People often wonder as to what the county their ancestors came from is like. I have a few books which give descriptions of the vatious Irish counties, some basic facts and then others where the author in one way or another 'talks' to you about the county as he takes you on a journey through it. Where authors go, what they do or see differs from book to book This particular description is about 9 A4 pages long and I will post more over the next few days if people are interested. Jane County Laois or Leix Richard Hayward 1949 (From 'This is Ireland, LEINSTER and the City of Dublin) We have already observed that the ancient Irish territory of Leix was turned into a county during the reign of Mary of England, and named in her honour the Queen's County, but that it has now reverted to the dignity of its native name. That name is derived from the Ulster chieftain Lughaidh Laoighseach, who threw the rieving Munstermen out of Ossory at the beginning of the second century, and, for that service, was granted, by the King of Leinster, the territory which now bears part of his name. His descendants, the O Moores, inherited from him not only these lands, but also the tribal name of Laoighis, and so the region became known as the Lands of the Descendants of Laoighis, anglicised Leix, and pronounced in English phonetics: Leesh. The county lies mainly on the Central Limestone Plain, but rises at its northern edge to the high ridge of the Slieve Blooms, and at its south-eastern boundary to that uneroded plateau which protects the Kilkenny coalfield beneath its sheltering mantle. We have already considered the geology of these two elevated regions, and observed that whilst there are no lakes in Leix, the Barrow rises, and the Nore gathers most of its water, within the county. We left Carlow by the Castlecomer road and were soon ascending the ridge of the coalfield plateau. In three miles we were in the Cut of Killeshin, by which, the road pierces the girdle of uneroded rocks to a depth varying from ten to forty feet. The ruined church of Killeshin-Cill Íseal, the Low Church-has a doorway that is the gem of the county, as Raymond Piper's fine drawing will confirm, a lovely example of that Hiberno-Romanesque architecture which is our only native style. The Gothic builders of Mellifont sounded its death-knell before it had a chance to become old, but not before those shining masterpieces, Cormac's Chapel at Cashel and the cathedral at Clonfert, had been created. You may argue that this is not an original style, but merely an importation from England and France, but I would tell you that in crossing the channel it suffered a sea-change into something rich and strange, and became completely naturalised. It is in the character of the ornament, carried out in low relief in a continuance of the technique of traditional Celtic art ; in the assembling and disposition of the forms and parts of the fabric; and in the general manner of handling, that we find the distinction that makes this a veritable native style, and I must confess my love for it. To me nothing sorts so well with the small Irish landscape, the ever-changing Irish skies, and the little blessed intimate ways of the Irish people, and I seem to feel it growing out of our very soil and expressing to perfection the heart and soul of Ireland. Gothic never suited our genius in this way but always remained alien and awkward and undigested, and it is a thousand pities that it supplanted, under Norman supremacy, something that was taken into our blood so that our artists made beautiful dreams of it. The road we travelled to Abbeyleix cut across the northern tip of Kilkenny by way of Castlecomer-Caisleán A' Chomair, the Castle of the Confluence-a place-name that is at once confirmed by the junction of a small stream with the River Dinin. Here we had a chance to see that rarity in Ireland, a colliery town, but, being Irish, as unlike a colliery town as could well be. It is neat and clean and tidy, and the views over the Wicklow mountains and the surrounding countryside are particularly fine, for we are here at the summit of the great plateau that stands a thousand feet above sea-level, and descends steeply east and west into the valleys of the Barrow and the Nore. The collieries are dispersed over a wide area, and if you intend to visit any of them you will find the old workings at Bilboa especially interesting for the variety of fossilised coal ferns and sigillaria which you may gather there, as well as specimens of two crustacea related to the limulus or king-crab. If you do decide to browse in this region, you should not miss the delightful late-Romanesque doorway of Freshford church, with its unique figure carvings, nor fail to visit the Dunmore Caves a few miles away, not very extensive as caves go, but remarkable for their long history in literature. Their lame begins with their mention in the early Irish annals, under the name of Dearca Fearna - the Caves of the Alder; runs through the eighteenth century, when many travellers gave sensational accounts of their visits ; and comes down to the present time, when the caves have been inspected and surveyed with scientific calm. I must leave you to search the libraries for the earlier accounts, most exciting and well worth reading, and simply assure you now that you will enjoy the sight of the picturesque and romantic entrance to these caverns, typical of the sculpting of limestone by water, thrill to the piles of human bones by the well, belonging to persons of all ages and both sexes who were the victims of a Norse raid in 928, and find delight in the grand show of stalagmites and stalactites which will glisten and gleam and throw strange shadows from the light of the candles with which you should provide yourself.