In Irish, Ath na nUrlaidhe, “the ford of the sledgings” according to O’ Curry, where by tradition a battle was fought in the 10th century in which “the Irish and the Danes did sledge each other’s heads”. The ford from which the name of the pretty town is taken is marked by the bridge which crosses the River Gowl between the old parish church and the Butler Castle of Urlingford. The pre-formation church, though in a ruined condition, has substantially perfect walls. A large church stood here long before the 12th century; it fell into ruins but was restored in the 13th century. The town is one of the newest in Ireland dating only from 1755, the site being partly a cut-away bog. In 1801 an assessment of progress recorded that the town contained 176 houses of which 4 were uninhabited and 5 unfinished, a distillery and a malt house.
