All About: County Kildare, Ireland

County Kildare, Ireland

County Kildare became Lexington’s second Sister City in 1984, furthering the connections Lexington was making with cities of the horse all over the world.   

County Kildare is located about 25 kilometers from Dublin, and the County Town Hall is located in Naas.

Home to the Irish National Stud, the top breeding facility in Ireland, County Kildare is the center of the thoroughbred industry in Ireland.  Also located at the Irish National Stud are the Japanese Gardens, which were built between 1906-1910.  

There are three racetracks in County Kildare: the Curragh, Naas and Punchestown.  The Curragh Racecourse holds the Irish Derby each year.  

County Kildare is also home to Kildangan Stud, a Darley farm owned by Sheik Mohammad. 

County Kildare boasts many museums, parks, castles and golf courses.  The 2006 Ryder Cup was held at the K Club.  Also located in County Kildare is the Carton House Golf Course, which hosted the 2013 Irish Open. 

Gaelic football, one of the most popular sports in Ireland, is prominent in County Kildare.  The county team is called the Kildare Lilywhites.  Other popular sports include hurling, rugby, soccer and hockey. 

Lexington and County Kildare celebrated 30 years of their Sister City relationship in 2014.  Lexington delegates visited County Kildare in the fall of 2013 to celebrate this event, where the original signing documents between Lexington and County Kildare were unveiled as a permanent exhibit at the Naas Town Hall.  

Original Sister City agreement documents now on display at Aras Chill Dara in County Kildare.

Delegates from County Kildare visited Lexington in the fall of 2014 to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Twinning.  County Kildare Mayor Fiona O'Loughlin accompanied the group.  Mayor O'Loughlin's father, Jimmy O'Loughlin, was the Mayor of County Kildare when it first twinned with Lexington in 1984.

Lexington Mayor Jim Gray receives a gift from County Kildare Mayor Fiona O'Loughlin.

Lexington Mayor Jim Gray and County Kildare Mayor Fiona O'Loughlin unveil a permanent display case to commemorate the 30th Anniversary between Lexington and County Kildare.  

Sister Cities Programs between County Kildare and Lexington

High School Student Exchange

Each year, the Lexington Sister Cities Commission and County Kildare Twinning Committee provides a high school student exchanges for students in Lexington and County Kildare.  The purpose of this exchange is to provide a genuine family and cultural experience in another country for the students of Lexington and County Kildare.

To be selected for our program, students should exhibit maturity, flexibility, and a genuine interest in Irish culture.  They should have qualities that would make them a good ambassador for the city, sate and country.

2015 exchange students meet the American Ambassador to Ireland. 

The exchange takes place during July.  County Kildare students visit near the beginning of July and stay for 10-12 days in Lexington.  Students from Lexington then visit County Kildare for 10-12 days near the middle of July.

Students must be at least 15 by July 1, 2017 to participate in the 2017 exchange.  Students over the age of 18 before August 1, 2017 will not be considered for this program.

Applications are due to the Lexington Sister Cities office by Friday, November 4th, 2016.  

To read a first hand experience from a participant in the 2016 exchange, read her blog post here.

For more information, you can find a FAQ in our application here.

Skype Exchanges

A 2nd grade class at Cassidy Elementary and 2nd year class at Holy Child School in Naas, County Kildare participated in a Skype Exchange in December 2015.  Ms. Meneghetti's class in Lexington and Ms. Lacey's class in County Kildare were able to share their studies on different holidays and how they are celebrated.  Students were also able to ask questions about holiday traditions and customs in Lexington and in County Kildare.

Sixth grade classes at Christ the King Middle School and 6th graders from Maynooth Post Primary School in County Kildare participated in a Skype Exchange in February, 2016.  Students from Lexington shared group presentations on each state in the United States, including information on population, climate, sports teams, and famous monuments.  County Kildare students made presentations on countries in Europe.

University of Kentucky - Maynooth University Exchanges

Students from the University of Kentucky and Maynooth University are given the opportunity to study or work abroad through an exchange between these two schools.

In the summers of 2015 and 2016, Lexington received 3 students from Maynooth to work at Jonabell Farm for a summer internship.  Three students from UK were able to study abroad at Maynooth University during this time as well.

