What is recorded here

Dunsalagh vanished before human memory, leaving only a fort and a field behind. Poor men paid fines there in 1297, yet no wall, road or doorway remains for them to point at. The town may have sat anywhere within Vicarstown, perhaps clustered around Dunrally, perhaps scattered through soil now indistinguishable from ordinary farmland. Its absence does not diminish it; it completes it. A place that cannot be found resists being owned, corrected or forgotten.

Possible village here centred on Dunrally (Feehan J., 1983, 370). No visible surface remains. In 1297 there is a reference to fines being paid by 'the community of the poor men of the town of Dunsalagh' (Feehan 1983, 370). This town of Dunsalagh has been tentatively identified as possibly being Dunrally (Feehan 1983, 370). Dunrally fort is situated in the townland of Vicarstown, this townland was previously called Derrybrock and this setllement could be located anywhere within the townland or centred around the fort of Dunrally. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 17 December 2007

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