Laois Tours

About Laois

County Laois (pronounced "Leesh") is one of Ireland's least-visited counties — and one of its most rewarding for visitors who value architecture, heritage, and a pace of travel unbothered by crowds. The Rock of Dunamase is the county's most dramatic sight — a ruined hilltop fortress on a limestone outcrop between Portlaoise and Stradbally, standing 46 metres above the surrounding flat countryside with uninterrupted views toward the Slieve Bloom Mountains. The castle ruins date from the Norman period (associated with Strongbow's marriage alliance) but the site has been occupied since at least the 9th century. The climb to the top is short but steep, and the panoramic reward is one of the finest viewpoints in the midlands. Emo Court is a neoclassical mansion designed by James Gandon (the architect of Dublin's Custom House) in 1790. Its domed rotunda, inspired by the Pantheon in Rome, is the centrepiece of a house set in 250 acres of parkland managed by the OPW. The mile-long Wellingtonia Avenue, the 25-acre lake, and the arboretum with rare trees (including Bhutan Pine, Tulip Tree, and Blue Atlas Cedar) are open year-round with no admission fee. Guided tours of the house run seasonally. Heywood Gardens, 25 minutes south near Ballinakill, is a formal landscape designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens — one of the few Lutyens gardens in Ireland. Terraces, pergolas, and a sunken garden create an Italianate atmosphere that is peaceful and rarely crowded. Abbeyleix is one of Ireland's finest planned estate towns. Established in the 1770s by the de Vesci family, who relocated the original village to higher ground, the town preserves its Georgian streetscape and heritage character. Heritage House is a community-run museum telling the town's story, and Morrissey's pub — dating to 1770, with its original fittings and shop counters — is a landmark in its own right. The town was designated a Heritage Town of Ireland. The Slieve Bloom Mountains form the county's western border (shared with Offaly), with the Glenbarrow waterfall trail and the 70-kilometre Slieve Bloom Way accessible from the Laois side.