| Newbridge Droichead Nua
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| — Town — | |
| Newbridge College at sunset | |
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Newbridge
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | County Kildare |
| Elevation | 90 m (295 ft) |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Town | 18,520 |
| • Urban | 17,042 |
| • Environs | 1,478 |
| Irish Grid Reference | N801152 |
| Website | www.newbridge.ie |
Newbridge (officially called by its Irish name Droichead Nua) is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. Its population of 18,520 (2006 Census[1]) makes it the second largest town in County Kildare and the seventeenth largest in the Republic of Ireland.
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The Irish language name of the town is the official name, "An Droichead Nua", meaning simply "The New Bridge" and was introduced in the 1930s. Noble and Keenan's map of Kildare 1752, drawn before the town was started, marks 'The New Bridge'.
Settlement in the area dates from the 13th century (with the foundation of Great Connell Abbey in 1202) and the current town is made up of six ancient parishes and portions of others. The parishes are Ballymany, Great Connell, Killashee, Morristown Billar, Old Connell, and Carnalway.
Great Connell Priory was an important Priory, founded in 1202 by the Augustinian Canons. This and other sites are a reminder that Newbridge was an early Christian settlement.
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1831 | 577 | — |
| 1841 | 792 | +37.3% |
| 1851 | 934 | +17.9% |
| 1861 | 2,875 | +207.8% |
| 1871 | 3,286 | +14.3% |
| 1881 | 3,372 | +2.6% |
| 1891 | 3,207 | −4.9% |
| 1901 | 2,903 | −9.5% |
| 1911 | 3,400 | +17.1% |
| 1926 | 2,249 | −33.9% |
| 1936 | 2,375 | +5.6% |
| 1946 | 3,151 | +32.7% |
| 1951 | 3,007 | −4.6% |
| 1956 | 4,157 | +38.2% |
| 1961 | 4,419 | +6.3% |
| 1966 | 5,161 | +16.8% |
| 1971 | 6,444 | +24.9% |
| 1979 | 5,758 | −10.6% |
| 1981 | 10,716 | +86.1% |
| 1986 | 11,503 | +7.3% |
| 1991 | 12,971 | +12.8% |
| 1996 | 13,363 | +3.0% |
| 2002 | 19,542 | +46.2% |
| 2006 | 18,520 | −5.2% |
| [2][3][4][5][6] | ||
The earliest known mention of Newbridge was by traveller and bookseller John Dunton in 1698[1], though he does not refer to any settlement other than at Ballymany. A mass house (Roman Catholic Chapel) was built beside the bridge about 1730 and an Inn, called New Bridge Inn, was in existence in 1750. The first bridge was destroyed by floods in 1789 and William Chapman, engineer on the Grand Canal extension to Naas, was employed to rebuild it the following year. He moved the site from the 'Watering Gates' to its present location and redirected the high road from Buckley's Cross (Wyeth Roundabout) to the new bridge, and continuing as what is today Main Street and Edward Street to the turnpike at Gandogue Lane (near Finlay's Garage). The old high road continued in use to serve the village and mass house, which was taken down in 1852 upon the opening of the new church (St Conleth's).
The origin of the modern town lies in the establishment of Cavalry Barracks (1815-1819) on land purchased from 3 local landlords: Eyre Powell of Great Connell, Ponsonby Moore of Moorefield and William Hannon of Kilbelin. This barracks originally extended from the River Liffey to Cutlery Road, and from Main Street to Military Road, however little of the barracks remains today except the old walls and gateways which can be found on the Athgarvan Road, and to a lesser degree on Cutlery Road. The "Watering Gates" located at the entrance to the Town Park was also constructed as part of the original Barrack building. At the same Eyre Powell gave land north of the new high road for building houses and shops to serve the new Barracks. Main Street took shape at the same time as the Barracks were being built. From 1819 various Cavalry Regiments were stationed at Newbridge and brought much business to the town.
Newbridge expanded rapidly after the Curragh Camp was established in 1855. Eyre Street (named after the local landlord) and Edward Street (named after Prince Edward, later King Edward VII, who was stationed on the Curragh at the time) were built in the years 1855 - 1870. The new railway opened in 1846 and churches were built at Rosberry Common (1819 - St. Eustace', Dominican), at Moorefield (1828 - St Patrick's, Church of Ireland) and at Chapel Lane (1852 - St Conleth's, Roman Catholic) to cater for the increasing population. A National School was opened on the Railway Road in 1844 (now the Parish Office) and a boarding school at the Dominican Friary in 1852. The town continued to prosper until the withdrawal of the Cavalry in May 1922 on the establishment of the Free State. It went into a period of decline thereafter, but since the 1960s has seen considerable growth and has become a busy shopping and commuter town.
