Carlow

“ A lady with whom I was personally acquainted, and whose family residence was near Carlow, has several times, in my presence, given sixpences to beggars who belonged to her own neighbourhood, and I have heard her tell them that Kingstown was a better and more lucky place for them than ever they would find Carlow to be. I shall close my observations on street begging, by deliberately stating from my personal and official experience, that not one penny can be given to any mendicant on our thoroughfares in real, efficient, and merited charity. ”

“ In Carlow and Kilkenny one sees prosperity too on every side, while Louth disputes the palm with Wexford. Only on the richest land of all, through Meath into Kildare, is there the lamentable spectacle of depopulation—a rich wilderness. ”

“ In the western part of the county also, on the banks of the Barrow, the rugged mountainous range is beautifully fringed with timber, even to the summits of some of its loftiest hills, agreeably chequered by cultivation, and studded with the mansions of opulence, whose snow-white chimneys peeping through the foliage give earnest of the national hospitality that reigns amongst them. Indeed all writers agree, that some of the most beautiful and picturesque scenery in Ireland is to be met with in this division of the county and around the town of Carlow. ”

“ Kildare was impoverished, more especially the Earl’s own property, by the incursion of the O’Mores, and old Henry Cowley ‘with tears in his eyes’ told the Lord Deputy that the Barony of Carbery was 3,000l. poorer than when they had last met. Carlow was more than half waste through outlaws of various kinds, ‘some living under Sir Edmund Butler,’ and it was to be feared that Sir Peter Carew’s place would be ill-supplied by his young kinsman. The side of Wexford which bordered on Carlow and Kilkenny was also in very evil case. ”

“ It has much of interest, but it does not rightly belong in this chronicle. The low hum of our motor calls us to the open road, the green fields, and the unfrequented villages. We are soon away on the Carlow road with Cork as our objective.
The road out of Dublin is distressingly rough as compared with English highways, though it improves before we reach Naas. Our first impressions are distinctly melancholy; a “deserted village”—a row of stone cottages, roofless, windowless, and with crumbling or fallen walls—speaks of Ireland’s sorrows more plainly than any words. ”

“ Of the total, about 89% are Roman Catholics, and nearly the whole are rural. Carlow (pop. 6513) , Bagenalstown (1882) , and Tullow (1725) are the only towns. The county is divided into seven baronies, and contains forty-four civil parishes and parts of parishes. It belongs to the Protestant diocese of Dublin and the Roman Catholic diocese of Kildare and Leighlin. The assizes are held at Carlow, and quarter sessions at that town and also at Bagenalstown and Tullow. One member is returned to parliament. ”

“ Carlow 25 March 1831 with only the rudiments of arms and legs; became a good driver, rider, angler, shooter, draughtsman and painter; acted as a volunteer scout during Smith O’Brien’s rebellion 1848; went to India by way of Russia and Persia 1849–51; succeeded to the family estates 1854 on death of his brother Charles Kavanagh; rebuilt villages of Borris and Ballyragget 1855–6; subsidised and managed railway from Borris to Bagnalstown 1858 etc.; sheriff of Kilkenny 1856 and of Carlow 1857; M.P. for co. Wexford 1866–68; M.P. co. Carlow 1868–80; lord lieut. of co. Carlow 1880 ”

“ The Reverend Jack Read, a three-bottle parson of Carlow, with several other jolly neighbours, were invited to meet us, and to be treated with the wit and pleasantry of the celebrated Counsellor Curran, who was often extremely fond of shining in that class of society. ”

“ Our day’s journey lay through a country more picturesque, though by no means so prosperous and well-cultivated as the district through which we had passed on our drive from Dublin. This trip carried us through the county of Carlow and the town of that name: a wretched place enough, with a fine court-house, and a couple of fine churches; the Protestant church, a noble structure; and the Catholic cathedral, said to be built after some Continental model. ”

“ Killeshin.​—​The church of Killeshin, in the Queen’s County, lying at a distance of about two miles from Carlow, appears to have been one of the most beautiful structures of this class ever erected in Ireland. Its doorway, until very lately, retained, in a remarkable degree, the original sharpness of its sculpture. We were informed that, many years ago, a resident in the neighbourhood used to take pleasure in destroying, as far as lay in his power, the interesting capitals here represented ”

