What is recorded here

Oldleighlin stood as a Leinster bishopric before becoming a Norman borough, marking a rare place where Christian authority and colonial administration collided on the same soil. Vikings plundered the monastery in 916 and burned it again in 1060, yet the site kept reappearing in human affairs because it controlled a narrow stretch of river country. Its later desertion did not erase that function; it only removed the buildings that made the function visible.

A deserted medieval borough c. 3 km W of Leighlinbridge. Site of an early Christian monastery which was plundered by the Vikings in 916 and burned in 1060. It functioned as one of the five bishoprics of Leinster in the early twelfth century. The first Norman bishop was appointed in the early thirteenth century and this probably led to the establishment of the borough. Abandoned gradually during the fourteenth century but reconstituted in 1688. (Bradley 1989, 46-50) Reference: Bradley, J. 1989 Urban archaeological survey - Co. Carlow (limited distribution). Office of Public Works, Dublin. Compiled by: Claire Breen Date of upload: 19 August 2011

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