Celbridge Cill Droichid
Location
WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53.3326° N 6.535° W
Irish Grid Reference N971330
Statistics
Province:	Leinster
County:	County Kildare
Population (2006)	17,262
Website: celbridge.ie

Celbridge is a town situated on the River Liffey in County Kildare in Ireland. Located 22 kilometres (13 miles) from Dublin, the town has a population of 17,262 people according to the 2006 Census^[1]. Bullet for locations in Ireland, displays location and not area. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Global Positioning System (GPS) is currently the only fully functional Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). ... The Irish national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Ireland. ... During late Gaelic and early historic times Ireland was divided into provinces to replace the earlier system of the tuatha. ... Statistics Area: 19,774. ... For much of its history, the island of Ireland was divided into 32 counties (Irish language contae or condae, pronounced IPA: ). Two historical counties, County Desmond and County Coleraine, no longer exist. ... Statistics Province: Leinster County Town: Naas Code: KE Area: 1,693 km² Population (2006) 186,075 Website: www. ... The Liffey in West Wicklow The Liffey (An Life in Irish) is a river in the Republic of Ireland, which flows through the centre of Dublin. ... Statistics Province: Leinster County Town: Naas Code: KE Area: 1,693 km² Population (2006) 186,075 Website: www. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ...

As a town within the Dublin Metropolitan Area and the Greater Dublin Area, Celbridge has expanded dramatically in recent years - however most of the towns services and amenities still centre around the single main street. Dublin Metropolitan Area (GDA) is a term used by various bodies to describe the area of Dublin and its surrounding counties which have an urban designation; between these bodies its definition is not always consistent. ... Greater Dublin Area (GDA) is a loosely defined term which is used to describe the city of Dublin and the counties of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, Kildare, Meath, South Dublin and Wicklow of the Republic of Ireland. ...

History

The name Celbridge is derived from the Irish Cill Droichid meaning "Church by the Bridge" and has sometimes been spelled Kildrought in English^[2].

Castletown House is situated just off the main street, and is one Ireland's finest Palladian country houses. An imposing building, it was established in the town in the year 1722 by William "Speaker" Conolly (1662-1729), Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. The house was inherited by Tom Connolly in 1758 and the interior decoration was finished by his wife Lady Louisa (great-grand-daughter of Charles II of England and Louise de Keroualle) during the 1760s and 1770s. Castletown House, Irelands finest Palladian country house, is an imposing building built in 1722 for William Connolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. ... A villa with a superimposed portico, from Book IV of Palladios I Quattro Libri dellArchitettura, in a modestly priced English translation published in London, 1736. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Irish House of Commons by Francis Wheatley (1780) The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from mediæval times until 1800. ... Lady Louisa Lennox (1743-1821) was the third of the four Lennox sisters immortalised in Stella Tillyards book Aristocrats and the BBC television series based on it. ... Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was the King of England, King of Scots, and King of Ireland from 30 January 1649 (de jure) or 29 May 1660 (de facto) until his death. ... Louise Renée de Penancoët de Kérouaille (1649-1734), mistress of Charles II of England and Duchess of Portsmouth. ...

Two particular features of Castletown are, the "Long Gallery" (an 80 foot long room decorated in the Pompeian manner in blue and gold), and the main staircase (which is cantilevered and made of white Portland stone). This is a gallery of a few very interesting images and objects from ancient Pompeii, preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. Erotic images and a discussion there of can be found in a separate article. ... The Cenotaph, in Whitehall, London, England, is made from Portland stone Portland stone is limestone from the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. ...

