The Castlecomer Plateau, or 'South Leinster Coalfield', is an upland area in the North of

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

, Ireland, extending into

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

and

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a county located in the South-East Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Carlow is the second smallest and the third least populous of Ireland's 32 traditional counties. Carlow Cou ...

at its northern edge. The plateau is bounded on the east and south by the R448 regional road, on the west by the N77. The River Nore flows southward past the plateau's western flank, the River Barrow past its eastern flank and it is dissected by the River Dinin, which flows through Castlecomer itself. The landscape consists of the a large area of upland lying between the river valleys of the Barrow and Nore. The eastern section, which is the larger and more elevated part of the plateau is known as the ''Rossmore Plateau'', after the village of Rossmore, County Laois, which is situated at the northeastern extremity near the highest point on the plateau (334 m) and is just from the town of

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

below, in the valley of the River Barrow. The topography and soils of the area have long influenced its history. The plateau has remained sparsely populated but has also provided a refuge for the dispossessed. One of Ireland's few commercial coal deposits occurred in this upland area which has meant that it is one of the few places in Ireland that has a coal-mining history. The area is difficult for agriculture with lower temperatures, more exposure and heavier, wetter soils than the surrounding lowlands. However it has proved excellent for forestry and there are extensive plantations of

Sitka spruce ''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to almost tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth-larg ...

at the higher elevations. The area falls into the domains of councils including

and

. Parts of the area fall within the Barrow and River Special Areas of Conservation. River Barrow and River Nore (IE0002162)
Site Synopsis
- National Parks and Wildlife Service, Republic of Ireland.

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...

data set
-

European Environment Agency The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides independent information on the environment. Definition The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides i ...

. In the barony of Fassadinin, historically it was part of in the historic kingdom of Osraige (''Ossory'') and was the territory of the Uí Duach (Idough) clan.

Etymology

The etymology of Castlecomer, in

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

''Caisleán an Chomair'', means "the Castle at the confluence of the Waters". From Middle Irish , from Old Irish (from Anglo-Norman , from Latin ) + meaning castle (fortified building).The "waters" referring to the rivers Dinin (Dinan), Brokagh and Cloghogue meet, and the "castle" refers to the Norman motte and castle built in 1171 by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.

Geography

The plateau, with an area of , is in the southeastern of the Central Plain of Ireland. It is almost circular, except to the south-west where it is cut away to form the Dinin River Valley. The centre of the plateau is a topographical and geological basin with an elevation of . The higher topographical features have an elevation of over . The main part of the plateau is drained by the Upper and Lower Dinin rivers with join south of Castlecomer. The plateau consists almost completely of limestone with sedimentary rocks of various types and ages. with the centre of the plateau.

Climate

The climate of Kilkenny, like the climate of Ireland, is a changeable

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

with few extremes. It is defined as a temperate

, or ''Cfb'' on the Köppen climate classification system. Kilkenny lies in plant . Weatherwise, Kilkenny is generally representative of wide river valleys in the region with low temperatures on cloudless nights, and is significant in that it records some of the highest summer and lowest winter temperatures in Ireland.

Resources

Citations

Sources

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External links

Askaboutireland.ie - Castlecomer Plateau

discoverypark.ie
Landforms of County Carlow Landforms of County Laois Landforms of County Kilkenny Plateaus of Ireland {{Kilkenny-geo-stub