“ Although Catholic Emancipation was thirty years old, its effects were almost exclusively confined to Ireland. It was hardly possible for a Roman Catholic to find a seat in England, and Sir John Acton sat for the small Irish burgh of Carlow, disfranchised in 1885. He was counted as a Whig, and a supporter of Lord Palmerston. But there was no sympathy, no point of contact, between the jaunty Premier and the erudite, philosophical, reflective Member for Carlow. "No one agrees with me and I agree with no one," said Sir John, with unusual tautology. ”

“ Moylan, bishop of Cork, under the care of the Rev. Robert M'Carthy, dean of the diocese, who prepared him to enter the college of Carlow in August 1803. During his stay in that institution he founded a female penitentiary and poor schools for both sexes, delivered catechetical lectures in the parish chapel, and gave religious instruction to the Roman catholic militiamen stationed in the town. He left Carlow in 1808, and returned to Cork to receive holy orders, for which Bishop Moylan had obtained a dispensation from Rome, England not having yet attained the canonical age. ”

“ At Thomastown Lord Butler was wounded in a skirmish, and had to retire to Dunmore until cured; while Offaly, who had possession of Athy, Kilkea, Carlow, and Castledermot, collected a great host of O’Mores, O’Connors, Kavanaghs, and O’Byrnes. But these auxiliaries do not seem to have been of much use; for Ossory had still men enough to burn and spoil the northern part of Carlow, though not to attempt the relief of Dublin. [133]
The rebels are beaten off. ”

“ In Carlow College he continued for some years teaching not only natural philosophy, but mathematics and astronomy. At Seapoint, Williamstown, he conducted a seminary from 1835 to 1841. He was afterwards induced by many distinguished persons, desirous of having their children educated in the Roman catholic faith as well as in the higher sciences, to remove to Prospect, Blackrock, near Dublin, where he remained until 1846. ”

“ The Great Southern and Western Railway of Ireland was opened to Carlow in 1846. The splendid terminus at the King's Bridge and several miles of the line are in the Dublin Metropolitan Police district. The works on that portion included very extensive buildings and deep excavations, and I have been credibly informed that they cost upwards of fifty thousand pounds. A vast number of persons were employed, comprising the various artisans, laborers, (commonly called navvies,) and drivers. ”

“ The monarch marched southward to meet his assailants, with his own proper troops, and the contingents of Connaught under Cathel, Prince of that Province, and those of Leinster under the lead of Kerball, their king. Both armies met at Ballaghmoon, in the southern corner of Kildare, not far from the present town of Carlow, and both fought with most heroic bravery. The Munster forces were utterly defeated; the Lords of Desies, of Fermoy, of Kinalmeaky, and of Kerry, the Abbots of Cork and Kennity, and Cormac himself, with 6,000 men, fell on the ensanguined field. ”

“ It was therefore practically impossible to relieve the city, and a small force encamped at some distance was probably enough to stop the introduction of cattle or other provisions by land. When Carlow was once invested, Ireton could spare a larger force, and he left that place early in July to press the siege of Waterford, having first sent a summons to offer fair terms. The garrison were to march out and surrender their arms within four miles of the town, officers and gentlemen retaining their swords and pistols. ”

“ Tuesday, Sept. 9.—Mass at 6, at the Monk's Altar. Begged on from the bishops. At 10, the great ceremony of concluding the synod, till 2. The Primate preached. Dr. Slattery sang {397} mass. I walked in the procession. At 5, dined with the bishops, &c., at the College. Made a speech after dinner on the Crusade."
After his visit to Thurles, he came back to Carlow and gave a retreat to the lay students in their own oratory. He then went off on a begging tour through Kildare, Carlow, and Kilkenny. Whilst in Kilkenny he went to look at the old cathedral (now in Protestant hands) ”

