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Carlow

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For Carlow in Germany, see Carlow, Germany.

Template:Infobox Irish Place

Carlow (from Irish Ceatharlach 'four Lakes'[1]) is an inland town in the south-east of Ireland in County Carlow, 84 km from Dublin. The town numbers about 20,000 people, 3,000 of whom are students. The River Barrow flows through the town, and forms the historic boundary between counties Laois and Carlow: the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 included the town entirely in County Carlow. Carlow town is County Carlow's largest town and its administrative centre.

Name

The name Carlow is an anglicisation of the Irish language name Ceatharlach. Historically, it was anglicised as Caherlagh,[2] Caterlagh[3] and Catherlagh,[4] which are closer to the Irish spelling.

It is generally believed that this refers to "four lakes" — since ceathar means "four" and loch means "lake". The meaning is put forth in books of place names, although the Oxford Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names describes the lakes as being "no longer evident".[1]

History

The Liberty Tree fountain in Carlow town centre commemorates the 1798 defeat of the United Irishmen

The Carlow area has been settled for thousands of years. St Mullins monastery is believed to have been established around the 7th century. Carlow Castle was constructed by William Marshal, Earl of Striguil and Lord of Leinster, c1207-13, to guard the vital river crossing. Saint Patrick's College dates from 1793 and the Carlow Courthouse was constructed in the 19th century. There are still many old estates and houses in the surrounding areas, among them Duckett's Grove and Dunlecky Manor. St Mullins today houses a Heritage Centre. Carlow was an Irish stronghold for agriculture in the early 800s which earned the county the nickname of the scallion eaters.

The town is recalled in the famous Irish folk song, Follow me up to Carlow, written in the 19th century about the Battle of Glenmalure, part of the Desmond Rebellions of the late 16th century. In 1650, during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Carlow was besieged and taken by English Parliamentarian forces, hastening the end of the Siege of Waterford and the capitulation of that city. During the 1798 rebellion Carlow was the scene of a massacre of 600 rebels and civilians following an unsuccessful attack on the town by the United Irishmen, known as the Battle of Carlow. The Liberty Tree sculpture in Carlow, designed by John Behan, commemorates the events of 1798. The rebels slain in Carlow town are buried in the 'Croppies Grave', in Graiguecullen, County Laois.[5]

The birth of Motor racing

On Thursday, 2 July 1903 the Gordon Bennett Cup ran through Carlow. It was the the first international motor race to be held in Great Britain, an honorific to Selwyn Edge who had won the 1902 event in Paris driving a Napier. The Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland wanted the race to be hosted in the British Isles, and their secretary, Claude Johnson, suggested Ireland as the venue because racing was illegal on British public roads roads. The editor of the Dublin Motor News, Richard Mecredy, suggested an area in County Kildare, and letters were sent to 102 Irish MPs, 90 Irish peers, 300 newspapers, 34 chairmen of county and local councils, 34 County secretaries, 26 mayors, 41 railway companies, 460 hoteliers, 13 PPs, plus the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Patrick Foley, who pronounced himself in favour. Local laws had to be adjusted, ergo the 'Light Locomotives (Ireland) Bill' was passed on 27 March 1903. Kildare and other local councils drew attention to their areas, whilst Queen’s County declared That every facility will be given and the roads placed at the disposal of motorists during the proposed race. Eventually Kildare was chosen, partly on the grounds that the straightness of the roads would be a safety benefit. As a compliment to Ireland the British team chose to race in Shamrock green[Note 1] which thus became known as British racing green, although the winning Napier of 1902 had been painted Olive green.[6][7][8][9]

The route consisted of two loops that comprised a figure of eight, the first was a 52 mile loop that included Kilcullen, The Curragh, Kildare, Monasterevin, Stradbally, Athy, followed by a 40 mile loop through Castledermot, Carlow, and Athy again. The race started at the Ballyshannon cross-roads (53°05′07″N 6°49′12″W / 53.0853°N 6.82°W / 53.0853; -6.82) near Calverstown on the contemporary N78 heading north, then followed the N9 north; the N7 west; the N80 south; the N78 north again; the N9 south; the N80 north; the N78 north again. Competitors were started at seven minute intervals and had to follow bicycles through the 'control zones' in each town. The 328 miles (528 kilometres) race was won by the famous Belgian Camille Jenatzy, driving a Mercedes in German colours.[10][7]

Weather

A local weather station operates in Tullow, which records all local weather and provides a 5 day local forecast, this is a free service and can be found on Carlow Weather.com.

