KILDANGAN

KILDANGAN, a parish, in the barony of OPHALY WEST, county of KILDARE, and province of LEINSTER, 4 miles (S. W. by S.) from Kildare, on the river Barrow; containing 122 inhabitants. It comprises 962 statute acres, almost equally divided between pasturage and tillage. A patent exists for three fairs, but none are held. Kildangan Castle, the residence of Dominick O'Reilly, Esq., is situated in a highly improved and well-planted demesne, formed by the taste and skill of the late proprietor, D. W. O'Reilly, Esq. A large and ancient castle is said by tradition to have stood here, which was destroyed during the civil wars by the rival factions of the Fitzgeralds and the O'Dempseys, Viscounts of Clanmalire; it was rebuilt on a smaller scale, but was soon afterwards accidentally burnt. The castle, with his other possessions, was forfeited in 1641 by Maurice Fitzgerald, of Allen, and became the property of an ancestor of the present owner, in the early part of the last century: it is a ruin in high preservation, beautifully ornamented with ivy, and stands in the centre of the demesne. The parish is in the diocese of Kildare, and the rectory forms part of the union of Narney: the tithes amount to £45. 19. 1 ½. The church is in ruins, the roof having fallen in about 1812. In the R. C. divisions it is in the union or district of Monastereven, and contains a very handsome chapel, built at the expense of the late D. W. O'Reilly, Esq.