CURRAGH, a level stretch of open ground in the county of Kildare, in Ireland, famous for its race-course and its military camp. It has an area of upwards of 4800 acres; and its soft natural sward, which has never been broken by the plough, affords excellent pasture for sheep. From the peculiarity of its herbage, the district is known in the neighbourhood as “the short grass;” and the young men of Kildare are jocularly distinguished as the “boys of the short grass.” The land is the property of the Crown, which appoints a special officer as the ranger of the Curragh; but the right of pasturage is possessed by the landowners of the vicinity. The oldest mention of the Curragh occurs in the Liber Hymnorum (the manuscript of which probably dates srom the 10th century) in connection with St Bridget, who is said to have received a grant of the district from the king of Leinster, and is popularly credited with the honour of having turned it into a common. It is evident, however, £hat long before the days of the saint the downs of Kildare had afforded a regular place of assembly for the people of the south of Ireland, and the turf had already become familiar with the hoofs of the race-horse. The Aenach Colmain, or Curragh fair, is frequently mentioned in the Irish annals from the Book of Lecan downwards; and the plain appears from time to time as the scene of hostile encounters between the kings of Meath, Leinster, and Offaly. In 1234 the earl of Pembroke was defeated there by the viceroy of Ireland, Lord Geoffrey de Monte Marisco; and in 1406 the Irish under the prior of Connell were routed by the English. In 1789 the Curragh was the great rendezvous for the volunteers; andin 1804 it saw the gathering of 30,000 United Irishman. The camp was established at the time of ...