Rathvilly () is a village, civil parish and townland in County Carlow, Ireland. The village is on the River Slaney, near the border with County Wicklow and County Kildare, from Tullow and from Baltinglass. It is also on the N81 national secondary route. Rathvilly won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition in 1961, 1963, and 1968.
In February 1990, a two-year-old purebred Charolais heifer named 'Dreamer', was found to have survived five months without water whilst trapped between bales of hay in a local farmer's hayshed. It is understood that Dreamer accidentally wandered into the shed unnoticed in September 1989 whilst bales were being stacked and subsequently became trapped. After her discovery, her owner Vincent Balfe noted that under such conditions the heifer should have only survived for two or three weeks, but remarkably, had somehow survived for 24. but it is possible that occasional rain squalls which blew into the shed pooled on portions of the plastic, providing water for her to drink. In the years that followed, Dreamer made appearances at various high-profile events, including the National Ploughing Championships as well as other farm-related events.
Sport
Rathvilly GAA club is the village's Gaelic Athletic Association team. The teams play in green and gold jerseys and have won the Carlow Senior Football Championship 9 times in their history. The club's most recent championship win came in 2021. Rathvilly's Brendan Murphy has represented his country in the annual AFL series on several occasions. In 2015, a Rathvilly team won the Under-16 Carlow A Championship. In 2013, the Rathvilly Junior-A team completed the double, winning both championship and league finals.
Transport
Rathvilly railway station opened on 1 June 1886, closed for passenger traffic on 27 January 1947 and finally closed altogether on 1 April 1959.
See also
- List of towns and villages in Ireland