Old Kilcullen
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Old Kilcullen Sean Chill Chuilinn
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| Town | |
 Old Kilcullen
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| Coordinates: 53°06′25″N 6°45′45″W / 53.106967°N 6.762521°WCoordinates: 53°06′25″N 6°45′45″W / 53.106967°N 6.762521°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | County Kildare |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
| Irish Grid Reference | N830071 |
Old Kilcullen, formerly Kilcullen (Cill Chuilinn, "the Church of the Holly" in Irish), is a townland in County Kildare, Ireland, which includes a noted religious archaeological site within its boundary. As a townland it is relatively large (792 acres) but lightly populated (79 premises). The location of the townland is roughly contained within the R418 and R448 routes starting at its most northerly point, a crossroads known locally as Thompson's Cross. The townland continues south from this point as far as Harklow and is intersected in its north east corner by the M9 motorway at Abbeyaun. Old Kilcullen was formerly the site of a walled town, and before that of an ecclesiastical settlement dating from the 5th century. The original settlement gave its name to the substantial surrounding civil parish and barony.
The urban centre of the area moved 2 km north-east to Kilcullen Bridge on the River Liffey, often now simply known as Kilcullen, following the construction of a bridge there in 1319. Old Kilcullen is also under 5 km from Newbridge and around 13 km from Naas.
Old Kilcullen is the site of a round tower and a decorated High Cross. Another, much older historic site, Dun Ailinne, is located approximately one kilometre away to the north at Knockaulin.
The religious archaeological site of Old Kilcullen is situated on a hill around 2 kilometres from Kilcullen Bridge. The site can be reached from a number of minor roads to the north off the R418 (Kilcullen to Athy road) or to the east off the R448 (what was until recently the N9 Dublin to Waterford road). The R418 and R448 can be accessed from the M9 motorway at exit 2 which is approximately one kilometre from the archaeological site.
At ground level today, the site appears to be confined to a churchyard with surviving stone features at the top of a gently sloping hill, but aerial and ground surveys have shown a far greater extent to the former settlement, including embankments on the slopes of the hill.
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Wikipedia