placenamesNaas
An Nás
Buildings in Naas East and Naas West preserve the architecture of nineteenth-century welfare and policing, with later uses layered over their original functions.
The name
A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
- An Nás · Irish · main form
- Naas · English · main form
Place & story
The workhouse entrance lodge
The limestone lodge at the hospital entrance on Cradockstown Road dates from 1840–41 and belonged to Naas Union Workhouse, designed by George Wilkinson. The architectural survey identifies it as the complex’s best surviving element. Gothic openings, stone surrounds, a trefoil detail and slate roofs give the small building a carefully finished exterior. Its later office use records a change of function within the hospital grounds while retaining evidence of the earlier institution. [2]
Saint Helen’s Home
Saint Helen’s Home off Sallins Road began as a girls’ laundry established by the Sisters of Mercy. The inventory dates the surviving building to around 1840 and records its later convent use. Its L-shaped plan combines a two-storey main block with a projecting gabled end and lower rear ranges. Stone dressings distinguish the front elevation. The building belongs to a wider group of Catholic institutions, but its original laundry function gives it a separate history. [3]
An imposing barracks on Main Street
The former constabulary barracks on Main Street South dates from around 1870. Its three-storey frontage includes an advanced end bay and an oriel window resting on stone corbels. Cut-stone surrounds frame tall sash windows, while gates and railings stand between the building and the street. The survey records later conversion and surviving interior joinery. The barracks remains evidence of the Royal Irish Constabulary’s purpose-built presence in the town, distinct from the neighbouring courthouse. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Civil parish
- County
- Kildare
- Barony
- Naas North
- Coordinates
- 53.21282, -6.67416
- Mapped area
- 22.91 km²
- Logainm ID
- 1212 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Naas. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Naas Union Workhouse entrance lodge, registration 11901908 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Saint Helen’s Home, registration 11814112 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Naas Constabulary Barrack, registration 11814028 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2021-10-29. How this page was prepared.