Blog

  • Launt Thompson

    Launt Thompson

    One of the most important post-American Civil War sculptors, a world traveller and a native of Abbeyleix. Lancelot (Launt) Thompson was born in Abbeyleix, then Queens County, on February 8, […]

  • Thumbnail for the post titled: The Abhartach

    The Abhartach

    There’s a possibility that Bram Stoker’s inspiration for his gothic masterpiece, Dracula, might stem from Irish folklore and not Romanian history. Vlad the Impaler was thought to be the original […]

  • The Story of Fionn Mac Cumhaill

    Said to be from around Ballyfin in County Laois, Fionn Mac Cumhaill was a leader of the Fianna during the Fenian cycle of Irish Mythology. He was the son of […]

  • Thumbnail for the post titled: Bustles & Bicycles; The bike as a Vehicle for Social Change

    Bustles & Bicycles; The bike as a Vehicle for Social Change

    A fascinating theme running through the study of history seems to be the domino effect of seemingly unrelated events on one another. For example how did a volcanic eruption in […]

  • Thumbnail for the post titled: On this day 6th December 1921

    On this day 6th December 1921

    On this day 6th of December 1921 the Anglo-Irish treaty was signed by a group of plenipotentiaries who believed that the treaty they were signing was the best option they […]

  • Thumbnail for the post titled: Abbeyleix Baby Linen Society 1845

    Abbeyleix Baby Linen Society 1845

    Sitting in the National Library of Ireland in the Manuscripts section is an account book of the Abbeyleix Baby Linen Society, started in 1845, by Lady Emma Vesey, Viscountess de […]

  • Thumbnail for the post titled: Incubating Ireland: The role of the Royal Dublin Society and Royal Irish Academy in the establishment of the National Museum of Ireland

    Incubating Ireland: The role of the Royal Dublin Society and Royal Irish Academy in the establishment of the National Museum of Ireland

    Perhaps in this decade of centenaries, the National Museum of Ireland is an institution whose collections and role in contemporary society are both more contested and more ambiguous than at […]

  • Thumbnail for the post titled: Writing Women Into History

    Writing Women Into History

    Flicking through children’s school books, reading the latest historical bestseller or checking out the history documentaries television has to offer, you would be forgiven for thinking that when it comes to the […]

  • Thumbnail for the post titled: How Abbeyleix looked in 1840

    How Abbeyleix looked in 1840

    What the Maps Can Tell us? At Heritage House we have a collection of Original First Edition Ordinance Survey Maps from 1839/41, which show us the entire county of Laois […]

  • Thumbnail for the post titled: The Cashel Bog Body, A Bronze Age King of Laois

    The Cashel Bog Body, A Bronze Age King of Laois

    On Wednesday 10th of August 2011, a remarkable find was uncovered on a bog in Co. Laois. A bog body was unearthed during peat milling at Cashel bog between Portlaoise […]