County Laois

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
County Laois
Contae Laoise
Coat of arms of County Laois
Motto: I bpáirt leis an bpobal  (Irish)
"In partnership with the community"
Location
centerMap highlighting County Laois
Statistics
Province: Leinster
County seat: Portlaoise
Code: LS
Area: 1,719 km2 (664 sq mi)

Population (2006)

 69,012
Website: www.laois.ie

County Laois (pronounced /ˈliːʃ/ "leash" – Irish: Contae Laoise) is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Leinster. Its name was formerly spelt as Laoighis and Leix.

Laois is the 24th largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and 24th largest in terms of population[1]. It is the seventh largest of Leinster’s 12 counties in size and tenth largest in terms of population.

Contents

[edit] History

Shired in 1556 by Queen Mary as Queen's County, Laois received its present Irish language name following the Irish War of Independence. Laois was also sometimes spelt "Leix". Portlaoise (previously Maryborough) is the county town. Laois was the subject of two Plantations or colonisations by English settlers. The first occurred in 1556, when the Earl of Sussex dispossessed the O'Moore clan and attempted to replace them with English settlers. However, this only led to a long drawn out guerilla war in the county and left a small English community clustered around garrisons. There was a more successful plantation in the county in the 17th century, which expanded the existing English settlement with more landowners and tenants from England. Neither plantation was fully successful due to a lack of tenants and because of continuous raids and attacks by the O' Moores.

Later, the county became home to a community of French Huguenots in the 1690s, who were settled in Ireland after their service to William of Orange in the Williamite war in Ireland. In addition to this, large numbers of Quakers settled in Mountmellick and developed the area.

Despite the change of the county's name in 1922, when land is sold in the county the relevant title deeds are still updated as being in Queen's County.

[edit] Geography

The county is landlocked and, uniquely amongst Irish counties it does not border any other counties with a sea coast. It is therefore considered to be "the most landlocked county in Ireland[2]"

[edit] Towns and villages

Countryside south of Portlaoise

[edit] Climate

A new weather station broadcasts from Durrow providing real time data. Click Here for Current Data The station was set up in May 2008. It is a Davis ProVantage 2 station and monitors temperature, rain, wind, wind direction, humidity and atmospheric pressure.

[edit] Demographics

The population of County Laois is expanding rapidly, given its easy commute to the employment centres of Kildare and Dublin, and affordable housing in pleasant surroundings. Laois’s population growth during the period 2002-2006 (14%) has been stronger than the National average (8.2%), [9] as follows[10]:

  • 2002 ... 58,774
  • 2006 ... 67,012 ... +14.01%

[edit] Economy

Agricultural activities occupy approximately 70 % of the land area of the county (1,200 km2/460 sq mi). However agriculture's share of income in the BMW region of which Laois is a part has declined sharply in the past decade, and represented only approximately 3.9% of annual income (GVA) in 2005 Central Statistics Office. The county is home to over 230,000 cattle, four cows for every person. The remaining area includes considerable stretches of raised bog, and the Slieve Bloom mountains, which are partially covered by coniferous forest.

The county has a small industrial base, with industrial parks at Portlaoise, Portarlington and Mountmellick. Over 1500 people work in the industrial sector in County Laois.

However, unemployment is higher than other Irish counties, and annual income is lower at about 88% of the average. Average incomes in Laois are also well below the national average. The county makes up part of the Border Midlands and West region (BMW) for the purposes of EU funding.

Many people in Laois commute to nearby County Kildare, and further afield to County Dublin, where wages are on average higher.

[edit] Transport

The M7 road road runs through County Laois. This is one of the busiest roadways in Ireland connecting Dublin and Limerick and acts as a trunk route for the N8 road which connects Cork to Dublin. The N8 joins the M7 just south of Portlaoise. The motorway has reduced congestion on county towns however in towns such as Mountrath and Abbeyleix traffic congestion remains. These towns will be bypassed also as part of the M7/M8 motorway project which is currently under construction and is due open in late 2010.

Laois is also well served by rail travel. Iarnrod Eireann train services between Heuston station Dublin and Cork/Limerick travel through the county with railway stations at Portlaoise and Portarlington.

[edit] Politics

Laois tends to strongly support the Fianna Fáil party in Irish elections. In the last local elections, however, there was a sharp swing to the opposition Fine Gael party. The historically important Irish figures Kevin O'Higgins and Oliver Flanagan were born in County Laois. Laois is in the Laois–Offaly constituency for elections to Dáil Éireann.

[edit] Places of interest

The Rock of Dunamase

[edit] List of notable Laois people

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Corry, Eoghan (2005). The GAA Book of Lists. Hodder Headline Ireland. pp. 186–191. 
  2. ^ About : Laois Surf Club
  3. ^ For 1653 and 1659 figures from Civil Survey Census of those years, Paper of Mr Hardinge to Royal Irish Academy March 14 1865.
  4. ^ Census for post 1821 figures.
  5. ^ http://www.histpop.org
  6. ^ http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census
  7. ^ Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". in Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A.. Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press. 
  8. ^ Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November), "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850", The Economic History Review Volume 37 (Issue 4): 473–488, doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x, http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract 
  9. ^ "Demographic context". Offaly County Council Development Plan 2009 - 2015. http://www.offaly.ie/NR/rdonlyres/A4AD027E-87E4-4353-917B-47C75D92768F/1095/Chapter2ContextandChallenges_FEB08.pdf. Retrieved 2008-06-28. 
  10. ^ "Draft Stradbally Town Plan". Laois County Council. http://www.laois.ie/media/Media,4872,en.pdf. Retrieved 2008-06-29. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Counties of Ireland
Connacht
IrelandNumbered.png
Munster
Leinster
Ulster

Cavan · Donegal · Monaghan · Antrim · Armagh · Down · Fermanagh · Derry · Tyrone
Italics denote non-administrative counties. Parentheses () denote eponymous cities or non-traditional counties.

Coordinates: 53°00′N 7°24′W / 53°N 7.4°W / 53; -7.4

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Laois"