[citation needed] As of 2007, a planning application had been lodged with Kildare County Council to develop a separate town to the south west at Turnings.

[citation needed] Since the 18th century, Straffan farmers were prominent in the prize lists at events run by the Royal Dublin Society.

[citation needed] The research station for the agriculture department of University College Dublin is situated at nearby Lyons Hill.

Dinnshenchas Érenn, probably composed by Cináed Ua Hartacáin (d. 975), also selected the nearby Cnoch Liamhna for mention as one of the "assemblies and noted places in Ireland", an indication of the strength of the local ruling family, the Uí Dúnchada branch of the Uí Dúnlainge who supplied ten kings of Leinster from their base on nearby Lyons Hill between 750 and 1050.

Sruthán (stream) was mistakenly cited by Thomas O'Connor in the Ordnance Survey Letters in 1837, and adopted as the Irish form of Straffan.

Recent research by Domhnall mac Giolla Easpaig declares it "completely at odds with the written evidence cited above and with local pronunciation and appears to be no more than an ad hoc explanation of the name by O'Connor's informant."

The heritage of the area is reflected in the fact that fifty sites of archaeological and cultural interest in the locality have been identified and listed for preservation by Kildare County Council, ranging from an ancient hill fort and round tower to the 1913 Lych Gate to the graveyard which has been adopted as the symbol of the village.

A Wogan family tower house "in the north part of Richardstown townland" described as "a square building about 60 feet (18 m) in height' by Thomas O'Conor in 1837 is now reduced to a pile of stones and mortar which has obviously been moved from its original location.

[citation needed] The townland known variously in the calendar Rolls as Surning, Twinings, Surnyng and eventually known as Turnings passed into the ownership of Thomas Hall (1406), William Preston (1508), Patrick Sarsfield (ancestor of Patrick Sarsfield of siege of Limerick fame) (1560), Theophilus Jones (1641) and eventually passed to the Mills family.

Straffan Lodge (53°18′49″N 6°36′53″W / 53.31353°N 6.61472°W / 53.31353; -6.61472), described by Samuel Lewis in 1837 as "the neat residence of Mrs Whitelaw", is known for its dining room decorated Tudor style with oak panels.

Ecclesiastical sources refer to Straphan Register of the Hospital of St. John the Baptist 1245, the Calendar of Justiciary Rolls 1306 and the Regal Visitation 1530 which describes Straffan as "a church of the deanery of Saltu Salmonis".

Castledillon, on the south bank of the River Liffey opposite Straffan, is an ancient monastic site which was founded by Iollathan of the desert (feast day listed as 2 February in the Martyrology of Tallaght) and accorded a genealogy which indicated close kinship with the Uí Dúnlainge kings of Leinster.

The Castledillon Friars Stone, probably erected for a 15th-century abbot of St Wolstan's (four miles to the east), remained on the site until removed to the visitor centre in Kildare town.

The Lords of the Pale who allied with Rory O'More in 1642 included Nicholas Wogan of Rathcoffey (member of the Council of War), Andrew Aylmer of Donadea, Nicholas Sutton of Barberstown, John Gaydon of lrishtown (whose estate included the present Straffan), Garret Sutton of Richardstown and James Eustace of Clongowes.

In 1803 Straffan men marched to Dublin to join Emmet's rebellion, while Barney Daly's pub in Baronrath was used as a rendez-vous.

Eventually in 1871 a neo-gothic RIC barracks was built in the village with distinctive gun turrets designed to repel invading Fenians.

Bertram H. Barton was a member of the Unionist Party and instigator of a sedition charge against the Principal of Ardclough School in 1917.

Kennedy (died of illness, 18 August 1917), G. Kinahan (14 October 1916), William Lawless (15 September 1917), and Peter McLeish, (21 January 1918).

During the Civil war the barnewall homestead near the 13th Lock in Lyons was the North Kildare brigade headquarters for the anti-treaty IRA.

[citation needed] On 22 June 1975 a local man, Christopher Phelan, was stabbed to death when he delayed an attempt to derail a train passing on the main Dublin to Cork railway line by Loyalist paramilitaries near Baronrath bridge, who aimed to derail a train of republicans going to Bodenstown.

His intervention saved the lives of 200 people on the train as it delayed the detonation of the bomb which blew a 3-foot (0.91 m) gap in the track.

Eight men in fluorescent jackets used emergency signals to stop the mail train bound from Cork to Dublin and escaped with £600,000 in small denomination notes.

In 1288 Sir John Fannyn conveyed Straffan and Ballespaddagh (Irishtown) to Richard Le Penkiston on a deed witnessed by Richard de la Salle, John Posswick and Nicholas Barby, each of whom gave their names to surrounding townlands, Sealstown (de la Salle), Possextown (Posswick) and Barberstown (Barby).

At the request of Valentine Lawless, Henry subscribed £500 for defence of Armagh rebel priest James O'Coigly.

According to a commentator of the time "owing to his extravagance from one of the richest commoners in Ireland he became so embarrassed that he was obliged to sell Straffan and live abroad.

Twenty years later an attic and a distinctive mansard roof were added, and the stacks raised and embellished in the French style.

Straffan House had five private owners in the mid-20th century: car importer Stephen O'Flaherty (1960), film producer Kevin McClory (1973), Iranian air force founder and minister in the Shah's government Nadar Djhanbani (1977, shortly before the downfall of the Shah's government and his execution), developer Patrick Gallagher (1979) and property magnate Alan Ferguson (1981).

As a result of a £1 million sponsorship offer from Smurfit Kappa, the European Open moved its annual home to Straffan in 1995.

For example, The Tetrarch was foaled in the area in 1911 and the 1993 St. Leger Stakes winner, Bob's Return, was bred at the Baronrath stud at Straffan.

[citation needed] JL Carews played Sallins in their first match on the same day, 15 February 1885, that Maurice Davin's first rules of Gaelic football were being agreed by the GAA Central Council in Cork.