Judy - there are five Dioceses in Laois and something likek 52/53 parishes. The parishes you generally see referred to are civil parishes.....religious parishes are different then. COI parishes usually have the same outline as the Civil parish - but some civil parishes did not have enough inhabiutants to warrant a COI parish - in those instances you would find a few Civil Parishes being united together in one COI parish. For all of ireland the Catholic parishes are in general different to the Civil parishes.....and again, how many - their spread dependsed on the Priests in the area and the population of an area. The surname you are more than likely looking for is Welsh or Walsh. I've seen you mention Shragh and Purcell as well on the Ireland list..... There is no townland called 'Shragh' in Laois, you've also mentioned Johnstown..... There is a Johnstown Glebe near a town called Rathdowney in Laois.....also Rathdowney is a parish. Walsh is a name to be found in that area as is Purcell - another name which you mention. Rathdowney RC registers go back to somewhere in the mid to late 1700's.....and are in tact held in the local parish church. There are also copies in the National Library in Dublin While there is no Shragh in the area....there is a townland which has Shragh as the first part of it's name - Shraghhane..... this is to be found close to a palce called Camross in Laois.....which isn't too far from Rathdowney.... You may have to check records for Borris in Ossory or Mountrath....they are the two other parishes which woulkd be close to the area. Jane ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard Hassall" <rhassall@axion.net> To: <IRL-LAOIS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: 08 April 2000 18:51 Subject: parishes in Laois > Greetings from Canada > > I have found the following parishes in Diocese Ossory, County Laois. > Abbeyleix Parish > Aghavoe Parish > Durrow Parish > Killermogh Parish > Does anyone know are these the only parishes in Laois, are they Catholic or > Protestant, is there a map on the web that shows them with Diocese Ossory? > Thank you for reading this. > > Sincerely > Judy Hassall > > > ==== IRL-LAOIS Mailing List ==== > This list is sponsored by the Laois, IrelandGenWeb website - http://www.rootsweb.com/~irllex/ > >