On March 23, 1152, the day after the synod closed,
Cardinal Paparo set sail for Rome, calling on the king
of Scotland on his way.
MARTIN HOLLAND
References and Further Reading
Gwynn, A. The Irish Church in the Eleventh and Twelfth Cen-
turies. Edited by Gerard O’ Brien. Dublin: Four Courts
Press, 1992.
Gwynn, A. The Twelfth-Century Reform, A History of Irish
Catholicism II.Dublin & Sydney: Gill and Son, 1968.
Holland, Martin. “Dublin and the Reform of the Irish Church
in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries.” Peritia: Journal of
the Medieval Academy of Ireland14 (2000): 111–160.
Hughes, K. The Church in Early Irish Society.London: Methuen,
1966.
Lawlor, H. J. “A fresh Authority for the Synod of Kells.”
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (C) 36 (1922):
16–22.
Watt, J. The Church in Medieval Ireland, 2nd ed., Dublin: Uni-
versity College Dublin Press, 1998.
See alsoAnnals of the Four Masters; Church
Reform, Twelfth Century; Gille (Gilbert)
of Limerick; Malachy (Máel-M’áedóic); Raith
Bressail, Synod of
KILDARE
Kildare is a cathedral town and county in eastern
Ireland. The place name is derived from the Irish Cell
dara(church of the oak tree), a feature interpreted as
the survival of a pagan oak grove into Christian times.
The presence of a nunnery associated with a perpetual
fire, first described in the 1180s, has been regarded as
the continuation of a pre-Christian tradition similar to
that of the vestal virgins at Rome—although such
views are often contested. Kildare sits on a hill rising
above the Curragh, a sacred landscape since Early
Bronze Age times (c.2400–c. 1600 B.C.E.), and it is
likely that a pre-Christian ritual site preceded the
cathedral. The date at which a Christian ecclesiastical
settlement was established is unknown, although it is
assumed that it occurred in the fifth or sixth century.
The site has been associated with Brigit from early
times. The first securely dated bishop is Áed Dub mac
Colmáin, who died in 639, by which time a cathedral
evidently existed. This was an exceptional building and
is described by Cogitosus in his Life of Brigit, written
around 650, as a basilica, that is, a church with impor-
tant relics. It is probably the same building as the
dairthech(oak church) referred to in 762, and it may
have stood until 1020, when the ecclesiastical complex
was remodeled. Kildare was the preeminent church
site of Leinster in the early medieval period, and as
such it was a target of attack by both Irish and Vikings.
Between 710 and 1155 it was burned or plundered on
at least thirty-eight occasions. Its ecclesiastical impor-
tance was confirmed in 1111 by its designation as an
episcopal see at the synod of Ráith Bressail.
In the early 1170s Strongbow used Kildare as a
base, and by 1176 it was the principal manor of his
north Leinster lordship. The castle was probably estab-
lished at this time, although the first documentary
evidence does not occur until around 1185. Kildare
prospered during the thirteenth century. A new cathe-
dral, traditionally ascribed to Ralph of Bristol (bishop,
1223–1232), was constructed; the Franciscan friary
was founded around 1254 to 1260; a Carmelite friary
was established around 1290; and the church of St.
Mary Magdalen, with its associated hospital, was in
existence by 1307. The town functioned primarily as
a marketplace and collection point for the agricultural
produce of the region, which was conveyed from there
to Dublin. In 1248, after the death of the last of William
Marshal’s male heirs, Kildare passed into the hands of
William de Vescy. During the 1290s the town was
threatened by Gaelic-Irish and Anglo-Norman lords.
In 1295 it was captured and the castle ransacked by
Calbach Ua Conchobair Fáilge. Two years later the de
Vescys surrendered their interest to the crown, and in
1316 both castle and town were granted to John Fitz-
Thomas FitzGerald, who was created earl of Kildare
as a reward for his loyalty during the Bruce invasion.
Kildare, with an estimated population of between 1000
and 1500, was never very large, but after the Black
Death it shrank considerably, and by the late Middle
Ages it was little more than a village.
JOHN BRADLEYReferences and Further Reading
Andrews, J. H. Kildare (Irish Historic Towns Atlas no. 1). Dublin:
Royal Irish Academy, 1986.
Gillespie, Raymond, ed. St. Brigid’s Cathedral, Kildare, a His-
tory. Naas: Kildare Archaeological Society, 2001.
Harrington, Christina. Women in a Celtic Church: Ireland
450–1150. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. (See esp.
pp. 63–67).
See alsoBrigit; Church Reform; Cogitosus;
Ecclesiastical Settlement; Ecclesiastical Sites;
FitzGerald; pre-Christian IrelandKILKENNY
Kilkenny is the name of a cathedral town, county (from
c.1207), lordship, and liberty (1247–c.1402) in south-
east Ireland. The town, which straddles the River Nore,
derives its name from the Irish Cell Chainnigh(church
of [St.] Canice). An earlier Christian settlement, the
martartech Mag Roigne (relic house of Rogen’s plain),
was established in the fifth century, and although itKILKENNY