Abbeyleix Heritage House

14/08/2026

Heritage House is delighted to host a series of talks for Heritage Week, in collaboration with the Abbeyleix and District Historical Society. The theme for 2026 is Heritage at Risk.

All talks in Heritage House for Heritage Week 2026 are free entry, no booking required.

Talks on Monday 17th August:

TALK 1: ‘The 28 Abbeyleix & Mountmellick Orphan Girls’ - Sinead Holland, Local Studies Librarian and Chairperson of the Laois Heritage Society.

TALK 2: ‘Mountmellick Lace & the 28 Bonnets’ - Dolores Dempsey, master craftsperson in Mountmellick Lace.

Tuesday 18th August:

TALK 1: ‘Launt Thompson: Abbeyleix to America’ - Andy Ring, presenter and local expert.

TALK 2: ‘New Museum Artefacts’ - Heather Crean, Abbeyleix Heritage House Research Officer.

TALK 3: ‘The Irish White Cross’ - Michael Lynch, historian.

Wednesday 19th August:

TALK 1: ‘Abbeyleix: The Planned Town’ - Brian Maher, town planner and presenter.

TALK 2: ‘United Irishwomen (Irish Countrywomen’s Association) and Abbeyleix ‘Heritage at Risk’ - Regina Dunne, Historian & Tourism Strategy Manager.

14/08/2026

07/08/2026

A quick look at our Mulhall Room- named after the late Paddy Mulhall of Morrissey’s Pub🥂

Easily accessible, an ideal cosy choice for research, meetings, workshops, and more!📚

07/08/2026

A quick look at our Mulhall Room- named after the late Paddy Mulhall of Morrissey’s Pub🥂

Easily accessible, an ideal cosy choice for research, meetings, workshops, and more!📚

31/07/2026

📸This week's curator spotlight is on a new addition to our museum. This striking model is of the Gateway to Heaven graveyard in Abbeyleix. This handcrafted model depicts a traditional famine rural burial ground enclosed by stone walls and marked by simple headstones, crosses, and floral tributes. Created by local modeller Paddy Carroll, it reflects both artistic skill and cultural insight.

The model evokes the small graveyards associated with the nineteenth-century famine period - places of sorrow, resilience, and community memory. These quiet enclosures, scattered across the Laois landscape, hold generations whose stories are often unrecorded but never forgotten.

Through careful detail and sensitive composition, the model captures the dignity of rural burial traditions, the continuity of faith, and the enduring presence of ancestors within local imagination.

Heritage House would like to thank Paddy and the Abbeyleix Historical Society for this worthy addition to our Main Hall.

21/07/2026

Featured today is one of the fantastic new models that have been added to our Main Hall! This model is of the famine lazy beds in Abbeyleix.📸

These famine ridges, or Lazy Beds, were a distinctive ridge system once used for potato cultivation across Ireland. The raised beds, separated by narrow trenches, were labour-intensive but suited to poor soils and wet ground.

As depicted in the model, people would work tirelessly at planting and harvesting, along with drawing a horse and cart. The scene reflects the precariousness of rural life in the years leading up to the Great Famine, when families depended almost entirely on the potato crop.

This model has been meticulously crafted by Paddy Carroll, and his fantastic model offers visitors a vivid, accessible way to understand the agricultural systems of the nineteenth century, the vulnerability of rural households, and the human story behind one of Ireland’s defining historical tragedies.

This model has been kindly left in for display, with research provided by the Abbeyleix Historical Society founded by local historian Noel Burke.

14/07/2026

📸Pictured is a ring from the Brigidine convent Abbeyleix, which would have been presented to each sister at Final Profession. This ring is part of a growing collection of items from the Brigidines, ranging from manuscripts and photographs to textiles.

07/07/2026

Pictured is a lively Fair Day in Ballinakill, taken by W. Sheeran. This photograph is on the front of a postcard. ✉️

Ballinakill originally was known as being a market town, which would attract those far and wide to the area. The town became well known for its bustling industries, which included brewing, milling, and weaving. 🍺

Made a parliamentary borough in 1613, it would remain as such until the Act of Union (1801). Ballinakill is also known for the stunning Heywood gardens, the former Salesian college, and its connection to the 1798 Irish rebellion. A monument in honour of those from the area who passed during the uprising was erected in 1898, with the laying of the foundation stone occuring on Christmas Day of that year. Six men are honoured on this monument- Crennan, Comerford, Geoghan, Fagan, Fox, and McEvoy. ☘

W. Sheeran, the man who took this photo, was from the area of Watercastle. As well as a photographer, it seems that William Sheeran was also engaged in farming. Sheeran passed away in 1941. 📸