The town is located on the banks of the River Liffey, which provides a range of natural amenities. Upriver are Athgarvan, Kilcullen and Blessington, while downriver are Caragh, Clane and Celbridge.
Newbridge / An Droichead Nua is bounded by the Curragh Plains to the west, Pollardstown Fen and the Bog of Allen and Moulds Bog to the north west. Around the Curragh, and to the east are many important stud farms. To the south the motorway now forms a boundary to the town.
Today Newbridge is a thriving town with a population approaching 20,000, a major centre for industry and commerce, within the South Kildare region.
The area has a strong industrial background with industry such as rope making Irish Ropes PLC and carpet manufacturing Curragh Tintawn Carpets Ltd. dating back to the early 1930s, both of which are now long since closed. Cutlery and silverware is crafted at the famous Newbridge Silverware plant. Pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and Oral-B have also based themselves in the town.
The Irish peat development authority Bord na Móna has its headquarters in the centre of Newbridge.
The Kildare/Leixlip Branch of General Workers Union SIPTU has its headquarters at Georges Street, Newbridge.
Many people living in Newbridge commute to work in major centres in nearby Naas and Dublin city.
The town has rail and road links both to Dublin and the South, and as a consequence of the investment in such infrastructure, firms such as Wyeth Medica and Oral B have opened plants in the town.
The M7 motorway bypasses the town; the R445 connects the town to the bypass (Junctions 10 and 12 on the M7) along the route previously forming part of the N7. The N9 to Kilcullen, Carlow, Kilkenny and Waterford leaves the M7 west of Naas at Junction 11.
Newbridge is connected to the railway network, on the Dublin–Cork line. Newbridge railway station opened on 4 August 1846 and was closed for goods traffic on 6 September 1976.[7]
Newbridge has the highest unemployment per capita in the country and has a chronic drug problem which has affected the town in the last 10 years.
There is a wide and diverse selection of shops, coffee shops, restaurants, hotels and bars in the town, including everything from the large international brands to long established local traders.
The Whitewater Shopping Centre opened on 6 April 2006, and is the largest shopping centre in Ireland outside of Dublin and the Crescent Shopping Centre in Limerick. Major retailers such as Debenhams, Marks and Spencer, Eason and HMV along with others such as Zara, Bershka, and River Island are all tenants of the shopping centre. The Whitewater development has recently caused some local unrest due to the developers reneging on their promise to construct a cinema in the centre. Proposals had been made to construct a cinema elsewhere in the town by the developers but this had not lessened public outcry. A 6 screen all-digital cinema, operated by UCI, is now open within the original reserved space, it opened in December 2009.[8]
There are many churches in Newbridge and the town is home to a number of denominations.
In the Roman Catholic divisions, Newbridge is situated in St. Conleth's Parish (http://www.newbridgeparish.ie/) in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, and the parish has a total of three churches in the town: St Conleth's Parish Church (1852), Cill Mhuire (1983) and the Dominican St. Eustace's Church (1966). A Church of Ireland church (1828) is located in the Moorefield area of town, and is part of St. Patrick's Anglican Parish.
Newbridge Sports Centre hosts the African faith group "The Kingdom of Heavenly Water, Fire and Mountains" and a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall is located just outside the town, near Milltown. Open Arms Community Church is located within Newbridge Industrial Estate. Newbridge Bible Fellowship Church is located in the Roseberry section of the town, (Loc8 Code M30-83-99A).
Primary schools in the town include Scoil Mhuire, Gaelscoil Chill Dara (an Irish-medium school), The Patrician Primary School, St Conleth's Infant Primary School, St Conleth's & St Mary's Primary School, St Patrick's National School, Newbridge Educate Together National School, and Scoil Bride in Athgarvan.
The large growth in the town's population has led to a shortage of places at primary school level.
Secondary schools in the area are the Patrician Secondary School, the Holy Family Secondary School, St Conleth's Vocational School, Newbridge College, a fee-paying co-educational secondary school, run by the Dominican Order and, near the town, Gaelcholáiste Chill Dara, Kildare's only Irish-speaking second-level school: established in 2003, it provides a full programme of study through the medium of the Irish language.
St Conleth's is also home to a branch of the National College of Ireland, which offers a small number of "level-five" courses to Leaving Certificate students.
Newbridge is twinned with the town of Bad Lippspringe in Germany and the city of:
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