Tuesday 4 October 2011

100 Things to do in Kildare before You Die


1
Go lambing with a Sheep Farmer.









Watch your local GAA team play (no matter what age the players...)







3
Climb the Round Tower in Kildare Town and admire the view from the top






4
Get the whole family together and get lost in the Kildare Maze, just outside Prosperous.








5
Have a picnic at Donnolly's Hollow, Athgarvan. Read about the magnificent Bare Knuckle Fighter, Dan Donnolly who fought here a hundred years ago in front of a crowd of 20,000.








6
Choose the coldest, wettest, most miserable day and go for a bowl of homemade soup and scone in An Tearman, Kilcullen. ('Tearman' is Irish for refuge or sanctuary). The cast iron stove will be lit and will be as warm as the welcome that you will receive. 








7
 This one is not one for the faint hearted. "Spend a night in the spookiest graveyard in Kildare, the little one on the backroad into Newbridge". A weird entry but selected by a local woman and local knowledge is what this project is all about....








8
Get up early for our next entry. At 7am, go to the Curragh Training Grounds, which is a hive of activity. "It is a beautiful way to spend the morning" according to our contributor.  You will see some of the best horses in Ireland training. "But" she warns,  "stay safe and do not go on or too close to the gallops".  









9
 Take a barge from Robertstown and take a trip along the Grand Canal. 










10
Visit the 100 year old Japanese Gardens at Tully. Follow the symbolic walk that takes you through the souls 20 stages of life journey, from oblivion to eternity. 







11
Enjoy a pint of Guinness at Mick Murphy's pub in Ballymore Eustace











12
Visit Father Moore's Well, Rathbride, and pray for a miracle like the pilgrims who have been coming here for over a hundred years.









13
Watch the St Patrick's Day Parade in Newbridge












14
Go to Kildare Village on a Saturday afternoon and try and find a parking space......










15
Start at the harbour at Naas and follow the canal walk to Sallins.  This canal walk is especially beautiful at Autumn









16
Donadea Forest, a 243 hectare of woodland, complete with the remains of a castle, an ice house, a walled garden and church. Word has it, this is the perfect place for a midnight ramble with friends.









17
Learn how to make a St Brigid's Cross 









18
Soak up the atmosphere at the Curragh Army Cemetery









19
Ssssh, this is one of Kildare's beautiful, peaceful places, it's Pollardstown Fen.  Go here and watch the sunset. 









20
Marvel at Ireland's largest collection of movie memorabilia at The Museum Of Style Icons, Newbridge.












21
Stand beneath the large stone horseshoe doorway of The Old Forge near Rathangan.  










22
Drive around the Ballymany roundabout (exit 12 of the M7 motorway) and admire the magnificent sculpture of Fionn MacCumhaill. 









23
Get your photo taken beside the second tallest high cross in Ireland at Moone. 








24
Let Cogitosus, a 7th century monk, take you on a journey through time at the Heritage Centre, Kildare Town









25
Abraham Shackleton founded The Quaker School, Ballitore in 1726. Go and admire the statue and home (now a Quaker museum) of diarist Mary Leadbeater.










26
Experience the art of turf cutting at the All Ireland Turf Cutting Festival which takes place annually at Ticknevin Bog, Carbury.







27

Cheer on the Easter Parade in Naas










28 
Fly a kite on the Curragh Plains. Is there a bigger sky in the world?








29
Killinthomas Woods, Near Rathangan
"Take the dog for a walk here in the Spring when the ground is covered in bluebells and wild garlic. Truly amazing"






30
Go for afternoon tea at the oldest golf course in Ireland, The Curragh Golf Club. "Get a spot by the window. You can see the Wicklow Mountains on a clear day, it's beautiful".






31
Listen for fairies at the Fairy Burrow, Lullymore









32
Watch the tractors go by at the Vintage Tractor Rally in Brannockstown (starting at 'The Stray Inn')







33
See Arkle's skeleton at the National Stud







34
Steam a 'Record' potato, serve with butter and pepper. Eat with 2 rashers and a glass of milk.







35
Go sledging down the hills of the Curragh Golf Course













36
Go to Lumville House during the week and watch Coronation Street on the big screen






37
Time for another pint. This time, at Bardon's Pub, Kilcullen Main Street







38
Climb to the top of Dunmurry and watch the sunset over the Kildare and the surrounding counties







39

Keep your eyes on the road and just briefly glance at the giant 
sculpture 'Perpetual Motion' by Rachel Joynt and Remco de Fouw. 







40
Appreciate the fine art outside Naas Fire Station: 'Siren' by Alex Pentek.






41
Listen to the Stephen Keogh County Music Show, Saturday night on Kildare FM.








42
Go to the Punchestown Festival and join 20,000 other race-goers, the highlight of Ireland's National Hunt season. 







43
Visit St Brigid's Well on the 1st February







44
Buy a sausage roll from Mary Kathryn's in Kildare Town.








45
See Christy Moore play in his hometown of Newbridge.








46
Reflect at the 9/11 memorial 






47
Take a car for a spin at Mondello, Ireland's only international racing circuit. 









48
Go to Monasterevin and head for the Celtic Cross in the town centre. A Father Prendergast was hanged here for his part in the 1798 Rising. 










49
Admire Kilkea Castle, a landmark in the county since the 11th century.








50
When it's cold and dark outside, put some turf on the fire. 










51
Go to Goffs in Kill, find yourself a seat and watch the auctioneer sell the finest bloodstock in Ireland.










52
Hidden away in the council office in Naas, stand in wonder at James McKenna's magnificent two and a half tonne sculpture, 'Oisin Caught in The Time Warp'












53
Borrow a canoe from one of the many clubs along the river and canoeing on the River Liffey









54
Head to Lexlip, to the 'Wonderful Barn', a built as part of the 'Famine Relief Scheme' to give employment to the local poor in 1743.









