The most frequent family names with roots in County Kildare — names that spread through Ireland and the Irish diaspora:
Kildare means 'church of the oak tree' — a reference to the monastery founded by Saint Brigid around 480 AD. Brigid is one of the three patron saints of Ireland, and her cult at Kildare maintained a sacred fire — tended by nuns — that burned continuously for centuries. The shrine was one of the most important pilgrimage sites in medieval Ireland.
The Curragh — a vast flat plain of limestone grassland in the centre of the county — has been used for horse racing since at least the third century. Ireland's most famous races, including the Irish Derby and Irish Oaks, are run here. Kildare's bloodstock industry is among the most significant in the world; the stud farms that surround the Curragh breed champions that race across Europe and America.
Dunne is the most distinctively Leinster surname and finds its greatest concentration in Kildare. The Dunnes were the ruling sept of Leinster's midlands before the Norman conquest and resisted Anglo-Norman settlement more effectively than most Leinster families.
Kildare families spread into the midlands diaspora — the more numerous but less distinctive migration of midland Catholics who went to England and America in the nineteenth century, often without the dramatic regional identity of Cork or Galway emigrants.
Love Ireland covers the Curragh's racing season, Saint Brigid's legacy and the modern return of her sacred flame, and the Japanese Gardens at the National Stud. Kildare is quieter than most Irish counties on the tourist circuit — which makes it more interesting.
Subscribe to Love Ireland — FreeIf your family came from County Kildare, here's where to start your research:
Common County Kildare surnames with dedicated pages on this site: