Kilmead
Cill Míde

The Ireland's Ancient East
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Cill Míde · Co. Kildare

A south Kildare crossroads named for a saint, weighted with old history.

Kilmead sits on the R418, seven kilometres northeast of Athy, at the point where the road south to Castledermot crosses a cluster of farms and a church. The surrounding country is flat, quiet south Kildare — wide fields, scattered hedgerows, the Greese River threading nearby through the townlands. This was Fitzgerald land for centuries. Kilkea Castle, the family seat, is a few kilometres down the same road.

The name Cill Míde means church of Saint Íde — the same sixth-century Munster saint who gave her name to Kilmeedy in Limerick, and whose anglicised name was Ita. The church here, Saint Ita's, was built between 1795 and 1800, before Catholic Emancipation, which makes it an unusual survival. T-shaped plan, lancet windows, stained glass, stone bellcote. The Fitzgerald family tombs are in the graveyard — Rose Fitzgerald, wife of Thomas, died 1762; Thomas Fitzgerald of Kilmead, died 1801.

The bigger history is a few fields away. Mullaghmast, just to the north, is where English forces summoned between 100 and 400 members of the Gaelic nobility in late 1577 or early 1578 — under the pretext of military service — and killed most of them. The hill has been a rallying point in Irish memory ever since. Daniel O'Connell held one of his great Repeal meetings there in 1843. Kilmead doesn't wear any of this on its sleeve. It's a working crossroads. The history is in the ground.

Population

309

Walk score

Village in five minutes, crossroads in two

Coords

53°02′03″N, 6°53′52″W

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Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

Plantation, rebellion, and a long decline

The Fitzgeralds of Kilmead

The Fitzgerald family held the lands of Kilmead until the rebellion of Silken Thomas in 1534 — when his execution at Tyburn, along with five of his uncles, ended the family's grip on south Kildare. The Fitzgerald tombs in Saint Ita's graveyard are what remain locally: flat, inscribed stones marking the last generation to be buried here as landowners.

"Remember Mullaghmast"

Mullaghmast

The hill of Mullaghmast, a few kilometres north of Kilmead, was the site of one of the most notorious killings of the Elizabethan plantation era. In late 1577 or early 1578, English forces invited the Gaelic nobility of Laois and Offaly to a meeting there — and murdered most of them, reportedly burning some at the stake. Estimates put the dead at between 100 and 400. The phrase 'Remember Mullaghmast' became a watchword in Irish resistance. O'Connell chose the hill for a monster Repeal meeting in 1843, drawing tens of thousands.

A pre-Emancipation church, still standing

Saint Ita's

Built between 1795 and 1800, Saint Ita's predates Catholic Emancipation by three decades. The church is T-shaped in plan, with two transepts, lancet-arch windows, and a stone bellcote on the gable. The interior retains its original stained glass, timber galleries, and cut-stone wall monuments. A separate belfry was added around 1870. The church is still in use.

Getting there.

By car

Athy to Kilmead is about ten minutes north on the R418. Castledermot is fifteen minutes south on the same road. From Dublin, allow 1h 15m via the M9 to Athy.

By bus

Bus Éireann Route 817 stops in Kilmead on the Athy–Dublin run. Route 130 runs weekdays to Kilcullen, Naas, and Dublin. South Kildare Community Transport serves Athy twice daily, Monday to Friday.

By train

Nearest station is Athy — about ten minutes by car. Trains to Dublin Heuston from there.