Visitor attractions in Naas and Kildare

Naas Town Hall

Main Street, Naas, Co. Kildare, Ireland

The Town Hall was originally built as a Jail in 1796 by the old Naas Corporation. That was abolished in 1840. The jail building lay empty and was acquired by their successors, the Naas Town Commission in 1854 as their new Municipal building. In 1900 the new Urban District Council took over the running of the town. In 1904 they renovated the Town Hall, and gave it the new facade including the twin-faced clock, that we know to this present day.

Naas Courthouse

Main Street, Naas, Co.Kildare, Ireland

Naas Courthouse was constructed in 1807 to a design by Architect Richard Morrisson, It was extended in 1860 when the four columned portico was positioned as it is today. The Naas Courthouse was the original meeting place of The Poor Law Guardians who held their monthly meetings there, as did their successors Kildare County Council, from 1899 until the building was badly damaged by fire in the 1950s, which caused them to move to St Mary's. The Criminal Courtroom was the setting for many films, due to its remarkable resemblance to the Old Bailey in London.

Church of our Lady & St. David

Sallins Road, Naas, Co. Kildare, Ireland.

The Roman Catholic Parish Church is also dedicated to Our Lady and St David. The main body of the church dates from 1827. The 60 metre spire was added in 1858. Most recent renovations, carried out in 1985, incorporated the directives of the 2nd Vatican Council, by removing the high altar, side altars, altar rails, Pulpit, and beautiful Mosaic Floor.

Ballitore Quaker Museum

Ballitore Quaker Museum, Ballitore, Co. Kildare.
T: 059 862 3344

Located in Ballitore, a village originally established by Quakers, this museum contains displays and artefacts based on Quaker families that lived in Ballitore including a wedding dress and bonnet, worn by Marian Richardson (nee Wakefield) at Ballitore in 1853.

The Irish National Stud

Tully, Co. Kildare, Ireland.
T: 045 521 617  W: www.irish-national-stud.ie

Established in 1946, the Irish National Stud combines an active role in the development and promotion o­f Irish bloodstock with its role as one of the country's major tourist attractions.

Japanese Gardens

Tully, Co. Kildare, Ireland.
T: 045 521 617  W: www.irish-national-stud.ie

The lands of the Irish National Stud include the world-famous Japanese Gardens. The Japanese Gardens at Tully were created between the years 1906-1910. Devised by Colonel William Hall-Walker (later Lord Wavertree), a wealthy Scotsman of a famous brewery family and laid out by the Japanese Eida and his son Minoru. The Gardens, planned to symbolise the 'Life of Man', are now of international renown and are acclaimed as the finest Japanese Gardens in Europe.

The Steam Museum & Lodge Park Walled Garden

Lodge House, Straffan, County Kildare.
T: 01 - 627 3155   W: www.steam-museum.com

Located outside Straffan village, Lodge Park is a Palladian House built in 1773. There are two attractions at this location - the Straffan Steam Museum and The Walled Garden. The Steam Museum tells the story of steam power, and has working steam engines and related displays. The Walled Garden is of 18th Century origin and is divided into different sections including a roserie which is at its best in June & July

Straffan Butterfly Farm

Ovidstown, Straffan, County Kildare.
T: 01 - 627 1109   W: www.straffanbutterflyfarm.com

The Straffan Butterfly Farm is Ireland's first live tropical butterfly exhibition. In the tropical house, you can walk through a mini jungle with amazing butterflies flying freely all around you. Many of the tropical butterflies breed here so you will be able to observe the entire life cycle of a butterfly.

St. Davids Church, Naas

Main Street, Naas, Co.Kildare, Ireland

St David's Church was built on the site of an earlier Irish Celtic Church dedicated to the local St Corban or St Patrick. The Norman Barons who settled in the Naas area rebuilt the church and dedicated it to St David, the Patron Saint of Wales.

King John's Castle

King John's Castle dates from the early Norman era, perhaps as early as 1200. King John visited Naas in 1206. He visited again in 1210, when he held a form of Parliament in the town. About this time Kildare became a separate County. This assembly would appear to have been held in the newly built Naas Castle. King John's Castle is the last surviving example of the many fortified houses in the town of Naas.

Jiggenstown Castle

Jigginstown, or Sigginstown House as it was also known, one of Kildare’s most prominent ruins, was constructed under the guidance of Thomas Wentworth. Wentworth was Earl of Stafford and was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland during the reign of Charles I. Stafford had planned the building with the idea that it could be home to the king on royal visits to Ireland. Whether this would have been accepted by the king is debatable. Stafford was accused of treason by enemies in the House of Commons never lived to see if indeed he housed a king, as he was sentenced to death and died on the scaffold.

Punchestown Standing Stone

Punchestown, Naas, Co. Kildare.

Punchestown Standing Stone is the largest of eight longstones in Co. Kildare. Made of granite it is nineteen and a half feet above ground and eleven feet in circumference. A quarter of a mile to the west is another longstone, at Craddockstown. A story relates that an attempt was made by a Viscount of Allen to move the Punchestown Stone to his mansion by yoking fourteen pairs of oxen by chains to the boulder. This attempt to pull it from the ground caused it to lean at a dangerous angle. In 1934 it was decided to re-erect the stone vertically.

Kilteel Castle

Kilteel, Co. Kildare, Ireland.

The village of Kilteel lies six miles north of Naas at the foot of the Wicklow mountains. It is here that we find Kilteel Castle. It was built in the early thirteenth century by Maurice Fitzgerald for the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. The site upon which the castle was built was once a monastic settlement. Today the castle is a designated National Monument. It consists of a tower house dated to the fifteenth century, another projecting towerhouse with a spiral stairs and two further rooms at the gate-way.