Rathvilly
Village in County Carlow, Ireland
title: "Rathvilly" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["towns-and-villages-in-county-carlow", "townlands-of-county-carlow", "civil-parishes-of-county-carlow"] description: "Village in County Carlow, Ireland" topic_path: "general/towns-and-villages-in-county-carlow" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathvilly" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Village in County Carlow, Ireland ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| settlement_type | Village |
| name | Rathvilly |
| native_name | |
| native_name_lang | ga |
| image_skyline | Rathvilly,County_Carlow-geograph.ie-_1794584.jpg |
| pushpin_map | Ireland |
| pushpin_label_position | right |
| pushpin_map_caption | Location in Ireland |
| coordinates | |
| blank_name_sec1 | Irish Grid Reference |
| blank_info_sec1 | |
| subdivision_type | Country |
| subdivision_name | Ireland |
| subdivision_type1 | Province |
| subdivision_name1 | Leinster |
| subdivision_type2 | County |
| subdivision_name2 | County Carlow |
| subdivision_type3 | Dáil Éireann |
| subdivision_name3 | Wicklow |
| unit_pref | Metric |
| elevation_m | 120 |
| population_as_of | 2022 |
| population_footnotes | |
| population_total | 1074 |
| :: |
::callout[type=note] the village ::
|settlement_type = Village |name = Rathvilly |native_name = |native_name_lang = ga |image_skyline = Rathvilly,County_Carlow-geograph.ie-_1794584.jpg |image_caption = |pushpin_map = Ireland |pushpin_label_position = right |pushpin_map_caption = Location in Ireland |coordinates = |blank_name_sec1 = Irish Grid Reference |blank_info_sec1 = |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = Ireland |subdivision_type1 = Province |subdivision_name1 = Leinster |subdivision_type2 = County |subdivision_name2 = County Carlow |subdivision_type3 = Dáil Éireann |subdivision_name3 = Wicklow |unit_pref = Metric |elevation_m = 120 |population_as_of = 2022 |population_footnotes = |population_total = 1074 Rathvilly () is a village, civil parish and townland in County Carlow, Ireland. The village is on the River Slaney, near the border with County Wicklow and County Kildare, 11 km from Tullow and 8 km from Baltinglass. It is also on the N81 national secondary route. Rathvilly won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition in 1961, 1963, and 1968.
History
In the centre of the village, there is a statue dedicated to Kevin Barry, an 18-year-old who was executed for his part in the Irish War of Independence on 1 November 1920. Though from Dublin, Barry had family locally and had attended the national school in Rathvilly.
In February 1990, a two-year-old purebred Charolais heifer named 'Dreamer', was found to have survived five months without water whilst trapped between bales of hay in a local farmer's hayshed. It is understood that Dreamer accidentally wandered into the shed unnoticed in September 1989 whilst bales were being stacked and subsequently became trapped. After her discovery, her owner Vincent Balfe noted that under such conditions the heifer should have only survived for two or three weeks, but remarkably, had somehow survived for 24. but it is possible that occasional rain squalls which blew into the shed pooled on portions of the plastic, providing water for her to drink. In the years that followed, Dreamer made appearances at various high-profile events, including the National Ploughing Championships as well as other farm-related events. A commemorative event was held in February 2020 marking 30 years since the cow's discovery.
Places of interest
Rathvilly Moat, a medieval structure, is found one mile off the village on Hacketstown Road. The Lisnavagh Estate lies just outside the village of Rathvilly. One mile northeast of Rathvilly are the remains of Waterstown Monastic Site. Two crosses, one limestone from the medieval period and another worn cross with deep mouldings can be found there. Across the road sits a bullaun well.
Sport
Rathvilly GAA club is the village's Gaelic Athletic Association team. The teams play in green and gold jerseys and have won the Carlow Senior Football Championship 9 times in their history. The club's most recent championship win came in 2021. Rathvilly's Brendan Murphy has represented his country in the annual AFL series on several occasions. In 2015, a Rathvilly team won the Under-16 Carlow A Championship. In 2013, the Rathvilly Junior-A team completed the double, winning both championship and league finals.
Transport
Rathvilly railway station opened on 1 June 1886, closed for passenger traffic on 27 January 1947 and finally closed altogether on 1 April 1959.
References
References
- "Census Interactive Map – Towns: Rathvilly". [[Central Statistics Office (Ireland).
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160419221202/http://tidytowns.ie/u_documents/The_Tidy_Towns_of_Ireland.pdf The Tidy Towns of Ireland "Celebrating 50 years"]
- "Ráth Bhile/Rathvilly".
- (22 April 2018). ""Do not worry... I'll be going to a much better place": Letter by executed Kevin Barry up for auction locally". KCLR 96FM.
- Keegan, Charlie. (2020-02-27). "'DREAMER' THE FAMOUS COW WILL BE FONDLY REMEMBERED AT HOOTENANNY IN RATHVILLY".
- (1990-02-16). "Carlow Cow Comes Back - 1990". RTÉ.
- Pender, Suzanne. (2020-05-08). "SONGWRITER AND POET BRIAN O'ROURKE HAD STRONG CONNECTIONS WITH CO CARLOW".
- Meehan, Cary. (2004). "Sacred Ireland". Gothic Image Publications.
- "Rathvilly station". Railscot - Irish Railways.
- [http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/r/rathvilly/index.shtml Disused stations - Rathvilly ]
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