Kildare Tours

About Kildare

County Kildare is the heart of Ireland's thoroughbred industry — flat green pastures that have produced champions for generations, anchored by three landmark attractions within easy reach of Dublin. The Irish National Stud & Gardens sits just outside Kildare town. This working stud farm is the only one in Ireland open to the public, offering visitors the chance to see stallions worth tens of millions of euros alongside mares and foals in their paddocks. The site holds four attractions on one ticket: the stud farm itself, the Japanese Gardens (created between 1906 and 1910 by Japanese master horticulturist Tassa Eida for Colonel William Hall-Walker, and ranked among the finest in Europe), St Fiachra's Garden (a contemplative space commemorating the patron saint of gardeners), and the Irish Racehorse Experience — an interactive exhibition covering the sport from foal to finishing post. The Curragh Racecourse, five minutes north, is Ireland's oldest and most famous track. Racing has taken place here since the 18th century, and the course hosts all five Irish flat-racing Classics, including the Irish Derby (run since 1866). The vast open plain of the Curragh — nearly 5,000 acres of common land — is itself a defining feature of the Kildare landscape, with trainers' horses grazing freely alongside the road. Castletown House in Celbridge, at the county's northern edge, is Ireland's earliest and largest Palladian mansion. Built between 1722 and 1729 for William Conolly, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, the house was designed by Alessandro Galilei with wings by Edward Lovett Pearce. Its interiors include three 18th-century Murano-glass chandeliers and the only fully intact 18th-century print room in the country. The 18th-century parklands are free to enter and open year-round. Kildare town itself has the second-tallest round tower in Ireland (32.6 metres) at St Brigid's Cathedral, and Kildare Village — a designer outlet shopping centre — draws visitors from Dublin and beyond.