Clarmallagh () 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''),

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Etymology

Clarmallagh means "Flat land of Maigh Locha 'lake plain'', referring to Grantstown Lake.

Geography

Clarmallagh is located in south County Laois, to the south of the River Gully, and to the north of the

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 ...

border. It contains the lower part of the Erkina River where it drains into the

River Nore The River Nore ( ) is one of the principal rivers (along with the River Suir and River Barrow) in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region of Ireland. The river drainage basin, drains approximately of Leinster and Munster, that encom ...

History

Clarmallagh barony was anciently the northernmost part of the

Kingdom of Osraige Osraige (Old Irish) or Osraighe (Classical Irish), Osraí (Modern Irish), anglicized as Ossory, was a medieval Irish kingdom comprising what is now County Kilkenny and western County Laois, corresponding to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ossory, ...

(Ossory). In the early 12th century, Finn Ua Caellaide ruled Magh Locha (Clarmallagh) separately from the rest of Ossory. It was ruled by the

Ó Faoláin Ó Faoláin (), or O'Faolain, is an Irish surname meaning "Wolves in Ireland, wolf", anglicized as Phelan (surname), Phelan or Whelan. Notable people with this surname include: *Seán Ó Faoláin (1900–1991), influential figure in 20th-century I ...

(Phelan). It is referred to in the topographical poem '' Tuilleadh feasa ar Éirinn óigh'' ( Giolla na Naomh Ó hUidhrín, d. 1420): ''I Muiġ Laċa na learg te'' ''Ó Faoláin, fearḋa an fíne'' ''Mór an dúthaiġ as díol dáiḃ'' ''Do lín futha Ó Faoláin'' ("In Magh Lacha of the warm hill slopes is Ó Faolain of manly tribe; Extensive is the district due to them, which the Ó Faolains have filled.") Upper Ossory map 1797

Clarmallagh was formerly a part of the

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 ...

barony, established by 1657; in 1842 it was divided into three

cantred A cantred was a subdivision of a county in the Anglo-Norman Lordship of Ireland between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, analogous to the cantref of Wales or the hundred of England. In County Dublin the equivalent unit was termed a serjeant ...

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 ...

Clandonagh Clandonagh () is a barony in County Laois (formerly called ''Queen's County'' or ''County Leix''), Republic of Ireland. A barony was a historical subdivision of a county; mainly cadastral rather than administrative. Etymology Clandonagh barony ...

and Clarmallagh.

List of settlements

Below is a list of settlements in Clarmallagh barony: *

Abbeyleix Abbeyleix (; ) is a town in County Laois, Ireland, located around south of the county town of Portlaoise. Abbelyleix is in a civil parish of the same name. Abbeyleix was formerly located on the N8, the main road from Dublin to Cork. At one p ...

* Ballacolla * Durrow

References

{{County Laois Baronies of County Laois