteries like Kildare & Old Kilcullen, ‘whose organisation was as

loose and disorganised as the buildings of the monasteries themselves.’ (Harbison P., p.22).

For these new orders were more organised than their early Irish counterparts, both in the

layout of the monastic buildings & the monastic life of the monks, a simple but stern life

that had an appeal to the Irish monks, who quickly abandoned the old monasteries which

fell into decay. In building these new monasteries, they introduced remarkable

workmanship of obliquely chiselled stonework, comprising of geometrical ornamentation

and figured sculpture that are one of the most aesthetically pleasing sights in all of County

Kildare. The abbeys of Kildare thrived and prospered under the great patronage of the

Ftizgeralds and in the 15th century, they saw a great revival in ecclesiastical architecture,

especially by the Franciscans who either altered, transformed or added to the abbeys at

Casledermot & Clane. Their monastic buildings were rebuilt or repaired, adding new

doorways, replacing the old lancet windows with broader traceried windows, and thus

letting in more light. However, this new expression in ecclesiastical architecture came to an

abrupt end in 1536 A.D., when Henry VIII, decreed the dissolution of all monasteries

and the confiscation of all monastic property. The rebellion by Silken Thomas

Fitzgerald in 1535 A.D., and its subsequent ruthless suppression, brought great destruction

to many of the great Norman castles in County Kildare and with Henry VIII adopting the

title ‘King of Ireland’ in 1540, a new era of castle improvements began and continued on

into the reign of Elizabeth I. With this Tudor style architecture, many of the older castles

added mansions to their homes and fortification for defence became of secondary concern.

The English Lord Deputy, Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Stafford, started building a

grandiose new mansion at Jigginstown outside Naas in 1640 A.D., and had he completed it,

it would have been one of the finest 17th century houses in Ireland. However, he was

recalled to London in 1641 A.D., and hanged, and the house remained incomplete. What

followed, was 11 years of constant warfare in Ireland, first with the Confederate Wars of

1642–1649 A.D., and after the defeat and execution of Charles I, the Parliamentary armies

of Cromwell between 1649-1653 A.D., destroyed many castles and abbeys, removing the

last remaining vestiges of the old monasteries in Kildare. Although this paper finishes at

the 1700s, some antiquities of notable exception deserve special mention. Some show the

extravagant lifestyles of the wealthy in 18th century Kildare, who embarked upon lavish

garden ornamentations for their stately mansions, such as the ‘Eagle Obelisk’ in Belan

from the 1740s and ‘The Wonderful Barn’ in Celbridge from the 1740s. Others are more

pragmatic and functional, and serve as a reminder of the great changes that took place in

County Kildare in the early 19th century, like the ‘Lifting Bridge’ in Monasterevin or the

‘Dan Donnelly Obelisk’ in The Curragh.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gwynn, A.O., & Hadcock, R.N., - ‘Medieval Religious Houses: Ireland’ (Longman Publishing Group. 1970)

Keating, Geoffrey, ‘History of Ireland: Foras Feasa ar Eirinn’ trans. O’Mahoney. 3 vols.

(Irish Genealogical Foundation. 1980)

Harbison, Peter, - ‘National and Historic Monuments of Ireland’ (Gill and Macmillan. 1970)

Harbison, Peter, - ‘Pre-Christian Ireland - From the First Settlers to the Early Celts’ (Guild Publishing, London. 1989)

Macalister, R. A. S., ‘Studies in Irish Epigraphy. A Collection of Revised Readings of the Ancient Inscriptions of Ireland, with Introduction and Notes’.

(Part I. London: David Nutt. (1897)

McManus, D., ‘A Guide to Ogam’ (Maynooth Monographs 4. Maynooth: An Sagart. 1991)

Raftery, Joseph, - ‘Prehistoric Ireland’ (London. 1951)

Wailes, Bernard, - Knockaulin Excavations, 1960-1970

Ziegler, S., ‘Die Sprache der altirischen Ogam-Inschriften’. (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht. 1994)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Ptolemy’s map of Ireland: Creative Commons

Image of Maurice Fitzgerald, Lord Lanstephan as shown in a manuscript of the

Expugnatio Hibernica, written in 1189 by his nephew, Gerald of Wales, courtesy of the

National Library of Ireland

All other images copyright of Author

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A History of County Kildare (Condensed)

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