County Laois is located in the centre south of Ireland. The county is landlocked and, unique amongst the Irish counties in that it does not border any other counties with a sea coast. It is therefore considered to be the most landlocked county in Ireland. It is surrounded by the counties of Tipperary, Killkenny, Offaly, Kildare and Carlow which bestow upon and amalgamate their own beauty with the county.
Laois is a very under-rated county for the scenery it possesses; some of the many highlights it has are the rivers Nore and Barrow along with the Castlecomer Plateau and the Slieve Bloom Way and Forest Park, which is one of Ireland’s most famous walk ways.
Portlaoise is the capital town of the county. The town has long been a major commercial, retail, and arts centre for the Midlands. It is also a strategically located town as it is a junction point of many of the major Irish roads. Until the early twentieth century, the main industries of the town were flour milling and the manufacture of worsted fabric. Since their respective declines, the government has been one of the major employers in the town: the maximum-security Portlaoise Prison and the Department of Agriculture are all large-scale employers in the town. It is a pleasant, modern town, now bereft of the awful traffic problems of the past by being by-passed. Significant nearby local tourist sites include the ruins of an eight hundred year old hill-top castle at Dunamase; a large Georgian estate home designed by James Gandon and surrounding gardens at Emo; the town of Mountmellick and the site of a notable Georgian square. The town has long been a major commercial, retail, and arts centre for the Midlands.
Laois was known as the Queens County as it was created and given shire or, county, status during the reign of Queen Mary. It was officially given the name Laois following the Irish War of Independence. Laois is a very beautiful county and has the rivers Nore and Barrow along with the Castlecomer Plateau.
Other main towns in Laois include, Portarlinton, Rathdowney and Ballybrittas. There are good, if not plentiful, hotel facilities in the county: the outstanding one being the 5-star Heritage Golf and Country Club at Killenard. Laois offers wonderful hiking, walking and cycling activities and is a very convenient base to stay and from which to explore surrounding counties.
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