In the vicinity of Kildare is the Curragh, a fine undulating down, comprehending nearly five thousand acres of land. This plain has been long celebrated as the principal race-ground of Ireland, and is said, in elasticity of turf, and other circumstances favourable to racing, to be at least equal to the plains of Newmarket. The gift from government of two annual plates of 1007. each was procured through the suggestion of Sir William Temple, with a view of improving the breed of Irish horses. His Majesty, King George IV. attended a "Curragh-meeting" in the year 1821;-an event that will long be remembered, with much pride and gratification, in the annals of the Irish turf. On this plain are still to be seen numerous earthen works, most of which appear to have been sepulchral. Engravings of several of these vestiges are inserted in the fourth volume of Gough's edition of the Britannia; in which work it is observed that "on the long ridge of the Curragh is a chain of fourteen small raths, or circular intrenchments, without any ramparts, in a line nearly east and west, and about three miles in length."* Many fantastic traditions, or legends, have long prevailed concerning a stupendous heathen monument, or "round row of huge stones," which once existed on this plain. From the writings of Giraldus it would even appear that some relics of the structure were to be seen, in the twelfth century. The assertion of such a traveller is, however, of little account. Whatever may have been the fact when Giraldus wrote, not the slightest traces of such a work * In the same work it is observed, that, on the western extremity of this ridge, is a large circular dun, or rath, near which is a small tumulus, with a cavity at top. "This," continues the writer" seems to have been what the Irish denominated a cuci, or kitchen, being the place where they dressed their victuals, which was done by lighting a fire in the cavity, round which was a number of stakes, suspending on the top the skin of a cow, or some other animal, filled with water, in which was put the flesh to be boiled, after the manner of the antient Scots. A number of these hollow, or crater mounds, are found in various parts of the kingdom. They are denominated by the Irish cuci (pronounced koocky) or kitchens; but by the English settlers brandrets, or fire-hearths." Britannia, &c. edited by Gough, vol, iv. p. 238. are now to be discovered. Many towers, forming the harsh re mains of defensible dwellings, chiefly built by the Fitzgeralds, are spread over this part of the country. After viewing these, the eye is agreeably relieved by the numerous villas, and sporting lodges, raised in modern times, in the vicinity of the Curragh, by noblemen and gentry attached to the pleasures of the turf. Several military conflicts have taken place on the Curragh of Kildare. One of the most distinguished occurred in 1234, at which time Richard Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, and Earl-Palatine of Leinster, then in rebellion, was slain in battle by the Viceroy, Lord Geoffrey de Montemarisco, aided by Fitzgerald, De Lacy, and De Burgh. MONASTEREVAN is a neat, but not large, town, situated on the river Barrow, and likewise on the Grand Canal, at the distance of thirty miles from the Irish metropolis; thus appearing to occupy a beneficial site for traffic on the great water-line of thoroughfare from Dublin to the south of Ireland. There are in this neighbour. hood several docks and storehouses, with other preparations for commercial interchange; but, with the exception of a whiskey distillery of some importance, the chief trading profits of Monasterevan are derived from the outlay of travellers at its numerous inns. Over the river Barrow, which is here a shallow stream, is a bridge of five arches, called the Pass Bridge; and there are, also, three bridges thrown over the Grand Canal, and the several cuts from that navigable water. The antient importance of this town was derived from its monastic foundation; and the mansion raised on the site of that structure is, at present, the chief ornament of the place. The abbey of Monasterevan is said to have been founded by St. Abhan; but the antient foundation having fallen into decay, the toparchis O'Dempsey and O'Conor refounded this religious institution, in the latter part of the twelfth century. When the monasteries of this country were dissolved, the abbey and manor of Monasterevan were granted to George, Lord Audley, by whom they were shortly assigned to Adam Loftus, Viscount Ely. The estate subsequently passed, by a marriage, into the Moore family, ennobled in 1616, and now represented by Charles Moore, Marquess of Drogheda. On the site of the monastic buildings a spacious mansion has been erected by this noble family, which is denominated Moore Abbey. The house was greatly repaired and improved by the late Marquess, about the year 1767, but has been falsely described as retaining in its general appearance a monastic aspect. It is, in fact, an extensive and commodious pile, quite destitute of all stronglymarked architectural character. A taste for adapting the style of antiquity to modern uses was, indeed, unknown in Ireland when this fabric was raised. The great hall, lined with Irish oak, is worthy of notice, as having been the apartment in which Loftus, Viscount Ely, held the court of chancery, in the troubled year 1641. The attached demesne is very large, and affords some fine varieties