SunFlower Galería

Carlow Castle

carlow castle


The county of Carlow in Ireland is just an hour from Dublin. There are lots of small towns dotted around its landscape including Bagenalstown, Leighlinbridge, Tullow and Carlow.



Carlow town itself is quaint and old-worldly. The Carlow Castle was built between 1207 and 1213 and the town of Carlow grew around it. The Castle is located near to the River Barrow.


For six centuries, Carlow Castle was the oldest and most imposing stone castle in the county. It once stood as the centrepiece of the walled medieval town, complete with four towers (of which two survive). It was the first Norman-style four towered keep in Britain or Ireland.


The Castle endured numerous sieges and conquests, and changed hands dozens of times throughout its history, remaining intact.



In 1812 the Castle was leased to Dr. Phillip Parry Price Middleton, who intended to convert it into a psychiatric hospital. In an ill-fated attempt at remodelling, Middleton used gunpowder to create cut-and-cover tunnels beneath the Castle. This undermined the Castle's foundations and its entire eastern side collapsed into rubble. It lay abandoned until the Office of Public Works renovated the site in the 1990s.


Once a grand Anglo-Norman castle, Carlow Castle is now a simple ruin standing on the eastern bank of the River Barrow. It was once an important and strong military fortress that served strategic importance due to its location. All that stands of it today is two battered towers and part of an intervening wall.