Art Holiday Travel and Vacation information for Laois (Queens County)

"Queen's County , a county of Ireland, bounded N and W by King's county, E by Kildare and part of Carlow, S by Kilkenny, and SW by Tipperary, 32 English m. long, and as many broad. Along the W boundary runs a range of high and steep mountains, and in the E the Dysart hills form a prominent and picturesque object. The lands have been thus distributed - Arable land, pasture, and meadow: 210,000 acres; Woods and plantations: 1,300 acres; Bog, mountain, and waste: 21,000 acres; Roads: 2,000 acres; Total area: 235,300 acres. Principle rivers, the Barrow and Nore. Chief towns, Maryborough, Portarlington, and Stradbelly. Almost every description of soil is found in this county, from a very stiff clay, to a light but fertile sandy loam. The principal mineral productions are coal and limestone. It sends 3 members to the British parliament. Pop. 90,000."
[From The New London Gazetteer (1826)]