Weekends on the move: Kildare town
In mid-June, I finally visited the town of Kildare, near Dublin, which is known as a horse racing powerhouse.
But what attracted me the most were of course the sheep. Every time I took the train to Dublin, I saw them grazing on the plains behind Kildare. And no fences anywhere (normally there is fence because it is private land). But that didn’t work out for me that day and that’s why I came back a week later haha
I enjoyed my first visit with my friend I., who was also in Kildare for the first time, so we had big plans:
- walk around the town centre
- sheep
- Kildare village shopping centre
- Irish National Stud and Gardens
You might not think there is much to see there, but as you already know, we didn’t make it to the sheep and I’ll tell you, we didn’t go shopping either (not that we wanted to shop, but it has very interesting architecture). We had about five or six hours to do everything and I’ll tell you straight away that it wasn’t enough haha
We both arrived by train (me from Waterford and my friend from Dublin). The Waterford – Dublin line not only goes through Kildare, but also stops there. From the train station, we went straight to the town, which is about a 10-minute walk. Unlike Waterford, the station is not outside the town. We arrived at the main Market Square, which is surrounded on all sides by pubs, restaurants and various shops. Even though the architecture was still Irish, I somehow felt like I wasn’t in Ireland and I knew I would enjoy the day. Maybe the Silken Thomas building, right on one side of the square, which looks more like something out of an American movie, was responsible for that.
From what I’ve seen around the island so far, the centres of towns and villages are mostly shopping streets (Thomastown and the centre of Cork) or the centre revolves around the river that flows through it (the so-called quay, for example, in Dublin). In Kildare, the centre means the square, as we are used to from the Czech Republic. No river flows through the town. We walked around the square and discovered Kildare Castle, which turned out to be a tower inaccessible to the public in the parking lot of one of the hotels. We stayed around the square for quite a long time because we had to take pictures of everything (my friend is just as crazy as I am, which makes her an ideal traveling companion). In addition to the architecture and local vibes, we were also interested in the murals. Right in the square, Brigid herself towers over you, who is then reading a little further away at the entrance to St. Brigid’s Cathedral. In addition to this history, there are also many paintings of horse racing and references to the Curragh plains.
Probably the most important stop right next to this square is the aforementioned St. Brigid’s Cathedral. It is freely accessible to the public and of course we went to see it. Brigid was an abbess who founded a monastery in Kildare around 480 and the current cathedral is said to be located on the site where this monastery once stood. In addition, it is said that Brigid performed miracles such as healing the sick. She also founded a school of art and metalwork. Brigid died on February 1st and this is known in Ireland as Saint Brigid’s Day – also a public holiday from 2023 – and the tradition of making crosses from rushes is associated with her. These are hung over doors and windows to protect against fire, lightning, diseases and evil spirits.
For all view enthusiasts, it should interest you that this is where a tower is located, which is the second tallest in Ireland at 33 meters high and the tallest accessible in Ireland. We had to climb it! Right next to it, an older gentleman sells tickets and even told us a little history about not only this tower. Funny, he sold us tickets right after the descent, saying that if we didn’t make it, we wouldn’t have to pay haha He also wrote us a certificate that we had climbed the tower (and only charged us the student price haha). Another plus is that you can pay by card. The view was great, mainly thanks to the weather. The difference between this tower and the tower in Kilkenny near St. Canice Cathedral is that they have a dome-like mesh up here, so you definitely won’t fall. I won’t lie, it’s always a hike but the view is worth it. From here you can see the Wicklow Mountains and the Curragh plains (where sheep graze and horse races are held). What we also really liked was that the tower has small windows painted with images of Brigid.
Before we went to get lunch, we walked around the cathedral on the advice of the man at the tower and also stopped at the corner of the cathedral and put our hand through a hole in the wall to make a wish. I can tell you straight away that my wish didn’t come true. But it was exactly the touristy thngy you want to do on a trip. As for lunch, we didn’t have any specific place planned and as I mentioned above, you can find plenty of food spots in the town centre. We ended up at Hartes of Kildare, which is a very posh gastropub. The burger cost me €22. Probably the most expensive burger in the history of burgers.
