County Carlow

The town grew up around the castle built by Hugh de Lacy a s a stronghold in about 1180 to defend a strategic point where the rivers Barrow and Burren meet, which also marked the southeastern border of the Pale. The castle survived a number of attacks, including one by rebels, who were slaughtered in 1798. However, it couldn’t hold out against a Dr Middleton, who in 1814 decided to knock it down, using explosives, and turn it into an asylum. What survives are the west wall of the keep and two of its former towers. You get the best view of it from across the River Barrow.

Today, Carlow is an attractive and bustling county town, with a rich agricultural hinterland. It is worth at least a brief visit, as there is much to see. Tullow Street is where you find most of the shops. The Liberty Tree, just off it, commemorates the 1798 rebellion and is by leading contemporary sculptor John Behan. On Dublin Street is the “ Cigar Divan,” with its distinctive Victorian shopfront. St. Patrick’s College , opened in 1793, was the first post-penal Catholic seminary in the country, and beside it is the Cathedral, completed in 1833. St. Mary’s Church of Ireland dates from 1727, with its tower and spire added in 1834. The interior is interesting for its galleries and monuments, including some by the neo-classical architect Sir Richard Morrison, son of William.

Take a short walk away from the town along the River Barrow to Graiguecullen Bridge , built in 1569 and widened in 1815. Nearby you find the Croppies’ Grave. After the failure of 1798, the bodies of 640 rebels were thrown here and covered in quicklime. The site was later marked by a monument. They got the name “Croppies” because they cut their hair short as a sign of allegiance to the United Irishmen. Croppy Acre on Ellis Quay in Dublin , in front of the National Museum of Decorative Arts, is their best-known mass grave in the Republic.

The most impressive prehistoric monument in the county is the Browne’s Hill Dolmen, east of Carlow Town , believed to be the largest of its kind in Europe , with a capstone weighing 100 tons. Religious rites, perhaps involving human sacrifice, were performed here from 2500 BC.

Around Tullow there are other monuments. The Haroldstown Dolmen at Tobinstown, with its two slightly tilted capstones, is a good example of a portal dolmen. Cloch-a-Foil at Aghade is a large stone with a hole in it, perhaps part of a megalithic tomb. For more than 2,000 years it was believed that babies would be cured of illness if they were passed through the hole. It’s now on private land, so please respect the landowner when visiting. Rathgall Stone Fort is a large hillside fortification, with outer walls dating from the 8th century and inner walls built during medieval times.

Borris is an attractive estate town in the fertile valley of the River Barrow below the Blackstairs Mountains , 16 miles (26 km) south of Carlow on the R702. Handsome stone-cut buildings and traditional shop and pub fronts give the town great appeal and it is worth at least stopping here to take a look. The MacMurrough Kavanagh family, formerly Celtic Kings of Leinster, who built it, still live in the middle of town at Borris House. Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh was responsible for the graceful 16-arch viaduct at the lower end, which used to carry the Great Southern and Western Railway Line between Bagenalstown and Wexford. There are pleasant walks along the River Barrow at Clashganny Forest , three miles (4.8 km) south of Borris.

The signposted Mount Leinster Drive starts in Borris near the railway viaduct and takes a whole day to cover the circular route, taking you to Bunclody, Clonegal, Kildavin, Myshall, Fenagh, Bagenalstown and back to Borris.

The following gives you a taste of what you see en route. Mount Leinster (2,600 feet/795 m) is the highest point in the Blackstairs Mountains and is popular for hang-gliding. You see wonderful scenery as you climb and, from its summit or from the Nine Stones viewing point, you get a panorama of the county and its neighbors, Wexford, Kilkenny and Wicklow – even the coast of Wales across the Irish Sea if you’re lucky.