Clandonagh () is a

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

County Laois County Laois ( ; ) 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 medieval kingdom. Hist ...

(formerly called ''Queen's County'' or ''County Leix''),

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. A barony was a historical subdivision of a county; mainly

cadastral A cadastre or cadaster ( ) is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes and bounds, metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref> Often it is represente ...

rather than administrative.

Etymology

Clandonagh barony is named after the Ó Donnchadha (Dunphy) clan who ruled the area during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

Geography

Clandonagh is in the southwest corner of Laois; it is bordered by

Upper Woods Upper Woods or Upperwoods () is a Barony (Ireland), barony in County Laois (formerly called ''Queen's County'' or ''County Leix''), Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Etymology Upper Woods barony is named after the forests of the Slieve Bloom Mount ...

to the north, Clarmallagh to the east,

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...

to the south and

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

to the west. The Erkina River flows through it, and the

Slieve Bloom Mountains The Slieve Bloom Mountains (; ) is a mountain range in Ireland. They rise from the central plain of Ireland to a height of . While not very high, they are extensive by local standards. The highest points are Arderin () () at the southwestern en ...

are in its north.

History

Clandonagh was one of three traditional subunits of

Upper Ossory Upper Ossory () was an administrative barony in the south and west of Queen's County (now County Laois) in Ireland. In late Gaelic Ireland it was the túath of the Mac Giolla Phádraig ( Fitzpatrick) family and a surviving remnant of the once l ...

, which was extant as a barony by 1657 and formally abolished in 1846, and divided into Clandonagh,

and Clarmallagh. The name refers to the "Clan Dunphy", referring to the Ó Donnchadha, who claimed descent from

Donnchad Midi Donnchad mac Domnaill (733 – 6 February 797), called Donnchad Midi, was High King of Ireland. His father, Domnall Midi, had been the first Uí Néill High King from the south-central Clann Cholmáin based in modern County Westmeath and west ...

(AD 733–797). They were related to the Fitzpatricks. Clan Moroghoe migrated from Clandonagh to their seat in County Cork in 1709. It is referred to in the topographical poem '' Tuilleadh feasa ar Éirinn óigh'' ( Giolla na Naomh Ó hUidhrín, d. 1420): ''O'Cearḃaill dar corcraḋ croinn,'' ''O'Donnchaḋa dreaċ dioghoinn,'' ''Sloiġ liag as don tár toraid,'' ''Dá riġ iad a haonchonair.'' (" O'Cearbhaill for whom trees are ruddy, O'Donnchadha of honest aspect, Whose rocklike hosts possess the fruitful land, Are two kings of the same territory.") This refers to Ely O'Carroll, located to the immediate west of Clandonagh.

List of settlements

Below is a list of settlements in Clandonagh barony: *

Aghaboe Aghaboe () is a small village in County Laois, Ireland. It is located on the R434 regional road in the rural hinterland west of the town of Abbeyleix. It contains the ruins of the Abbey of Aghaboe which was founded by St. Canice in the Oss ...

* Ballybrophy *

Borris-in-Ossory Borris-in-Ossory (, or the ' Burgage of Osraige') is a village in west County Laois, Ireland, close to the Tipperary border and the M7 motorway. Features The village has facilities such as a school, churches, community hall, convenience reta ...

* Donaghmore *

Errill Errill () is a village in southwest County Laois, Ireland, near the County Tipperary and County Kilkenny borders. It is 6 km west of Rathdowney and 12 km north-east of Templemore. The village is centred on a village green around which s ...

Rathdowney Rathdowney or Rathdowny () is a small town in southwest County Laois, Ireland. It lies some 32 km southwest of Portlaoise in the Irish Midlands, at the point where the R433 regional road from Abbeyleix to Templemore is crossed by the R ...

References

{{County Laois Baronies of County Laois 1846 establishments in Ireland