From the "Oxford Companion to Irish History" -

The Curragh, Co. Kildare, 5,000 acres of unenclosed down land, located just east of Kildare town..."Curragh", meaning "racecourse", indicates a long standing association with horseracing, probably an adjunct to a fair...the Curragh remains a major horseracing venue today. A camp for the training of militia was established during th revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and a permanent military base in 1854".

The Curragh Camp was of course also the scene of the Curragh Mutiny (or Incident) in 1914 when a number of British Army officers threatened to resign rather than force Ulster unionists into accepting Home Rule. The Curragh was also used as an internment camp during the Irish Civil War and again during the "Emergency" - the Second World War. So, plenty of military connotations.