[7] After the arrival of the Anglo-Normans, their leader Theobald Walter, ancestor of the Earls of Ormonde, was granted the town and castle of Arklow by Henry II of England.

In 1264 the Dominican Order was granted a large tract of land, now known as Abbeylands, where they built Holy Cross Abbey.

Some time after 1416, the Manor of Arklow came into the control of the MacMurrough Kings of Leinster, possibly after the death of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond in 1452.

In 1525, Muiris Kavanagh, King of Leinster from 1522 to 1531, returned Arklow and its lands to his nephew Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond.

During the Irish Confederate Wars in November 1649, a skirmish took place outside Arklow when Royalist soldiers under Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin, ambushed English Commonwealth troops marching to reinforce Wexford.

The attack was beaten off and an English garrison was installed in Arklow, while an attempt to retake the town by Irish Confederates in January 1650 failed.

In 1714, John Allen of Stillorgan, County Dublin, purchased the Manor of Arklow from James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, shortly before the latter went into exile as a Jacobite.

In 1750, Allen's eldest granddaughter Elizabeth, married John Proby, 1st Baron Carysfort, who came into possession of the Arklow Estate as a result.

This project also included the construction of a service area on the M11 Northbound, just north of Gorey, with direct access from the M11 Southbound via an overpass.

Rail connections are provided by Iarnród Éireann along the Dublin-Rosslare railway line, including commuter and intercity services in and out of the capital.

[18] In addition, Wexford Bus operates several services linking Arklow with Dublin Airport.

[21] In 1884, Charles Stewart Parnell rented Big Rock townland from his cousin William Proby, Earl of Carysfort, and commenced quarrying.

In the early part of the 20th century, a large munitions factory, Kynoch, was established on the north side of the town.

This factory employed several thousand workers during the First World War but closed shortly after it, all production being moved to South Africa.

This factory complex comprised a number of chemical plants and manufactured a range of fertilisers from basic raw materials.

[26][needs update] The former national sail training vessel Asgard II was built by John Tyrrell & Son Ltd in Arklow.

Another John Tyrrell & Son boat, Gipsy Moth III, was sailed to victory by Francis Chichester in the 1st Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race in 1960.

[29] Arklow services a large catchment area (including a number of surrounding towns and villages) and has approximately 32,000m2 of retail space.

[44] The local Gaelic football club, Arklow Geraldines Ballymoney GAA, was founded in 1999 and is based at Pearse Park.

[49] The festival includes a number of live shows and events at various venues throughout the town, ending in a fireworks display.

One such work, The Netter, Arklow depicts a scene of a man repairing a net by the harbourside with the harbour in the background; on the reverse-side of the painting is a sketch of children playing on the south beach.

The Arklow Silver Band were featured on the track Red Hill Mining Town by U2, on their 1987 album The Joshua Tree.