Town
Things to do in Carlow town
County Carlow
The county town sits where the Burrin runs into the Barrow, with an 1830s cathedral and the courthouse up on Dublin Street.
7 of the 20 places on our County Carlow list are in Carlow town: Brownshill Portal Dolmen, Duckett's Grove, Carlow Castle, Carlow town, VISUAL Carlow, Delta Sensory Gardens and Clogrennane Wood. Between them a prehistoric site, a ruin, a castle and a museum. Further down the page: one more place in the town off Fáilte Ireland's public list.
On our Carlow list
6 places in and around Carlow town.
Brownshill Portal DolmenMegalithic tomb · Carlow townThe granite capstone here weighs over a hundred tonnes, and it has been sitting in this field 3km east of Carlow town since the neolithic.
Duckett's GroveRuin · Carlow townA Gothic revival mansion near Killerig burned out and was left standing. The turrets are up and two walled gardens sit beside it.
Carlow CastleCastle · Carlow townTwo towers and the wall between them are all that is left of the 13th century Norman castle on the Barrow in Carlow town.- VISUAL CarlowMuseum · Carlow townFour galleries and a theatre in one concrete and glass building on the Old Dublin Road, showing contemporary work.
- Delta Sensory GardensGarden · Carlow townSixteen linked gardens on a site off Strawhall, planted for touch and scent and sound as much as for looking at.
- Clogrennane WoodForest · Carlow townMixed woodland on the Barrow south of Carlow town, with a signed loop through the beech and oak.
More to see in Carlow town
From Fáilte Ireland’s own listings.
The top of the Carlow list
- Brownshill Portal DolmenMegalithic tomb · Carlow townThe granite capstone here weighs over a hundred tonnes, and it has been sitting in this field 3km east of Carlow town since the neolithic.
- Duckett's GroveRuin · Carlow townA Gothic revival mansion near Killerig burned out and was left standing. The turrets are up and two walled gardens sit beside it.
Altamont GardensGarden · TullowForty acres of garden and a lake south of Tullow, run by the OPW, with a beech walk that takes you down to the Slaney.
Huntington CastleCastle · ClonegalThe same family have lived in this 1625 tower house at Clonegal since it went up, and there is a yew walk through the garden.- St MullinsMonastic site · St MullinsThe high ground above the Barrow holds an early monastic site, with the stump of a round tower, church ruins and a Norman motte in the same ground.
- Carlow CastleCastle · Carlow townTwo towers and the wall between them are all that is left of the 13th century Norman castle on the Barrow in Carlow town.