Clane
Description
Founded in 520 A.D; Clane is a town in County Kildare, Ireland, 35.4km from Dublin. Its population of 6,702 makes it the eighth largest town in Kildare and the 78th largest in Ireland. It is on the River Liffey. Clane gives its name to the associated townland, civil parish, electoral division and barony.HistoryClane is located on the crossroads of the R403 and R407 regional roads, halfway between Maynooth and Naas in north Kildare.The town most probably owes its origin to the foundation of an abbey in the sixth century, from about 520 A.D., when Ailbe of Emly, Bishop of Ferns, founded an Abbey in Clane, and made St. Senchel the Elder its first Abbot. Saint Ultan Tua, who used to put a stone into his mouth to prevent him from speaking during Lent, and his brother Fotharnaise, are said to have been buried in Clane. They were brothers of Maighend, Abbot of Kilmainham, from whom the parish and church of Mainham, near Clane, were probably called. King Mesgegra's Mound claims links to the legendary first-century AD king Mesgegra of Leinster and was later used by Normans.