A Brief History of Portlaoise

(Source: "Portlaoise Town Heritage Trail" leaflet produced by FAS / Leinster Express Project)

Portlaoise is the principal town and administrative centre for the County of Laois. It is centrally located in the heart of rural Ireland and serves as the intersection of a number of national routes. It is also accessible on the main rail link between Dublin, Cork and Limerick.

The present town grew around the old fort the construction of which commenced in 1548 under the supervision of Lord Deputy Sir Edward Bellingham who was anxious to fortify Leix following his repression of the natives and the exiling of their chieftains earlier in the year. The fort was built primarily for military and political purposes. Its situation on rising ground southeast of the River Triogue and with the Esker ridge forming a natural defensive barricade to the east made it of strategic military importance.

The fort was initially named 'Fort of Leix' or 'Fort Protector' in honour of the Earl of Somerset, the Lord Protector of England. However in 1557, under two important Acts passed in the Parliament of King Philip and Queen Mary, the town was renamed Maryborough and the county was given the title of Queen's County. In the year 1558 the 'Fort of Maryborough' was garrisoned and for the next half century the O'Moores, the native chiefs of Laois, waged war on the settlers.

In 1570 a charter of Queen Elizabeth I raised the town of Maryborough to the rank of borough. The Corporation of the Borough consisted of a Burgomaster, two bailiffs, Burgesses and Freemen, a town clerk, a Sergeant at Arms and inferior officers. The town retumed two members to the Irish Parliament until the Act of Union when the franchise was abolished. The Corporation of Maryborough lasted until 1830.

During Cromwell's reign in Ireland, Maryborough was taken and the fort was demolished by the Cromwellian forces under Colonels Hewson and Reynolds. It was out of the ashes of this devastation of the fort that the town of Maryborough arose and became a market town and the administrative centre of the area. The town was the seat of the Queen's County Assizes and the headquarters of the County Constabulary force.
In 1922 the town was renamed Portlaoise.

