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Concept
Portlaoise
Summary
Portlaoise (pɔrtˈliːʃ
), or Port Laoise (ˌpɣɔɾɣt̪ɣˈl̪ɣiːʃə), is the county town of County Laois, Ireland. It is located in the South Midlands in the province of Leinster.
The 2016 census shows that the town's population increased by 9.5% to 22,050, which was well above the national average of 3.8%. It is the most populous and also the most densely populated town in the Midland Region, which has a total population of 292,301 at the 2016 census. This also makes it the fastest growing of the top 20 largest towns and cities in Ireland.
It was an important town in the medieval period, as the site of the Fort of Maryborough, a fort built by English settlers in the 16th century during the Plantation of Queen's County.
Portlaoise is fringed by the Slieve Bloom mountains to the west and north-west and the Great Heath of Maryborough to the east. It is notable for its architecture, engineering and transport connections.
On the national road network, Portlaoise is located west-southwest from Dublin on the M7, north-east from Cork on the M8/M7 and east-northeast from Limerick on the M7.
It was once known for the manufacture of iron and steel buildings, tennis balls, rubber seals, tyres, electrical cabling, and Ireland's first aircraft. Today, Portlaoise is a commercial centre with the economy dominated by the service sector, and a hub of shopping, transport, and events for the surrounding catchment.
The site of the present town is referred to in the Annals of the Four Masters, written in the 1630s, as Port Laoighisi. The present town originated as a settlement around the old fort, "Fort of Leix" or "Fort Protector", the remains of which can still be seen in the town centre. Its construction began in 1548 under the supervision of the then Lord Deputy Sir Edward Bellingham, in an attempt to secure English control of the county following the exile of Celtic chieftains the previous year. The fort's location on rising ground, surrounded to the south and east by the natural defensive barricades of the River Triogue and an esker known locally as 'the Ridge', greatly added to its strategic importance.
Official source
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