Upper Woods or Upperwoods () 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 ...

Etymology

Upper Woods barony is named after the forests of 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 ...

Geography

Upper Woods is located in northwest County Laois, bounded to the northwest by the

History

Upper Woods was part of the ancient

Kingdom of Ossory 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 Diocese of Ossory. The home of t ...

(Osraige). Around 1150 it was ruled by the Ua Dubhsláine ( O'Delany) clan; the area was then called ''Tuath-an-Toraidh'' (" tuath 'clan territory''of fruit/wealth/produce"). A member,

Daniel Dulany the Elder Daniel Dulany the Elder (1685–1753) was a prominent lawyer and land-developer in colonial Maryland, who held a number of colonial offices. In 1722 Dulany wrote a pamphlet entitled ''The Right of the Inhabitants of Maryland, to the Benefit of th ...

(1685–1753), born in Upperwoods, became an important figure in

colonial Maryland The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S. state of Maryland ...

. 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): ''Ard taoiseach tuaiṫe an toraiḋ'' ''Ón Choill aoiḃinn Uachtoraiġ'' ''Ó Duḃsláine, fial an fear'' ''Ón tsliaḃ as áille inḃeaġ'' ("The high chief of the fruitful cantred, Of the delightful Coill Uachtorach 'Upper Woods'' Is O'Dubhslaine, hospitable the man, From the mountain of most beauteous rivers.") Upper Woods 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 ...

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 ...

s: Upper Woods,

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 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 ...

List of settlements

Below is a list of settlements in Upper Woods barony: *

Coolrain Coolrain (), is a village in County Laois, Ireland. It is situated near the Slieve Bloom Mountains. The nearest town is Mountrath Mountrath () is a small town in County Laois, Ireland. The town lies on the R445 midway between Dublin and Lim ...

Kilbricken Kilbricken, officially Kilbrickan (), is a hamlet in County Laois, Ireland, on the Dublin-Cork railway line. ''Mountrath & Castletown'' railway station opened at Kilbricken on 1 September 1848. It was part of the Great Southern and Western Rai ...

References

{{County Laois Baronies of County Laois