County Carlow: History
The area of present-day Carlow has been inhabited for thousands of years, and the county has perhaps the highest concentration of megalithic monuments per square kilometre in Ireland. Numerous standing stones, bullauns and cairns mark the landscape. Carlow is nicknamed the "Dolmen County", reflecting the abundance of dolmens found within its borders, of which the Brownshill Dolmen is reputed to be the largest in Europe. The historic clan territories of the county included Uí Drona (O'Ryan), Fothairt Feadh (O'Nolan), Uí Ceinnselaig (Kinsella), Dál Coirpri Cliach (Kerwick), Uí Bairrche Magh dá chonn (Kearney), Uí Felmeda Tuaidh (O'Garvey) and Uí Bairrch Maige hAilbe (O'Gorman). As Carlow contained both the navigable river Barrow as well as the Slighe Cualann (one of the key arterial roads leading to Tara), control of the area was vital to the claim of any prospective king of Leinster, and the area was much fought over. By the 11th century the Mac Murchada branch of the Uí Ceinnselaig dynasty had firmly established themselves as the Kings of Leinster.
With the exception of a short-lived Norse–Gael settlement near St. Mullin's in the 9th century, the area remained under the control of the Kingdom of Leinster until the early 13th century. Following the Norman conquest, the "Borough of Carlow" was founded in July 1210, and formed part of the Norman palatine county of Leinster. This was later divided and the independent Liberty of Carlow was established in 1247. At that time the county was over three times larger than it is today, covering approximately 724,000 acres (2,930 km2) and encompassing the majority of the old Diocese of Leighlin, extending to and including the coastal area around Arklow.
The modern county boundary was shaped by the Gaelic Resurgence from the 14th to 16th centuries. During this period, Carlow was part of the patrimony of the Anglo-Norman Butler dynasty; however Art MacMurrough-Kavanagh, the ascendant King of Leinster, controlled more than half of the liberty. He was paid by the Anglo-Normans for his "services" in keeping the roads and trade routes of the area free of bandits, but in reality this amounted to nothing more than rent exacted by MacMurrough-Kavanagh as recognition of his sovereignty over the area. His authority was so absolute that the MacMurrough-Kavanagh's retained control over large portions of the county for centuries, despite radical political changes. In the late 15th-century, James Butler, the 9th Earl of Ormond, purchased land within the county to give to his heirs, rather than enter into conflict with the dynasty. Descendants of the King of Leinster are still in possession of their ancestral home of Borris House to this day.
The informal alliance between the Kingdom of Leinster and the Anglo-Normans remained the status quo for decades, as it kept the peace and made both sides immensely wealthy. Cognisant of the political landscape, the Anglo-Normans began to marry into Gaelic families and adapt to native customs, forging alliances with Irish kingdoms to gain the upper hand over their fellow Anglo-Norman rivals. In a bid to halt the decline of English authority in the region, the crown made Carlow the capital of the Lordship of Ireland from 1361 until 1374, just 13 km (8.1 mi) north of MacMurrough-Kavanagh's permanent residence at Leighlin.
Large areas on the northern and eastern fringes of the Liberty of Carlow gradually fell completely to the O'Moores, O'Byrnes and other chiefdoms. …