Local Studies Department
*Due to ongoing Covid restrictions, the Local Studies, Genealogy & Archives Section of Kildare Library Service is closed to visitors at this time. Local Studies staff are able to take queries by emailing localhistory@kildarecoco.ie*
Telephone: 00353 (0) 45906103 or 00353 (0)45906104.
E-mail: localhistory@kildarecoco.ie
Enquiries: Local Studies Librarian, Kildare Library & Arts Service, Athgarvan Road, Newbridge.
Opening Hours and Facilities
The Local Studies, Genealogy & Archives Department is usually open Monday to Saturday from 9.30AM to 5PM by appointment only. The Department is closed on public holiday weekends and on public holidays.
About the Local Studies Department
The Local Studies Department forms an integral part of the Kildare County Library Arts Service, in partnership with Genealogy and Archives. It is the focal point for local history research in County Kildare for historians and enthusiasts alike. It has a dedicated reading room with modern research facilities.
The collection includes newspapers from 1763 on microfilm as well as the 1901 and 1911 Census. Many important primary resources have been added to the County Library website to allow researchers greater access to the collection.
As well as containing an extensive collection of secondary source material the Local Studies Department includes many original sources such as:
- Griffith’s Valuation,
- the Ordnance Survey Maps of the county,
- the Tithe Applotment Books,
- photographs from the Lawrence Collection,
- Rentals from the Marquis of Drogheda and Verschoyle Estates,
- Quaker Manuscripts
- Newspapers dating from 1763 with extremely good local coverage from 1834
- 1901 and 1911 Census
Major Collections
Online Resources and Research Aids
- Kildare Observer Newspaper 1880-1935 (Digitised)
- Voters Register 1835 - 1839 Qualifying Freeholders and Leaseholders
- Slaters Directory 1846
- Townlands of County Kildare
- Kavanagh’s Bibliography
- Journals of the Kildare Archaeological Society 1891-2006
- Index to the Kildare Archaeological Journal
- Groses’s Antiquities
- 1798 Rebellion
- Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary 1837
- The Great Famine in Co. Kildare
- Thom’s Directories 1849 and 1854
- Slaters Directory of 1881
- Gordon Bennett Race 1903
- World War 1 in County Kildare
- 1928 All Ireland Football Championship
- EHistory - Kildare Online Electronic History Journal
- View Historic buildings and religious sites of County Kildare