Oughterard (/ˌuːxtərˈɑːrd/; Irish: Uachtar Árd, "a high place") is an ecclesiastical hilltop site, graveyard, townland, and formerly a parish, borough and royal manor in County Kildare, nowadays part of the community of Ardclough, close to the Dublin border.

The round tower and ancient monastery is associated with a nunnery established c. 605 AD by foundress Saint Briga (feast day 21 January).

[1][2][3] Bríga, daughter of Congall, who is also associated with Brideschurch near Sallins (53°14′36″N 6°41′28″W / 53.24344°N 6.69102°W / 53.24344; -6.69102), and possibly with Kilbride in County Waterford (52°11′24″N 7°09′51″W / 52.18993°N 7.16424°W / 52.18993; -7.16424), is not to be confused with Brigit of Kildare daughter of Dubhthach, the famous St Brigid whose feast day was 1 February;[4] St Brigid, daughter of Doma, whose feast day was 7 February;[5] or the earlier St Brigid, daughter of Neman, also associated with Kildare and said to have been veiled by St Patrick, whose feast day was 9 March[6] (Seathrún Céitinn's History of Ireland 1841 edition edited by Dermod O'Connor lists 14 saints gleaned from the martyrologies and heroic literature each called Brigid, not including Bríga or Brigit of Kildare.).

[8] The pre-Christian site stands on a ley line between the Longstone Rath and running north to a ford over the River Liffey at Donaghcumper Church, Celbridge.

Recent research by archaeological historian Mike O'Neill has established the ruined church on the site dates to c. 1350 and not, as previously thought, 1609.

During the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169–71, the parish was a part of the large estates given as a dowry by Dermot McMurrough on the marriage of his daughter Eva (Aoife) to Strongbow in 1170.

[11] Following the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1649–53, land had to be surveyed and then often confiscated from Parliament's opponents to pay its debts under the Adventurers' Act 1640.

Daniel O'Connell (1775–1847) fought a duel with John D'Esterre on 1 February 1815 in an adjoining field, then a part of the Ponsonbys' Bishopscourt estate, now owned by the King family.

O'Connell described a Dublin Corporation provision for the poor as "beggarly" on 24 Jan and was issued the challenge from John D'Esterre, a champion of the conservative and Protestant cause at the time.

In the film Mission: Impossible , Tom Cruise's character is told that a US senator is unavailable "because he is fishing at the Oughter Ard Slew in County Kildare."