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Kildare Cill Dara
Location
WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53°09′25″N 6°54′33″W / 53.156859, -6.909027
Irish Grid Reference N726124
Statistics
Province:	Leinster
County:	County Kildare
Elevation:	116 m (380 ft)
Population (2006)	7,538

Kildare (Cill Dara in modern Irish, originally derived from Cell Dara in Old Irish, meaning "Church of the Oak") is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. Its population of 7,538 (2006 Census^[1]) makes it the seventh largest town in Kildare and the 55th largest in the Republic of Ireland, with a growth rate of 32.4pc since the 2002 census. Although it gives its name to the county, Kildare is not the county town, that honour going instead to Naas. The town lies some 50 km west of Dublin, near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional centre in its own right, a commuter town for the capital.

Contents 1 History 2 Transport 3 Places of Interest 4 People 5 Sport 6 See also 7 External links 8 References

See also History of County Kildare

In pre-Christian times Kildare was the site of a shrine to the Celtic goddess Brigid. Following the introduction of Christianity in the 5th and 6th centuries it became the foundation of the Christian Saint Brigid who founded a unique monastery of monks and nuns on the site of the present cathedral.

• Rail: Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) provides the town with good rail links not only to Dublin but also to the south (Waterford), the southwest (Cork, Limerick, and Tralee), and west of the country (Galway and Mayo). Kildare railway station opened on 4 August 1846 and was closed for goods traffic on 6 September 1976.^[2]
• Road: Kildare lies close to the M7 motorway from Dublin to Limerick (to which it is linked by the R445 along the route previously forming part of the N7). The M7 leads to the N8 Dublin - Cork route.

Kildare is home to the Irish National Stud, the Japanese Gardens and St. Fiachra's Garden. Much of the surrounding countryside in County Kildare is used for horse breeding. The Curragh racecourse is not far from Kildare town. The picturesque Woodstock Estate is located 15km southeast of Kildare.

The Japanese Garden

St. Fiachra's Garden

• Donal MacIntyre: Lived in Kildare for 5–7 years.
• Bláthnaid McKenna: Miss Ireland 2007
• Damien Leith: Winner of Australian Idol 2006.

• Round Towers GAA is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club.

• List of abbeys and priories in the Republic of Ireland (County Kildare)
• List of towns in the Republic of Ireland
• Market Houses in the Republic of Ireland

• Kildare town
• Kildare railway station
• The Irish National Stud
• The Irish National Stud - Japanese Gardens