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Carlow: My hometown’s sister city in Ireland

Graiguecullen Bridge
Carlow, Ireland
Carlow, Ireland

I was recently reminded that Carlow is the sister city of Davenport, Iowa. It is located in Southeast Ireland about 45 minutes from Dublin. I did some reading to learn more about it. This is what I learned.

Carlow has a population of 23,000. So it is smaller than Davenport but there are still several similarities. It has been known as an agricultural stronghold of Ireland. The city landscape has a urban/rural mixture. Carlow also has a notable river and bridge. The River Barrow runs through it and the Graiguecullen Bridge crosses the river right near the center of town. This bridge dates back to 1569! According to Wikipedia, Carlow was one of the first places in Ireland to be served by train. Davenport also has early train history and was the site of the first train bridge across the Mississippi River. Finally, it also has two universities: Carlow College and the Institute of Technology. St. Ambrose University has a partnership with both of them.

Graiguecullen Bridge
Graiguecullen Bridge – Photo from Debra Moraes on Flickr

Obviously, Carlow is much older than Davenport. It has history that goes back thousands of years and many notable historic landmarks. The Brownshill Dolmen is an ancient burial site just outside Carlow. The Old Leighlin Cathedral is also nearby. It dates back to AD 630. This cathedral is where the Catholic Church decided which date Easter would fall on for the entire Christian world. Located right near the Graiguecullen Bridge is Carlow Castle.

People from both Davenport and Carlow have each visited their sister city. Davenport mayor Ed Winborn visited Carlow in 2006 when the sister city agreement was announced. In 2007 a group of delegates from Carlow visited Davenport. According to the Quad City Times article about their visit, they got some pointers on dealing with flooding. They wanted to learn from the experts, I guess!

Davenport and Emmetsburg are the only cities in Iowa that have a sister city in Ireland. In Illinois, Chicago, Peoria, Niles, Tinley Park, and Springfield each have a sister city. This site shows a map of many sister cities of Ireland around the USA.

Additional reading:

Carlow, Ireland Wikipedia Page.

Davenport, Iowa Sister Cities.

Wikipedia – List of Sister Cities in Ireland.