Carlow Accommodation

The otherwise landlocked County Carlow’s beautiful scenery is crisscrossed by two rivers – in the east of the county is the Slaney and in the west, the Barrow. On the banks of the Barrow, if you don’t want to take part in the coarse fishing, you will find Black Castle at Leighlinsbridge. A twelfth century ruin, it is one of many castles in Carlow (Ballymoon Castle being another) due to the frontier nature of the county during Anglo Norman settlement (more about that later).

Between Carlow and Wexford, you’ll find the Blackstairs Mountains. The South Leinster Way is just one of the hill walks you can take in the foothills.

For those with an interest in early history, you can follow the signs from Hacketstown Road to Browne’s Hill Dolmen. This is the four and a half millennium old burial place of an important figure from Ireland’s distant past. The ruler was of a high enough rank to earn a tomb with a covering stone weighing many tons, but his (or her) name has been lost to posterity.

The town of Carlow itself, meanwhile, was for centuries the frontier town in Anglo Norman and English eyes – the Wild West beyond the Pale of Dublin is what lay to the west of the town, with the sphere of British influence only extending as far as the town itself. You ventured past Carlow town at your peril. Bearing this in mind, a castle was built in the town itself, a bulwark against the wild Irish clans that lived beyond it. Now a ruin, all that is left of it is a castellated wall flanked by a pair of towers. Also in Carlow town is the courthouse, built in 1828. Its architecture is based on the Parthenon.

Carlow is a small often overlooked county that’s well worth a visit.