of scenery. The country, in the neighbourhood of Monasterevan, ascends from the flat and boggy character of the district bewteen that place and Dublin, and gradually undulates into gentle and well-wooded hills. Considering that so many spots, really beautiful, were contiguous, it is much to be regretted that Moore Abbey, when rebuilt, as a domestic structure for the dignified retirement of a noble family, was not erected on a more cligible site. Its antient and present situation is low, watery, and destitute of prospect. Indeed it may be remarked that, in most instances, the antient monastic buildings of Ireland were placed on a dreary and forbidding site, near to a tract eminent for natural beauty; as if, in such a choice of situation, the early saints bad laboured to impress on their disciples a lesson of selfdenial and mortification. ATHY (pronounced Athy) is situated on the south-western border of the county, at the distance of 32 miles from Dublin. This is, jointly with Naas, the assize town for the county of Kildare; and, although now decayed, was formerly a place of considerable importance. Its declining state is lamentably contrasted with local circumstances peculiarly favourable to its prosperity. The surrounding country is well adapted to tillage. The Grand Canal, and great southern road to Cork, connect it with the metropolis; and the river Barrow, on which it is seated, is navigable to the opulent trading port of Waterford. These advantages, however, have proved insufficient to retard the decay of a town, unquestionably of high reputation at an early period of national bistory. Athy, as we are told by Seward, is built in the contiguity of an antient ford, "leading from the principality of Leix to that of Celleagh, or Caellan ;" and it is said by Keating that a battle was fought here," in the second or third century, between the people of Munster and those of Leix." This place became, at an early period of the English ascendancy, formidable as a frontier-town of the Pale; and monastic foundations, as usual in the middle ages, accompanied the clamour of warfare and the rude dignity of military residence. In 1308, this town was burned by the Irish; and in 1315, it was plundered by the Scots, under Edward Bruce. In 1648, it was possessed by the Irish under O'Neil; but was taken, for the parliament, in 1650, by Colonels Hewson and Reynolds. A castle was constructed here by Gerald, eighth Earl of Kildare, abont the year 1506. Of this building, which stood at the foot of the bridge, a massy tower still remains, now used as a prison. Two monasteries were erected at Athy in earlier ages. The Crouched Friary was founded in the reign of John, by Richard de St. Michael, Lord of Rheban. Of this religious house, which stood on the west side of the river, some small vestiges are still to be seen. A Dominican Friary was founded on the east side of the bridge, by the families of Boysel and Hogan, in the year 1253. Both of the above institutions flourished until the dissolution, in the time of Henry VIII.; but no particulars of importance are preserved concerning their history. Here are a county court-house; barracks; and a free-school. Athy was incorporated by James I. in 1515; and is internally governed by a sovereign, two bailiffs, and a town-clerk. In the vicinity of Athy is Woodstock Castle, first erected by Richard de St. Michael, Lord of Rheban, noticed above as the founder of the Crouched friary. This castle, together with the manors of Woodstock and Rheban, passed, by a marriage, to Thomas, seventh Earl of Kildare, early in the 15th century. At the distance of three miles from the same town, towards the north, the high road winds round the Moat of Ascul, memorable as the scene of a sanguinary conflict, in 1315, between the invading Scots, under Edward Bruce, brother to Robert, King of Scotland, and the English forces, commanded by Sir Hamon le Gras, in which the latter army was overthrown, with the loss of its gallant leader, who was buried in the Dominican Abbey of Athy: "On Ascal's plains was heard the sound of woe; And, as the gentle Barrow glided by, All blood-tinged were its waters in their flow, Poem of Jerpoint Abbey. KILKEA Castle, a large and fine, but irregular pile of castellated building, is distant from Castledermott one mile and half. A castle on this site was first erected by Hugh de Lacy the younger, Earl of Ulster, who obtained the barony of Kilkea by a marriage with Emmelina, daughter of the Lord de Riddlesford. The property afterwards passed into the Kildare family, by whom the castle has been re-edified at different times. This fortified residence was a place of some distinction in the 14th century. Sir Thomas Rokeby, Lord Justice of Ireland, died here, in the year 1356. The buildings were much enlarged and improved by John, sixth Earl of Kildare, who died in 1427. Considerable alterations and repairs have taken place at subsequent periods; the most recent of which were effected by the late Daniel Caulfield, of Levitstown, Esq. who obtained a lease of these premises from the Duke of Leinster. The interior presents, in many parts, curious examples of antient arrangement: and from several of the windows are obtained fine views, embracing, among other objects, the demesne of Lord Aldborough, the banks of the river Greece, and the mountains of the Queen's County. The staircase is composed of "At Kilkea-A little town there was of old, Cott. Virg. Trav. |