CARLOW, a parliamentary borough, and the capital of the county of Carlow, situated in the heart of the beautiful and well-cultivated vale formed by the river Barrow, which is navigable for small craft to its junction with the Grand Canal at Athy, and affords great facilities for the exportation of grain, butter, &c. to Dublin and Waterford. The population of Carlow in 1841 was 10,400, and in 1851, 9121, inhabiting 1375 houses. It is a neat and in some parts a well-built town, of modern aspect. The principal buildings are—the Roman Catholic College of St Patrick, a plain but spacious building, which, under the superintendence of the late Dr Doyle, rivalled Maynooth as a preparatory seminary for the Roman Catholic priesthood; the parish church, an old building, with a handsome steeple of modern erection; the Roman Catholic chapel or cathedral, a large and elegant structure; the old court-house, and the new court-house where the assizes are held, an octagonal stone
Carlowitz building with a handsome Ionic portico; the lunatic asylum for this and the adjoining counties; the county gaol; the union workhouse; the Wellington bridge over the river Barrow; and a barracks for cavalry and infantry.
Carlsburg. This town was formerly of considerable importance. In the reign of Edward III. the king's exchequer was removed hither, and £500, a large sum at that period, applied towards surrounding the town with a strong wall. The castle (supposed to have been founded by Hugh de Lacy, but sometimes attributed to King John), situated on an eminence overlooking the river Barrow, is still a chief feature of attraction in the general view of the town, but has lost much of its original grandeur in consequence of the blasting operations performed by a physician, who in 1814 attempted unsuccessfully to adapt it for the purposes of a lunatic asylum. It consisted of a hollow quadrangle, with a massive round tower at each angle. In the early part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth it was taken, and the town burned by the Irish chieftain Rory Oge O'More. When summoned to surrender by Cromwell, during the disastrous war of 1641, Carlow submitted without resistance. In the insurrection of 1798, the castle was attacked by an undisciplined body of insurgents, many of whom were intoxicated. They were speedily repulsed, and suffered severe loss, no quarter being given; and, in the confusion of their flight, many of the insurgents took refuge in houses, which the king's troops immediately set on fire. After the slaughter, about 420 bodies were collected and buried.
Carlow obtained a charter of incorporation at an early period, and was re-incorporated, with enlarged privileges, by James I. The corporation, which was styled "The Sovereign, Free Burgesses and Commonalty of the Borough of Catherlagh," and was authorized to return two members to the Irish parliament, was extinguished by the Municipal Reform act. The borough now sends one member to the imperial parliament; constituency in 1853 numbering 208.
Carlow is 49 miles S.W. of Dublin, with which it is connected by a branch of the Great Southern and Western railway. (H. 8—H.)