Things to do around Carlow

purplecow1977

Hi all,

I am spending a weekend in Carlow town in February and am looking for sites to see/things to do in the area. We will have a car so can travel. Had a look at Google maps - is Glendalough worth a visit in February or is it more suitable for better weather? Any other suggestions for a day/evening out? ~30s couple.

Thanks.

slimjimmc

Check out http://carlowtourism.com/
If you're into history there are loads of historical sites/ruins/dolmens to visit.

Take a drive up to Rossmore for a panoramic view over Carlow, or you could take a drive up to the view point near the RTE transmitter on top of Mt. Leinster weather permitting.

For weekend food/drink read http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057357698 (Sat night is the busiest, it's fairly quiet other nights)

purplecow1977

Thanks slimjim.

Would like the panoramic views also

byhookorbycrook

Glendalough from Carlow may not be a good option in Feb, as the more scenic routes over the Wicklow mountains may be closed or at best icy. It seems a shame to come to Carlow and then depart for a destination so far away.
Is it historic sites or scenery or both you want?

For food in town, Lennon's at the Visual Arts Centre is nice

Some of my regular trips with people who come to visit are:
Duckett's Grove, a mock gothic ruin with restored wall gardens and said to be home to the banshee and the dolmen at Browneshill which has the largest capstone in Europe

The high crosses at Castledermot and the marriage stone and rare Viking "hog's back " burial stone -the Mad Hatter café in the village is good for coffee and cake.

If you need to work off the cake, the woods of Mullachcreelan , the birth place of St. Laurence O' Toole has a nice walk to the summit of the rath (an easy walk along a path, might be a little muddy but not by any means boggy ) There are excellent views from the rath summit over a large area of country. The village of Kilkea was the birthplace of the artic explorer Shackleton- the house is across the road from the school.

Unfortunately the castle is closed at present but is was home to the infamous Wizard Earl, who, because of his wizardry was not allowed to enter heaven and must live under the rath at Mullach Mast (near the Quaker village of Ballytore up the road-site of an Daniel O' Connell "Monster Meeting" and emerge to ride his horse once every 7 years until the horse's shoes wear away and he can go to paradise.

Back in Co. Carlow itself, the cathedral at Old Leighlin is one of the oldest religious buildings still in use and the nearby holy well is said to have a "cure" for eye problems and also has an old "rag tree."

The landlord village of Borris has an old style pub- O' Sheas, where you can buy your pint at one side and your hardware needs at the other.
The Step House hotel is a good food spot too.
From Borris , you could head to the lovely riverside hamlet of St. Mullins, on the banks of the Barrow. There is a motte here and the graveyard has the remains of a round tower and there is another holy well near at hand.

That's just a few, for starters . If this is the kind of thing you like, let me know how long you have for a driving trip and the things that appeal to you and I'll do something circular.

And being a "Purple Cow" are you female/ a shopper, if so, I can do suggestions for pottery, "garden and lifestyle" places. candle makers and so on.

purplecow1977

Thank you hook.

I literally picked Glendalough because I knew the name and I was just looking at Google maps for some inspiration!

Yes I am female!

What you've posted is pretty much the type of thing I am looking for. Staying two nights but arriving from further afield the Friday so won't have time for exploring until Sat and part of RSunday.

Thank you for your suggestions so far,looks great.

byhookorbycrook

Arrrghhh, had a big long post written and lost it!

Ok, Carlow town has a castle, down by the river. It was bought by a Dr Middleton who wanted to turn it into a "mental hospital" in the 1800s. As the walls were so thick, he decided to thin them using dynamite and knocked a good portion of the walls to the ground by accident.
http://www.carlowcountymuseum.com/carlow-town/pages/castle.aspx

I'm going to do you a circular (kind of ) itinerary.
Take the Hacketstown road out of Carlow and you will come to the Browneshill dolmen on your right hand side. There's a good "clean" path up to it.
http://carlowtourism.com/brownshill-dolmen-2/

After the dolmen, you will come to a 4 cross roads. Left will bring you down to Duckett's Grove, via the elaborate gatehouse known as "The Towers"
http://theirishaesthete.com/tag/ducketts-grove/

As you leave the carpark, turn right and once you get to the t junction at the end of that road, turn right towards Tullow. There is a statue to the rebel priest in the town square, but v little else there that remembers him.
Head out the Shillelagh road and you'll arrive at Rathwood (cake and coffee or lunch and nice little shops to wander through) and next door is "The Chocolate Garden"
http://www.rathwood.com/
http://www.chocolategarden.ie/

From Rathwood, you can head back to Tullow and on towards Ballon. You'll see signposts for Altamont Gardens and you'll be here at the right time of the year to see the famous snowdrop collections.
http://www.altamontgarden.com/Web%20Pages/history.htm
(Runners might be good here, if you really want to explore thoroughly )

From Altamont, you could then head towards Mount Leinster.
There are lots of ways you could go, I'd suggest you head towards Bunclody and at the Kildavin "by pass" take the road to Myshall.

