Divers.— The principal rivers are the Boyne, which with its tributary the Blackwater rises in the north part of the county, but soon passes into Meath; the Barrow, which forms the boundary of Kildare with Queen’s county, and receives the Greese and the Lane shortly after entering Kildare; the Lesser Barrow, which flows southward from the Bog of Allen to near Rathangan; and the Liffey, which enters the county near Ballymore Eustace, and flowing north-west and then north-east quits it at Leixlip, having received the Morrel between Celbridge and Clane, and the Ryewater at Leixlip. The northern border of the county is traversed by the Royal Canal, which connects Dublin with the Shannon at Cloondara. Further south the Grand Canal, which connects Dublin with the Shannon at Shannon Harbour, occupies the valley of the Liffey until at Sailins it enters the Bog of Allen, passing into King’s county near the source of the river Boyne. Several branch canals connected with it afford communication with the southern districts of the county.

Climate and Agriculture.— Owing in a considerable degree to the large extent of bog, the climate of the northern districts is very moist, and fogs are frequent, but the eastern portion is drier, and the climate of the Liffey valley is very mild and salubrious. The soil, whether resting on the limestone or on the clay slate, is principally a rich deep loam inclining occasionally to clay, easily cultivated and very fertile if properly drained, which too often is not the case. About 40,000 acres in the northern part of the county are included in the Bog of Allen, which is, however, intersected in many places by elevated tracts of firm ground. To the south of the town of Kildare is the Curragh, an undulating down of about 8000 acres in extent, and presenting to the eye a beautiful sward of vivid green unbroken by a single tree or shrub. The common is the property of the crown, and is occupied as a sheep walk, while a portion of it forms the principal race-course of Ireland. It is now also the headquarters of a military division. The most fertile and highly cultivated districts of Kildare are the valleys of the Liffey and a tract in the south watered by the Greese. The demesne lands along the valley of the Liffey are finely wooded. More attention Is paid to drainage and the use of manures on the larger farms than is done in many other parts of Ireland, but the small farms are mostly cultivated in the usual slovenly manner. The pastures which are not subjected to the plough are generally very rich and fattening.

The following table gives a classification of holdings according to size in 1850 ana 1880, as contained in the agricultural returns :— [table]

The total area under crop in 1881 was 120,953 acres, or 29 per cent, of the whole acreage of the county. In 1880 239,406 acres, a percentage of 57'2, were under grass, 360 acres lay fallow, 7332 were woods, 37,540 bog and marsh, 983 baιτen mountain land, and 15,404 water, roads, and fences. The area under crop in 1850 was 147,507 acres, the diminution in 1881 being more than accounted for by a fall of 34,932 in the area under cereals. On the other hand, the area under grass increased between 1850 and 1881 by 47,156 acres. Between 1850 and 1881 the area under wheat, for which the rich deep soil in the valley of the Liffey is well suited, declined from 22,737 to 4120, and that under oats from 45,791 to 23,761, or nearly one-half, while the area under barley was nearly doubled, being 13,883 in 1881. The area under potatoes declined from 12,158 acres in .1850 to 9348 acres in 1881, and, notwithstanding a large increase in pasturage and in the number of cattle, the area under turnips only increased from 9622 to 11,501.

Horses have increased from 13,521 in 1855 to 13,795 in 1881. The number used for agricultural purposes was 8205. Little attention is paid to the breed, and the supply is obtained chiefly outside the limits of the county. Cattle in 1855 numbered 74,480, and in 1881 had increased to 92,252. ΔIilch cows numbered only 12,578, and have diminished since 1855 by 3612. There has been great improvement in the breeds of cattle, crosses with the shorthorned or the Durham being now the most common. Sheep numbered 127,614 in 1855, 133,996 in 1880, andll7,760 in!881. They are grazed chiefly on the Curragh, and are now principally Leicesters or crosses with that breed, l·igshave diminished since 1855 from 15,993 to 12,936. Goats in 1881 numbered 3835, and poultry 224,310.

According to the corrected summary of the return of owners of laud in Ireland, 1878, the county in 1873 was divided among 1768 owners, possessing altogether 412,490 acres, with a rateable valuation of £338,233. Of the owners 848, or 48 per cent., possessed 1 acre and upwards and the average rateable valuation all over was 16s. 4⅜d∙ The duke of Leinster ow ned 67,227 acres; the marquis of Drogheda, 16,609; Sir G. G. Aylmer, 15,396; John La Touche 11,282; and seven other estates exceeded 5000 acres.

Manufactures. —Though possessing a good supply of water-power, the county is almost wholly destitute of manufactures; but there are a few small cotton, woollen, and paper mills, as well as breweries and distilleries, and several corn mills. Large quantities of turf are exported to Dublin by the canal.

Railways.— The Great Western line crosses the county at its northern boundary near Leixlip, Maynooth, Kilcock, and Enfield, and the Great Southern and Western passes through nearly its whole extent by Naas, Newbridge, Kildare, Monasterevan, and Athy.

