Timahoe (: 'House of Mochua') is a village in

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 ...

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 ...

, south of

Portlaoise Portlaoise ( ), or Port Laoise (), is the county town of County Laois, Ireland. It is located in the Midland Region, Ireland, South Midlands in the province of Leinster. The 2016 census shows that the town's population increased by 9.5% to 22,050 ...

on the R426 regional road. The population of Timahoe in 2002 was 517, a 2.6% increase since 1996. It increased to 527 in 2006. Retrieved dead link with

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

, 14 October 2020 The 2021 population was recorded as 569. The population over the years has only very slightly increased. In 2008, a Timahoe Village Plan, to inform "any future developments which may occur within the development boundary of Timahoe", was drawn up to present to Laois County Council under the ''Laois County Development Plan 2006- 2012''. This plan looked at aspects such as land use zoning, social infrastructure, community facilities and physical infrastructure. The objective of the plan was to provide a development plan for the village to service the area over a 6-year period and to enhance the character of the village.

History

The village of Timahoe received its name from Saint Mochua who founded a monastery in the location which was also named after him - Teach Mo Chua. Timahoe was built as an estate town by the Cosby family of

Stradbally Hall Stradbally Hall is a large house in Stradbally, County Laois, Ireland. It is owned by the Cosby family and is positioned in the heart of Stradbally, around ten minutes from Portlaoise on the N80. The estate has hosted the Electric Picnic boutiqu ...

. Originally planned to be built in the form of six-sided star with the ruins and circular market house as the focal points, it was not realised in this manner.

Church, castle and round tower

Saint Mochua established a monastery here in the 7th century. There are some early historical references to the site – a church was burned here in 919, while there was a murder in the doorway of another church in 1019. It was burned in 1142, and refounded by the O'Mores. There was a monastic community here as late as 1650. The present fragmentary church has an inserted 15th-century chancel arch – now blocked up – leading to the site of the altar. The church resembled a sizeable rectangular building with a door facing west and a window to the east. Both cannot be identified in present day as only remains of the church are left. The

Round Tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and ful ...

was built in the mid-12th century and is one of the finest in Ireland. Standing 30m high, it is near the centre of the village. The cap was rebuilt in the 19th century, but the tower is otherwise in its original condition. The round tower is one of the best surviving of its kind in Ireland. It is made of both

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

rock. Its doorway, which is high off the ground and faced the doorway of the church, is elaborately decorated in the

Romanesque style 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 later ...

. The bottom of the doorway on the exterior of the tower has a step which leads to an inner doorway. The inner arch of the door is carved with a chevron pattern. It has four

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

(rows of decoration receding into the doorway), two inside and two outside, separated by a narrow vaulted lobby. The

capitals Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

– the heads of the pillars of the doorway – are carved with human heads with intertwining hair.

Timahoe esker

Timahoe contains an

esker An esker, eskar, eschar, or os, sometimes called an ''asar'', ''osar'', or ''serpent kame'', is a long, winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, examples of which occur in glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Europe and North Amer ...

which is owned by the state and is a National Nature Reserve. The esker has been identified as the best example of an esker a woodland area in Co.Laois that is still intact. The

Timahoe esker Timahoe Esker is a national nature reserve of approximately located in County Laois, Ireland. It is managed by the Irish National Parks and Wildlife Service (Ireland), National Parks & Wildlife Service. Features Timahoe Esker was legally prote ...

is steep and high and many parts of the esker are not obvious but most are somewhat visible. The flora of the ash woodland contains pedalculate oak and

grey willow Grey willow or gray willow may refer to: *''Salix atrocinerea'', a species of willow native to Europe commonly called grey willow *''Salix cinerea'', a species of willow native to Europe and western Asia, also occasionally called grey sallow *''Sal ...

along with

hazel The hazel (''Corylus'') is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K. (1999). ...

and hawthorn. It is also rich in bluebells, bugle and shield fern during their seasonal time. The Timahoe Esker has a high biodiversity value as a result of it having a large area of intact woodland. It is both a Nature Reserve and a Natural Heritage area so, therefore, its potential for biodiversity management is particularly greater.

Education

Timahoe contains a co-educational Catholic national school named Scoil Mhuire Fatima under the bishop of the

Kildare and Leighlin The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin (; ga, Deoise Chill Dara agus Leithghlinn) is a Roman Catholic diocese in eastern Ireland. It is one of three suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin and is subject to the A ...

diocese.

Sport

Timahoe GAA Timahoe GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association gaelic football club in the village of Timahoe, County Laois, Ireland. Club colours are red and white and the club grounds are called Páirc Mochua. It provided the venue for the 1984 All-Ireland Se ...

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. There are currently two Timahoe players on the current Laois senior football panel. These include Damien O' Connor and

Brendan Quigley Brendan Quigley (born 19 January 1986) is a Gaelic footballer from County Laois. He usually plays at midfield or full-forward. In 2003, Quigley was part of the Laois team that won the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship title for the firs ...

. Timahoe also has a soccer club called T&S United which is conjunction with its neighbouring village

Stradbally Stradbally () is a town in County Laois, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, located in the midlands of Ireland along the N80 road, a National Secondary Route, about from Portlaoise. It is a townland, a Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish an ...

. The ladies football club in Timahoe is named as Timahoe Ladies which is in conjunction with neighbouring parishes

and

Vicarstown Vicarstown, historically known as Ballynevicar, Ballyvicar and Ballyvicary (), is a village in County Laois, Ireland. It stands at the point where the R427 regional road crosses the Grand Canal. Sport Annanough (''Áth na nEac'' in Irish) i ...

References

External links

Timahoe Round Tower Co. Laois
{{County Laois Towns and villages in County Laois Townlands of County Laois Planned communities in the Republic of Ireland