County Kildare

Contae Chill Dara

"The Thoroughbred County, consecrated by St. Brigid and rich green plains."

Estimated Emigrants 90,000+

Peak Migration Eras 1846–1880

Primary US Destinations New York, Boston, Chicago

County Kildare Historical Heritage & Diaspora

County Kildare, famously known as the “Thoroughbred County”, is the heartland of Ireland’s world-renowned horse breeding and racing industry. Kildare was sanctified by St. Brigid, who founded her famous double monastery under an oak tree (Cill Dara) in the fifth century.

The vast flat plain of The Curragh has served as a military training ground and gathering place for armies from the Fianna warriors of mythology to modern times. Kildare families who emigrated brought equestrian, farming, and blacksmithing expertise to American rural and suburban frontiers.

Prominent Kildare lineages include Fitzgerald (Earls of Kildare), Kelly, Eustace, Keely, and Moore.

Historical Migration Journey

County Kildare Emigration Timeline (1845 – 1920)

1845 – 1852 · The Great Hunger (An Gorta Mór)

Catastrophic Potato Blight & Transatlantic Coffin Ships

Successive failures of the potato crop decimated tenant farming communities. Facing ruthless landlord clearances and starvation, over one million people fled across the Atlantic. Families boarded cramped wooden sailing barques from ports like Cobh, Derry, and Galway, arriving at Boston Harbor and Castle Garden, New York.

1880 – 1900 · The Industrial & Mining Surge

Chain Migration, Coal Valleys, and Urban Labor Solidarity

Younger siblings and children emigrated through prepaid tickets and diaspora remittances sent home from America. Immigrants fueled the industrial expansion of the United States—mining anthracite in Pennsylvania, digging copper in Butte, Montana, and operating textile mills across New England while establishing the first labor unions.

1920s · Independence, Irish Free State & Civic Leadership

War of Independence Remittances and Second-Generation Rise

American diaspora communities raised millions of dollars (via Éamon de Valera's 1919 US tour) to support Irish independence. Second and third-generation Irish-Americans ascended into the heights of US jurisprudence, municipal leadership, journalism, and cultural institutions.