KILBARCHAN, a burgh of barony of Renfrewshire, Scotland, 1 m. from Milliken Park station on the Glasgow & South-Western railway, 13 m. W. by S. of Glasgow. Pop. (1901), 2886. The public buildings include a hall, library and masonic lodge (dating from 1784). There is also a park. In a niche in the town steeple (erected in 1755) is the statue of the famous piper, who died about the beginning of the 17th century and is commemorated in the elegy on “The Life and Death of Habbie Simson, Piper of Kilbarchan” by Robert Sempill of Beltrees (1595-1665). The chief industries are manufactures of linen (introduced in 1739 and dating the rise of the prosperity of the town), cotton, silks and “Paisley” shawls, and calico-printing, besides quarries, coal and iron mines in the neighbourhood. Two miles south-west is a great rock of greenstone called Clochoderick, 12 ft. in height, 22 ft. in length, and 17 ft. in breadth. About 2 m. north-west on Gryfe Water, lies Bridge of Weir (pop. 2242), the industries of which comprise tanning, currying, calico-printing, thread-making and wood-turning. It has a station on the Glasgow & South-Western railway. Immediately to the south-west of Bridge of Weir are the ruins of Ranfurly Castle, the ancient seat of the Knoxes. Sir John de Knocks (fl. 1422) is supposed to have been the great-grandfather of John Knox; and Andrew Knox (1550-1633), one of the most distinguished members of the family, was successively bishop of the Isles, abbot of Icolmkill (Iona), and bishop of Raphoe. About 4 m. N.W. of Bridge of Weir lies the holiday resort of Kilmalcolm (pronounced Kilmacome; pop. 2220), with a station on the Glasgow & South-Western railway. It has a golf-course, public park and hydropathic establishment. Several charitable institutions have been built in and near the town, amongst them the well-known Quarrier’s Orphan Homes of Scotland.
KILBIRNIE, a town in north Ayrshire, Scotland, on the Garnock, 20½ m. S.W. of Glasgow, with stations on the Glasgow & South-Western and the Caledonian railways. Pop. (1901), 4571. The industries include flax-spinning, rope works, engineering works, and manufactures of linen thread, wincey, flannels and fishing-nets, and there are iron and steel works and coal mines in the vicinity. The parish church is of historical interest, most of the building dating from the Reformation. In the churchyard are the recumbent effigies of Captain Thomas Crawford of Jordanhill (d. 1603), who in 1575 effected the surprise of Dumbarton Castle, and his lady. Near Kilbirnie Place, a modern mansion, are the ruins of Kilbirnie Castle, an ancient seat of the earls of Crawford, destroyed by fire in 1757. About 1 m. E. is Kilbirnie Loch, 11⁄3 m. long.
KILBRIDE, WEST, a town on the coast of Ayrshire, Scotland, near the mouth of Kilbride Burn, 4 m. N.N.W. of Ardrossan and 35¾ m. S.W. of Glasgow by the Glasgow & South-Western railway. Pop. (1901), 2315. It has been growing in repute as a health resort; the only considerable industry is weaving. In the neighbourhood are the ruins of Law Castle, Crosbie Castle and Portincross Castle, the last, dating from the 13th century, said to be a seat of the Stuart kings. Farland Head, with cliffs 300 ft. high, lies 2 m. W. by N.; and the inland country is hilly, one point, Kaim Hill, being 1270 ft. above sea-level.
KILDARE, a county of Ireland in the province of Leinster, bounded W. by Queen’s County and King’s County, N. by Meath, E. by Dublin and Wicklow, and S. by Carlow. The area is 418,496 acres or about 654 sq. m. The greater part of Kildare belongs to the great central plain of Ireland. In the east of the county this plain is bounded by the foot-hills of the mountains of Dublin and Wicklow; in the centre it is interrupted by an elevated plateau terminated on the south by the hills of Dunmurry, and on the north by the Hill of Allen (300 ft.) which rises abruptly from the Bog of Allen. The principal rivers are the Boyne, which with its tributary the Blackwater rises in the north part of the county, but soon passes into Meath; the Barrow, which forms the boundary of Kildare with Queen’s County, and receives the Greese and the Lane shortly after entering Kildare; the Lesser Barrow, which flows southward from the Bog of Allen to near Rathangan; and the Liffey, which enters the county near Ballymore Eustace, and flowing north-west and then north-east quits it at Leixlip, having received the Morrel between Celbridge and Clane, and the Ryewater at Leixlip. Trout are taken in the upper waters, and there are salmon reaches near Leixlip.
Geology.—The greater part of the county is formed of typical grey Carboniferous limestone, well seen in the flat land about Clane. The natural steps at the Salmon Falls at Leixlip are formed from similar strata. Along the south-east the broken ground of Silurian shales forms the higher country, rising towards the Leinster chain. The granite core of the latter, with its margin of mica-schist produced by the metamorphism of the Silurian beds, appears in the south round Castledermot. A parallel ridge of Silurian rocks, including an interesting series of basic lavas, rises from the plain north of Kildare town (Hill of Allen and Chair of Kildare), with some Old Red Sandstone on its flanks. The limestone in this ridge is rich in fossils of Bala age, and has been compared with that at Portrane in county Dublin. The low ground is diversified by eskers and masses of glacial gravel, notably at the dry sandy plateau of the Curragh; but in part it retains sufficient moisture to give rise to extensive bogs. The Liffey, which comes down as a mountain-stream in the Silurian area, forming a picturesque fall in the gorge of Pollaphuca, wanders through the limestone region between low banks as a true river of the plain.
Climate and Industries.—Owing to a considerable degree to the large extent of bog, the climate of the northern districts is very moist, and fogs are frequent, but the eastern portion is drier, and the climate of the Liffey valley is very mild and healthy. The soil, whether resting on the limestone or on the clay slate, is principally a rich deep loam inclining occasionally to clay, easily cultivated and very fertile if properly drained. About 40,000 acres in the northern part of the county are included in the Bog of Allen, which is, however, intersected in many places by elevated tracts of firm ground. To the east of the town of Kildare is the Curragh, an undulating down upwards of 4800 acres in extent. The most fertile and highly cultivated districts of Kildare are the valleys of the Liffey and a tract in the south watered by the Greese. The demesne lands along the valley of the Liffey are finely wooded. More attention is paid to drainage and the use of manures on the larger farms than is done in many other parts of Ireland. The pastures which are not subjected to the plough are generally very rich and fattening. The proportion of tillage to pasture is roughly as 1 to 2½. Wheat is a scanty crop, but oats, barley, turnips and potatoes are all considerably cultivated. Cattle and sheep are grazed extensively, and the numbers are well sustained. Of the former, crosses with the shorthorn or the Durham are the commonest breed. Leicesters are the principal breed of sheep. Poultry farming is a growing industry.
Though possessing a good supply of water-power the county is almost destitute of manufactures; there are a few small cotton, woollen and paper mills, as well as breweries and distilleries, and several corn mills. Large quantities of turf are exported to Dublin by canal. The main line of the Midland Great Western follows the northern boundary of the county, with a branch to Carbury and Edenderry; and that of the Great Southern & Western crosses the county by way of Newbridge and Kildare, with southward branches to Naas (and Tullow, county Carlow) and to Athy and the south. The northern border is traversed by the Royal Canal, which connects Dublin with the Shannon at Cloondara. Farther south the Grand Canal, which connects Dublin with the Shannon at Shannon Harbour, occupies the valley of the Liffey until at Sallins it enters the Bog of Allen, passing into King’s County near the source of the Boyne. Several branch canals afford communication with the southern districts.