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KIL
lin, who was advanced to the prelacy in 1681, was for
the same reason allowed to retain his deanery, which
has also been held ever since by the bishops of Kildare,
who rank next to the bishops of Meath, the other bishops
taking precedency according to the dates of their conse-
cration. Under the provisions of the Church Tempo-
ralities act of the 3d and 4th of Wm. IV:, the see, on
its next avoidance, will be annexed to the archiepiscopal
see of Dublin, and its temporalities, together with those
held in commendam, will be vested in the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners. It is one of the five dioceses which
constitute the ecclesiastical province of Dublin, and
comprehends part of Queen’s county, a large portion of
King’s county, and the greater part of the county of
Kildare; it is 36 miles in length and 23 in breadth, and
comprises an estimated superficies of 332,200 acres, of
which 49,000 are in Queen’s county, 121,000 in King’s
county, and 161,000 in Kildare. The chapter consists
of a dean, precentor, chancellor, treasurer, and four
canons, and there are an archdeacon and the eight pre-
bendaries of Lulliamore, Rathangan, Nurney, Ballyso-
nan, Castropetre, Geashill, Harristown, and Donadea,
who are not of the chapter, but have a vote in the elec-
tion of the dean. The consistorial court consists of a
vicar-general, two surrogates, and two registrars; the
last are keepers of the records, which consist of modern
documents, those prior to l641 having been lost during
the insurrection. The total number of parishes in the
diocese is 85, comprised in 41 benefices, of which 20 are
unions of two or more parishes, and 21 single parishes:
of these, 12 are in the patronage of the Crovvn, 10 in lay
and corporation patronage, 4 in joint or alternate pre-
sentation, and the remainder in the patronage of the
Bishop or Incumbents. The total number of churches
is 35, and of other places of Protestant worship, 4; and
the number of glebe-houses is 19. The quantity of land
belonging to the see is 911 acres, and the gross revenue
of the bishop, including the preceptory of Tully and the
deanery of Christchurch, on an average of three years
ending Dec. 31st, 1831, amounted to £6451. 13. 3. The
cathedral, dedicated to St. Bridget, was nearly destroyed
in the parliamentary war, and the choir is now the only
part kept in repair. The walls of the nave are still
remaining, and present some plain pointed arches, and
those of the south transept are entire; but the north
side of the tower, which, rose between the nave and
choir, is levelled with the ground. The choir, which is
also the parochial church, has no interesting details: it
contains the sepulchral vault of the Earls of Kildare. In
the churchyard is the lofty pedestal of an ancient stone
cross, and in the surrounding walls are numerous frag-
ments of sculptured monuments, removed from the
interior of the cathedral, of which several are remark-
able both for their subjects and their execution. A few
yards distant is a remaining portion of the chapel of St.
Bridget, called “the fire house,” a low and narrow stone
cell in which the sacred fire was preserved. There is
neither chapter-house nor episcopal palace, nor are there
residences for any of the dignitaries. In the R. C. divi-
sions the diocese is united with that of Leighlin, together
forming one of the three suffragan dioceses to the archie-
piscopal see of Dublin: it comprises 46 parochial bene-
fices or unions, containing 110 chapels served by 108
clergymen, of whom 46, including the bishop, are parish
86
KIL
priests, and 62 coadjutors or curates. The parochial
benefice of the bishop is Carlow, near which is his resi-
dence, Braganza House. The cathedral in Carlow, built
during the prelacy of the Right Rev. Dr. Doyle, and
chiefly through his exertions, is an edifice of much archi-
tectural elegance.
The parish comprises 4759 statute acres, as applotted
under the tithe act. It is a rectory, appropriate to the
dean and chapter: the tithes amount to £323. 1.6. In
the R. C. divisions it is the head of a union or district,
called Kildare and Rathangan, comprising the parishes
of Kildare, Rathangan, Came, Dunmurry, Pollardstown,
Thomastown, Tully, Lackagh, and Knavenstown. There
is a chapel in the town, and also one at Rathangan.
Near the R. C. chapel is a convent of nuns of the order
of the Presentation, the sisters of which devote their
time to the gratuitous instruction of poor girls; and
near the ruins of the monastery of St. Bridget is a
Carmelite friary, a neat modern building recently erected
on the site of the ancient house of that order, attached
to which is a chapel. There are three public schools,
in which about 800 children are taught, and a private
school, in which are about 70 children. The county
infirmary is situated in the town. About thirty yards
from the church is the ancient round tower, 132 feet
high, which within the last century has been crowned
with graduated battlements; and part of the ancient
castle is still remaining. On the Curragh, according to
Giraldus Cambrensis, was formerly a circle of large
stones, of which no traces remain; but there are nume-
rous earthworks, most of which appear to have been
sepulchral. On this plain, Richard Marshall, Earl of
Pembroke and Earl Palatine of Leinster, who had been
invited by De Burgo, De Lacy, and other lords to nego-
tiate a truce, was betrayed by Geoffrey de Marisco, his
attendant, into the power of his enemies, and put to
death, in 1234. David O’Buge, who, in the early part
of the 14th century, was eminently distinguished as a
philosopher, rhetorician, and divine, was a native of this
town; he was provincial of the Carmelites in Ireland,
and was interred in the monastery of that order at this
place, of which he had been a friar. Kildare gives the
inferior titles of Earl and Marquess to the Duke of
Leinster.
KILDAYIN, a parish, in the barony of FORTH,
county of WEXFORD, and province of LEINSTER, 3½
miles (S. by W.) from Wexford, on the road to Bridge-
town; containing 513 inhabitants, and comprising 2245
statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act. It
includes part of the mountain of Forth; the land is
chiefly under tillage, and the state of agriculture is gra-
dually improving. Good building stone is found in
several places. At Mourntown Cross is a manufactory
for coarse woollen cloth, and blankets and flannel are
also made here, chiefly for the neighbouring farmers, who
supply their own wool. It is in the diocese of Ferns,
and is a rectory, forming part of the union of St. Patrick’s,
Wexford: the tithes amount to £125. 0. 3½. In the
R. C. divisions it forms part of the union or district of
Piercestown: the chapel at Mourntown, together with
the school-house attached to it, is about to be rebuilt
by subscription, on an acre of ground presented by
N. A. Vigors, Esq. A parochial house for the R. C.
clergyman will also be erected near the chapel. The