Castletown () is a small village and also a parish 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 ...

History

The older Irish name for the town was ''Baile Chaisleáin Ua bhFoirchealláin'' (meaning "castle-town of Uí Fhoirchealláin"). This has been anglicised as ''Ballycashlan-Offerillan'' and ''Ballycaslane-Offeralane''. Uí Fhoirchealláin is the name of the parish and was added to distinguish it from another Castletown. According to an extract from ''

A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland Samuel Lewis (c. 1782 – 1865) was the editor and publisher of topographical dictionaries and maps of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The aim of the texts was to give in 'a condensed form', a faithful and impartial description ...

'', published in 1837 by Samuel Lewis, Castletown was then "''a village in the Parish of Offerlane, barony 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 ...

, Queen’s county, and province 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 ...

, 1 miles (S.by W.) from

Mountrath Mountrath () is a small town in County Laois, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town lies on the R445 road, R445 midway between Dublin and Limerick, exactly 96.5 km (60 mi) from both cities. The town was bypassed by the M7 motorway (I ...

; containing 367 inhabitants. It takes its name from an ancient castle, occupying a commanding situation on the bank of the

River Nore The River Nore ( ga, An Fheoir ) is one of the principal rivers (along with the River Suir and River Barrow) in the South-East Region of Ireland. The river drains approximately of Leinster and Munster, that encompasses parts of three counti ...

, and which, in the early part of the 16th century, was garrisoned by Sir Oliver Norris, son-in-law of the Earl of Ormonde, with a view to curb the power of the Fitzpatricks, to whom it was afterwards relinquished''". The extract continues “''the village is pleasantly situated on the river Nore, and on the road from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

, it contains 59 houses, many of which are good residences, and the whole has an appearance of neatness and respectability''”.

Places of interest

Gash Gardens and the

De La Salle Brothers french: Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes , image = Signum Fidei.jpg , image_size = 175px , caption = , abbreviation = FSC , nickname = Lasallians , named_after = , formation ...

monastery which has been in the village since 1881.

Community

Castletown is known as "The Tidiest Village in Laois". Chairman of the Tidy Towns committee is

Seán Fleming Seán Fleming (born 27 February 1958) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs since December 2022. He previously served as Minister of State at the Department of Finance from ...

, TD. In 1998, Castletown were just four points behind the national winner. The village won the overall

Irish Tidy Towns Competition Tidy Towns (Irish: ''Bailte Slachtmhara'') is an annual competition, first held in 1958, organised by the Department of Rural and Community Development in order to honour the tidiest and most attractive cities, towns and villages in the Republic ...

in 2002.

Education

There are three national schools in the parish - Castletown Primary School, Paddock National School and Rushall National School. The nearest secondary school is the newly opened Mountrath Community School

Sport

Castletown has a

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 called

Castletown GAA Castletown GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association hurling club in County Laois, Ireland. The club colours are blue and white. The current Castletown club was founded in 1974 and has won a total of 8 Laois Senior Hurling Championship titles sinc ...

, while another club in the parish is called

Slieve Bloom GAA Slieve Bloom GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association hurling club in County Laois, Ireland. Overview The club was founded in 1947 and the club colours are orange and white. The club grounds are located two miles from Mountrath off the mountain ...

. There is also a camogie club called Naomh Éamann Camogie Club

Transport

A new road bridge was built in 1972 which relieved traffic congestion in the village. The village is served by

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Ireland, with the exception of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidia ...

Expressway route 12 linking it to

Dublin Airport Dublin Airport (Irish language, Irish: ''Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath'') is an international airport serving Dublin, Ireland. It is operated by DAA (Irish company), DAA (formerly Dublin Airport Authority). The airport is located in Collinsto ...

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 ...

, and

. Mountrath and Castletown railway station opened on 1 September 1848, closed for goods traffic on 3 November 1975 and finally closed altogether on 6 September 1976. Nowadays the nearest train stations are

Portlaoise railway station Portlaoise railway station is a station on the Dublin to Cork and also the Dublin to Limerick Intercity railway lines. It is also the terminus for the South Western Commuter also called the Portlaoise Commuter Line which forms part of the Dubl ...

and

Ballybrophy railway station Ballybrophy is a railway station in the village of Ballybrophy, County Laois, Ireland, halfway between Borris-in-Ossory and Rathdowney in the Barony of Clandonagh. The station is an exchange point for passengers on Dublin to Cork services to ...

References

{{Tidy Towns (Ireland) Towns and villages in County Laois FitzPatrick dynasty