, also called Black Castle, was one of Ireland’s earliest Norman castles. A 50 ft tall broken castle tower and bawn wall are all that can be seen today. Below the castle lies the ruin of the first Carmelite priory in Ireland which was built by the Norman, Carew in 1270. At the northern entrance to the village is a sculpture by Michael Warren, depicting the thrones of the ancient seat of the Kings of South Leinster at Dinn Righ. The Kings of Leinster lived near the village.
Leighlinbridge meteorite
On the night of 28 November 1999, a brilliant exploding fireball was observed over Carlow town, which lasted for several seconds before fading and was accompanied by a loud detonation. An elderly lady in Leighlinbridge recovered a fusion crusted individual meteoritic rock on 12 December 1999, and later two more specimens were found. It is now officially called the "Leighlinbridge" by the International Meteorite Nomenclature Committee. The meteorites, totalling 271.4 grams in weight, were at the time the first recovered in Ireland since 1865 and are the first fallen rocks found anywhere in Ireland or Britain since 1991. The previous find in Ireland was the Dundrum meteorite which was found near Dundrum, County Tipperary.
Sports
Gaelic games
In Leighlinbridge there are three GAA clubs, Naomh Bríd, Leighlinbridge and Micheal Davitts. Naomh Bríd are a hurling club who compete in both the Carlow Senior Hurling Championship and the Carlow Intermediate Hurling Championship and all underage hurling competitions. Leighlinbridge are a football club who compete in the Carlow Intermediate Football Championship. Micheal Davitts are a football club who compete at underage level in Carlow. Players from neighbouring villages Old Leighlin and Ballinabranna combine with Leighlinbridge to play for Micheal Davits.
Soccer
Vale Wanderers is the local soccer club in Leighlinbridge. They are represented at both underage and senior levels.
Education
The localprimary school is Leighlinbridge N.S. The most recent report by Department of Education inspectors noted the "welcoming, supportive and inclusive school atmosphere", and the "high quality teaching, as well as the openness and reflectivity that exists amongst the teaching staff".