“ We shall, therefore, speak of all the localities we may have occasion to mention as on or near one of the four main roads of the county, the Dublin, Carlow, Boss, and Waterford roads.
The population of this territory was variously estimated in 1798, at 150,000, 180,000, and 200,000. They were, generally speaking, a comfortable and contented peasantry, for the Wexford landlords were seldom absentees, and the farmers held under them by long leases and reasonable rents. There were in the country few great lords, but there was little poverty and no pauperism. ”

“ Arnold demanded help from all the Irish clans in the central parts of the island. The Earl of Kildare was ordered to assemble his people, and letters were sent to the gentlemen of the Pale and to the settlers in the King’s and Queen’s counties. Wexford and Carlow were not forgotten, and Ormonde, who received a special commission and pay for 200 kerne for three months, was directed to watch the rebels, who were proclaimed by name, and to attack them if they came near his border. ”

“ Antoine Ligonier de Bonneval succeeded Monsieur De Daillon, who, about this time, seems to have removed to Carlow. There Pauline, his wife, died on the 31st December 1709, and he himself followed her, four days after, on the 3d January 1710 (n.s.) , aged seventy-nine. ”

“ Carlow in 1857, and a member, and from 1862 chairman, of the board of guardians of the New Ross poor-house, in which, though himself a strong protestant, he had a chapel provided for the benefit of Roman catholic inmates, the first of the kind in Ireland. Daily he might be seen seated under an old oak in the courtyard of Borris House, administering justice, adjusting differences, making up quarrels, and even arranging marriages. Here, also, in the winter he distributed beef and blankets among the poor. Kavanagh represented co. ”

“ The principal rivers are the Liffey, on the north-western border; the Vartry, which passes through Devil's Glen to the sea north of Wicklow Head; the Avonmore and the Avonbeg, which unite at the “meeting of the waters” to form the Avoca, which is afterwards joined by the Aughrim and falls into the sea at Arklow; and the Slaney, in the west of the county, passing southwards into Carlow. There are a number of small but finely situated lakes in the valleys, the principal being Loughs Dan, Bray and Tay or Luggelaw, and the loughs of Glendalough. The trout-fishing is generally fair. ”

“ Maurice merely laid the whip on his horses, which started off at a gallop, Carlowitz shouting at the top of his voice: "Very well, then; go to the devil, and may heaven blast you and your sledge." When the prince returned, Carlowitz announced his intention of going to Leipzig. "If I miss the New Year's fair," he said, "I shall lose several thousand crowns." The elector had only one means to make him stay, namely, to count out the sum to him. ”

“ Kilima-Njaro, a volcanic mountain group, 19,000 ft. high, on the northern border of German East Africa, 170 m. from the coast, with two peaks, Kibo and Kimawenzi; in 1894 an Austrian communistic settlement was established on the slopes.
Kilkenny (87) , inland Irish county in Leinster, surrounded by Waterford, Tipperary, Queen's County, Carlow, and Wexford, watered by the Barrow, Suir, and Nore; extremely fertile in the S. and E., producing fine corn, hay, and green crops; is moorland, and devoted to cattle-rearing in the N., where also anthracite coal is abundant. ”

“ Infinite herds of cattle grazed at will over the expanse of pasture, and these cattle were the chief dependence of the people. August.Ormond, by the suddenness of his inroad, and the absence of the owners, was enabled to sweep clear the whole tract which was occupied by the Greraldines; and Fitzgerald was forced to retire from Dublin to defend or recover his property. He Left a detachment in the city, to prevent the troops in the castle from obtaining supplies, [68] and then hurried off to revenge the foray. Entering Carlow, he took a castle on the Slaney, and murdered the garrison. ”

“ Carlovingians, or Karlings, the name of the second dynasty of Frankish kings, in succession to the Merovingian, which had become fainéant; bore sway from 762 to 987, Pepin le Bref the first, and Louis V. the last; Charlemagne was the greatest of the race, and gave name to the dynasty.
Callow (40) , an inland county in Leinster, Ireland; also the county town.
Carlowitz, a town on the Danube, 30 m. NW. of Belgrade, where a treaty was concluded in 1699 between Turkey and other European powers, very much to the curtailment of the territories of the former. ”