County Carlow is one of twenty-six counties in the Republic of Ireland and of twelve in the Leinster province. It is located in the South-East of the country. Carlow adjoins Kilkenny, Kildare, Laois and Offaly.
Carlow Town is the capital of the county and is a small, but progressive town with good amenities. The location of Carlow Institute of Technology (CIT) generates a lot of business to the town. Carlow Town has a long history of third level education with St Patrick's College - the first ecclesiastical college in Ireland (1789) located in the town.
The town suffered a serious blow in recent years when the major employer, The Sugar Beet factory closed and relocated to Mallow in County Cork. Job losses also occurred in some of the multinational companies that locate in the town.
A wide range of accommodation options awaits the visitor and Carlow Town is the ideal base from which to explore the county and the surrounding counties. After dark, Carlow provides a wide range of evening entertainment options to suit all tastes and pockets. Carlow is particularly well served with restaurants for a town of its size. The town offer quality shopping with many international fashion brands located there.
The other major urban centres in the county are Bagenalstown (Muinebeag) with 2,573, and Tullow with 2,277. There are also several smaller towns and villages - Hacketstown, Borris, Rathvilly, Leighlinbridge, Kernanstown, Tinryland, Ballon and Tinnahinch.
Carlow is the second smallest county in Ireland by area after County Louth, so navigating the county is easy. The county is a Mecca for walkers and hikers on the surrounding hills that are not too arduous in their elevation. The river Barrow flows through the county allowing good fishing and river walks. Barges sail on part of the Barrow down to Graiguenamanagh in Kilkenny. There are several superb golf courses in the county, including Carlow Golf Club in the capital, Mount Wolselsey in Tullow which is a Hilton Hotel Golf and Country Club resort and Killerig Golf Club also near Tullow.
The towns of Leighlinbridge and Bagnelstown are picturesque markets towns with a good range of amenties and attractive, if quaint shops. Carlow is regarded as the Celtic Centre of Ireland and dotting the hills are a number of stone monuments dating back to the Megalithic period. The most prominent is Browne's Hill Dolmen, some 5,000 years old and said to have the largest capstone in Europe. See our interactive virtual tours above for more details of the rich heritage of Carlow.
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