Leighlinbridge is one of the prettiest villages in County Carlow, straddling the River Barrow where the nine-arched Valerian Bridge has crossed since medieval times. The ruins of Leighlinbridge Castle — Black Castle, the Norman fortress built in 1181 — watch over the water from a grassy bank, and a small Sculpture Garden runs along the opposite shore. The River Barrow itself is navigable and popular with kayakers and anglers.
Two kilometres west, the older settlement of Old Leighlin holds St Laserian's Cathedral — a tiny medieval cathedral on the site of a sixth-century monastery. The village is small — a few pubs, a church, and a handful of houses along the water — but the setting is genuinely lovely, and it makes a pleasant stop on the drive between Dublin and the southeast.