Kilkea
Kilkea is a village and civil parish in County Kildare, Ireland, about from Dublin, and from the town of Carlow. The R418 regional road from Athy to Tullow passes through the village.
History
Formerly the land of the Ó Tuathails, after the Norman invasion, Sir Walter [de Riddlesford] built a motte and bailey castle there about 1180. It is part of the barony of Kilkea and Moone. Walter de Riddlesford's granddaughter, Emmeline Longespee, married Maurice FitzGerald, 3rd Lord of Offaly in 1273, and so the land passed to the Geraldine Earls of Kildare. Its importance as a town diminished after the rebellion of Thomas FitzGerald, 10th [Earl of Kildare|"Silken Thomas"], the 10th Earl of Kildare, in 1534.People
- Sir Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic explorer, was born and spent his childhood at Kilkea House.
- Lorcán Ua Tuathail, Archbishop of Dublin, was born in Kilkea