55
Discover Connolly's Folly near Celbridge. "Run backwards around it nine times and you will see the devil" according to our contributor.....!








56
It's as solid as a rock, touch the stone of the Leinster aqueduct near sallins.









57
Listen to Luka Bloom sing 'I'm A Bog Man'








58
Take a trip to Oughterard graveyard at Ardclough, and see where Kildare native and founder of the Guinness Brewery, Arthur Guinness in buried. 







59
Learn the lyrics to 'The Curragh Of Kildare' (click on Paul Brady's face to play...)










60
Go to the annual Kildare County Show.














61
Visit the only greyhound stadium in the county, in Newbridge and back a winner.








62
Drive to Millicent, near Clane and walk around the pretty church of St Michael and All Angels. 








63
It was originally built as a jail in 1796, go and see what is now the Town Hall in Naas.







64
Another round tower, this time, at Old Kilcullen. 









65
Climb the ancient volcanic Hill of Allen, stand at the tower and take in the scenery. Is there a finer view of South Kildare?








66
Pick mushrooms on the Curragh Plains (maybe best not to eat them until you're sure their not toadstools)









67
Take a trip to the magnificent K-Club, home to the Ryder Cup when it came to Ireland.








68
Take part in a table quiz.







69
Yum yum, try some boiled bacon and cabbage.






70
Take in a show at the Moat Theatre







71
On Christmas Eve, go to the 6.30pm mass at St Conleiths Church, Newbridge.







72
Pack your wellies, umbrella, wet wipes and tent and head to the biggest music festival in Ireland: Oxegen.








73
Start a sing along in Fletcher's Naas. Like Ronnie Wood, you'll be told to be quiet. 








74
Follow the signs and complete the same course as the participants of the 1903 Gordon Bennett Race.  You'll pass through picturesque towns and villages of counties Kildare, (and neighbouring Carlow and Laois).










75
Visit Castletown House in Celbridge, Ireland's largest Palladian Mansion










76
Get your toes tapping every July at the Athy Bluegrass Festival which attracts  top acts from home and abroad.











77
Every Sunday from September to April, follow the unique North Kildare Farmers' Hunt as they jump ditches and hedges (they have no hounds and don't actually 'hunt' anything).  The day ends in a pub with an auction for a local charity.








78 
Take a walk along the The Barrow Line canal walk from Monasterevin to Rathangan.









79
Named after the 6th century Saint, St Brigid's Cathederal, Kildare. It's been around since 1223. Staggering in scale and beauty. 











80
Batty Langley Cottage, built in 1747, the facade of Castletown House Lodge. 









81
Smell the wild garlic in Moore Abbey Woods, Monasterevin.











82
Feed the swans in the pond, Naas. 








83
Go gliding at Punchestown, home to the Dublin Gliding Club.









84
Buy a sausage from Nolan's Butchers.






85
Sit on the luxurious Volvo S80 leather drivers seats in the auditorium at the Kilcullen Town Hall theatre.  Local man Pat Dunlea managed to twist Volvo’s arm to donate them to Kilcullen’s newly refurbished Town Hall Theatre in 2000.












86


THE BROWNE MAUSOLEUM AT MAINHAM
This mausoleum near Clane was built by Stephen Browne in 1743 and can be found just a couple of feet outside the graveyard at Mainham. Browne wanted to build it in or adjoining the church nearby but fought with the Protestant Rector of Clane, the Rev. John Daniel who wanted to charge Browne 5 Guineas for the privilege of doing so. Browne refused to pay the money and built the mausoleum on his own land just several feet outside the graveyard wall. The stone slab over the entrance on the outside tells the story.











87
 Head to Bradburys in Athy and choose the biggest, creamiest cake.









88
All aboard? Take a trip to the Steam Museum and walled gardens in Straffan.










89
Watch a sheep shearing demonstration at the Suncroft Harvest Festival.











90
After a race meeting at the Curragh, join the jockeys and stable lads and head to Cunninghams in Kildare Town.









91
Visit the newest museum in the county, The Military Museum at the Curragh Camp. Learn about the place where the Jacobite army trained in 1686-7 and the British trained men to fight in the Boer War and the trenches of the Somme.











92
Walk along the beautiful Liffey Linear Park Newbridge.











93
Visit the garden and arboretum at Coolcarrigan,  a hidden oasis on the edge of the Bog of Allen.









94
Take a look at the gorgeous Celbridge Abbey, built by Bartholomew Van Homrigh, Lord Mayor of Dublin, in 1697. 








95
Hear some of the best live music around at the DewDrop Inn, Kill. 








                                       96

Get lost in the Millenium Maze, at Ballinafagh Farm, Prosperous. 











97
Hang out with the students at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.









98
Tune in to Kildare Fm at 8am, 10am, 1pm and 6pm for the death notices.







99
Be part of the Irish Pewter revival and visit the Pewter Mill at Timolin.









100
Go to the Irish Derby at the Curragh Racecourse. 

Thanks goes to all the people who suggested this as the one thing that you must do in Kildare before you die. 

Dress up in your finery for the Derby, put on the cheapest placepot you can get, use what's left to buy a glass of bubbly and you'll feel a million euros.....
















It is finished. Thank you everyone. 
Kildare. 
What a great county. 

Annie
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