Places of interest

carlow has the worlds worst weather because god hates carlow thats why theres loads of floods and thats why people keep dying in carlow and thats why theres barely anyone in carlow

Transport

Economy

Carlow industry has come a long way since the early 20th century, when the town became the centre of Ireland's slow process of industrialization with the creation of the Irish Sugar Company - then the cutting edge of industry in Ireland, the sugar factory opened in 1926 as a private enterprise and was eventually nationalised before reverting to private ownership. The sugar factory was closed on March 11, 2005 as the management of the parent company Greencore decided that it was no longer economical to run the factory nor was it viable to upgrade the facility. The country's last remaining plant at Mallow, County Cork closed in 2006.

Today the principal employers in Carlow are OralB Braun, which has a large factory producing mostly hair dryers and electric toothbrushes, and Burnside which produces hydraulic cylinders. The Institute of Technology is also a significant employer in the town. Since opening its doors in October 2003 Fairgreen Shopping Centre has also played a large part in employment in the area, with Tesco, Heatons, Next, New Look and River Island being the main tenants of the shopping centre. Nonetheless, the town shares problems associated with other provincial towns in Ireland - the inability to attract significant new industry. Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. intends to build a new vaccine manufacturing plant in Carlow.[17]

Education

Religion

Carlow Cathedral, seat of the Catholic Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin
  • Carlow Cathedral was started in 1828 and completed in 1833, in Gothic style. The main architect was Thomas Cobden, but the cathedral was the brain-child of the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, James Doyle (J.K.L.), a prominent champion of Catholic Emancipation, who died the year after the cathedral was opened and is interred in its walls. A sculpture, by John Hogan, in memorial to the bishop was finished in 1839.[19] An unidentified baby was left here on January 22, 2010.[20][21]
  • St. Mary’s Church of Ireland dates from 1727, though the tower and spire, built to a height of 59 m (195 ft) were added in 1834. The interior retains its traditional galleries and there are several monuments, including some by neo-classical architect, Sir Richard Morrison.[22]

Media

Sport

International relations

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in the Republic of Ireland

Twin towns — Sister cities

Carlow has a sister city with Tempe, Arizona, in the USA.[24] Every year, four Irish students are paired with four American students, and they each spend five weeks in one another's country. This student exchange is with the Tempe Sister Cities organization.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ According to Leinster Leader, Saturday, 11 April 1903, Britain had to choose a different colour to its usual national colours of red, white and blue, as these had already been taken by Italy, Germany and France respectively. It also stated red as the color for American cars in the 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup.

References

  1. ^ a b John Everett-Heath, 2005, Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names, Oxford University Press
  2. ^ A census of Ireland, circa 1659: with essential materials from the poll money ordinances 1660-1661. Irish Manuscripts Commission, 2002. Page 11.
  3. ^ Hyde, Edward. The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England. Oxford University Press, 1839. Page 211.
  4. ^ The civil survey, AD 1654-1656. Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1961. Page 9.
  5. ^ "The Liberty Tree". Carlow Town.com. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
  6. ^ Circle Genealogic and Historic Champanellois
  7. ^ a b Leinster Leader, Saturday, 11 April 1903
  8. ^ Forix 8W - Britain's first international motor race by Brendan Lynch, based on his Triumph of the Red Devil, the 1903 Irish Gordon Bennett Cup Race. October 22, 2003
  9. ^ The Gordon Bennett races - the birth of international competition. Author Leif Snellman, Summer 2001
  10. ^ Bleacher report, The Birth of British motor racing
  11. ^ Census for post 1821 figures.
  12. ^ http://www.histpop.org
  13. ^ http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census
  14. ^ Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". In Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A. (eds.). Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
  15. ^ Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November), "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850", The Economic History Review, Volume 37 (Issue 4): 473–488, doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x {{citation}}: |issue= has extra text (help); |volume= has extra text (help); Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
  16. ^ "Carlow station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
  17. ^ Merck invests EUR200m in Carlow facility story dated 27-11-2007 on ENN website. Retrieved 2008-10-16
  18. ^ "St Patrick's College". Carlow Town.com. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
  19. ^ "Carlow Cathedral". Carlow Town.com. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
  20. ^ RTÉ. "Baby left in Carlow Cathedral". Friday, 22 January 2010 22:10
  21. ^ The Irish Times - Last Updated: Friday, January 22, 2010, 21:58. "Baby abandoned in Carlow Cathedral". PAMELA NEWENHAM.
  22. ^ "St Mary's Church". Carlow Town.com. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
  23. ^ The website of The Nationalist
  24. ^ Official Tempe Sister Cities Website. Accessed 2008-10-02

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