Administration.— The county comprises fourteen baronies, and contains 107 civil parishes, five parts of parishes, and 1240 townlands. Judicially it is within the home circuit, and is divided into fourteen petty sessions districts and three parts of petty sessions districts. Assizes are held at Naas, and quarter sessions at Athy, Kildare, Maynooth, and Naas. The county contains portions of the six poor-law unions of Athy, Baltinglass, Carlow, Celbridge, Edenderry, and Naas. The military stations at Newbridge and the Curragh constitute the Curragh military district, and the barracks at Athy and Naas are included in the Dublin military district. There are three townships—Athy, Naas, and Newbridge. The principal other towns are Maynooth (which is the seat of a Roman Catholic college), Celbridge, Kildare, Monasterevan, Kilcullen, Leixlip, Kilcock, Castledermot, Ballymore Eustace, and Rathangam Previous to the Union Kildare returned ten members to parliament, of whom eight represented boroughs; but now it sends only two, who sit as members for the county.

Population.— According to the census return of 1659 the population amounted to only 13,825, of whom 796 were English and 13,029 Irish. In 1760 it was estimated at 51,726. According to the parliamentary return of 1821 it was 99,065, and by 1841 it had increased to 115,190, butin 1851 had diminished to 96,495, in 1861 to 90,946, in 1871 to 83,614, and in 1881 to 76,102, of whom 40,859 were males and 35,243 females. In several other counties there is an excess of males over females, but it is much larger in Kildare than in any other, which is the more remarkable that between 1851 and 1880 there has been also an excess of male emigrants, the total number of emigrants being 13,651 males and 11,765 females, or 27 ’ 9 per cent, <>f the population of 1861. The rate of marriages in 1880 to every 1000 of the population was 3’6, of births 22Ό, and of deaths 16 '9, the rates for Ireland being 3 ’ 8, 24 0, and 19 3. The number of natives of England and Wales residing in the county in 1841 was 406, and in 1871 they had increased to 5270; of natives of Scotland. there were 151 in 1841 and 574 in 1871. The number of Roman Catholics in 1881 was 66,184; of Protestant Episcopalians, 8616; of Presbyterians, 754; of Methodists, 344. In 1871 there were none who spoke Irish only, but 554 spoke Irish and English. The number who could read and write in 1871 was 43,783; 11,472 could read but could not write, and 28,359 could neither read nor write.

History.— The early inhabitants of the county are perhaps to be identified with Ptolemy’s Coriondi. Afterwards it formed part of the district of Caellan or Galen, which also included portions of Wicklow and Carlow, the principal chieftain being a representative of the family of Hy Caellan or M‘Kelly, who had their residence at the moat of Ardscull near Naas. According to a tale in the Book of Leinster the original name of Kildare was Drwim Criaidh (Drumcree), which it retained until the time of St Brigit, after which it was changed to Cilldara, the church of the oak, from a very old oak under whose shadow the saint bad constructed her cell. For some centuries it was under the government of the Macmurroughs, kings of Leinster, but along with the remainder of Leinster it was granted by Henry II. to Strongbow. On the division of the palatinate of Leinster among the five granddaughters of Strongbow, Kildare fell to Sibilla, the fourth daughter, who married William de Ferrars, earl of Derby. Through the marriage of the only daughter of William de Ferrars it passed to William de Vesey—who, when challenged to single combat by John Fitz Thomas, baron of Offaly, for accusing him of treason, fled to France. His lands were thereupon in 1297 bestowed on Fitz Thomas, who in 1316 was created earl of Kildare, and in 1317 was appointed sheriff of Kildare, the office remainingin the family until the attainder of Gerald, the ninth earl, in the reign of Henry VIII. Kildare was a liberty of Dublin until 1296, when an Act was passed constituting it a separate county.

Antiquities.— In the county there are several old gigantic pillar stones, the principal being those at Punchestown, Harristown, Jigginstown, and Mullamast. Among the more remarkable earthworks are the raths at Mullamast, Knockcaellagh near Kilcullen, Ardscull near Naas, and elsewhere, and the numerous sepulchral mounds in the Curragh. Of the round towers the finest is that of Kildare, which is 130 feet high; there are remains of others at Taghadoe, Kilcullen, Oughterard, and Castledermot. At one time there were an immense number of religious houses in the county. There are remains of a Franciscan abbey at Castledermot. At Graney there are the ruins of an Augustinian nunnery and also portions of a building said to have belonged to the Knights Templars. The town of Kildare has ruins of no less than four monastic buildings, among others the nunnery founded by St Brigit. The site of a monastery at Old Kilcullen, said to date from the time of St Patrick, is marked by two stone crosses, one of which is curiously sculptured. The fine abbey of Monasterevan is now the seat of the marquis of Drogheda. On the Liffey are the remains of Great Connel Abbey near Celbridge, of St Wolstan’s near Celbridge, and of New Abbey. At Moone, where there was at one time a 1 ’ ranciscan monastery, there are the remains of a very old cross with curious sculpturings. Among the old castles may be mentioned those of Athy and Castledermot, built about the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion; Maynooth Castle, built by the Fitzgeralds; Kilkea, originally built by the seventh earl of Kildare, and restored within the present century; and Timolin, erected in the reign of King John.