KILDARE  , a

market town and the county town of county Kildare, Ireland, in the south parliamentary division, a junction on the main line of the Great Southern & Western railway, 3o. m . S.W. from Dublin, the branch line to Athy, Carlow and Kilkenny diverging southward . Pop . (1901), 1576 . The town is of high antiquarian interest . There is a Protestant cathedral church, the diocese of which was united with Dublin in 1846 . St Brigit or Bridget founded the religious community in the 5th century, and a fire sacred to the memory of the saint is said to have been kept incessantly burning for several centuries (until the Reformation) in a small ancient chapel called the Fire House, part of which remains . The cathedral suffered with the town from frequent burnings and destructions at thehands of the Danes and the Irish, and during the Elizabethan wars . The existing church was partially in ruins when an extensive restoration was begun in 1875 under the direction of G.E . Street; while the choir, which dated from the latter part of the 17th century, was rebuilt in 1896 . Close to the church are an ancient cross and a very fine round tower (its summit unhappily restored with a modern battlement) 105-1 ft. high, with a doorway with unusual ornament of Romanesque character . There are remains of a castle of the 13th century, and of a Carmelite monastery .

From the elevated situation of the town, a striking view of the great central

plain of Ireland is afforded . Kildare was incorporated by James II., and returned two members to the Irish parliament .