To learn more about County Kildare, visit their website at: http://www.intokildare.ie/ 

Guest Post: 2016 County Kildare Exchange

Read about our 2016 County Kildare exchange from one of this year's participants, Chandler Hendren.

2016 Lexington-County Kildare Student Exchange

As one who had always wanted to travel, the moment I heard about the Lexington Sister Cities Exchange, I knew I had to apply. Applying was probably one of the best decisions I ever made, because now I have made lifelong friends and memories I could never forget.

For those of you reading this that want to apply and get accepted into this amazing program, I encourage you to immediately contact your counterpart. Molly and I were friends from day one in January when we first began talking. We would FaceTime at least once or twice a week, we knew everything about each other. From the moment she got to Kentucky we were best friends.

While our Irish counterparts were in Kentucky, we did hundreds of activities. We went rock climbing, hiking at natural bridge, swimming, camping and ate so much food. Molly and I also gave Zoey her first ever corn dog. Also, we went laser tagging and watch a Legends baseball game.

Day 1: After a very long flight, I was absolutely exhausted but way too excited to care. We got our luggage and got on a bus that took us into Kildare, where we met our counterparts to have breakfast. With all the excitement, you would have thought we hadn’t seen each other in months. After breakfast we all went our separate ways. Molly’s mom took us back to the house and I got settled in before we went back out to meet Molly’s friends. We decided to meet up with two other pairs, and we went to a farm to relax for the rest of the night.

Day 2: This day was one of the days i was looking forward to the most and one of the only days we really slept in. Molly’s dad started the morning with a traditional Irish breakfast. We soon started to get ready for Longitude, a music festival that we had all been looking forward to. We arrived at the festival around 3 o’clock and immediately ran into Molly’s friends. I had never met so many people in such a small amount of time. They were all so welcoming and wanted to know so much about where I was from and about America in general. I felt as if I had been their friends forever. We listened to music, danced and had one of the best nights ever.

Day 3: Today we went into Dublin to visit the Guinness factory and do a little bit of sightseeing. We walked around Dublin and did some shopping and ate lunch. We then all met up at St. Stephen's Green, a beautiful park in Dublin and just relax and played a bit of soccer.

Day 4: On day 4, it was our first planned group activity. We spent most of the day at Avon Ri, where we all threw on our wetsuits and went kayaking. We paired up, played games and raced back and forth across the lake in our kayaks. We also did some archery and then ate lunch. After lunch, we did some rock climbing and a participated in a rope course. After we were done we drove back into Kildare and went to Eddie Rockets for dinner and then got our camping stuff for Zoey’s house. We had bonfire and camped out on her farm.

Day 5: Molly and I didn’t really have much planned for this day so we took our time getting ready and went shopping at Newbridge. We spent most of the day there and ate lunch and I did a lot of shopping. Later that night all of us met up at Brona and Gavin’s house. We had a BBQ and they taught the Americans how to play rugby.

Day 6: After Molly and I had gone to Newbridge the day before, many of the other counterparts decided take their counterparts there also. We joined them for a second round of shopping and lunch. Later that evening when we had taken the bus back home, we got ready to go to the Naas Racecourse. It was only a short walk from Molly’s house, which was perfect since we didn’t have to find a bus or ride to get there.

Day 7/8: Molly, Oscar, Ellie and I headed to Dingle with Molly’s family. Molly has a house in Dingle so we spent two nights there. When we arrived we walked into Dingle to grab dinner. The next morning, we woke up and went to the beach and drove around Dingle and went to see the Blasket Islands.

Day 9: We headed back to Kildare. We ordered a pizza and relaxed after the long drive. Later that night Molly had everyone over to enjoy the last night as a group.

Day 10: Last day in Ireland. We decided to go into Dublin one last time. We got lunch, met with a few others in the group and did some last minute shopping. After, we went back to Molly’s house so I could begin to pack. After packing, we went over to Liadan’s house and enjoyed some music and dessert.

I hope this encourages those of you who are unsure of applying. I would recommend it to anyone who loves traveling and new cultural experiences.  Making friends and memories while being able to experience a new culture is one of the best choices I have ever made. Saying goodbye to everyone was the definitely the hardest part. I have missed everyone so much but I know I will be back soon and make more memories with some of the best people I have ever met.