What is recorded here

Medieval Lea rose as a royal military staging post in County Laois, yet repeated Irish raids and flooding reduced it to a few occupied plots by 1323. Its identity is equally blurred beneath drainage ditches and castle earthworks, while local memory preserves a giant ash tree said to mark its 1642 recovery. That tree anchored Whit-Monday dancing until decay and the loss of the fair carried the town further into forgetfulness.

Unlocated settlement near Coolowely church that Feehan describes as 'Around it (church) are the foundations of garden enclosures, and some distance away are the foundations of what may have the manorial vill' (Feehan 1983, 245). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 17 December 2007

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