Myshall has the rather lovely Church of Ireland Adelaide Memorial Church.
http://www.myshalldrumphea.com/adelaide-church.htm
Follow the road to Mount Leinster and you will hopefully have good clear views over the surrounding counties.

You could head to Borris next and check out O' Shea's pub. There's a viaduct at the end of the town, that you can walk over, if you have a head for heights. The Stephouse Hotel would be a good food spot, if you need more nosh by now.

Back towards Carlow via Bagnelstown and Leighlinbridge. There is an easily viewed castle by the bridge in Leighlinbridge, known as "The Black Castle"

http://www.megalithicireland.com/The%20Black%20Castle,%20Leighlinbridge.html

It's unlikely the cathedral in Old Leighlin will be open so I won't send you up there. Leighlinbridge also has the Arboretum garden centre if weather is against you.

Back on the road to Carlow, you'll see a sign to your left for Milford. it's worth the drive down to see where the Barrow meets a canal and a mill which generated electricity allowing Carlow to be one of the first inland towns with its' own electric supply.
http://carlowtourism.com/milford-2/
By the side of the road on your way to the mill, you will see a good example of "Carlow fencing", a unique type of granite fencing
http://conry-michael-books.com/2_the_carlow_fence.html

Back on the main road and then on to Carlow.

byhookorbycrook

If you need more idea, just shout!

purplecow1977

Oh wow thank you very much. That is perfect. Very interesting!

byhookorbycrook

I can do a few ideas for the Sunday if you like. What direction do you head on the Sunday?

purplecow1977

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

I can do a few ideas for the Sunday if you like. What direction do you head on the Sunday?

Heading to Drogheda!

slimjimmc

Just to add to byhookorbycrook's excellent post, while you're at Milford instead of returning to the main road you could continue over the bridge, turn right and take the next turn left (50m down the road) for Ballinabranagh, keep going uphill and you'll come to the Marian shrine, that's the view point over Carlow town I mentioned earlier at Rossmore.

Then take the small road on the right and go downhill. You'll see a church on an elevated site. Just before that on the opposite side is an old church ruin and graveyard on your left. Worth a gander.
http://www.megalithicireland.com/Killeshin%20Church.html
To get back to Carlow, continue downhill, across the bridge and turn right.

byhookorbycrook

Ok ,so Sunday. I suggest you take the "old" road to Castledermot, the high crosses are to be found at the Church Of Ireland. (Turn right by the old school building which is now a community centre) The archway you see inside the gate is actually the old Hiberno-Romanesque doorway (you'll have seen another if you follow SlimJimMc's suggestion to go via Killeshin from Milford which I would!)
Actually, speaking of Rossmore, coal was mined in the area at one stage, there was coalmining all along the "ridge" to Castlecomer.
Rebels from the 1798 skirmishes settled in the area to avoid capture so some typically Wexford names still survive in the area.

The churchyard at Castledermot has that Viking hogback stone I mentioned, to the right of the path on your way in, The marriage stone is to the right too, near the corner of the church. There's a stone with a hole and the tradition is that people put their hands in through the hole and when the hands touched they were considered married.

The two high crosses are worth a bit of study, I'm a bit of a high cross nerd, but I do think you'll appreciated them more if you know what the panels represent. (When I say I'm a high cross nerd, we used one of the Moone high cross panels on our wedding invites, seriously

Photos here are great, but info is:
http://deborahvess.org/ids/medieval/highcrosses/castlecr.htm
Better photos:
http://timetravelireland.blogspot.ie/2013/02/castledermot-round-tower-and-high.html
http://www.megalithicireland.com/High%20cross%20castledermot.htm

From here, you could amble up the old Dublin road and take in the Moone high cross, one of the nicest in Ireland, and I've seen lots and have a quick stop at the service station in Crookstown (handy loo and a few little stalls selling crafts ) and then on to Dublin OR you could cut across from Castledermot to Baltinglass and enjoy the drive towards Dublin in the shadow of the mountains and via the Blessington lakes and Russborough house if time allows.

byhookorbycrook

For the more local yokels, I have a "historic and holy places" pub crawl too!! (More drink than deity!)

purplecow1977

You are a mine of information, thank you very much. You should get paid for this!

byhookorbycrook

If someone would ,I'd love a job like it. I've been known to stop at various tourist sites and extoll the virtues of other nearby places. I think an American couple in West Kerry thought I was a mass murderer as I offered to show them the way to Brandon Creek if they wanted to follow me!

Snaffles2014

One of Carlow's best kept secrets .... the Delta Sensory Gardens

byhookorbycrook

Thanks, Snaffle,s well worth a look too.