History & Culture

History & Culture

The Wrens of the Curragh

The Wrens of the Curragh: A Courageous Community on the Plains Out on the windswept plains of the Curragh in County Kildare, during the mid-1800s, lived a group of women who became known—sometimes harshly—as “the Wrens.” Their homes weren’t houses in the traditional sense, but hollows, ditches, banks, and furze bushes that sheltered them like […]

Newbridge · Curragh

History & Culture

Curragh Military Cemetery

The Curragh Military Cemetery: Quiet History in the Plains Just east of the Curragh Camp, along the low rolling ground between Newbridge and Kildare town, sits the Curragh Military Cemetery. It isn’t large or flashy — just a walled plot with a few trees, a sense of order, and a lych-gate dating back to 1869. […]

Newbridge · Curragh

History & Culture

Donnelly’s Hollow

Donnelly’s Hollow: Where an Irish Legend Was Made In the heart of the Curragh, just outside Athgarvan, lies a natural dip in the land that once went by the name Belcher’s Hollow. Today it’s known almost exclusively as Donnelly’s Hollow — a title earned on one unforgettable day in 1815. That November, Irishman Dan Donnelly, […]

Newbridge · Kildare

Attractions · Parks & Outdoors · History & Culture

The Curragh Plains

The Curragh Plains are a vast ancient grassland landscape between Kildare Town and Newbridge. Known for walking, horse racing, archaeology, rare grassland habitats and the film Braveheart, the Curragh is one of County Kildare’s most important natural and historic places.

Newbridge · Curragh