History

  Although nowadays we are only able to admire the imposing west wall with two towers, since it was built in the early thirteenth century, Carlow Castle represented the heart around which the city of Carlow grew during medieval times and where many significant events in the Irish history happened [1].
  As it can be read on the information panels placed on the site by the Office of Public Works (OPW), the stone Castle was built between 1210 and 1215 by William Marshal (that we met already when visiting the Rock of Dunamase and Ballymoon castle), as a strategic defence and administrative post for the garrisoned town [2]. It is located on an artificially flattened top of a rocky hill where the Burren river flows into the Barrow river [2, 3]. Hence the castle was sorrounded on three sides by water, while a bog known as Moneen restricted access from the remaining east side. It was basically a castle on an island [1]. However, as the panels report, excavations carried out in the 1990s by a team of archeologists leaded by Dr. Kieran O’Conor for the OPW revealed that the Anglo Norman castle was actually built on an earlier Anglo Norman fortification made of earth and timber [1], perhaps built in 1180 by Hugh de Lacy, ‘Keeper of Ireland’, for John de Clahull, Norman Knight to whom the lands of Carlow were granted [1, 3]. According to [1], De Clahull held the castle until the beginning of the thirteenth century when it reverted to the Lord of Leinster.
  As the panel states, the stone castle was a rectangular block, uncommon in Ireland, whose structure is sometimes referred to as ‘four-towered keeps’. In more detail, it consisted of a towered keep with a massive rectangular tower surrounded by four smaller three-quarter-circular towers at each corner of the rectangle [4]. It is thought that the design was inspired to other coeval Norman castles in the west of France, where Marshal spent much of his life [1]. Interestingly, the keep diverted from the contemporary standard in England and continental Europe, for example, because there was no towered curtain, no gatehouse and no undivided great hall [4]. Built of coursed rubble masonry with slit opes, mullioned windows, cross loops and castellations, the castle had no foundations and was originally a two storey building, with a third storey probably added during the 15th century [5], with timber was used for the upper storeys [1, 5].
  Due to its position, the castle played a central role in the exploitation of the Barrow valley by the Anglo Normans in the middle ages, providing a trade route with the thriving port of New Ross, founded by William Marshal [1].
  As explained in the panels, at the beginning of the 14th century, the Castle came under the direct control of the English crown, that then donated it to the Bigod Earls of Norfolk, who held it until confiscation in 1537 [3], becoming the administrative centre for their lands which were spread across the Counties of Carlow, Wexford and Kildare [1, 3]. It was in this period that Carlow was chosen as the new seat of government in Ireland, in an early form of decentralisation, and the castle housed the Irish exchequer and the Court of Common Pleas [1]. Major works were carried out to repair and extend the building: these perhaps included the addition of the third storey and the upgrade of defenses around the castle [1].
Carlow’s experience as administrative capital of Ireland ended in 1394 when the exchequer moved back to Dublin, due to attacks by the Irish of the surrounding areas (mostly MacMurroughs from the south and east and the O’Mores from the west) [1, 2].
  In the following years, siege guns and cannons were introduced in Ireland, making the stone castles more vulnerable and ineffective as strongholds [2]. Hence, starting from the attack by James Fitzgerald of Kildare in 1494, the castle was sieged several times in the next decades [2, 3]. In particular, the castle gave refuge to English settlers fleeing from the violence during the Irish Rebellion of 1641, before being taken by the Irish Confederates in 1647 [1]. Carlow was the last town in south Leinster to hold out against Cromwell’s forces in 1650 and only surrendered when faced by General Ireton’s cannons and left the castle in ruins [1, 2]. After that, it was taken once again by the Earl of Thomond, who already held the castle for some time since 1616 [4]. The castle was later passed to the Hamilton family [5].
  At the beginning of the 19th century an unpredictable dramatic accident destroyed most of the castle. The physicist Dr. Middleton, who was leasing the castle from the Hamilton family with the intention to convert it into a mental asylum, while trying to create more space using dynamite, accidentaly blew up large part of the castle, leaving it in the state that can be seen today [1, 2, 3]. This happened on February 13, 1814 [3, 5].
  Althoug it has not been rebuilt [4], Carlow Castle is plenty of history and, considering that recent excavations in 1990s have brought to light new elements, who knows… Maybe there is still something left that a curious visitor can discover.

References


Other useful links

Tips

  So little left of a great piece of history, but still a "must visit" place. Carlow Castle has its own interesting story to tell.
  Once a strong military fortress, it is now a proof of oppression and at the same time human lack of prudence.
  With only the western wall and two circular towers left to be admired, Carlow is still a beautiful destination and if you want to get deeper into its history, visit also the Carlow County Museum. Car park is available right in front of the premises and you will also find panels all around the ruin, to give you a better sense of what was once, a great stronghold. The back of the castle is fenced off, for safety reasons but you can easily get closer through a small "urban" garden.