Excavations for the widening of the N7 in 2004 unearthed evidence of early habitation, including a late Bronze Age/early Iron Age hill fort and three small ring barrows.

Kill (Cill Corbáin) was reputedly the burial place of the nine Ui Faeláin kings (later to become the O’Byrnes) who were based at Naas (Nás na Ríogh), the last of whom, Cerball mac Muirecáin, was buried in 909.

[2] A commandery for Knights Hospitallers was founded at Kilhill in the 13th century, by Maurice Fitzgerald, and chapters of the order were held here in 1326, 1332–34; it existed until the Reformation, when it was granted to John Alan.

The road claimed its first casualty, Straffan resident Margaret Hanafin, even before its official opening on 1 June 1956, and four people died in the first major collision on the newly constructed bypass on 31 July.

This road was poorly designed with broadside crossings of insufficient length to accommodate even a small motor car.

[citation needed] Even after traffic lights were installed at the Kill junction in November 1980, eleven more people died before a proper graded fly-over crossing was completed on 14 August 2006.

[citation needed] Rabbit Falls at Hartwell, Arthurstown, Thornberry and Brookstown were first quarried in 1945 when Tom Roche set up the Castle Sand Company, later to become Roadstone,[12] and in turn CRH Holdings, to become Ireland's largest multinational corporation with a turnover of €17bn (2010).

The economic transformation of Kill over this 30-year period was described by Ardclough schoolteacher Brigid Maguire in an Irish Press article previewing the opening of Goff's Horse Sales auditorium in 1975: "A decade or so ago the village of Kill, now by-passed by the dual carriageway from Naas to Dublin was small and insignificant.

Ponsonby descendants include Sir Alec Douglas-Home (British Prime Minister, 1963–64), Nicky Haslam, and Princess Diana.

[citation needed] The village is the birthplace of the world-renowned Uilleann piper Liam O'Flynn and Heidi Talbot, a solo artist and the voice of Irish-American group Cherish the Ladies.

[18] The latter contains an unusual organ (normal colour of keys is reversed) donated by the Bourke (Earls of Mayo) family, who were the landlords based in Palmerstown House in the 18th and 19th centuries, and a rare "half door" at the entrance to the building, outside of which is an early stone font.

[citation needed] St Brigid's Well in Hartwell (probably an earlier site of worship) was a place of pilgrimage until the 19th century and a sally tree covered with votive rags was recorded here in the 1890s.

Kill player Kieran O'Malley was a member of the Kildare team that contested the 1958 National Football League final.

[citation needed] Showjumper Iris Kellett won the Queen Elizabeth Cup (1949) and the Ladies European championship in 1969.

Grand National winning horses Papillion and Commanche Court were trained in Kill by Ted Walsh.