Leixlip, with Celbridge, comprises the Celbridge-Leixlip electoral area, which elects seven members to Kildare County Council. Two of those members are based in Leixlip.[12]
Between 1988 and 2014 Leixlip had a nine-member Town Council (formerly Leixlip Town Commissioners), headed by a Cathaoirleach (chairperson). In 1990, the town's coat of arms was presented by minister Pádraig Flynn. The Local Government Reform Act 2014 abolished town councils, including Leixlip's, in 2014.
Transport
Bus
Dublin Bus, and JJ Kavanagh and Sons, provide bus service. Dublin Bus run the spinal city bound C3 service, along with the non spinal city bound 52. Additionally, Leixlip is served at peak time by the X25, X31 and X32. Dublin Bus also provide the local L54, L58 and L59 bus services, which link Leixlip's housing estates together and also provide links to Celbridge and Clondalkin. JJ Kavanagh provide the regional 139 service, which links Leixlip with Naas and Blanchardstown.
Rail
Leixlip is connected to the Irish railway network on the Dublin-Sligo railway line, running from Dublin Connolly to Sligo, with two stations, Leixlip (Louisa Bridge), opened on 1 September 1848, and Leixlip (Confey), opened on 2 July 1990,[13] located at either end of the town. While InterCity services to Sligo do not serve the town, the Maynooth/LongfordCommuter services do, the frequency of the trains peaking in the mornings and evenings. Some of these services continue outbound to Mullingar and Longford. Leixlip has the distinction of being the only town in the Republic of Ireland with two operational train stations.[14]
Main Street in Leixlip
Air
Weston Airport is a publicly licensed airport.[15] Its traffic is primarily private and commercial training. Dublin Airport is 20 minutes away from Leixlip via the M50 motorway.
Built on a rock at the confluence of the River Liffey and the Rye Water, the central part of the castle dates from 1172,[16] just after the Norman Invasion of 1171 and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited buildings in Ireland, pre-dating Dublin Castle by 30 years. It was used as a hunting base by King John when Lord of Ireland in 1185.[citation needed] It was not of major military importance but withstood a 4-day siege by the army of Edward Bruce in 1316.
Located off the main street of nearby Celbridge, Castletown House is the first grand Palladian House in Ireland – the design of the building led to the construction of Leinster House and from thence to the White House in Washington, D.C.[citation needed] Begun in 1722 for Speaker William Conolly (1662–1729), Speaker of the Irish House of Commons,[21] the lands and the house itself lie in Celbridge, however, there is also an entrance from Leixlip, hence there are two modern housing estates bearing the Castletown name, one in each town. To mark the eastern vista of Castletown a conical-shaped building – The Wonderful Barn – was constructed in 1743 with the stairs ascending around the exterior of the building.[22]
British publisher and cartographer Samuel Lewis mentions Confey Castle in the first volume of his 1837 work A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. In it, he comments that Confey's (or Confoy as he spells it) population was 165, had formerly had a town and a castle of some importance, which were noticed by Camden. Of the tower's remains were a massive five-storey structure with turrets at the north and west angles; that at the north angle containing a winding staircase opening through pointed arches into each storey. The principal entrance was under a semicircular archway. In the war of 1688 the castle is said to have been strongly garrisoned, and to have sustained an attack.[24]
Leixlip Spa
Leixlip Spa was found in 1793 by workmen working on the construction of the Royal Canal, which runs through Leixlip.[25]
Salmon Leap
Salmon Leap is a 5-metre waterfall on the Liffey just upstream from the then village. A hydroelectric dam was completed in 1945,[19] and its lake flooded the waterfall. The dam generates 4 Megawatts.[26]
Religion
Leixlip is divided into two Roman Catholic Church parishes, Leixlip (Our Lady's Nativity) and Confey (St. Charles Borromeo), each with its own parish church. The Church of Ireland parish of St Mary's also has a church in Leixlip, located in Main Street. This medieval church was restyled in the 1750s with Gothic windows, and its belltower clock dates from 1720. People from Our Lady's Nativity parish also have their own identity separate from people in the Confey parish. The Confey parish members are known as 'Hillers' and people from the Our Lady's Nativity parish are known as 'Farenders'.
