Did You Know?

• Kildare’s highest point is Cupidstown Hill near Kilteel.

• St Brigid, the patroness of Ireland, was buried in Kildare.

• When built, the magnificent Castletown House near Celbridge was the largest private residence in Ireland.

• The origins of Guinness can actually be traced to County Kildare, not Dublin.

The Little Book of Kildare is a compendium of fascinating, obscure, strange and entertaining facts about this historic county.

Here you will find out about Kildare’s great houses and historic towns, its monastic heritage, its literary traditions and its famous (and occasionally infamous) men and women. Through quaint villages and bustling towns, this book takes the reader on a journey through County Kildare and its and colourful vibrant past.

A reliable reference and a quirky guide, this book can be dipped into time and again to reveal something new about the people, the heritage and the secrets of this ancient country.

Dr CHRIS LAWLOR is a former head of the History Department in Méanscoil Iognáid Rís, Naas, and has published eleven history books and many historical articles, essays and chapters in journals, magazines and anthologies. Chris won the Lord Walter Fitzgerald Prize for Original Historical Research in 2003 and the Irish Chiefs’ Prize for History in 2013. He is the treasurer of the West Wicklow Historical Society and co-editor of the society’s biennial journal. He is also a member of the Dunlavin Writers’ Group and continues to write, publish and lecture during his retirement. He lives in Dunlavin.