Portlaoise Bed and Breakfast Accommodation
Town and Country Homes Association represent over 1000 quality approved Bed and Breakfast accommodations in every county in Ireland including Laois. Our B&B's in Portlaoise offer comfort and value for money and you can be guaranteed of a warm welcome and kind hospitality when staying in Town and Country Homes accommodation. Whether you wish to stay in town or in the country, we have a bed and breakfast to suit you in Portlaoise.
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Portlaoise, County Laois Bed and Breakfast Accommodation
Portlaoise (older spelling Portlaoighise; former name Maryborough), is the county town of County Laois in the midlands of Ireland. The name is Irish for "Fort of Laois", however, a more anglicised pronunciation of "Port Laois" is common. The population in 2006 was 14,275. Book a B&B in or around Portlaoise online for the best rates and selection of quality approved bed and breakfasts in Portlaoise.
Portlaoise Town, County Laois
History
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 in the county following the exile of native 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 Queen Mary in 1557. It was renamed Maryborough, and the county of Laois was renamed Queen's County, in Mary's honour. The following year, the fort was garrisoned in response to the threat posed by the O'Mores, the native chieftains of Laois; for the next fifty or so years, they waged a continual, low-scale war of aggression against the inhabitants of the town, who were mostly English in origin.
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. Until the Act of Union in 1801 and the abolition of its franchise, the town returned two members to the Irish Parliament. The Corporation itself existed until 1830. Portlaoise is twinned with Coulounieix-Chamiers in the Dordogne département of France.
Transport
Portlaoise stands at a major crossroads in the Irish roads (major roads to Dublin, Limerick, Cork) network although construction in recent years of the M7 motorway, which bypasses the town, has reduced traffic congestion in the town centre. The town has a railway station served by intercity trains between Dublin and Cork and by Dublin commuter services. Maryborough railway station opened on 26 June 1847.
Local Economy
The town has long been a major commercial, retail, and arts centre for the Midlands. 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, which houses the majority of paramilitary prisoners sentenced in the Republic, the Midlands Prison, and the Department of Agriculture are all large-scale employers in the town. PortlaoiseThe National Spatial Strategy for Ireland has identified Portlaoise as an ideal location for an inland port. This designation encourages the town to focus on the growth of distribution, logistics and warehouse uses, which ties in well with its strong transport connections.
Tourism
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, the site of a notable Georgian square; and the Slieve Bloom Mountains and Forest Park. Within the town itself, the former jail has been transformed into an arts centre comprising a cinema, performance space and exhibition space. After a day exploring Portlaoise, what better way to relax than in the comfort of a Town and Country Homes Bed and Breakfast in or around Portlaoise.
People
Portlaoise is the hometown of footballers Ian Fitzgerald, Colm Parkinson and aviation pioneer James Fitzmaurice. The well-known poet Pat Boran was also born and grew up in the town. In addition. Portlaoise was the birthplace of Bartholomew Mosse, the founder of the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin
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