Naas

History

The name of Naas has been recorded in three forms in Irish: , translating as 'Place of Assembly of the Kings'; , translating to 'the Place of Assembly'; and , translating to 'Place of assembly of the Leinster Men'. Irish mythology suggests that the name arose as the burial site of Nás (a wife of Lugh of the Tuatha De Danann). It is also said to be where Lugh held his royal court. Nás was said to have been buried on The Moat Hill (Dún Nás). The Book of Leinster contains the Dindsenchas (lore of places) of Naas with the following verses discussing where the name supposedly came from:"(Nás)... claims of right the brow and the beauty of the spot, since she is gone, with the noise of combat, how should ye know at all the spot where she died? "Nás took in hand a deed unwise: (truth and not folly) death o’erwhelmed her; 'tis from her Nás was named, famous perpetually for stern law. "Nás of the Leinstermen, bright with splendid bounty, ‘tis there the lady was buried; from her it is called with clear certitude: the lore of the ancient hides not this." In the Middle Ages, Naas became a walled market town and was occasionally raided by the O'Byrne and O'Toole clans from the nearby area which became County Wicklow. To guard against this danger, town walls were built in around 1415. Naas features on the 1598 map by Abraham Ortelius as Nosse. In 1409, Henry IV granted Naas its first charter as a corporation, consisting of Portreeves, Burgesses and Commonality. In 1413 King Henry authorised the town to collect tolls at all entrances to the town, with the money being used for fortification of town walls and gates. In the Middle Ages, before it settled permanently in Dublin, the Parliament of Ireland occasionally met in Naas, as in 1441. Saint David's Castle, a 13th-century Norman…

Most-observed species

• Indian Balsam

  Impatiens glandulifera Royle · Magnoliopsida
  3,601
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,368
• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,168
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,162
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,142
• Rook

  Corvus frugilegus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,126
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,113
• Western Jackdaw

  Coloeus monedula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,078

Most recent

• M 3.2 — 2005-12-14
  27 km E of Wicklow, Ireland