Killeshin () is a village in County Laois,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on the R430

regional road The term regional road (or route) is used in a number of places to designate roads of more than purely ''local'' but less than ''national'' strategic importance in a country's highway network. It is used formally and officially in reference to: *R ...

. Killeshin is a small rural community situated five kilometres west 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 ...

town and overlooks the picturesque Barrow Valley. The

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Ch ...

at the foot of the Killeshin hills is the site of an early

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

Name

Killeshin derives its name from one of the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...

s of its famous monastery - Uisin, meaning the Cell or church of Uise.

History

Killeshin was an important centre for learning and culture as early as the 6th or 7th century when a monastery was founded there by either St. Comgan or St. Diarmait. There are a number of references to Comgan and Diarmait in ''The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee'' (1905) which state: :''February 27 Feast of Comgan...Comgan son of Diarmait...'' :''July 8 Feast of Diarmait...Modimoc...Glenn Uissen...'' :''Index of persons - Comgan, son of Diarmait, feb 27, of Glenn Uissen...'' Killeshin or Gleann Uissen, was early known as a great scriptorium. In the

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or mediev ...

the stratum of

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

material of the 9th–11th centuries may have been originated at Killeshin. While some four kilometres north west lie the ruins of Sleaty – Sleibthe, home to reputedly the first bishop of Leinster –

St.Fiacc Saint Fiacc (c. 415-520) was a poet, the chief bishop of Leinster, and founder of two churches. Life His father, MacDara, was prince of the Uí Bairrche in the country around Carlow, Ireland. His mother was sister of Dubhthach moccu Lughair ...

(c418-498)

Hiberno-Romanesque architecture

Killeshin Church is located off the main Carlow-

Castlecomer Castlecomer ( Irish: ''Caislean an Chumai'' meaning "the castle at the confluence of the waters") is a town in the north of County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is positioned at the meeting of N78 and R694 roads about north of Kilkenny city. At th ...

road, adjacent to Killeshin village itself. The church at Killeshin is largely from the 12th century, although some parts show evidence of later rebuilding, including a late

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

east window The ancient monastery was destroyed in the 11th century and all that remains is a beautifully carved 12th-century doorway: one of the finest examples of hiberno-

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...

in Ireland. No trace remains of the 105 ft round tower believed to have once been the tallest in Ireland which stood next to the monastery, it was demolished by an 18th-century landowner who was afraid that the tower could collapse and injure his cattle. It is said that ten

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

can be seen from the hill above Killeshin.

Public transport

Bus

From January 1st, 2023 Local Link route 897 Kilkenny -

Athy Athy ( ; ) is a market town at the meeting of the River Barrow and the Grand Canal in south-west County Kildare, Ireland, 72 kilometres southwest of Dublin. A population of 9,677 (as of the 2016 census) makes it the sixth largest town in Ki ...

serves the village several times daily. Until April 2019 the village was served by the Buggy Coaches

- Crettyard-

bus route with one journey into

in the morning and one back in the afternoon.
/ref> On Saturdays there were two journeys each way.

Rail

The nearest rail services may be accessed at

Carlow railway station Carlow railway station serves the town of Carlow in 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 ...

approximately 6 kilometres distant.

Sport

Killeshin GAA is the local

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

club. "Killeshin", a racehorse named after the village, competed in the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handica ...

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

twice in the 1990s, finishing a remounted sixth in the 1998 Grand National. There are a number of

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques ...

spots in

Ballyhide Ballyhide () is a rural townland and village in the extreme south eastern corner of County Laois, Ireland at the border with County Carlow. The nearest urban centre is Carlow town which is 3 kilometres to the north east. It is located in the L ...

, and the River Barrow is nearby.

References

External links

"The Founding of Killeshin" - Rootsweb.ancestry.com
* {{County Laois Towns and villages in County Laois Articles on towns and villages in Ireland possibly missing Irish place names Townlands of County Laois