Philip I Powell

Antiquities of Kildare: Guide to Philip I Powell

County Kildare is one of the richest counties in Ireland for antiquities. Indeed, the earliest written records of pre-Christian Ireland from the Greek historian Ptolemy, in his map of Ireland of c.100 A. D., shows an inland town that maybe Rheban on the River Barrow, near Athy. From the stone circles & standing stones of the Bronze Age; the Iron Age Royal site of Dún Áilinne & the elaborate Celtic High Crosses & Round Towers of Christendom, to the great Anglo-Norman castles of the FitzGeralds & the architectural wonderments of the religious abbeys, County Kildare was bestowed with a rich tapestry of history that spans over four millennia. It's history has been woven together by these many diverse facets of the past, from the powerful Uí Dúnlainge, Kings of Leinster; the spread of Christianity by St. Bridgid & St. Dermot; the plundering & destruction wrought by the Vikings and the Cambro-Norman invasion that created the Pale, that placed County Kildare to the fore of conflict for many centuries; all of which, left indelible imprints on the historical & social landscape of County Kildare. In this guide to the Antiquities of County Kildare, I have selected representative antiquities of these various periods, from the early Bronze Age (2,000 B. C.), right through the millennia, and ending around the early 1700s.