Kildare - 33 Attractions You Must Visit

Old Kilcullen is the site of a round tower and a decorated High Cross. Another, much older, historic site, Dun Ailinne, is located approximately one kilometre away to the north at Knockaulin. It was formerly the site of a walled town, and before that of an ecclesiastical settlement dating from the 5th century. The original settlement gave its name to the substantial surrounding civil parish and barony.

The tower is approximately 40 ft high and the top parts suffered a lot of damage in 1798. An account written in 1782 tells of there being four large windows in the upper part of the tower but only the semblance of one now remains. The present remains at the complex include small portions of a Romanesque church, two high-cross shafts and a round tower

Pollardstown Fen is the largest remaining spring-fed fen in Ireland and is a very important site nationally and internationally. It is a post-glacial fen which began to develop approximately 10000 years ago when the area was covered by a large lake.

The Punchestown Standing Stone is the tallest and most remarkable of several long stones in County Kildare. It's overall length when measured on the ground was 7m and it weighed 9.22 tons. Out of around 600 standing stones in southwestern Ireland, this is the tallest. It fell over in 1931, and was re-erected three years later.

Saint David's Castle is a 13th-century Norman castle located in Naas, Ireland. It dates from the early Hiberno-Norman era, perhaps as early as 1200. John visited Naas in 1206. He visited again in 1210, when he held a form of Parliament in the town. About this time County Kildare became a separate county.

St Brigid’s Cathedral stands on the site where Saint Brigid founded a nunnery in the 5th century. The entire site is steeped in important religious history; it’s believed to be the location at which Saint Brigid, one of Ireland’s patron saints, founded a nunnery in the 5th century.

St. Fiachra's Garden was created to celebrate the Millenium at the Irish National Stud. St Fiachra is the Patron Saint of Gardeners and the garden seeks to capture his love of nature. There is a strong focus on rock and water. A Waterford Crystal sculpture in the floor of the hermitage reflects the rocks, ferns and other natural elements of the surrounding garden.Water, trees and rocks are the basic natural elements within which the garden was created.

The Steam Museum & Lodge Park Walled Garden is a steam museum and tourist destination in Straffan, County Kildare, Ireland.This fine Victorian gothic building once stood near Inchicore Railway Works. In the Model Hall the Collection consists of Early Inventor's models, Scientific Engineering Models, and Historic Works of Mechanical Art. The museum is open to visitors from Wednesdays to Sundays during the summer.

Tea Lane Graveyard is a Christian cemetery located in Celbridge, Ireland. The site is located 500 m northwest of the River Liffey and is the reputed burial site of Saint Mochua of Timahoe. Mochua built a wooden church on the site and was the first abbot of Clondalkin. It stood on the Slighe Mhor, an ancient roadway which ran from Dublin to Galway.

The historic Curragh Racecourse is the home of Flat racing in Ireland and the venue for all five Irish Classic races and the second day of Longines Irish Champions Weekend. It has a busy schedule of race meetings between March and October every year. It is also home to the Curragh Training ground which has seen many stars of the track including Sea The Stars, Vintage Crop, Hardy Eustace and Sinndar.

Grey Abbey is a ruined abbey in County Kildare, Ireland. It was run by Franciscan friars. It was founded in 1260 by William de Vesci, however it was completed by Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Offaly. Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Earl of Kildare was buried here.

The Wonderful Barn in Ireland’s County Kildare is a distinctive, corkscrew-shaped building on the grounds of the Castletown House Estate. Based on the design of an Indian rice store, the 70ft-high conical grain store is encircled by a cantilevered staircase with a crow’s nest viewing gallery. The site stands next to a crescent-shaped piece of development land, where a housing project by Albany Homes was abandoned in the noughties.

White Castle was built in 1417 by Sir John Talbot the Viceroy of Ireland to protect the newly built bridge over the River Barrow. It is located in the centre of Athy, on the east bank of the River Barrow, overlooking Crom Abú Bridge.It is three-storey tower house with a battered base. On the right of the main doorway is a depiction of coat-of-arms of the Earl of Kildare.