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 ( ; 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 ...

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

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. 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 of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref> Often it is represented graphically in a cad ...

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 late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

Geography

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

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

to the north,

Clarmallagh Clarmallagh () is a barony in County Laois (formerly called ''Queen's County'' or ''County Leix''), Republic of Ireland. Etymology Clarmallagh means "Flat land of Maigh Locha 'lake plain'', referring to Grantstown Lake. Geography Clarmallag ...

to the east,

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 ...

to the south and

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

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

Slieve Bloom Mountains The Slieve Bloom Mountains ( ga, Sliabh Bladhma; la, Bladinae montes) is a mountain range in Ireland. They rise from the central plain of Ireland to a height of 527 metres. While not very high, they are extensive by local standards. The high ...

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 ...

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

and

. 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 western ...

(AD 733–797). They were related to the Fitzpatricks.

Clan Moroghoe The Clan Moroghoe is an Irish clan, descended from Murcha, who was a descendant of Labhradh, the son of Breasal Bealach. From Murcha came the patronymic ''MacMuircha'' or ''MacMurchadha'' which, according to John O'Hart John O'Hart (1824&ndash ...

migrated from Clandonagh to their seat in County Cork in 1709. It is referred to in the topographical poem ''

Tuilleadh feasa ar Éirinn óigh Tuilleadh feasa ar Éirinn óigh ("More knowledge on the entirety of Ireland") is a medieval Gaelic-Irish topographical text, composed by Giolla na Naomh Ó hUidhrín (died 1420). Overview ''Tuilleadh feasa ...'' is both a supplement and a contin ...

'' (

Giolla na Naomh Ó hUidhrín Giolla na Naomh O hUidhrin, Irish historian and poet, died 1420. O hUidhrin is known as the author of ''Tuilleadh feasa ar Éirinn óigh'', a topographical poem of a kind with Seán Mór Ó Dubhagáin's '' Triallam timcheall na Fodla'', of which ...

, 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 Ely or ELY may refer to: Places Ireland * Éile, a medieval kingdom commonly anglicised Ely * Ely Place, Dublin, a street United Kingdom * Ely, Cambridgeshire, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England ** Ely Cathedral ** Ely Rural District, a ...

, 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 Osso ...

Ballybrophy Ballybrophy (historically ''Ballybrohy'', from ) is a village in County Laois, Ireland. It had a population of 145 as of the 2002 census, and forms part of the Borris-in-Ossory electoral area. It is best known for the Ballybrophy railway statio ...

Borris-in-Ossory Borris-in-Ossory (, or the 'Burgage of Osraige') is a village in west County Laois, Ireland. Bypassed by the M7 motorway on 28 May 2010, the village is situated on the R445 road close to the County Tipperary border between the towns of Mountrath ...

* Donaghmore *

Errill Errill () is a village in southwest County Laois, Ireland, near the County Tipperary and County Kilkenny borders. It is centred on a village green around which sits a shop with the local post office, two pubs and a Roman Catholic church. The lo ...

Rathdowney Rathdowney or Rathdowny () is a 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 R435 fro ...

References

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