Cullenagh or Cullinagh () 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

The barony is named after the Cullenagh Hills; located between

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 ...

and Timahoe, they rise to a height of and contain the source of the River Triogue. The name is believed to derive from Irish ''cuileann'', "

holly ''Ilex'' () or holly is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

Geography

Cullenagh is located in southern County Laois, mostly east of 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 ...

. The southern part (near the border with

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 ...

) is hilly, called the Slieve Lough or Dysart Hills.

History

Cullenagh formed part of the ancient kingdom of

Loígis Loígis () is the name of an Irish tribe, as it is called by contemporary scholars. Formerly, scholars generally called the tribe ''Laoighis'' or ''Laeighis'' in Irish, ''Lagisia'' in Latin, and ''Leix'' in English. Loígis is also the name of the ...

. The northern part was part of Tuath-Fiodhbhuidhe (territory of the O'Devoy) along with the southern part of Maryborough West. The southern part was called ''Gailine'', and is mentioned in the topographical poem '' Tuilleadh feasa ar Éirinn óigh'' ( Giolla na Naomh Ó hUidhrín, d. 1420): ''Gailine na sreaḃ soiċleaċ'' ''DO'Cheallaiġ ní coṁoighṫeaċ'' ''Trom ag fiaḋacg an fine'' ''Ar fonn ngrianach nGailine.'' ("Gailine of the pleasant streams to Ó Ceallaigh is not unhereditary, Mighty is the tribe at hunting on the sunny land of Gailine.") After the Laois-Offaly Plantation, the Barrington family received land in Cullenagh. Among their descendants was the jurist and writer Jonah Barrington (1756/7–1834).

List of settlements

Below is a list of settlements in Cullenagh barony: *

(eastern part) * Ballinakill * Ballyroan * Timahoe

References

{{County Laois Baronies of County Laois