CARLOW ( Ceatharlach )

Carlow comes from the Irish word Ceatharlach which means quadruple lake, which may be referring to the flooding of the river Barrow. Carlow as well as Kilkenny shares part of the Castlecomer Plateau which consists of coal shale. Browne's Hill Dolmen in County Carlow is the largest of its kind in Europe. Killeshin Monastery has beautifully carved Romanesque doorways. Clonmore abbey contains many old Celtic crosses.

County Carlow, one of Ireland’s smallest counties, is bordered by the scenic Blackstairs Mountains to the east. The fertile limestone land of the Barrow Valley and the Killeshin Hills lie in the west of Carlow.

The county’s most prominent feature is the 5000-year-old granite formation known as Browne’s Hill Dolmen. It's believed to have the largest capstone in Europe, weighing a colossal 100 tonnes.

Located on the banks of the River Barrow, Carlow town is a bustling market centre serving a large rural area. One of the most impressive pieces of architecture in the town has a very interesting background; it is believed that the courthouse on Carlow Street, modelled on the Parthenon in Athens, was originally meant for Cork, but the plans for the two buildings became mixed up.

Other towns worth seeing include the Georgian village of Borris, and the small angling town of Tullow on the River Slaney.

The intimacy of the towns and villages and the warmth of rural Ireland complete the recipe for a unique holiday experience. Carlow is a holiday destination to satisfy the traveller who wishes to discover the essence of a place.

Located in the island's sunniest region - the sunny South East, the county is ideally located to explore the Wicklow Mountains, the medieval city of Kilkenny, the Viking settlements which grew into Waterford city and Wexford town and of course, Dublin, Irelands exciting capital city.

Carlow is one of the Irish Counties favoured by having much of its Celtic past largely undisturbed. The first settlers to reach Ireland around 6000 BC left traces of their passing in the flint weapons and implements found along the Barrow valley.

The legends of County Carlow begin with the saga of the destruction of Dinn Righ, an immense Dun or earth fort near Leighlinbridge. This fort was, according to tradition, destroyed by Labraidh Loinseach who is said to have come from Gaul with the first wave of Celtic settlers about 300 BC.

Much earlier civilizations, however, built the great Dolmen at Browne’s Hill and other notable specimens within the county. Excavations at the great stone fort of Rathgall just inside the Wicklow border have brought to light the sophisticated technology used by the Celts when making their bronze weapons. Rathgall was a huge workshop where spears, swords and shields were fashioned. On excavation in 1969, Rathgall turned out to be the first Later Bronze Age Workshop located in Ireland and more than four hundred fragments of clay moulds were found. A further two or three hundred mould fragments were discovered away from the main workshop showing the considerable extent of the bronze-working area.

The coming of Christianity saw the development of the great religious site of Saint Mullins in a picturesque location on the River Barrow, north of New Ross. Today St. Mullins is well worth a visit to see the beautiful ruins of the once great monastic settlement, together with the small scale but attractive heritage centre.

After the Norman Invasion a great chieftain, Art McMurrough Kavanagh became King of Leinster and the most feared fighting man in the country. He attacked the Norman forces with such frequency that King Richard II came to Ireland personally to resolve the issue in 1394 with an estimated 10,000 men. A treaty was agreed and King Richard II returned to England but he had barely reached home when Art McMurrough Kavanagh struck again and a series of battles culminated in a peace engagement at Kellistown, near Tullow where the King’s cousin, Roger Mortimer, was routed and slain. In fury King Richard II returned to Ireland to defeat Art McMurrough Kavanagh but he inflicted defeat after defeat on the King’s forces. Richard’s war in Ireland gave his enemies their chance. Bolingbroke usurped England’s throne, the ill-fated Richard returned to his death and Art McMurrough Kavanagh of Borris won back his kingdom.

Carlow County remained a total Gaelic enclave for centuries after this until after the Cromwellian confiscations of 1650, the later Penal Laws and the banishment of Gaelic Society.
 

HOSPITALS

Dawson, Patrick G & Son
Barrack Street
Tullow
Co. Carlow
Phone : (059) 9151142
Fax : (059) 9151166
E-Mail : info@dawson.ie

Donohoe Properties
Market Square
Bagnalstown
Co. Carlow
Phone : (059) 9722444
Fax : (059) 9722446
E-Mail : donohoeproperties@eircom.net

Somers, Seamus
Church Street
Bagenalstown
Co. Carlow
Phone : (059) 9721505
Fax : (059) 9722670
E-Mail : seamussomers@eircom.net
Website : http://www.iavi.ie

Sothern Auctioneers Ltd.
37 Dublin Street
Carlow
Phone : (059) 9131218
Fax : (059) 9143765
E-Mail : sothern@eircom.net

THINGS TO DO

FISHING TACKLE