HERITAGE TRAIL

1. Garda Barracks: Formerly a Military Barracks. It became County Garda Headquarters at the foundation of the State. It was built in 1808 to replace the old Cavalry Barracks sited opposite the present Christian Brothers School on Tower Hill.
2. Town Hall: Nothing remains of the Town Hall which was burned to the ground in 1945. Today, on the site of that building stands a shrine dedicated to Our Lady.
3. St. Peter's Church: The first building to be erected on the Great Green of Maryborough was the Church of Ireland, dedicated to St. Peter. It was opened in 1803 as a replacement to Old St. Peter's Church which had been built during the reign of King Philip and Queen Mary. The church continues in use today.
4. Railway Station: The railway was extended to Maryborough between 1844 and 1846 and at this time the station was built. Designed by Sancton Wood in a Gothic style, it was built out of local limestone at a cost of £5,000. A line to Dublin opened in 1847 and it became a junction in 1867 with the opening of the Kilkenny/Waterford line. The person responsible for the building of the railways in Ireland was Laoisman, William Dargan.
5. Methodist Church: The foundation stone for this church was laid on Wednesday May 9th 1883. Within seven months the building was complete. It was opened on Friday December 7th 1883 by Rev. Wm G. Price. Built in the early Gothic style the architect for the building was Mr. Morley and the contractor a Mr. Sidwell.
6. The Old County Gaol was attached to the courthouse and was the scene of public executions until the early 19th. century. In 1911 additional building work on the courthouse concealed the area where public hangings took place. Some of the more notable executions were those of Cathal na gCapaill (Charles Dempsey) and Ger Grant the notorious highwayman. Due to overcrowding a new gaol was required and in 1830 the County Gaol and House of Correction on the Dublin road was completed. The old gaol remained in use as a bridewell and police barracks and for a while it housed Portlaoise library. Recently this magnificent building was renovated and is now the venue for Dunamaise Theatre and Arts Centre.
7. Portlaoise Courthouse was built in 1872 to replace the one which had stood on the same site for over 200 years but which was destroyed by fire. The architect was Sir Richard Morrison, a pupil of James Gandon. He was also the architect of Sir Patrick Dunn's Hospital, Dublin and the County courthouses at Carlow, Clonmel, Dundalk, Naas and Wexford. The courthouse was the venue for the inaugural meeting of Queen's County Council held on the 22nd April 1899. In recent years the Courthouse was refurbished and still houses the local and county court sessions.
8. Old St. Peter's Church was erected as a Catholic Church in the reign of King Philip and Queen Mary during the Plantation of Laois and Offaly in the late 16th century. It was used for Protestant services following the Reformation and continued as a Protestant Church until 1803 when St. Peter's Church of Ireland was built at Market Square. John Wesley, founder of Methodism, preached in the old church on three occasions and found it to be "one of the most elegant churches in the whole Kingdom".
   A number of notable personalities are buried in the adjoining burial ground including generations of the famous medical family of Jacob's, noted clergymen and the remains of the highwayman Grant, the last person to be publicly hanged in the town of Maryborough in 1816.
9. Fort of Maryborough: Situated on Tower Hill this is the North East tower of the Fort of Maryborough. The old walls adjoining the tower are also part of the original fort.
10. Fitzmaurice Place stands in the centre of Portlaoise as a memorial to an internationally acclaimed pioneer of the air and 'father of civil aviation' in Ireland. James Christopher Fitzmaurice, born in 1898, spent his formative years in Portlaoise where he received his education in the Christian Brothers School. It was here too, in a chance meeting with the Aldritt family, garage proprietors and motor designers, that he witnessed the construction of Ireland's first aeroplane, an experience that was to determine the course of his life. Following an heroic career as a soldier in WW1 he went on to join the RFC, later RAF, as a pilot. Upon leaving the force he joined the infant Irish Army Air Corps and became its commanding officer. On the 12th April 1928, in the company of two Germans, Capt. Hermann Koehl and Baron Von Huenefeld, he was the copilot on the aircraft, 'Bremen' which created aviation history when it became the first aeroplane to fly the North Atlantic in a westerly direction.
11. The War Memorial, situated at Mill View, Portlaoise was erected in 1928 to the memory of the 177 officers and men of the 4th Battalion (Leinster) Queen's County Regiment who died in the First World War.
12. Presentation Convent: The first commander of 'Fort Protector' was Captain Anthony Rogers who lived in what became known as the 'Stone House'. This was an imposing two storeyed building with a circular tower attached to its south gable. From 1685 to 1760, during the reigns of King James II and George III the building served as a prison, while under the stewardship of Dr. Michael Jacob the building became the first hospital in the county and remained as such until 1820.
    When the Presentation Sisters came to Maryborough they took up residence in the remains of the 'Stone House'. The Community extended the building in 1872 and the tower, or what remained of it, was subsumed into the extension. The convent housed the Presentation Community in Portlaoise until 2000 when the last of the Sisters moved out.
13. The Ridge Graveyard: The Ridge of Maryborough runs from Portlaoise to Tullamore and was formed into an esker during the Ice Age. This site, which is bordered by a stone wall at the northwest and southwest and by buildings and property on the north and southeast has been used in Portlaoise as a cemetery since the early 18th century. The earliest burial site recorded is that of Rev. Darby Malone who died in 1723 aged 76. Some traces of an old church have also been found there. The graveyard is known locally as the Burying Ridge.
14. Annefield House: Dr. Bartholomew Mosse (1712-59) founder of the Rotunda Hospital Dublin (1745) was born in Annefield House. The house was built by his father Rev. Canon Thomas Mosse who was Rector of Maryborough from 1691-1731.
15. The County Gaol and House of Correction was completed in 1830 at a cost of £8,500. The central building is three stories high and is dominated by a clock tower. This building contained the kitchen, the governor's apartments, a boardroom and a chapel for both Protestants and Catholics. The cells were located in four radiating wings off this central building. A new wing was added to this gaol in 1900. The building is still in use today and has served as a high security prison for political prisoners. The new Midlands Prison is located nearby.
16. The County Infirmary situated on the Dublin road was opened in 1808. It was a large three storeyed building with accommodation for 55 patients. The running of the infirmary was funded by Parliamentary grants, County Presentments, subscriptions and fines from Petty Sessions. Monies to build the infirmary came from charitable subscriptions from local gentlemen, notably Thomas Parnell of Pathleague House and the Hon. James Grattan, son of Henry Grattan whose estates were situated near Vicarstown, Stradbally. The first Medical Officer of the Infirmary was Dr. John Jacob and he headed four successive generations of the Jacob family who were Medical Officers of that establishment.
17. St. Fintan's Hospital was the District Lunatic Asylum for the King's and Queen's Counties and those of Westmeath and Longford. The site for the building was purchased from the Cosby Estate. The building was erected in 1832 at a cost of £24,172 and is composed of a central building containing the governor's residence and other apartments. From the centre branch out the wings which contained corridors, sleeping rooms, day rooms and working rooms. The hospital continues in use today.

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