| Portlaoise Portlaoise
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| — Town — | |||
| View of James Fintan Lawlor Avenue from the late blue bridge | |||
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Portlaoise
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| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Ireland | ||
| Province | Leinster | ||
| County | County Laois | ||
| Dáil Éireann | Laois-Offaly | ||
| EU Parliament | East constituency | ||
| Elevation | 139 m (456 ft) | ||
| Population (2011) | |||
| • Urban | 3,656 | ||
| • Rural | 14,614 | ||
| Irish Grid Reference | S465986 | ||
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1821 | 2,677 | — |
| 1831 | 3,223 | +20.4% |
| 1841 | 3,633 | +12.7% |
| 1851 | 2,078 | −42.8% |
| 1861 | 2,935 | +41.2% |
| 1871 | 2,731 | −7.0% |
| 1881 | 2,872 | +5.2% |
| 1891 | 2,809 | −2.2% |
| 1901 | 2,957 | +5.3% |
| 1911 | 3,270 | +10.6% |
| 1926 | 3,374 | +3.2% |
| 1936 | 3,396 | +0.7% |
| 1946 | 3,170 | −6.7% |
| 1951 | 3,304 | +4.2% |
| 1956 | 5,561 | +68.3% |
| 1961 | 5,598 | +0.7% |
| 1966 | 5,873 | +4.9% |
| 1971 | 6,470 | +10.2% |
| 1981 | 7,756 | +19.9% |
| 1986 | 8,384 | +8.1% |
| 1991 | 8,360 | −0.3% |
| 1996 | 9,474 | +13.3% |
| 2002 | 12,127 | +28.0% |
| 2006 | 14,613 | +20.5% |
| [1][2][3][4][5] | ||
{ url = http://www.cso.ie/pxeirestat/statire/selectVarVal/Define.asp?maintable=CDP08&PLanguage=0 Portlaoise or Port Laoise ( /pɔrtˈliːʃə/ or /pɔrtˈliːʃ/), historically spelled Port Laoighise or Portlaoighise,[6] is the county town of County Laois in the midlands of Ireland. The population in 2011[update] preliminary results was 18,270.
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The site where the present town is situated is referred to in the Annals of the Four Masters as Port Laoighisi during the 16th century. 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 bc. It was named Maryborough and the county was named "Queen's County" in her honour. The area had been a focus of the rebellion of Rory O'More, 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.
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 took effect in 1801 and the abolition of its franchise, the town returned two members to the Irish Parliament. The Corporation itself existed until 1830.
Portlaoise Town Council is an elected local government body, and mandated under the Local Government Act 2001 to provide civic leadership and a forum for the democratic representation of the community. Responsibilities include amenity support, operation of the Litter Act, contribution to tourism development, event licensing, arts support, etc. The Town Council executive comprises nine elected Councillors, headed by the town mayor. The current mayor is Willie Aird. The current make up of the Town Council is three Fine Gael, two Sinn Féin, two Fianna Fáil and two Independent members.
A national anti-litter group identified Portlaoise as the dirtiest town in Ireland on 10 January 2011. It was nominated as the only town in the country to have a serious litter problem.[7]
The town forms part of the seven member Portlaoghaise Local Electoral Area for elections to Laois County Council.
Portlaoise is twinned with Coulounieix-Chamiers in the Dordogne département of France.
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; a 12th century Round Tower in Timahoe.
Within the town itself, the former jail has been transformed into the Dunamaise Arts Centre comprising a cinema, performance space and exhibition space.
The town has many leisure facilities with the new Portlaoise Leisure Centre, town park and a Storm Cinema located in the town centre. The town has three main hotels Maldron located off Junction 16 M7 containing Subway and Little Caesars, Heritage Hotel and the Kileshin Hotel located on the old Dublin Road R445.
Portlaoise town has a vibrant nightlife with many pubs, bars, late night venues, clubs and music venues located all along the main street and town centre. Portlaoise is host to the Halloween Howls Comedy Festival, Kavanagh's Bar & Venue on the october bank holiday weekend.
The town has long been a major commercial, retail, and arts centre for the Midlands. Until the early 20th 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 Port Laoise Prison, which houses the majority of the Irish Republican political prisoners sentenced in the Republic, the Midlands Prison, and the Department of Agriculture are all large-scale employers in the town. This number is expected to increase further under the planned decentralisation of government departments from Dublin.
The 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.
The town has a vibrant retail scene with the Laois Shopping Centre, Kyle Centre and Parkside Shopping Centres. The town has an Aldi, two Dunnes Stores, Lidl, Boots, Eurospar, Superquinn and a new Tesco Extra. The town has a new retail park on the Timahoe Road containing Halfords, Heatons, Homebase, Mothercare.
Since early 2008 Portlaoise has been the Irish base of Self Help Africa, formerly Self Help Development International, the Irish development agency engaged in implementing long term rural development programmes in Sub-Sahara. Established at the time of the Ethiopian Famine of 1984, Self Help is the chosen charity of the Irish Farmers Association.
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