English: Maynooth is a university town located in north County Kildare and is home to a branch of the National University of Ireland and Ireland's main Roman Catholic seminary, St. Patrick's College. NUI Maynooth is the only university in the Republic of Ireland not situated in a city.

Maynooth is on the Royal Canal, navigable from central Dublin to this point, now used mostly for leisure purposes. It provided an important stopping point before Dublin in the period directly before the coming of the railways to Ireland in the first half of the 19th century. The harbour, known locally as Dukes Harbour is roughly triangular in shape and on the north side of the canal, opposite the railway station is a popular fishing area.

Maynooth station is one of the busiest in the Dublin / Kildare region, serving as it does two major educational institutions. The town is the terminus of most Iarnród Éireann Western Commuter, as well as a being served by the Sligo InterCity service.

The town has, at either end of the main street, Maynooth Castle and Carton House: two former seats of the Dukes of Leinster. The castle was a stronghold of the 16th century historical figure Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare better known as Silken Thomas. The castle was overrun in 1535, after the rebellion of the Earl.

The most important historical buildings in the town are those of St. Patrick's College and some of which antedate the foundation of the college, while others are in the late Georgian and neo-Gothic revival style. The "new range" of buildings was erected by A.W.N. Pugin in 1850 under a commission from the then college president Laurence F. Renehan, while the highly important College Chapel was designed and completed by J.J. McCarthy during the presidency of Dr. Robert Browne in 1894.