Rathdowney 4.61

Rathdowney or Rathdowny is a town in southwest County Laois, Ireland. It lies some 32 km southwest of Portlaoise in the Irish Midlands, at the point where the R433 regional road from Abbeyleix to Templemore is crossed by the R435 from Borris-in-Ossory to Johnstown. The R433 provides access for Rathdowney to the Dublin-Cork M8 motorway, while the R435 links the town to the Dublin-Limerick M7. According to the 2011 census the population stands at 1,208.HistoryRathdowney is named after a nearby ringfort, or ráth, which was levelled in 1830. This ráth is mentioned three times in the Annals of the Four Masters: 874 Flaithri, son of Maelduin, Lord of Rath-Tamhnaighe (Rathdowney) died 909 Maelpadraig, son of Flaithri, Lord of Rath-Tamhnaighe, died 1069 Gillamoula, grandson of Bruaideadh, Lord of Rath-Tamhnaighe The settlement of Rathdowney has existed since at least the 9th century. Historically it forms part of the Kingdom of Osraige, and today it remains part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ossory, as such Rathdowney is not historically part of Laois. The present-day county of Laois is a modern administrative construct. A half mile southeast of Rathdowney, there stood until 1836, the ruins of a castle called Rathpiper, which most probably took its name from "Pipard", a descendant of Adam de Hereford. This locality of "Pyperath" within Rathdowny parish appears to have been a royal site associated with the medieval Mac Giolla Phádraig dynasty, as documents relating to meeting there in 1558 show.