Maura Laverty (1907–1966)
Novelist, cookery writer and broadcaster, born in Rathangan. Author of Never No More (1942) and creator of Tolka Row, Irish television's first drama serial.
A short history of Rathangan
The fort of Iomghán
Rathangan takes its name from Ráth Iomgháin — "the fort of Iomghán" — a raised ringfort built around the 7th century on the rise at the north-western edge of the village, on the Clonbullogue road. It was a royal site and burial place of the kings of the local Uí Failghe dynasty. An early Irish poem remembers them:
"The fort over against the oak-wood, / Once it was Bruidge's, it was Cathal's, / It was Aed's, it was Ailill's, / It was Conaing's, it was Cuiline's, / And it was Maelduin's. / The fort remains after each in his turn — / And the kings asleep in the ground."
(trans. Kuno Meyer, 1913)
The Annals record a lord of Uí Failghe slain at Rath-Imghain in 801. The earthwork — a circular platform about 58 m across inside a wide bank and ditch — still stands and can be seen from the road.
The FitzGerald manor
After the Anglo-Norman conquest Rathangan passed via the de Berminghams to the FitzGeralds, Earls of Kildare, who probably rebuilt the ringfort as a ringwork castle and made it the centre of a manor. By 1331 the borough counted roughly 500–600 inhabitants, with a castle, parish church and watermill. The young Richard FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Kildare, died at Rathangan in 1329. The later tower-house castle was seized in 1535 during the revolt of Silken Thomas; its ruins were pulled down around 1765 and the stone reused for Rathangan Lodge. A market charter granted in 1672 shaped the street pattern the village still has.
1798: the Battle of Rathangan
On 24 May 1798 United Irishmen led by John Doorley of Lullymore took the town, which was defended by a small yeomanry corps under Captain James Spencer, agent of the Duke of Leinster. The rebels held Rathangan for four days, during which Spencer and other loyalists were killed. On 28 May dragoons under Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen Mahon retook the town after fierce fighting; accounts of the rebel losses vary widely between sources. Doorley was later hanged. The canal bridge in the village is still called Spencer Bridge.
The Grand Canal era
The Barrow Line of the Grand Canal reached Rathangan between 1783 and 1795 and transformed it into a busy little port: grain, leather, turf, coal and building materials moved through the harbour — 2,425 tonnes arrived from Dublin in 1845 alone. Water power from the River Slate drove a tannery, wool-fulling and corn mills; a malthouse stood between the canal and the river. In 1837 Lewis described a market and post town of over a thousand people, with schools, a dispensary, Monday markets and fairs. Commercial canal traffic ended in the 1960s, but the harbour, wharf, two 18th-century bridges and the lock-keeper's house survive.
People of Rathangan
William A. Byrne, "William Dara" (1872–1933)
Poet and professor of English literature born in Rathangan; James Joyce could quote his verse from memory. A memorial garden in the village bears his name.
Éamon (Ned) Broy (1887–1972)
Double agent inside the Dublin Metropolitan Police for Michael Collins; later Commissioner of the Garda Síochána.
The Springsteen connection
Bruce Springsteen's great-great-grandmother Ann Garrity emigrated from Rathangan to Freehold, New Jersey in 1852, bringing a copper beech sapling with her. In 2024 Rathangan and Freehold Borough became official twin towns.
And more…
General Sir George Pomeroy Colley, broadcaster Brian Dowling and the twins Jedward also have Rathangan roots.
Sources include the Rathangan Public Realm Archaeological Assessment (Kilkenny Archaeology, 2020), Lewis's Topographical Dictionary (1837), the Dictionary of Irish Biography and kildarelocalhistory.ie. Corrections welcome: [email protected].