Day 19: Kildare, County Kildare & Dublin City

I stopped in Kildare for a few hours on my way to Dublin today.

Kildare is one of the oldest towns in Ireland. It originated in pre-Christian times when it was the site of a shrine to the Celtic Goddess Brigid. It later became the site of the great Christian foundation of St. Brigid. Today it contains many historic buildings and ruins; the legacy of 1500 years of history.

The present restored Norman cathedral most likely occupies the site of the original pagan shrine to the goddess Brigid and the later early Christian foundation and church of St. Brigid.

The Round Tower is one of the finest surviving examples and, at 33 metres, the second highest in Ireland. It was built in the 12th. century, which is comparatively late for an Irish Round Tower, though the present tower may have replaced an earlier one.

St. Brigid’s Fire House is the remains of an ancient oratory where, according to local lore, St. Brigid’s Fire was kept alight.

Tonight I am staying about 6 miles from where the Pope celebrated an outdoor Mass for tens of thousands this afternoon. Tomorrow morning I will visit Mountjoy Prison before returning my rental car and spending a final night at Trinity College.

St. Brigid is attributed with creating the distinctive form of the cross which bears her name. Known as an Irish christian symbol, the original design was probably inspired by the pagan sunwheel.

The cross is most frequently made from rushes, but sometimes straw is used. A distinctive square of woven rushes is the centerpiece, from which four radials extend, each tied at the end.