Cullenagh

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Cullenagh
Cuileannach (Irish)
Hills at Knockbaun
Hills at Knockbaun
Barony map of Queen's County, 1900; Cullenagh is green, in the south.
Barony map of Queen's County, 1900; Cullenagh is green, in the south.
Sovereign stateIreland
ProvinceLeinster
CountyLaois
Area
 • Total178.44 km2 (68.90 sq mi)

Cullenagh or Cullinagh (Irish: Cuileannach[1]) is a barony in County Laois (formerly called Queen's County or County Leix), Ireland.[2][3]

Etymology[edit]

The barony is named after the Cullenagh Hills; located between Abbeyleix and Timahoe, they rise to a height of 317 metres (1,040 ft) and contain the source of the River Triogue. The name is believed to derive from Irish cuileann, "holly."[4]

Geography[edit]

Cullenagh is located in southern County Laois, mostly east of the River Nore. The southern part (near the border with County Kilkenny) is hilly, called the Slieve Lough or Dysart Hills.[5]

History[edit]

Cullenagh formed part of the ancient kingdom of Loígis.[6] The northern part was part of Tuath-Fiodhbhuidhe (territory of the O'Devoy)[7] along with the southern part of Maryborough West.[8]

The southern part was called Gailine, and is mentioned in the topographical poem Tuilleadh feasa ar Éirinn óigh (Giolla na Naomh Ó hUidhrín, d. 1420):

Gailine na sreaḃ soiċleaċ
DO'Cheallaiġ ní coṁoighṫeaċ
Trom ag fiaḋacg an fine
Ar fonn ngrianach nGailine.

("Gailine of the pleasant streams to Ó Ceallaigh is not unhereditary, Mighty is the tribe at hunting on the sunny land of Gailine.")[9]

After the Laois-Offaly Plantation, the Barrington family received land in Cullenagh.[10] Among their descendants was the jurist and writer Jonah Barrington (1756/7–1834).

List of settlements[edit]

Below is a list of settlements in Cullenagh barony:

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Cuileannach/Cullenagh". Logainm.ie.
  2. ^ Marshall, John (11 July 2018). "A New Universal Gazetteer". Phillips & Sampson – via Google Books.
  3. ^ "Ireland Population: Abstract of Answers and Returns Under the Population Acts : Enumeration 1831 ; Ordered to be Printed 7 August 1833". 11 July 2018 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ The Dublin University Magazine: A Literary and Political Journal. W. Curry, jun., and Company. 11 July 1861. p. 594 – via Internet Archive. cullinagh barony.
  5. ^ "Queen's County (Laois)". www.libraryireland.com.
  6. ^ O'Donovan, John (11 July 2018). "The Book of Rights". Celtic society – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "O'Devoy (O'Deevy)". www.askaboutireland.ie.
  8. ^ Dooley, Terence A. M. (1 January 2003). The Greatest of the Fenians: John Devoy and Ireland. Wolfhound Press. ISBN 9780863279072 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ "The Topographical Poems of John O'Dubhagain and Giolla-na-naomh O'Huidhrin: Edited in the original Irish from MSS. in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, with translation, notes, and introductory dissertations, by John O'Donovan". A. Thom. 8 July 1862 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ Clarke, Aidan (23 September 1999). Prelude to Restoration in Ireland: The End of the Commonwealth, 1659–1660. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139426282 – via Google Books.