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THE HEATH

The Gaelic or Irish name for The Heath is An Fraoch Mór. Fraoch means 'heather' and mór means 'big'. The Heath is a flat area of roughly 425 acres, situated beside the main Dublin-Cork road, about four miles from the town of Portlaoise. The area used to be known as The Heath of Maryborough. Maryborough is the old name for Portlaoise. It was called this in honour of the English Queen Mary whose armies planted Laois in the sixteenth century. In 1920 the name was changed to Portlaoise which is Irish for 'the fort of Laois'. Today, The Heath is a common, but there are marks or ridges on the surface which, according to some people, prove that the land was once cultivated.

In the summer, The Heath is covered in lovely heather and yellow furze blossoms. All over The Heath there are sheep that are free to roam wherever they like. Sometimes they come into the school grounds and Mr Dunne gets mad! Near the school there is a small pond. Swans and ducks go there in the winter. There is a well-known golf club right beside the pond. In 1997, the Portlaoise By-Pass was officially opened. This motorway runs right through The Heath and has caused great changes in the local landscape.

In ancient times, chariot races were held on The Heath and, in the last century, the area was famous for horse racing. The races eventually lost their popularity because the prizes weren't attractive enough. In 1887, the winner of the main race was presented with a silver cup filled with Guinness. Late in the last century too, there was a Cricket Club on The Heath. The Heath was also the training ground for soldiers (the Fourth Battallion of the Leinster Regiment) and the old race stand was used as the Officers' Mess.

THREE LOCAL LANDMARKS

The Rock of Dunamase. This hill of hard limestone rock (about 60 metres above ground level) was marked on a map by Ptolemy in the 2nd century. It was called 'Dunum'. In Celtic Ireland, it was known as Dún Masc, the fort of Masc. Masc was a grandson of the King of Leinster. In 843, Dunamase was plundered by the Danes. In the 12th century, it belonged to Dermot Mac Murrough, King of Leinster. He was the man who invited the Normans to Ireland. The Rock of Dunamase After the Norman Invasion in 1169, Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke (known as Strongbow) married Dermot's daughter, Aoife, and inherited the castle. In the 14th century, it was taken over by the O'Moores and, for the next two hundred years, the Irish and English fought over it. The O'Moores were the most famous Laois family and, even today, Laois is sometimes called 'The O'Moore County'. In 1650, Dunamase was destroyed by Oliver Cromwell's colonels Hewson and Reynolds. Today the castle is in ruins.

Heath House. It is believed that this big house was built in 1727 by Warner Westenra whose family came originally from Holland. Since then, the house has had at least a dozen different owners. These are the family names: Saunderson (1765-1771), Burdett (1771-?), Gore (1804), O'Reilly (1804-1864) and Wall (1864-1880). Heath HouseThe famous Gaelic scholar and placenames expert, John O'Donovan(1806-1861) was friend of Myles O'Reilly and, at one stage, he spent six months in Heath House recovering from an illness. In 1880, the house was bought by Charles Blake who came from County Mayo. His family made it very famous as a racing stable. Many horses trained there won important races in Ireland and England. Colonel A.J Blake was Leading Trainer in 1930, 1931 and 1938. The Blakes eventually left Heath House in the early 1960's and it is now owned by a Dublin architect and writer named Uinseann Mac Eoin.

Emo Court. Work on this fine mansion (designed by the famous architect James Gandon) was started by the 1st Earl of Portarlington around 1790, but it wasn't completed until 1860, when the huge copper dome (known as a rotunda) was added. Emo CourtIn 1930 the house was sold to the Jesuit Order of priests who used it as a seminary. The well-known Irish writer Benedict Kiely spent a short while there in the late 1930's. In 1969, it was bought and beautifully restored by Mr Cholmley-Harrison. He later sold it to the government and it is now run by the Board Of Works. Each year thousands of people come to admire the house and walk around the lovely gardens. Sometimes classical music recitals and poetry readings are held there as well.

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GOODBYE TO PRIMARY SCHOOL HOW WE WELCOMED... INTERESTING FACTS SPORTS

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