Conolly's Folly (also known as "The Obelisk") is an obelisk structure. It is built to the rear of Castletown House which contains two follies, both commissioned by the widow of Speaker William Conolly to provide employment for the poor of Celbridge at a time when famine was rife. As such these monuments serve no real purpose, instead they were dedicated to battles in the 1500s. The Obelisk was built in 1739 after a particularly severe winter. Designed by Richard Castle, it is 42 metres high and is composed of several arches, adorned by stone pineapples and eagles. The Conolly Folly (also known as The Obelisk) Conollys Folly (referred to as The Obelisk or originally The Conolly Folly) is an obelisk structure in County Kildare, Ireland. ... Castletown House, Irelands finest Palladian country house, is an imposing building built in 1722 for William Connolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Starvation during the famine The Irish Potato Famine, also called The Great Famine or The Great Hunger (Irish: An Gorta Mór), is the name given to a famine which struck Ireland between 1846 and 1849. ... The Luxor obelisk in the Place de la Concorde in Paris For other uses, see Obelisk (disambiguation). ... // About the number 1739 1739 is the smallest integer that can be written as sum of three perfect cubes, in two ways. ... Irish Palladianism. ... For ARCH models, see autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity. ...

Celbridge is also remembered as the home of "Vanessa", the ill-starred lover of Dean Swift. The town has a deep historical background ranging from Celbridge Abbey with Jonathan Swift to Castletown House. Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667 - October 19, 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer and satirist. ... Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745) was an Irish cleric, satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for Whigs then for Tories), and poet, famous for works like Gullivers Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, The Drapiers Letters, The Battle of the Books, and...

In the early 20th Century, Celbridge was home to the Callender Paper Company. This enterprise made paper from peat. Peat in Lewis, Scotland Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter. ...

Politics

Celbridge is located within the Kildare North constituency which elects 3 TDs to the Dáil. This is set to increase to four due to the levels of population growth within the region. Kildare North is a constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. ... Dáil Éireann[1] is the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament) of the Republic of Ireland. ...

Government acts provide for town councils for towns with a population of greater than 7,500, which Celbridge exceeds twice over, however, despite its size and several proposals, the town does not have a town council. (Though other smaller towns in the area do: such as Leixlip and Athy). WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 52. ...

It is perceived^{[citation needed]} that the lack of a town council has impacted town development. For example as it does not have a town council, a Development Plan is developed with considerably less detail and control than a Local Area Plan which town councils develop. The situation effectively means that Kildare County Council, based 20 km away, have full control over zoning land in the area, and this means that they can zone land without specific local knowledge of what is needed. Owing to this as well as other factors the town has been consumed by the Celtic Tiger fuelled urban sprawl of Dublin, resulting in a fragmented community and a severe lack of sufficient amenities for the scale of the population.^{[citation needed]} Cartoon of the Celtic Tiger. ... Urban sprawl (also: suburban sprawl) is the spreading out of a city and its suburbs over rural land at the fringe of an urban area. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ...

Transport and Access

Celbridge's substantial growth has created considerable traffic congestion. Much of this is attributed to the single bridge over the Liffey in the town - which creates traffic bottlenecks. Lax enforcement of parking laws and a lack of adequate parking space is also blamed^{[citation needed]}. The Celbridge Interchange (Junction 2a of the M4) which connects the town to the motorway as well as Intel, opened in 2003 to help address these traffic issues, with some success. The N4 road is a National primary route in the Republic of Ireland, running from Dublin to the northwest of Ireland and Sligo Town. ... Intel Irelands parent company - the giant U.S. based Intel microprocesser business - is a quoted company trading on the NASDAQ exchange. ...

Kildare County Council installed a set of traffic lights in 2000 at the junction of the Liffey bridge and Main Street, however there was considerable opposition to the lights from the town shopkeepers. The town traders sponsored an advertising supplement in Dublin's Evening Herald which featured a photograph of a man shaking his fist at the lights to show the trader's opposition to the lights. Shortly afterwards, a motorist suspiciously reversed into the lights, "accidentally" knocking them over and the council switched them off for good. Now motorists have to depend on each other's good will to negotiate the junction, however it is now possible to park directly outside the Londis shop as the lights are no longer in use. The Evening Herald is a tabloid evening newspaper published in Dublin, Ireland by Independent News & Media. ...

