The following details and figures held true for Co. Laois in 1931. It is actually a beautiful little county something I never realised until I began to travel the length and breadth of it in search of graveyards last year. It's something which was never taught to us in our Geography classes in school. The rest of Ireland was beautiful we were told, all green and pasture and scenery while we lived in the middle of it all with nothing much going for us except bogs and things :-) We have mountains - though they may not stand as high as those in other parts of Ireland or the world, they are beautiful to walk in - we have hills, we have forests, we have bogs, and we have lakes and rivers. Granstown or Granstown lake has really only been opened to the public in more recent years and such a peaceful place as it is. Jane County Laois Boundaries and Dimensions: Laois (formerly known as Queen's county and Leix) is an inland county in the Province of Leinster bounded on the north by Offaly (King's county), on the east by Kildare and Carlow, on the south by Kilkenny, and on the west by Tipperary and Offaly. Its greatest length, east and west by the wouthern border, is 34 miles, and it's greatest breadth, north and south, is 30 miles. Name and Former Divisions This county and Offaly (King's) received their names in recognition of the fact that they were constituted as counties in the reign of Queen Mary, after whom, and her husband King Philip of Spain, the towns of Maryborough (Portlaoise) and Philipstown (?Tullamore). The ancient territory of Laois occupied most of th south-eastern portion of the county, the patrimony of the O'Moores, whose chief lived on the Rock of Dunamase, still surmounted by O'Moores castle. The Baronies of Portnahinch and Tinnahinch now occupy the ancient territory called Offaly, though part of Tinnahinch formerly belonged to Canmaliere. The Baronies of Uper Woods, Clandonagh and Clarmallagh, formed part of the subordinate Kingdom of Ossory. Physical Features The Slive Bloom Mountains are on the boundary between Offaly and Laois counties, the following being the chief summits for County Laois. Arderin (1,733 ); Farbreague(1,411) and Wolftrap (1,584). Running from these are The Cones and The Ridge of Cappard, the highest points of the former being Barna (1,661) and Baunreaghcong (1,677) and near these is Baunrush (1,357). On th enorth of the Brrow valley is Knockanastumba (1,359) and not far off Knockachorra (1,533). Between Abbeyleix and Timahoe is Cullenagh Hill (1,045). In the south-east of the county are the Slievemargy Hills, several of the summits of which rise to over 1,000 feet in height. The Barrow River which rises in the county runs in and out, here and there, forming the boundary with Kildare, Carlow and Offaly counties. It has many tributaries the chief of which are the Glenlahan, the Wenass, the Triogue, flowing through Portlaois and the Banteogue on which stand Timahoe and Stradbally. The Nore, entering the county from Tipperary, first forms a small part of the boundary, and then runs for 24 miles through this county before it disappears into Kilkenny near Ballyragget; the Mountrath River is one of the principal tributaries of the Nore, which it joins two miles from Mountrath. Entering the Nore on its right bank is the Gully river. The lakes are small and used to be unimportant. Grantstown lake is an Area of Scientific Interest because of the flora around it. This means that it is protested by the State. Others worthy of naming are the Annaghmore, Emo lake and Ballyfin. Analysis of the Census for the County: Comparative Statistics (1821-1926) Year Males Females 1821 66,738 67,537 1831 72,469 73,382 1841 76,403 77,527 1851 55,556 56,108 1861 45,112 45,538 1871 39,845 39,928 1881 36,861 36,263 1891 33,171 31,712 1901 29,694 27,723 1911 28,711 25,918 1926 27,205 24,344 Families and Houses, 1926 The number of families in the county was 9,878, the average number in each family being 4.4. The number of Inhabited houses was 11,260, showing an average of a4.6 to each house. Th special inmates of public insttutinos are omitted from these calculations. There were in the county 8,483 Occupiers or Heads of Families who were inoccupation of les than five rooms being 85.5% f the total for the county. Of these 269 or 2.7% of the families in the county occupied one room; 1,590 or 16.1% two roms; 3,508 or 35.5% three rooms; and 3,216 or 31.6% occupied four rooms. There were in the county 129 tenements, in which the room had only one occupant; 114 cases where the room had two, three or four occupants; 19 cases in which there were five, six or seven occupants and 7 cses in which the number of occupants of one room exceeded 7 in number., including one case where eleven people occupied the same room. Birthplaces of the inhabitants Of the population in 1911, 84.2% were born in the county, 9.7% in other counties in Leinster, 3.0% in Munster 0.9% in Ulster, 0.7% in Connaught, 1.1% in Great Britain and 0.4% were born abroad. Education In 1911 there were in the county 45,733 persons aged 9 years and upwards; of these 41,371 or 90.5% could read and write; 1,323 or 2.9% could read only and 3,09 or 6.6% were illiterate. As this census was the starting point in which the age was raised from 5yrs to 9 years for literacy it is not possible to compare to older censuses. There is a report which states that the percentage of those of 5 years of age and upwards was 14.0 in 1891; 9.4 in 1901 and had fallen to 8.9 in 1911. Emigration The number of emigrants from the county in each of six census periods. 1911 : 2,542 1901 :4,434 1891 :13,634 1881 :9,090 1861:9,620 1871 :19,886