Kildare

Names prominent in this county include: Aylmer, Behan, Bermingham, Bracken, Burke, Byrne, Carey, Colgan, Cullen, Devesey, Dowling, Dunn, Eustace, Fitzgerald, Fitzhenry, McDonnell, Morahan, Morrin, O'Behan, O'Bracken, O'Byrne, O'Conor, O'Cullen, O'Dowling, O'Kelly, O'Morahan, O'Roy, O'Toole, Wogan

An inland county, just west of Dublin, Kildare is woven through with some of Ireland’s most important rivers --including the Barrow, the Boyne and the Liffey. Once a part of the Kingdom of Leinster, Kildare already had an ancient history --stretching back to at least the Bronze Age-- when St. Brigid founded a religious community there sometime in the early sixth century. Later in the ninth century Kildare’s rivers made it easy for Viking raiders --moving inland from Dublin-- to establish an area of settlement known as the Dyflinkarskiri. However, famous as Kildare is for its fish it is even more famous for its horses and, in recent centuries, its horse races. (In the early 20th century Kildare was also the site of one of Ireland’s first motor races.) - notes by Sarah Nagle

One of a series of Irish District tartans designed (and copyrighted) by Polly Wittering of the House of Edgar in 1995. This is not an 'officially sanctioned' District tartan but has proven popular.