Carlow College is situated in its own grounds on an eighteenth-century parkland and is known locally as St. Patrick’s College. As such, Carlow College is ideally located in the heart of Carlow town. With Tullow Street only one hundred meters away our students have access to banks, shops, food outlets and a wide variety of social venues on the doorstep. Pedestrian access from the town centre is on College Street and is flanked by the Cathedral to the South and by the magnificent VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art to the North.
Although building began in 1782, for legal reasons, Carlow College did not open its doors to students until 1793; five years before the insurrection of 1798. From the beginning the College was both a lay college and a seminary for the education of clergy. The Humanities were at the core of the academic curriculum. In 1841, Carlow College was accredited by the University of London and over the next three decades students of the College sat examinations for primary degrees in Arts and Law from the London body. In 1892 the College exclusively became a seminary. One hundred years later, in 1990, it reclaimed its original role and once again welcomed lay students from all over the country.
