Carlow County Museum

Counties Wexford, Waterford, Carlow & Kilkenny


Housed in an atmospheric former convent with original stained-glass windows, this thoroughly engaging museum focuses on the lives of local people through the ages. There are some real one-offs, such as the trapdoor from the county gallows, dating from the early 1800s, and a 6m-high exquisitely carved pulpit from Carlow Cathedral, which the bishop apparently decided to replace with a more modern version (to the chagrin of many locals).


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Counties Wexford, Waterford, Carlow & Kilkenny attractions

1. Carlow Cathedral

0.05 MILES

This elegant Regency Gothic cathedral dating from 1833 was the brainchild of Bishop James Doyle, a staunch supporter of Catholic emancipation. On the…

2. Visual Centre for Contemporary Art

0.2 MILES

British architect Terry Pawson was behind the factory-inspired industrial design of this concrete, steel-and-glass cultural centre, which is a…

3. Carlow Castle

0.34 MILES

Built by William Marshal on the site of an earlier Norman motte-and-bailey fort, this 13-century castle survived Cromwell's attentions. Much of the…

4. Delta Sensory Gardens

0.59 MILES

These 16 interconnecting, themed gardens span the five senses – from a sculpture garden to a formal rose garden, a water and woodland garden, a willow…

5. Browne's Hill Dolmen

1.98 MILES

This 5000-year-old granite portal dolmen (tomb chamber) is one of Ireland's most famous prehistoric monuments, sporting the largest capstone in Europe (it…

6. Killeshin Church

3 MILES

One of the tallest round towers in Ireland once dominated this former monastery, but it was destroyed early in the 18th century by a farmer worried that…

7. Duckett's Grove

5.07 MILES

Dominated by the jackdaw-haunted ruins of a Gothic fantasy of a country house, the former seat of the Duckett family (the house burned down in 1933) was…

8. Castledermot Monastery

6.29 MILES

Castledermot village was once home to a vast ecclesiastical settlement, but all that remains of St Diarmuid's 9th-century monastery is a 20m round tower…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "ireland/county-carlow/carlow-town/attractions/carlow-county-museum/a/poi-sig/1216461/359585",
      "destination": "Counties-Wexford,-Waterford,-Carlow-&-Kilkenny",
      "continent": "Europe",
      "country": "Ireland",
      "region": "Counties-Wexford,-Waterford,-Carlow-&-Kilkenny",
      "position": "superzone"
    }