Cullohill

Cullahill an Chúlchoill
—  Town  —
Cullahill Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 52°49′06″N 7°28′32″W / 52.818429°N 7.47551°W / 52.818429; -7.47551Coordinates: 52°49′06″N 7°28′32″W / 52.818429°N 7.47551°W / 52.818429; -7.47551
Country	Ireland
Province	Leinster
County	County Laois
Elevation	100 m (328 ft)
Population (2006)
– Urban	200
– Rural	800
Time zone	WET (UTC+0)
– Summer (DST)	IST (WEST) (UTC-1)
Irish Grid Reference	S390761

Cullohill Castle

Cullahill or Cullohill (Irish: Cúlchoill / an Chúlchoill, meaning "the back of the woods/behind the woods")^[1] is a small village situated on the R639 road road in County Laois, Ireland.

History

A priory of Augustine canons was founded here in 550 by O'Dempsey, under the invocation of St. Tighernach who is now the patron saint of the area.

The village is home to an impressive early 15th century tower house, once the principal stronghold of the MacGillapatricks (or Fitzpatricks) of Upper Ossory. The Castle has a Sheela na Gig and a medieval church.

Under their patronage, a medical school flourished at Aghmacart towland, about a mile from the castle from before 1500 to c.1610. It was conducted by the Ó Conchubhair family. Its physicians included Donnchadh Óg Ó Conchubhair (fl. 1581-1611), Risteard Ó Conchubhair (1561–1625), Donnchadh Albanach Ó Conchubhair (1571–1647) and Cathal Ó Duinnshléibhe (fl. 1592-1611).

According to 1837 records Cullohill was listed as a village in the parish of Aghmacart. Aghmacart is now a townsland of Cullohill and contains an old church and graveyard which are still in use. Church Service (Church of Ireland) is held at 9a.m. every second Sunday.

It is now part of Durrow parish and is in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ossory.

Activities

Cullohill is surrounded by wonderful Irish countryside and has several public walkways from leisurely rambles to challenging treks up the nearby hills. Description of Walks on Laois Tourism website

Sport

GAA

The local GAA club is The Harps GAA which was formed in 1984 as an amalgamation with Durrow. Up until then Cullohill had its own hurling team and had won the Laois senior hurling championship in 1955 and 1964. The 1955 team was captained by Lar Dunphy and the 1964 team by Martin Mahony.

People

Darina Allen the well known TV chef and cook book author is a native of Cullohill. Her family remain there today where they own and run the local pub, The Sports Man's Inn, or O'Connell's as it is more known locally.

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland

References

1. ^ Placenames Database of Ireland

• The medical school at Aghmacart, Queen's County, Aoibheann Nic Dhonnchadha, Ossory, Laois and Leinster 2, (2006)

External links

• Cullohill Castle.
• Diocese of Ossary site with Parish details.
• Durrow Community Website
• Harps Camogie Club Website