The town is served by Dublin Bus along the 67, 67A and 67X routes. These routes link the town to the city centre as well as the nearby towns of Lucan and Maynooth (but notably, no link to Leixlip exists despite the significant employment there). Dublin Bus (Irish: Bus Átha Cliath) is a public transport operator in the Republic of Ireland. ... Lucan can refer to: Lucan, a town in County Dublin Lucan, a town in Minnesota, USA Lucan, a town in Ontario, Canada Earl of Lucan, a British peerage title Richard Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan, the most famous holder Lucan, a Roman poet Lucan the Butler, a Knight of the... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ...

Some other bus operators, notably Morton's, also serve Celbridge. A large number of companies operate public transport services in Dublin. ...

Iarnród Éireann run commuter rail services to a station in Hazelhatch, about 3 km from Celbridge village. Feeder buses are used to bring passengers to the train station. Commuter suburban rail services from Kildare to Dublin city centre serve Hazelhatch. While the service only brings passengers to Heuston Station, somewhat west of the city centre, there is no charge for extending the range of most tickets to include feeder bus (numbers 90, 91 and 92) from there to the city centre proper. However, additional charges apply to use the Luas tram services^[3]. The station is located on one of the most important InterCity lines in the country, with services to Cork, Limerick and Galway. However most of these do not stop at Hazelhatch station. 1994: Iarnród Éireann Iarnród Éireann (IÉ; in English Irish Rail), is the national passenger railway system in Ireland. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ... Heuston Station, located in Dublin, Ireland is one of the countrys main railway stations, serving the south, southwest and west of Ireland. ... Luas (Irish for speed), also promoted in the development stage as the Dublin Light Rail System, currently encompasses two unconnected on-street light rail lines in Dublin, Ireland. ...

Under the Transport21 plan Hazelhatch-City will be electrified to provide a new DART service to Balbriggan, using the underground Interconnector tunnel in the city centre. This is to be completed by 2015. An 8200 Class DART unit, Iarnród Éireann 8203, at Grand Canal Dock station in 2001 Some DART trains feature these LED route describers - green indicates the route which has already been travelled, orange the route expected to be followed and flashing red the next station. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Interconnector is a planned railway tunnel under the city centre of Dublin (Republic of Ireland), which will provide a link from the northern rail line to Dublins westerly Heuston Station. ...

Education

Celbridge has five primary schools, Primrose Hill (co-ed, COI), St Brigids (girls, RC), Aghards (co-ed, RC), Scoil na Mainistreach (boys, RC) and North Kildare Educate Together (co-ed, Multi-D); one special school, Saint Raphael's,(co-ed, RC) for children with a learning disability; two secondary schools; St.Wolstans Community School for girls (the only single sex community school in Ireland) and Salesian College Celbridge for boys. Salesian College Celbridge is a secondary school catering for male students aged 12-19 around the County Kildare village of Celbridge. ...

Hotels, Pubs, Restaurants and Nightlife

Hotels

• Setanta House Hotel, located on the Clane Road. Originally an 18th century school, this is the only hotel in Celbridge town and has historic ties with the Connolly family who built Castletown House.

Shop

• The Village Book Store, located on the Main Street, near the entrance to Castletown House

Pubs

• The Mucky Duck, located on the Main Street
• Abbey Lodge / McNamees, located on the bridge just before the town
• The Village Inn,O'Connors Bar,The Kildrought Lounge, located on the Main Street
• Castletown Inn, located on the Main Street
• Celbridge House, located on the Maynooth road

Last orders in pubs are @ 11:30pm Mon-Thur; 12:30am Fri-Sat; 11:00pm Sun

Restaurants

• The Mill Restaurant/Cafe La Serre, Lyons estate 1 mile outside Celbridge village. Very upmarket restaurant situated in Lyons estate Celbridge. It is owned by celebrity chef Richard Corrigan (www.villageatlyons.com)
• Michaelangelos, located on the Main Street. Irish/Italian food.
• Greens, above the Castletown Inn
• Abbey Lodge, - upstairs.
• Dehli Darbar, - beside Tesco Supermarket - upstairs.
• Da Mario's, - near Tesco on the Maynooth road

Nightclubs

• Setanta Hotel, located on the Clane road is host to the only after-hours club in Celbridge.
• The Abbey Lodge, ocasionally runs a late bar (however mostly around big public holidays)

Sports and Groups

GAA

The Celbridge GAA club is the third oldest club in Kildare being formed on the 15th August 1885, only eight months after the GAA was founded in Thurles. Celbridge is a prominent GAA club in County Kildare, significant in Kildare GAA history. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 52. ...

