Upper Woods

Upper Woods or Upperwoods (Irish: An Choill Uachtarach[1]) is a barony in County Laois (formerly called Queen's County or County Leix), Republic of Ireland.[2][3]

Upper Woods An Choill Uachtarach (Irish)
Barony
Forests in Upperwoods barony
Barony map of Queen's County, 1900; Upper Woods is forest green, in the west.
Sovereign state	Republic of Ireland
Province	Leinster
County	Laois
Area
• Total	198.00 km^2 (76.45 sq mi)

Etymology

Upper Woods barony is named after the forests of the Slieve Bloom Mountains.

Geography

Upper Woods is located in northwest County Laois, bounded to the northwest by the Slieve Bloom Mountains.

History

Upper Woods was part of the ancient Kingdom of Ossory (Osraige).[4] Around 1150 it was ruled by the Ua Dubhsláine (O'Delany) clan; the area was then called Tuath-an-Toraidh ("tuath [clan territory] of fruit/wealth/produce").[5] A member, Daniel Dulany the Elder (1685–1753), born in Upperwoods, became an important figure in colonial Maryland.

It is referred to in the topographical poem Tuilleadh feasa ar Éirinn óigh (Giolla na Naomh Ó hUidhrín, d. 1420):

Ard taoiseach tuaiṫe an toraiḋ
Ón Choill aoiḃinn Uachtoraiġ
Ó Duḃsláine, fial an fear
Ón tsliaḃ as áille inḃeaġ

("The high chief of the fruitful cantred, Of the delightful Coill Uachtorach [Upper Woods], Is O'Dubhslaine, hospitable the man, From the mountain of most beauteous rivers.")[6][7][8]

Upper Woods was formerly a part of the Upper Ossory barony, established by 1657; in 1842 it was divided into three cantreds: Upper Woods, Clandonagh and Clarmallagh.

List of settlements

Below is a list of settlements in Upper Woods barony:

• Coolrain[9]
• Kilbricken

References

1. "Upper Woods/An Choill Uachtarach". Logainm.ie.
2. Coote, Sir Charles; Society, Dublin (7 July 2018). "General view of the agriculture and manufactures of the Queen's county: with observations on the means of their improvement, drawn up in the year 1801 : for the consideration, and under the direction of the Dublin Society". Printed by Graisberry & Campbell – via Google Books.
3. "Search Results - " Upperwoods Barony"". sources.nli.ie.
4. "The Iron Age and the 'Dawn' of Idough". www.askaboutireland.ie.
5. Delaney, Terry. "Delaney, crest, history". www.usswhiteriver.com.
6. "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.
7. O'Clery, Michael (7 July 2018). "The Annals of Ireland [from A.D. 1171 to A.D. 1616]. Translated from the Original Irish of the Four Masters by O'Connellan, with Annotations by P. MacDermott and the Translator" – via Google Books.
8. "Irish Chiefs and Clans in Ossory, Offaley, Leix". www.libraryireland.com.
9. "The Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland: Adapted to the New Poor-law, Franchise, Municipal and Ecclesiastical Arrangements, and Compiled with a Special Reference to the Lines of Railroad and Canal Communication, as Existing in 1814-45". A. Fullarton and Company. 7 July 2018 – via Google Books.