Portlaoise
Portlaoise, known until 1929 as Maryborough, is the county town of County Laois, Ireland.
It is in the South Midlands in the province of Leinster.
Portlaoise was the fastest growing of the top 20 largest towns and cities in Ireland from 2011 to 2016. However, the 2022 census shows that the town's population increased by 6.6% to 23,494, which was below the national average of 8%. It is the most populous and also the most densely populated town in the Midland Region, which has a total population of 317,999 at the 2022 census.
It was an important town in the sixteenth century, as the site of the Fort of Maryborough, a fort built by English settlers 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 motorway, north-east from Cork on the M8 and 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.
History
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 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.The town proper was established by an Act of Parliament during the reign of Mary I in 1557. Though the early fort and its surrounding settlement had been known by a number of names, such as Governor, Port Laois, Campa and Fort Protector, the new town was named Maryborough and the county was named Queen's County in Mary's honour. In about 1556, Portlaoise acquired its first parish church—Old St Peter's—situated to the west of Fort Protector. Although first built as a Catholic church, due to Mary's re-establishment of Catholicism, the church was used for Protestant services after the accession to the English throne of Mary's half-sister, Elizabeth.
The area had been a focus of the rebellion of Ruairí Óg Ó Mórdha, a local chieftain who had rebelled and had lost his lands, which the Crown wanted to be settled by reliable landowners. For the next fifty or so years, the new English settlers in Maryborough fought a continual, low-scale war with the Gaelic chieftains who fought against the new settlement. The town had been burnt several times by the end of the 16th century.
Maryborough was granted a market in 1567, and then in 1570, a charter of Queen Elizabeth I raised the town to the rank of borough. This allowed the establishment of a Corporation of the Borough, a body which consisted of a burgomaster, two bailiffs, a town clerk, and a sergeant at arms, as well as various other officers, burgesses and freemen. The Maryborough Division was represented by two members in the Irish Parliament until 1800. The Act of Union ended this franchise, and it became part of the electorate of Queen's County until 1922. The town's Corporation itself existed until 1830.
In 1803–04, a new Church of Ireland church was built to replace the Old St Peter's; it was the first building to be erected on the new Market Square. The building is attributed to architect James Gandon. Other notable buildings constructed in Maryborough in the 19th century included the Court House on Main Street, built in 1805; the County Gaol built in 1830 to a design by William Deane Butler; and the neo-classical St. Fintan's Hospital, built in 1833 on the Dublin Road.
In 1929, a few years after the foundation of the Irish Free State, the town was renamed Portlaoighise, and the county was renamed County Laois.
Local government
The town forms part of the Portlaoise local electoral area and municipal district for elections to Laois County Council. This includes the urban Portlaoise area, Abbeyleix and Ballinakill and surrounding rural areas. As of 2020, the total population of the Portlaoise local electoral area is 31,794 people. Portlaoise Town Council was abolished in 2014 in accordance with the Local Government Reform Act 2014. Portlaoise Town Hall on Market Square, which was designed in the French Renaissance-style, was badly damaged in a fire in March 1945 and subsequently demolished.Portlaoise is twinned with Coulounieix-Chamiers, Dordogne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France.
Demography
Portlaoise was among Ireland's fastest growing towns from 2006 to 2011, with a 37.9% increase in population. In the 2016 census it was again in the top 10 fastest growing regions, with the population of the town and its suburbs exceeding 22,000. By the 2022 census, population reached 23,494.In 2022, non-Irish nationals accounted for 28.47% of the population, compared with a national average figure of 20%. Polish were the largest single group, with the largest categories being Other European Union and Rest of the World. The former Mayor, Rotimi Adebari, was the first person of African descent to become a mayor in Ireland.
Due to rapid population growth and its location in the commuter belt, Portlaoise has seen the development of additional services, including a new fire station and a large swimming leisure complex. Portlaoise has a high percentage of people under the age of 15, reflected in the recent construction of new secondary and primary schools.
Climate
Portlaoise has an oceanic climate.Economy
Portlaoise has long been a major commercial and retail hub for the Midlands. Until the mid 20th century, the main industries of the town were flour milling and the manufacture of worsted fabric. Since their respective declines, among the largest employers are state-owned bodies such as the maximum-security Portlaoise Prison, which houses the majority of the Irish Republican prisoners sentenced in the Republic, the Midlands Prison, the Department of Agriculture and the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise. State-owned companies Córas Iompair Éireann, the ESB and also An Post are all major employers. In 2013 MyPay, a new central payroll system for 55,000 local authority employees across Ireland, was set up in Portlaoise.Due to its location and transport connections, the National Spatial Strategy chose Portlaoise as the location for Ireland's first "Inland Port". This designation encourages the town to focus on the growth of distribution, logistics and warehouse uses. An Post operates the second largest mail centre in Ireland at their depot in Portlaoise.
Retail
Retail spaces include Laois Shopping Centre which is anchored by Tesco, The Kyle Centre which is anchored by Dunnes Stores, Parkside Shopping Centre which is anchored by Super Valu, the Kylekiproe road retail area which houses Aldi, Lidl and Shaws Department Stores as well as retail parks in Kea Lew and on the South Circular Road.Tourism
Tourist sites near the area include the Rock of Dunamase, a hill-top castle which dates from the 12th century. There is also a 12th-century round tower 12 km away in Timahoe.Also close by is Fort Protector, a 16th-century fort built to protect British colonists from Irish natives.
Emo Court is a large Georgian estate designed by James Gandon at nearby Emo.
Transport
Portlaoise stands at a major crossroads in the Irish roads network although construction in the 1990s of the M7 motorway, which bypasses the town, has reduced traffic congestion in the town centre.Portlaoise railway station is one of the busiest railway stations outside of Dublin, and is served by intercity trains between Dublin and Cork and by Dublin commuter services. Maryborough railway station opened on 26 June 1847. It is the terminus of the Portlaoise Commuter Service, which stops at all stations to Heuston and runs hourly off peak and every 20/30 minutes during peak times. It is the busiest county town railway station in the Midland Region, with up to 32 trains to Dublin and 30 trains from Dublin per day. Córas Iompair Éireann opened a rail depot south-west of Portlaoise town centre in March 2008, with a maintenance and servicing facility for the 183 new intercity railcars and some facilities for outer suburban railcars serving the Kildare route.
Bus Éireann previously operated an intercity service between Dublin and Cork/Limerick which called at Portlaoise, though this was suspended indefinitely in 2020. Portlaoise also has a town bus service operated by City Direct that goes every half hour, consisting of two routes: the PL1 bus goes from Woodgrove to Colliers Lane, and the PL2 bus goes from Bellingham to Kilminchy.
The Stradbally Steam Museum in nearby Stradbally is dedicated to steam engines. It is home to a large collection of steam engines, including the Mann Steam Cart and Fowler. The museum shows the transport of the past in Portlaoise and Ireland. The Steam Preservation Society have a 1 km train track on the grounds of Stradbally Hall, which offers trips for train enthusiasts.