| Clonegal | |
| Settlement Type: | Village |
| Pushpin Map: | Ireland |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Ireland |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Ireland |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Leinster |
| Subdivision Type3: | County |
| Subdivision Name3: | Carlow |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Population As Of: | 2016 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population: | 278 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone1: | WET |
| Utc Offset1: | +0 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | IST (WEST) |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | -1 |
| Coordinates: | 52.6906°N -6.6453°W |
| Elevation M: | 83 |
| Blank Name: | Irish Grid Reference |
Clonegal, officially Clonegall (;),[2] is a village in the southeast of County Carlow, Ireland. It is in a rural setting, close to the border between counties Wexford and Carlow, from Bunclody, County Wexford and from Carlow town. It is just over a mile north of where the River Slaney and the River Derry meet.[3] Clonegal has a much smaller "twin" village across the River Derry in County Wexford, Watch House Village.
The village is served by a primary school, and is the centre of an agricultural hinterland.[3]
Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes ringfort, bullaun stone and holy well sites in the surrounding townlands of Clonegall, Abbeydown and Huntington.[4]
Huntington Castle, also known as Clonegal Castle, is a 17th-century tower house close to the village centre.[5] Built by Laurence Esmonde, 1st Baron Esmonde on the site of an earlier (possibly 15th century) structure,[6] [7] Huntington Castle was further extended in the 18th and 19th centuries.[5]
Clonegal's Church of Ireland church, St Fiaac's, was built on the site of a much earlier church and ecclesiastical enclosure.[8] [3] The nearby rectory, now a private house, was the residence of the local yeomanry commander during the 1798 Rebellion, and several United Irishmen prisoners were reputedly hanged in a neighbouring yard at what is now known locally as the "Hanging Arch".[3]
The local Roman Catholic church, St Brigid's, was built .[9]
There were once eleven malt houses in and around the village, along with a wool and corn store, a police station and other shops.[3]
Kildavin/Clonegal GAA club was formed in 1914.[10]
Clonegal won the "tidiest village" category in the 2014 and 2015 National Tidy Towns competitions.[11] [12]
According to the 2006 Census, Clonegal had a population of approximately 280, an increase of 20% since the 2002 Census.[3] As of 2016, the population was 278.[1]