Tullow’s bridge and market connected the Slaney valley. The town also holds memories of the 1798 rebellion and the beginnings of an international teaching congregation.
Illustration, Church of the Most Holy Rosary, Tullow, County Carlow
⊕Recorded locationTullow52.80260° N · 6.73204° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
An Tulach· Irish · main form · validated name
Tullow· English · main form
Place & story
The bridge and the market
Lewis’s 1837 account describes a five-arched bridge across the Slaney bearing the date 1767. He records a substantial grain market, milling and brewing, placing Tullow within the working economy of the surrounding farms. The directory also uses the name Tullowphelim. The bridge supplied a visible focus for movement through the town, while the market linked a wider district with its streets and businesses.[2]
People & connections
Father John Murphy’s last connection
Father John Murphy’s association with Tullow comes from the aftermath of the 1798 rebellion. Captured nearby, he was executed in the town square, where a monument commemorates him. Tullow Museum preserves material connected with that history in a former Methodist church beside the bridge. Its description carefully treats the vestments attributed to Murphy as alleged relics.[3]
People & connections
Daniel Delany and six women
On 1 February 1807 Bishop Daniel Delany established the Brigidine community at Tullow with six women from the town and surrounding district. The congregation’s own history names them as Frances Kinsella, Eleanor Dawson, Brigid Brien, Eleanor Tallon, Judith Whelan and Catherine Doyle. Their work centred on prayer and education, with provision for children and adults. Naming the founders makes this more than the story of a bishop: the women’s participation was essential to the new institution.[4]
Folklore & tradition
An oak linking Tullow and Kildare
The Brigidines preserve a foundation tradition in which Delany planted a sapling associated with St Brigid’s oak at Kildare in the Tullow grounds. In their account the planting symbolised a connection with the earlier religious and educational community at Kildare. The meaning of the tree is part of the congregation’s remembered heritage.[4]
Both counts use the 2016 settlement boundary, allowing like-for-like comparison. CSO supplies the 2022 count on this older boundary for comparison only. The official 2022 Built Up Area has different boundaries.
View population figures
Tullow — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
These are the historical areas published in the 2006 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Tullow, Carlow — Census town, CSO 2006 report — census population
These are the historical areas published in the 1996 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Tullow, Carlow — Census town, CSO 1996 report — census population
Figures cover the historical town area printed in the 1986 report. Boundaries may have changed between censuses. Legal town, environs and suburb totals remain separate and differ from modern settlement boundaries.
View population figures
Tullow, Carlow — Legal town, CSO 1986 report — census population
Tullow, Carlow — Town environs only, CSO 1986 report
1981–1986: town environs only
117people · 1986
Figures cover the historical town area printed in the 1986 report. Boundaries may have changed between censuses. Legal town, environs and suburb totals remain separate and differ from modern settlement boundaries.
View population figures
Tullow, Carlow — Town environs only, CSO 1986 report — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Tullow, Carlow
Published census settlement populations
4,673people · 2016
Settlement boundaries changed during this period. Differences may reflect boundary changes as well as population change. Where a 2011 legal-town-and-environs count is shown, it has not been recalculated onto the 2016 settlement boundary.
Church of the Most Holy Rosary, Tullow, County Carlow illustration: based on a Tullow Church by liam murphy. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
placenames