After this financial and cultural shock, it was time for nature, and that was the Irish National Stud and Gardens – horses! You can find the stables south of the centre, about a 15-minute walk. Unlike Thomastown, where I don’t recommend walking to Jerpoint Abbey, here you can, because there is a pavement along the entire length. And another reason why I would recommend walking is that you might spot little bunnies! We enjoyed a bunch of them along the way and others in the gardens. We arrived at the stud farm late, so we didn’t have much time before they closed. So we decided to check out the Japanese Gardens, which are funnily located. Children were screaming right behind the wall. The gardens are nice, but I found them small and quite densely built. However, entry to them is included in the ticket price. After that, it was time for horses! The stud farm is large and divided into several parts. Some of the paddocks were empty, others had a few horses. A lot of them were quite far out in the paddock, but we finally got to see some of the horses when we got to the stables (yes, I’m acting like I’ve never seen a horse). I have to say that my favourite horse is probably Beef or Salmon (yes, the horse’s name is Beef or Salmon) haha The entrance fee is over €20 and if you time it better than my friend and I, it’s definitely worth it. We didn’t make it to the other gardens and museum. The race itself is not included and the racecourse is located east of the centre. This is definitely not on my list.
After visiting the national stud, it was time to get back on the train and go home. The next weekend, Saturday, I returned to Kildare to finally enjoy the sheep. The first experience was on the train, where a lady with a dog sat next to me. It’s not like in the Czech Republic or Germany, where animals are allowed on public transport, but they sometimes get away with it on trains (fortunately, this legislation is finally starting to be addressed here too).
I first made it to the Kildare village shopping centre. I simply had to see the architecture. And the shops too. I still don’t understand who shops here (while other visitors were browsing the brand stores, I was enthusiastically taking 3 donuts from Rolling Donut with me). But I have to recommend the toilets – beautiful, clean and free!
Also right next to the shopping centre you will find the ruins of Grey Abbey, which is enjoying itself in all its beauty in the field. There is a wooden path around it to the shopping centre and at one point there are benches with a view of this ruin.
You can find the sheep outside Kildare, around the road towards the Curragh. So I had to go back through the centre. But a funny thing happened to me on the way, I was taking pictures and two older gentlemen walked past me. One of them came back and started asking me what kind of camera I had and immediately started telling me that he had €2000 worth of equipment and someone stole it all and he never found it again. Well, that didn’t make me feel great haha
In the end I spent almost 3 hours around the sheep and life had meaning again.
The Kildare path leads to the sheep and ends a little outside the town. I wouldn’t recommend walking on the road, as the traffic can be heavy and cars will slow down just because of the sheep. There is no fence, so you can walk on the plains, just wear good shoes and expect poop 🙂 On the left you can see a train passing by, which I took advantage of for photos of course. You can also walk under the tracks and on the other side you will be greeted by a golf course. Sometimes I can see sheep on it from the train. But I didn’t go there this time and instead I went to the other side, which is made for horses, but people can go there every day from 1:30 pm. The path leads to a hill from where you can see the Curragh and Wicklow Mountains. There is also nothing stopping you from walking all the way to the racecourse. I didn’t have time to do it again, so some other time 🙂
And now a bit of reality – the sheep are divine. You can find both older ones and lambs and different types. Unfortunately, this place is not known to locals only. During my visit, when I kept my distance from all the sheep because they don’t want people close, some idiot came with a drone. The buzzing scared the sheep so much that they literally ran away. At one point I was the only one there and some drivers had nothing else to do but enthusiastically (read: like stupid ass idiots) honk at me and scare the sheep away. At such moments, I literally stood behind a fence 2-3 meters from the road.
To the right of the train I also noticed a lot of garbage and by that I mean a leaflet from Lidl and a used syringe. The sheep were grazing in it. Unfortunately I didn’t have gloves or a bag to clean it up a bit, but I hope that Kildare City Hall takes care of it sometimes… Five minutes on Google and I learned that this is a big problem that the government doesn’t really address. Additionally, the last few years have been very hot in the summer and the sheep have no access to water and in some parts they have nowhere to hide from the sun. The Curragh plains belong to the Irish Department of Defence and every year they grant local farmers the rights to let over 3000 sheep yearly spend time on these plains.
Kildare is a town I recommend for a trip. For me, it’s definitely a place I’ll take visitors to because I think everyone will find something here and most importantly, it’s really close to nature. But be aware that you might not be able to see everything in one day, but then you’ll have a reason to come back 🙂
What to see in Kildare in a nutshell
– town centre around Market Square
– St. Brigid’s cathedral
– Kildare Tower
– Irish National Stud and Gardens
– sheep behind town
– Kildare Village shopping centre
– Grey Abbey ruin
What I liked about Kildare
Sheep and donuts haha but seriously, very nice centre, they think about tourists and have pavements and benches.
What I didn’t like about Kildare
We didn’t find any souvenirs. I don’t count the shop at the stud farm, but there’s simply not a single shop in the town centre where you could buy a postcard or a magnet. The building in the middle is the information centre, but we didn’t make it to it and it’s not like in the Czech Republic, they usually don’t sell souvenirs there.
