Killeshin

Killeshin
—  Town  —
Killeshin Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 52°51′03″N 6°59′52″W
Country	Ireland
Province	Leinster
County	County Laois
Population (est.)
• Urban	1,300
Time zone	WET (UTC+0)
• Summer (DST)	IST (WEST) (UTC-1)
Irish Grid Reference

Killeshin is a village in County Laois, Ireland on the R430 regional road. It is a small rural community of approximately 1300 people. It is situated 5 km west of Carlow town and overlooks the picturesque Barrow Valley. The church at the foot of the Killeshin hills is the site of an early Christian monastery.

Name

Killeshin derives its name from one of the abbots of its famous monastery - Uisin, Gleann Uisin meaning the Glen of Uisin.

Places of interest

The Romanesque doorway of Killishen church

Killeshin church is located off the main Carlow-Castlecomer road, adjacent to Killeshin village itself. The church at Killeshin is largely twelfth century in date, although some parts show evidence of later rebuilding, including a late Gothic east window.

Killeshin was an important centre for learning and culture as early as the 6th century when Saint Comghan founded a monastery here. Destroyed in the 11th century all that remains is a beautifully carved 12th century Hiberno-Romanesque doorway on the church is one of the finest in the country. No trace remains of the 105 ft round tower believed to have once been the tallest in Ireland which stood next to the monastery, it was demolished by an 18th century landowner who was afraid that the tower could collapse and injure his cattle. It is said that ten counties can be seen from the hill above Killeshin.

Killeshin has good fishing spots, in Ballyhide the River Barrow is nearby.

Sport

• Killeshin GAA is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club.
• A horse named after the village competed in the Grand National steeplechase twice in the 1990s, finishing a remounted sixth in 1998

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland