County Laois

County Laois
Contae Laoise

map
Basic data
Country:	Ireland
Administrative headquarters:	Port Laoise
Province:	Leinster
Irish name:	Laois
Surface:	1719 km²
Residents:	84,732 (2016)
License Plate:	LS

Laois ([ l̪ˠiːʃ ], such as timothy pronounced Irish : Laois ) is a county ( county ) in the Republic of Ireland .

geography

In the east of Laois lies the lowlands of the (river) Barrow , in the northwest lie the Slieve Bloom Mountains with the 527 meter high Arderin (together with County Offaly ) as the highest point in the county. Around sixty percent of the area is pasture land, the rest is divided into arable land and raised bogs.

history

The area belonged to the Kingdom of Leinster in the Middle Ages . In 1171 the area was conquered by the Anglo- Normans and fell to England in 1460. In 1556 the county was formed under the name Queen's County and the country was settled with English settlers. After Irish independence in 1922, it was renamed Laois. In English it was often written as Leix afterwards . However, this notation can no longer be found today.

economy

Agriculture consists of sheep, pig and poultry farming. There is also the wood and food industry.

politics

The distribution of seats in the county council after the local elections on May 23, 2014:

Political party	Seats
Fianna Fáil	7th
Fine Gael	6th
Sinn Féin	2
Labor Party	1
Non-party	3

Laois forms a constituency that sends three MPs to the Irish Parliament ; in the last election in 2016, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin each received one seat.

Cities

• Port Laoise
• Portarlington
• Mountmellick
• Abbeyleix
• Mountrath
• Stradbally
• Rathdowney
• Durrow
• Ballylynan
• Emo

Attractions

• Rock of Dunamase
• Coolhanaghar Church
• Emo Court, neoclassical mansion from the early 19th century
• Timahoe , round tower
• Stone chest from Manger
• Monamanry stone chest

Web links

Commons : County Laois  - Album containing pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website (English)
• Tourism in Laois (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Name changes after 1922 in the section "Republic of Ireland" . Retrieved February 14, 2018.

Coordinates: 52 ° 59 ′  N , 7 ° 21 ′  W