Connell (), also called Great Connell, is a

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Etymology

Connell derives its name from Old Connell (Irish ''Seancongbhail''/''Seanchonail'', "old settlement"), a site in modern Newbridge where Saint Conleth lived as a hermit until his consecration in AD 490. Later it was the site of Connell Ford, a crossing point on the Liffey, and Great Connell Priory was built on the east bank in 1202.

Location

Connell barony is found in central

, from the bend of the Liffey to the

Hill of Allen The Hill of Allen (''Cnoc Alúine'' in Modern Irish, earlier ''Cnoc Almaine''; also Hill of Almu ) is a volcanic hill situated in the west of County Kildare, Ireland, beside the village of Allen. According to Irish Mythology, it was the seat o ...

History

Connell barony was part of the ancient territory of the Uí Fáeláin sept of the Uí Dúnlainge branch of the

Laigin The Laigin, modern spelling Laighin (), were a Gaelic population group of early Ireland. They gave their name to the Kingdom of Leinster, which in the medieval era was known in Irish as ''Cóiced Laigen'', meaning "Fifth/province of the Leinste ...

sept, and ancestral home of the Uí Broin before the arrival of the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

. The Uí Thuathail (O'Tooles), allies of the O'Byrnes, were also here.

List of settlements

Below is a list of settlements in Connell barony: * Allenwood *

Athgarvan Athgarvan () is a village southwest of Newbridge, County Kildare, Newbridge in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The population of the village was 1,176 in the census of 2016. Location Athgarvan lies on the R416 road (Ireland), R4 ...

* Kilmeage * Newbridge * Robertstown

References

{{County Kildare Baronies of County Kildare