- Possession of Dunamase Rock shuttled back and forth with the ebb and flow of war and counter-war; from Anglo-Norman to mere Irish it sped thence to Parliamentarian, to the Catholic Confederates and finally to the Cromwellians who destroyed it in 1650. – Bryan MacMahon 1909-1998), Here’s Ireland (1971).
- “Oh, the hills of sweet Laois, / Where the heart finds its peace, / And the river flows gentle and free.” — John Keegan.
- “Oh, the hills of sweet Laois, / Where the heart finds its peace, / And the river flows gentle and free.” — John Keegan.
- “Lovely Laois, I’ll come back to you some day.” — Joseph Kavanagh (musician and songwriter).
- “In Laois, the beauty doesn’t shout, it waits. It waits in the shadows of the Rock of Dunamase..” — Social media.
- “The Quiet County That Keeps Surprising You.” — Tourism slogan 1974.
- “First to be colonised, first to fly free.” — Laura Murphy, Portlaoise-based poet.
- “The only county that doesn’t touch another county that touches the sea / Land locked in Laois they’d laugh / There’s so much they don’t see.” — Laura Murphy
- “First shot of the rising in 1916 / The mental and prison standing on the hill.” — Laura Murphy “In Laois I Fly Free”.
- This is an area which-the Slieve Bloom mountains on the OffalyLaois border apart-lacks a mountain range of consequence: it compensates with drumlins, erratic but gently rounded eskers, lakes galore as befits a natural basin, rivers that fill and drain these lakes, and rich pasturage where Hereford cattle, ‘beef to the heels’, gaze benevolently at the wayfarer. Its most notable topographical feature is the river Shannon meandering indolently southwards amid its low-lying callows. – Bryan MacMahon 1909-1998), Here’s Ireland (1971).
- “And the Piper is playing, / While the children are dancing, / In the shade of the old hawthorn tree.” — John Keegan (from Caoch the Piper), reflecting rural life in Shanahoe.
- “I was born in the middle of a war / But in the quiet of a garden,” — Cecil Day-Lewis (born in Ballintubbert).
- “The bog is a memory, a story told in turf, / A deep, dark secret of the land.” — Arthur Broomfield.
- “In the Midlands—Laois, Offaly, Westmeath—they’re all lumped together, and they hate it. Travel there, and they’ll spend an hour telling you their county’s different, while you’re just trying to find the pub.” – Niall Tóibín (1929-2019).
- “County Laois: so landlocked even the rain has nowhere to go but stay.” — Social media.
- “In Laois, the Slieve Bloom Mountains aren’t tall – they’re just stubborn enough to rise above the plains.” — Social media.
Famous quotes from Ireland’s counties
Antrim – Armagh – Carlow – Cavan – Clare – Cork – Derry – Donegal – Down – Dublin – Fermanagh – Galway – Kerry – Kildare – Kilkenny – Laois – Leitrim – Limerick – Longford – Louth – Mayo – Meath – Monaghan – Offaly – Roscommon – Sligo – Tipperary – Tyrone – Waterford – Westmeath – Wexford – Wicklow
Musicians
Antrim – Armagh – Carlow – Cavan – Clare – Cork – Derry – Donegal – Down – Dublin – Fermanagh – Galway – Kerry – Kildare – Kilkenny – Laois – Leitrim – Limerick – Longford – Louth – Mayo – Meath – Monaghan – Offaly – Roscommon – Sligo – Tipperary – Tyrone – Waterford – Westmeath – Wexford – Wicklow
Novelists
Antrim – Armagh – Carlow – Cavan – Clare – Cork – Derry – Donegal – Down – Dublin – Fermanagh – Galway – Kerry – Kildare – Kilkenny – Laois – Leitrim – Limerick – Longford – Louth – Mayo – Meath – Monaghan – Offaly – Roscommon – Sligo – Tipperary – Tyrone – Waterford – Westmeath – Wexford – Wicklow
Poets
Antrim – Armagh – Carlow – Cavan – Clare – Cork – Derry – Donegal – Down – Dublin – Fermanagh – Galway – Kerry – Kildare – Kilkenny – Laois – Leitrim – Limerick – Longford – Louth – Mayo – Meath – Monaghan – Offaly – Roscommon – Sligo – Tipperary – Tyrone – Waterford – Westmeath – Wexford – Wicklow
Writers
Antrim – Armagh – Carlow – Cavan – Clare – Cork – Derry – Donegal – Down – Dublin – Fermanagh – Galway – Kerry – Kildare – Kilkenny – Laois – Leitrim – Limerick – Longford – Louth – Mayo – Meath – Monaghan – Offaly – Roscommon – Sligo – Tipperary – Tyrone – Waterford – Westmeath – Wexford – Wicklow
County Laois:
Ireland’s county Laois offers a serene blend of historic sites and natural landscapes, with the Rock of Dunamase providing panoramic views from its ancient castle ruins. Emo Court’s elegant Georgian mansion and gardens offer a peaceful retreat, while the Slieve Bloom Mountains provide hiking trails through rolling hills. Laois is Ireland’s ninth smallest county by size (1,719 square km) and tenth smallest by population (91,877). Population peaked at 153,930 in 1841 and reached its lowest point, 44,595 in 1966. In terms of hospitality, Laois is Ireland’s 27th most visited tourist county with around 52,000 international visitors per year.
Introduction – Adventure – Anthem – Archaeology – Attractions – Awards – Birdwatching – Camping – Castles – Churches – Contact list – Cycling – Dining – Equestrian – Festivals – Fishing – Folklore – Gardens – Golf – Graveyards – Happening – Haunted – Highest – Hiking – History – Holy Wells – Hotels – Hotels top 8 – Hunting & shooting – Instagrammable – Itineraries – Largest town – Luxury – MICE – Movies – Music – Name – New – Novelists – Off the beaten track – Poets – Pubs – Quotes – Random Facts – Restaurant Awards – Sacred Places – Saints – Songs – Spas – Sports – Sunsets – Sustainable – Things to do – Towns – Video – Villages – Walking – Wanderlist – Weddings – Wild swimming – Writers – 1837 – 1846 – 1852 – 1909 – 1955 – 1980 –
