Tullow Courthouse · Photo: Smirkybec · CC BY-SA 4.0Tullow: 19 buildings on the National Inventory
Tullow’s oldest recorded building dates from 1760. For every 10,000 residents, Tullow has 37 buildings on the record; the typical town has 48. It is a historic town on the Sites and Monuments Record, with 19 archaeological sites inside it.
typical town: 48
6 photographs of Tullow’s heritage
4 recorded places in Tullow have a photo. Tullow Courthouse and Saint Columba's Church (Tullowphelim) lead the set. Pictured and oldest in Tullow: Catholic Church of the Most Holy Rosary, 1820.
Saint Columba's Church (Tullowphelim)Regional rating (NIAH)
Slaney BridgeRegional rating (NIAH)
Catholic Church of the Most Holy RosaryRegional rating (NIAH)
Holy Trinity Church (Ardoyne)Regional rating (NIAH)
Rathgall HillfortArchaeological monument (SMR)+1See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the place’s page. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Where Tullow’s history is
Every building and site on the record inside the town, by its rating.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one to open its page.
The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage is the State’s survey of buildings from 1700 to today, county by county; each record gives a rating, dates, a type and an appraisal. Being on it is not legal protection: that is each council’s Record of Protected Structures.
Points from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and the Sites and Monuments Record, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY 4.0).
19 historic places in Tullow
Buildings rated Regional, of significance in their region, and archaeological monuments with an encyclopedia article.
All 14, A to Z
5 recorded by their type and address
5 are recorded only by their type and address: 3 homes, 1 street furniture and 1 public buildings; most date from the 18th century.
Tullow’s largest group: homes, 53% of the record
No record in Tullow reaches national importance; they are rated regional. In second place come churches and chapels, with 3. Among the highest-rated: McDonald and Slaney House.
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
Most of Tullow’s dated buildings come from the 19th century
Each building by the first date on its record.
2 of the 19 dated ones were built before 1800.
Archaeology in Tullow
The Sites and Monuments Record lists every known archaeological site; most are field monuments with little to see. By kind:
19 archaeological sites inside the town
Sites on the Record of Monuments and Places, the statutory list drawn from this record, are protected by law: anyone planning work at or near one must give the National Monuments Service two months’ notice.
| Graveslab3 records |
| Ritual site - holy well2 records |
| Graveyard2 records |
| Cross2 records |
| Barrow - mound barrow1 record |
| Historic town1 record |
| Religious house - Augustinian friars1 record |
| Castle - motte1 record |
| Castle - Anglo-Norman masonry castle1 record |
| Church1 record |
| Cross - High cross (present location)1 record |
| Font1 record |
| Enclosure1 record |
| Designed landscape - tree-ring1 record |
Just outside Tullow: 9
| Ardristan StoneArchaeological monument (SMR) · 800 m outside the town |
| Cloch á PhoillArchaeological monument (SMR) · 2.5 km outside the town |
| Rathgall HillfortArchaeological monument (SMR) · 2.7 km outside the town |
| Ardoyne HouseRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.7 km outside the town |
| Hardymount HouseRegional rating (NIAH) · 600 m outside the town |
| Holy Trinity Church (Ardoyne)Regional rating (NIAH) · 2.5 km outside the town |
| Castlemore HouseRegional rating (NIAH) · 1 km outside the town |
| Mount Wolseley (country house)Regional rating (NIAH) · 400 m outside the town |
| Forge, Castlemore CrossroadsRegional rating (NIAH) · 600 m outside the town |
Tullow’s building boom came in the 2000s: 44% of its homes
Like the typical town (3.4%), Tullow has 3.5% of its homes from before 1919. Since 2011 Tullow has added 7.7% of its homes, more than the typical town’s 5.8%. Against a typical 3.9%, 5% of Tullow’s homes went up between the wars.
Census 2022, households by the year their home was built (CSO, Small Area Population Statistics, CC BY 4.0); the typical town is the middle Irish town of 2,500 or more.
5 notable people born in Tullow before 1900
From Richard Meredith (1843) to Eilís Nic Eachnaidh (1898): their lives on one timeline, earliest first.
Everyone born in Tullow → Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against the person’s English Wikipedia article; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Tullow and its neighbours
| Town | People | National Inventory | National | Archaeological sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tullow | 5,138 | 19 | 0 | 19 |
| Rathvilly | 1,074 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Carlow | 27,351 | 6 | 1 | 31 |
| Castledermot | 1,685 | 38 | 1 | 48 |
| Baltinglass | 2,611 | 38 | 1 | 11 |
| Bunclody | 2,053 | 57 | 1 | 1 |
| Tinahely | 1,037 | 28 | 0 | 0 |
Tullow in brief
More of Tullow’s homes are old than in most places: 3.5% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. All told, the list holds 19 places on the record. Most entries on the list, 53%, are homes. Of the 19 with a date, 16 come from the 19th century. The oldest is McDonald, from 1800.
Of the 5 people born here before 1900, the best known include Frederick Keppel (1845), Michael Keogh (1891) and Richard Meredith (1843). It also has 19 archaeological sites on the record. Beyond that, it has 19 recorded buildings, about typical for a town its size (the middle one has 49); and per resident it sits near the middle of Irish towns of 2,500 or more.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The National Inventory. The State’s survey of post-1700 buildings, made county by county since 1990 (NIAH); a few records are older. It records; it does not protect.
- Ratings. International and National: of significance across Ireland or beyond. Regional: in its region. Local and record-only buildings get no page here.
- Archaeology. The Sites and Monuments Record (National Monuments Service) lists known archaeological sites; the national monuments to visit and the sites with an encyclopedia article get pages here.
- Protection. Both registers are surveys, not protection: a building is protected by its council’s Record of Protected Structures, and no national open list joins the 31 councils’ records.
- The grade. Ireland’s History grade is not built yet: the page describes, and gives no grade.
Questions about Tullow’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Tullow?
19 buildings on the National Inventory, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
What is the oldest building in Tullow?
School, Mill Street, Tullow: the first date on its record is 1760.
Are there archaeological sites in Tullow?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 19 archaeological sites inside Tullow.
How old are the homes in Tullow?
3.5% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town.
Are the buildings on this page protected?
Being on the National Inventory or the Sites and Monuments Record is a record, not protection by itself: buildings are protected by their council’s Record of Protected Structures, which each council keeps and no national open list gathers, so this page can’t say which are on it.
This page describes its history; it gives no grade.
Source: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and Sites and Monuments Record, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY 4.0); Wikidata (CC0).
Sources: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (buildingsofireland.ie) · Sites and Monuments Record and the National Monuments Service’s monuments to visit · CSO Census 2022 (homes by the year built) · Photos: Wikimedia Commons, including the National Library of Ireland’s collections, each credited with its licence and copied to our own server · Wikidata and English Wikipedia for people born here · Wikidata (CC0) for other names and articles. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).