Naas
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The name of Naas has been recorded in three forms in Irish: Nás na Ríogh, translating as 'Place of Assembly of the Kings'; An Nás, translating to 'the Place of Assembly'; and Nás Laighean, translating to 'Place of assembly of the Leinster Men'.
In the Middle Ages, Naas became a walled market town and was occasionally raided by the O'Byrne and O'Toole clans from the nearby area which became County Wicklow. To guard against this danger, town walls were built in around 1415. Naas features on the 1598 map by Abraham Ortelius as Nosse.
A mayor and council were selected by local merchants and landowners. Naas became known as the "county town" of County Kildare because of its use as a place for trading, public meetings, local administration including law courts, racecourses and the army's Devoy Barracks (closed 1998). In the Middle Ages, before it settled permanently in Dublin, the Parliament of Ireland occasionally met in Naas, as in 1441. Lydon, James Ireland and the English Crown 1171-1541 Cambridge University Press 2016
Saint David's Castle, a 13th-century Norman castle, was first built c. 1210, although the present structure is a fortified house of the 18th century.
One of the first battles of the rebellion of 1798 took place in Naas on 24 May 1798. During the Battle of Naas, a force of about 1,000 rebels was defeated in an unsuccessful attack on the town.
In 1898, the Local Government Act established Naas Urban District Council (later called Naas Town Council). Naas Town Council was abolished in June 2014, when the Local Government Reform Act 2014 dissolved town councils and designated Kildare County Council as the administrative local authority for the entire county.
Map - Naas
Map
Country - Ireland
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Flag of the Republic of Ireland |
Geopolitically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Ireland), an independent state covering five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. As of 2022, the population of the entire island is just over 7 million, with 5.1 million living in the Republic of Ireland and 1.9 million in Northern Ireland, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
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EUR | Euro | € | 2 |
ISO | Language |
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EN | English language |
GA | Irish language |