Carlow
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Carlow Ceatharlach
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Carlow Cathedral
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 Carlow
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| Coordinates: 52°49′50″N 6°55′54″W / 52.8306°N 6.9317°WCoordinates: 52°49′50″N 6°55′54″W / 52.8306°N 6.9317°W | ||
| Country | Ireland | |
| Province | Leinster | |
| County | County Carlow | |
| Dáil Éireann | Carlow–Kilkenny | |
| Elevation | 57 m (187 ft) | |
| Population (2011) | ||
| • Rank | 14th | |
| • Urban | 13,698 | |
| • Rural | 9,332 | |
| Eircode (Routing Key) | R93 | |
| Irish Grid Reference | S724771 | |
| Website | www |
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Carlow (/ˈkɑːr.loʊ/; Irish: Ceatharlach) is the county town of County Carlow in Ireland. It is situated in the south-east of Ireland, 84 km from Dublin. County Carlow is the second smallest county in Ireland by area - occupying 841 km2. According to the 2016 census there is a population of 56,875 people living in County Carlow. 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. The settlement of Carlow is thousands of years old and pre-dates written Irish history. The town has played a major role in Irish history, serving as the capital of the country in the 14th century. It was voted the cleanest town in Ireland by Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) in 2010.
The name Carlow is an anglicisation of the Irish language name Ceatharlach. Historically, it was anglicised as Caherlagh,Caterlagh and Catherlagh, which are closer to the Irish spelling. According to logainm.ie, the first part of the name derives from the Old Irish word cethrae ("animals, cattle, herds, flocks"), which is related to ceathar ("four") and therefore signified "four-legged". The second part of the name is the ending -lach.
Some, such as Deirdre Flanagan, believe that the name should be Ceatharloch (meaning "quadruple lake"), since ceathar means "four" and loch means "lake". It is directly translated as "Four lakes", although, there is seemingly no evidence to suggest that these lakes ever existed in this area.
The Carlow county area has been settled for thousands of years, evidence of human occupation extends back thousands of years, the most notable and dramatic prehistoric site being the Browneshill Dolmen – a megalithic portal tomb just outside Carlow town.
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