Association football

The town's two main soccer club's are Ballyoulster United (an amateur football club which partner with English Premier Division club Everton F.C.[1]), and Celbridge Town AFC. The latter was formed in 1959 and plays home games in St.Patricks Park, with 5 schoolboy teams and 3 senior teams. The Senior Sunday team currently play in the Leinster Senior League Division 1B, and recently qualified for the 2007 FAI Ford Cup. The teams play in the blue and white, and are sponsored by the Kildrought Lounge. Football is a ball game played between two teams of eleven players, each attempting to win by scoring more goals than their opponent. ... Everton Football Club is an English football club located in the city of Liverpool. ...

Celbridge Paddlers

Celbridge Paddlers canoe-club is a multi-discipline kayaking club and evolved out of Vanessa Canoe Club. Formed in 1984 it has over 150 members and has been recently represented at world level in sprint, marathon, slalom, wildwater, surf and freestyle. It is affiliated to the national governing body of canoe-sport in Ireland, the Irish Canoe Union where it has representation up to the role of ICU President.

Scouting

There are three separate Scout troops in operation in Celbridge. Each troop accepts both boys and girls in the 3 main program sections, and are: 1st Kildare (2nd Celbridge), 3rd Kildare (1st Celbridge), and 19th Kildare. Polish Boy Scouts fighting in the Warsaw Uprising Boy Scouts originally denoted the organization that developed and rapidly grew up during 1908 in the wake of the publication by Lord Robert Baden-Powell of his book Scouting for Boys. ... Scouting Ireland (Irish: Gasóga na hÉireann) is the national Scouting association of Ireland (both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) and a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). ...

Celbridge Pentecostal Church

Formed in 2005 this is a small independent church. Services are each Sunday at 11 at the Center for Performing Arts, Celbridge Industrial Estate. The church is lead by Pastor Paul Carley the meetings are open and everyone is welcome to attend.[2]

Celbridge Amenity Group

The Celbridge Amenity Group is currently working in conjunction with the Kildare County Council to plan new improvements around the town such as the new playground built for local children. Kildare County Council is the local authority for County Kildare, founded by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 along with the other councils of Ireland. ...

Claims to fame

• Celbridge is the largest town in Ireland to have only one street, and no town council despite its large population.
• Celbridge is the hometown of noted indie musician Damien Rice as well as the bands Juniper and more recently Bell X1.
• One of the Birmingham Six, Richard McIlkenny, resided in the town until his death on 22nd May 2006.
• Birth place of Arthur Guinness

Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music often used to refer to bands that are on small independent record labels or that arent on labels at all. ... Damien Rice (born December 7, 1973) is an Irish folk singer, famous for his two albums O and 9. ... Juniper were an Irish alternative rock band with a notable stage show. ... Bell X1 are an Irish band, hailing from North County Kildare, Ireland. ... The Birmingham Six were six men—Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker—sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 in an infamous miscarriage of justice for two pub bombings in Birmingham, England on November 21, 1974 that killed 21 people. ... Arthur Guinness Arthur Guinness (September 24, 1725 – January 23, 1803) was an Irish brewer and the founder of the Guinness Brewery business and family. ...

References

1. ^ Census 2006 - Table 14A - Towns 10,000 population and over
2. ^ Lewis's Topographical Dictionary 1837 - "CELBRIDGE or KILDROUGHT"
3. ^ Luas.ie - Ticketing

See also

• List of towns in the Republic of Ireland

This is a link page for cities and towns in the Republic of Ireland, including larger villages, and villages and townlands of note, as well as towns, townships or urban centres in Dublin. ...

External links

• Map of Celbridge