Editing Celbridge (section)

===Castletown House===
[[File:Castletown House near Celbridge Late 19th century.jpg|thumb|right|220px|[[Castletown House]], late 19th century-photograph from the fields between the house and the [[River Liffey]], showing an almost full view of this major [[Palladian]] house.]]
[[Castletown House]] is situated at the end of an avenue extending from the main street. It is Ireland's original and largest [[Palladian]] country house. Building commenced in 1722 by [[William Conolly|William "Speaker" Conolly]] (1662–1729), Speaker of the [[Irish House of Commons]], who came under the influence of the [[Palladian architecture|Neo-Palladians]], whose adherents included [[Alessandro Galilei]], believed to have designed the main house, and [[Edward Lovett Pearce]], thought to have designed the entrance hall and the long gallery in its original form, as well as the colonnades and wings. Pearce did commissions for William Conolly before his speculated involvement with Castletown.	
		
The house was inherited by [[Tom Conolly]] (1738–1803) in 1758 and the interior decoration was finished by his wife [[Lady Louisa Conolly|Louisa Lennox]] (greatgranddaughter of [[Charles II of England]] and [[Louise de Keroualle]]) during the 1760s and 1770s.
		
Two of the best known features of Castletown are the Long Gallery (an {{convert|80|ft|m|adj=on}} long room decorated in the [[Pompeii|Pompeian]] manner in blue and gold), and the main staircase (which is cantilevered and made of white [[Portland stone]]).	
[[File:The Obelisk aka Conolly's Folly (11186576504).jpg|thumb|The Obelisk]]
[[Conolly's Folly]] (also known as "The Obelisk") is an obelisk structure. It is built to the rear of [[Castletown House]] which contains two follies, both commissioned by the widow of Speaker [[William Conolly]] to provide employment for the poor of Celbridge at a time when [[Great Famine (Ireland)|famine]] was rife. As such these monuments serve no real purpose, instead they were dedicated to battles in the 16th century. The [[Obelisk]] was built in 1739 after a particularly severe winter. Designed by [[Richard Castle]], it is 42 metres high and is composed of several [[arch]]es, adorned by stone pineapples and eagles.	
		
The main avenue from the town is no longer accessible by vehicular traffic, which must enter the grounds from the roundabout off the M4.