Carlow County Ireland
Carlow County Ireland Tartan Collection
Celebrate County Carlow with an Irish district tartan — a small county of great fertility, where the Barrow runs south under Mount Leinster and a dolmen has stood for five thousand years.
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About the County Carlow Tartan
The Carlow tartan is one of the thirty-two Irish county setts designed by Polly Wittering for the House of Edgar in the 1990s. It is a district tartan — it belongs to the county and not to any family, so anyone with a Carlow connection may wear it.
These county tartans are modern designs rather than ancient patterns, and are not formally sanctioned by the counties; their strength lies in how warmly they have been taken up by Irish families, especially those abroad who want to name the precise place their people came from.
Carlow Tartan Pattern and Colours
The sett draws on warm golds and greens with darker lines — the colours of ripe barley and beet in the Barrow valley, some of the best tillage land in Ireland, set against the green slopes of the Blackstairs.
County Carlow Heritage
Carlow is among the smallest of the Irish counties, but few are richer in good ground: the wide valley of the River Barrow, the tillage fields that made it the centre of the Irish sugar-beet industry, and the granite mass of Mount Leinster and the Blackstairs rising along its eastern edge.
Its history reaches far back: at Brownshill stands a portal dolmen whose capstone, reckoned among the heaviest in Europe, was raised some five thousand years ago. In the Norman age Carlow Castle guarded the Barrow crossing, and the county town grew as a river port on the great inland waterway that carried Irish grain to the sea.
Who Is This Collection For?
This collection is made for those born or descended in County Carlow, Barrow valley and Blackstairs families, Leinster heritage lovers and anyone who wants an Irish tartan that names their own county.
- ✓ County Carlow families
- ✓ Barrow valley and Blackstairs roots
- ✓ Leinster heritage
- ✓ Family gatherings and reunions
- ✓ Irish ancestry gifts
- ✓ Warm gold and green style
How to Wear Carlow Tartan
Carlow tartan works well across caps, shirts, hoodies, scarves, ties, jackets, blankets and keepsake gifts. Its warm, earthy palette is easy to pair for everyday wear, family gatherings and county occasions.
County Carlow Tartan FAQ
Quick answers about the Carlow county tartan, who may wear it and where it comes from.
Is the Carlow tartan a clan tartan?
No — it is a district tartan for the county, open to anyone with a Carlow connection.
Who designed it?
Polly Wittering, for the House of Edgar of Perth, as one of a set of thirty-two Irish county tartans in the 1990s.
What are the colours based on?
The golds and greens of the Barrow valley's tillage country and the slopes of the Blackstairs.
What is the Brownshill Dolmen?
A portal tomb near Carlow town whose capstone is reckoned among the heaviest in Europe, raised some five thousand years ago.
What is Carlow known for?
Rich tillage land in the Barrow valley, long the centre of the Irish sugar-beet industry, and Mount Leinster on its eastern border.
Who can wear the Carlow tartan?
Anyone with roots in or affection for County Carlow — it belongs to the place, not to a family.
Wear the County Carlow Tartan
Discover Carlow county tartan clothing, accessories and gifts — the gold of the tillage fields and the green of the Barrow valley.
View Carlow Tartan Clothing