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Ballyroan () is a small village in
County Laois County Laois ( ; ) 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 medieval kingdom. Hist ...
, Ireland. It is in the
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
of Ballyroan and in the former
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 ...
of
Cullenagh Cullenagh or Cullinagh () is a barony in County Laois (formerly called ''Queen's County'' or ''County Leix''), Ireland. Etymology The barony is named after the Cullenagh Hills; located between Abbeyleix and Timahoe, they rise to a height of ...
. The R425 regional road passes through the village.


History

Ballyroan is an ancient settlement, though its origins are obscure. A castle likely stood there in the Middle Ages, as one Conall Ó Mórdha, son of Daibhí Ó Mórdha, lord of Laois, is attested to have "built the castle of Baile atha in roine" in the fourteenth century. The area remained in the hands of the O'Mores until the sixteenth century; it is listed in the possessions of Conall Ó Mórdha (d. 1537). In 1834, Alexander Harrison rented a house, offices, and yard on Main Street in Ballyroan. Having just passed his exam in May he was appointed surveyor of Queen's County. Brendan O Donoghue writes of Alexander Harrison's work in what is now County Laois. “He entabout his business in a methodical manner, dividing the roads in his county into four classes . . . The mail coach roads and the other main roads were to be epairedunder his scheme, while the cross roads, linking the first two categories, were to e repaired every three years Finally, the byroads or green roads, were to be inspected and repaired, where necessary, every seven years.”Brendan O Donoghue. The Irish County Surveyors 1834-1944: A Biographical Dictionary. Portland, Oregon: Four Courts Press, 2007, p. 204. An Irish Volunteer Corps was established in Ballyroan in mid-1914. They would become the only corps in Laois to support
Eoin MacNeill Eoin MacNeill (; born John McNeill; 15 May 1867 – 15 October 1945) was an Irish scholar, Irish language enthusiast, Gaelic revivalist, nationalist, and politician who served as Minister for Education from 1922 to 1925, Ceann Comhairle of D ...
over
John Redmond John Edward Redmond (1 September 1856 – 6 March 1918) was an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist politician, barrister, and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. He was best known as leader ...
during the debate as to whether the Irish Volunteers should participate in the First World War. On April 3, 1920, the abandoned RIC police barracks in Ballyroan were attacked and burned. In 1831, Ballyroan had a population of 714. In 1841, on the eve of the Great Famine, it had a population of 637. The size of the village has since declined considerably. In 1996, the population was 173; in 2002, it was 142.


Education

The village has a long educational history. In 1686, Alderman John Preston founded a private school in the village known as Ballyroan School, endowed with lands in Cappaloughlan. The school was in a large slated building erected at a cost of £500, which has since been demolished. Protestant boys received a free education, while Catholic boys paid £1 per quarter. In the nineteenth century, the school moved to Abbeyleix. The Brigidine Sisters came to the village in 1877 and opened a school operating under a Catholic ethos. Three sisters (
nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...
s) from the
Abbeyleix Abbeyleix (; ) is a town in County Laois, Ireland, located around south of the county town of Portlaoise. Abbelyleix is in a civil parish of the same name. Abbeyleix was formerly located on the N8, the main road from Dublin to Cork. At one p ...
Community took up residence in their newly built convent on 25 September of that year. Their convent and school closed in 1974. Ballyroan was home to separate boys' and girls' primary schools until 2017, when they were amalgamated into a single national school in a new building. The school is named for
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...
.


Sport

The local
Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...
club is Ballyroan Abbey GAA. A former club was Ballyroan GAA. Ballyroan was the first village in
Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...
to play football in 1889.


See also

* List of towns and villages in Ireland Image:IMG Old School Ballyroan5149.jpg, Old national school (1888) Image:IMG Angela's Rock5157c.jpg, ''Autumn'', a sculpture Image:IMG AngelaDelaney5155c.jpg, Sculpture plaque Image:Church in Ballyrowan.jpg, A church in Ballyroan


References

{{County Laois Towns and villages in County Laois Townlands of County Laois Civil parishes of County Laois