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KIL
comprises an area, according to the Ordnance survey,
of 392,435 acres, of which 325,988 are cultivated
ground, and 66,447 are unprofitable mountain and bog.
The population, in 1821, amounted to 99,065, and in
1831, to 108,424.
This county, in the time of Ptolemy, was inhabited
by the Coriundi, whose territory lay to the west of the
rivers Liffey and Slaney, being bounded on the north
and west by the Boyne and the Barrow, and having the
tribes of the Cauci and Menapii on the east, the Eblani
on the north, and the Brigantes on the south. It formed
part of the district of Caellan, or Galen, which included
the greater part of the present county, together with a
part of those of Wicklow and Carlow; the county of
Kildare portion being bounded on the east by the
Wicklow mountains, on the south and west by the
Barrow, and on the north by the Liffey and the bog of
Allen. This latter name also signifies the woody
country, by much the greater part having been an ex-
tensive forest, many traces of which are still discernible
in the bogs. The native chieftains of the district were
the heads of the family of Hy Caellan, or M c Kelly,
whose principal residence was at Rath-Ardscull, near
Athy. The last aboriginal owner of this fortress,
Gicrode Crone M c Kelly, defended it against the efforts
of the English during his life. After his decease the
country was possessed by the Fitzgeralds, the Fitz-
Henrys, and the Keatings. The territory of the O’Tothils
or O’Tooles, who ruled over the southern part of the
county of Wicklow, extended into this county, Tristle-
dermot, or Castledermot, being one of their places of
residence. After the landing of the English and the
death of Dermod M c Murrough, last king of Leinster,
which occurred soon after, this county devolved upon
Strongbow, in right of his wife Eva, as part of the king-
dom, or, as it was called by the English, the palatinate,
of Leinster; and is generally considered to have been
one of the twelve counties into which the part of the
island that acknowledged the British jurisdiction was
divided by King John, although it was not till the end
of the reign of Edw. I., in 1296, that an act was passed
for separating a large district from, the county of Dublin,
and more especially for constituting Kildare, which had
been a liberty appendant to the county of Dublin, a
county of itself, discharged from the jurisdiction of the
Dublin sheriff, and having county officers of its own.
In the general division of the county among the first
English settlers, by Strongbow and his heirs, Carbery
was given to Meyler Fitz-Henry; Naas Offallia, to
Maurice Fitzgerald, from whom the three great families
of Kildare, Kerry, and Desmond, descended; Narragh
was given to Robert, and Adam Fitz-Hereford had Salt,
with its appendages. On the division of the palatinate of
Leinster among the five coheiresses of William Marshal,
who inherited in right of his wife Isabel, Strongbow’s
only daughter, the county of Kildare was given to the
fourth daughter, Sibilla, who married William de Ferrars,
Earl of Derby. William de Vescy succeeded in right
of his wife Agnes, the only daughter of this marriage,
but he lost the property shortly after in consequence of
his fleeing into France to avoid a single combat with
John Fitzgerald, who had charged him with treason,
and his possessions were bestowed on his accuser. In
1234, Richard Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, the successor
of William, having united with the O’Conors against
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KIL
the English government, was killed in a battle on the
Curragh of Kildare by the Lord Justice, aided by the
Fitzgeralds, De Laceys, and Burghs. The power of the
Fitzgeralds, or Geraldines, from this period became
paramount in the county; insomuch that, in 1264,
Richard de Rupella, Lord Justice, was made prisoner,
together with the Lords Theobald Butler and John
Cogan, by Maurice Fitzgerald, who had come with him
to a conference at Castledermot, in order to put an end
to a dispute between the Geraldines and Burghs.
This county is partly within the diocese of Dublin,
but chiefly in that of Kildare. For purposes of civil
jurisdiction it is divided into the baronies of Carbery,
Clane, Connell, Ikeathy and Oughterany, Kilcullen, Kil-
kea and Moone, East Narragh and Rheban, West
Narragh and Rheban, East Ophaly, West Ophaly, North
Naas, South Naas, North Salt, and South Salt. It con-
tains the incorporated assize and market towns of Naas
and Athy; the ancient disfranchised borough and
market town of Kildare; the market and post-towns of
Kilcock, Maynooth, Celbridge, Monastereven, Timoline,
Rathangan, Leixlip, Kilcullen-Bridge, and Newbridge;
and the post-towns of Castledermot, Clane and Ballytore:
the largest villages are Prosperous, Kill, Johnstown-
Bridge, and Sallins. Prior to the Union it sent ten
members to the Irish parliament,—two knights of the
shire, and two representatives for each of the boroughs
of Naas, Athy, Kildare, and Harristown; but since that
period its representation has been confined to the two
members for the county at large. The constituency, as
registered in June 1836, consisted of 371 £50, 181 £20,
and 830 £10 freeholders, as appears from the books of
the clerk of the peace, in which the other classes of
electors are not distinguished; he total number was
1382. The election, if held between the spring and
summer assizes, takes, place at Naas; if at any other
period of the year, at Athy. The county is included in
the home circuit: the spring assize is held at Naas,
and the summer assize at Athy, at each of which are a
county court-house and gaol. The general quarter
sessions are held at Athy and Maynooth in January, at
Kildare and Naas in April, at Maynooth and Athy in
July, and at Naas and Kildare in October. The number
of persons charged with criminal offences and com-
mitted to the two prisons, in 1835, was 101, and of
civil bill committals, 22. The local government is
vested in a lieutenant, 12 deputy-lieutenants, and 92
magistrates, with the usual county officers, including
two coroners. There are 45 constabulary police stations,
having in the whole a force of one stipendiary magis-
trate, 4 chief and 40 subordinate constables, and 205
men, with 6 horses the expense of whose maintenance
is defrayed equally by Grand Jury presentments and by
Government. The district lunatic asylum for the county
is at Carlow, and the county infirmary at Kildare:
there are fever hospitals at Celbridge, Naas, and Kil-
cullen, and dispensaries at Athy, Ballitore, Castledermot,
Celbridge, Clane, Donadea, Johnstown-Bridge, Kilcock,
Kilcullen, Maynooth, Monastereven, Naas, Newbridge,
Rathangan, and Robertstown; the infirmary and fever
hospitals are supported by Grand Jury presentments,
and the dispensaries by equal presentments and volun-
tary subscriptions. The amount of the Grand Jury
presentments for 1835 was £19,554. 18. 9., of which
£1221. 7. 10. was for the public roads of the county at