Education and library
As with religion and sports, education in Leixlip is divided by the two Catholic parishes of Leixlip (Our Lady's Nativity) and Confey (St. Charles Borromeo).[citation needed]
The respective schools in the Confey district are Confey Community College (a community school), Scoil San Carlo (Junior), and Scoil San Carlo Senior School (both national schools). The community school of Confey College has approximately 750 pupils in total,[27] and similarly to Coláiste Chiaráin is mixed gender and non-denominational. The name "San Carlo", while used as the Irish names of the national schools in the St Charles Borromeo parish, is actually the Italian rather than actual Irish translation (which would be "Naomh Cathal").
Leixlip also has one of the few Primary Montessori Schools in Ireland, Weston Primary Montessori School. Established in 2016 by the parents and teachers of the former Glebe School, this school provides Montessori education to children from 3–12 years and is located on the grounds of Barnhall Rugby Club.[28]
A public library opened in Leixlip in May 2006. It is situated in Confey, near both Scoil San Carlo and Confey Train Station. Leixlip Library hosts a variety of events and activities as well as free Internet access to library members.[29]
Festival
The Leixlip Festival (previously known as the Salmon Festival) has taken place every year since 1990 on the June bank holiday weekend. It offers live entertainment in pubs, a number of open-air concerts, street carnival and fireworks display.
Leixlip Salmon Festival Limited also provides a youth training scheme in association with Foras Áiseanna Saothair.
Local Leixlip employers include Intel, who own a complex consisting of Fabs (fabrication plant) 10 & 14 (IFO), 24, and 24-2 of Intel's manufacturing operations. Hewlett Packard Enterprise was also a local employer, from 1995 until the closure of the facility in 2017.[34]
Notable people
Lily Allen, English recording artist, actress and fashion designer lived in Leixlip as a child and attended school there.[35]
Arthur Guinness, co-owner with his brother Richard of the brewery business in Leixlip. Richard lived on the town's Main Street, and was the landlord of the Salmon Leap Inn.[42]
Clíona Ní Chiosáin, actress, television presenter, and teacher, known as the star of TG4's Aifric who attended Scoil Chearbhaill Uí Dhálaigh (primary school).[51]
There are three amateur football clubs: Confey F.C., St. Catherine's Park; Leixlip United F.C., Leixlip Amenities Centre; Liffeybank F.C., St. Catherine's Park.
Confey F.C. play in the Leinster Senior League (men) and the Amateur League (over 35's). Leixlip United F.C. participate in Leinster Senior League (men), Amateur League (over 35's), Leinster Football League (men Under 20), Dublin & District Schoolboys/girls League (boys & girls), Eastern Women's Football League (women), Metropolitan Girls League (girls).
Liffeybank F.C. (called Leixlip Town 1995–2017) participate in the Athletic Union League (men), Eastern Women's Football League (women), Metropolitan Girls League (girls) and the North Dublin Football League (boys).[citation needed]
Liffey Celtics Basketball Club is a local basketball club. The club's underage basketball teams compete in the Dublin Area Board League and Cup competitions.[citation needed] Training and home matches take place at the Leixlip Amenities Centre, Confey GAA hall, and Colaiste Cois Life (Lucan). The club also has a senior women's team competing in the Basketball Ireland Superleague and won their first National Cup in 2019.[citation needed]
Other sports
Leixlip has been host to coarse fishing competitions, using a permanently pegged stretch of the Royal Canal. The Leixlip stretch consists of 62 marked pegs and there is also the Confey stretch consisting of sixty pegs. The Leixlip stretch of the Rye River is controlled by the Leixlip and District Angling Association.[citation needed]
There are golfing facilities at Elm Hall Golf Club on the Loughlinstown Road and two 18 hole pitch and putt courses in the area.[citation needed]
^Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". In Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A. (eds.). Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
^"Lily Allen: What's Up Tiger Lily?". stevecummins.com. 9 July 2011. He lives in Dunboyne, but I lived in Leixlip for about a year and a half," she explains. "My mom was doing a film in Ireland called Hear My Song. I was really young, like six or seven at the time. Weirdly enough, he was in the same school as me in Leixlip [...]