Laois —
the county Nicola calls home
Long before Two for the Row'd existed, Laois was already home. Growing up near Portlaoise meant Sunday afternoon walks in the Slieve Bloom Mountains, hazelnut picking out in the Heath, and family trips up to the Rock of Dunamase that never got old. These days, Podge has got to know the county too — Timahoe's round tower, Stradbally Hall, and the woods around Stradbally that we keep going back to.
Laois has been part of Nicola's story from the very start. She grew up near Portlaoise, and some of her clearest childhood memories are the simplest ones: Sunday afternoons meant a walk in the Slieve Bloom Mountains, and autumn often meant heading out to the Heath to pick hazelnuts. Family trips up to the Rock of Dunamase were always a highlight too — the kind of place you never quite get tired of, however many times you've been.
Years later, exploring Laois with Podge has added a different layer to that. We've walked the woods around Stradbally together more than once, filmed the round tower and Heritage Festival in Timahoe, and taken a guided tour through Stradbally Hall — home to the Cosby family since the 1600s and better known to most people as the site of Electric Picnic.
For us, Laois isn't a county you visit for one big landmark. It's Sunday walks, family days out, heritage doors that don't normally open, and woods you find yourself going back to without really planning it.
🏰 Rock of Dunamase
A rocky outcrop just outside Portlaoise topped with the ruins of a Hiberno-Norman hilltop castle. Family trips here were always a highlight of Nicola's childhood, and it's easy to see why — the views out over the Laois countryside towards the Slieve Blooms are hard to beat.
⛰️ Slieve Bloom Mountains
Sunday meant a walk in the Slieve Blooms more often than not. The mountains straddle the Laois-Offaly border, with waterfalls, forest trails and blanket bog making up some of the county's best walking country.
See Abbeyleix Bog too ↓🌰 The Heath
A stretch of common and woodland just outside Portlaoise, and the spot for autumn hazelnut picking growing up. It's not a polished tourist attraction — it's the kind of place that means something because you grew up going there.
🏘️ Portlaoise
The county town, and the place Nicola calls home. Not always the first name people think of in Laois, but everything else in this guide is a short drive from here.
Some of our favourite Laois walks together aren't famous landmarks at all — they're the woods just outside Stradbally that we've walked more than once. Oughaval Woods, on the Stradbally-to-Carlow road, has a mix of looped trails through mainly broadleaf woodland, including a longer loop that passes the ruin of Cobbler's Castle, a folly built during the Famine. Nearby, Carrigmeal Woodlands is a newer addition — a young community woodland with a timber viewing tower looking out over the Slieve Blooms and across to the Rock of Dunamase.
Neither is the kind of place that needs a special occasion. They're just the woods we go back to.
🗼 Timahoe Round Tower
A 12th-century round tower standing almost 30 metres tall, with one of the most elaborately carved Romanesque doorways of any round tower in the country. We've filmed here ourselves — it's a genuinely special spot for somewhere so quiet.
Watch our Timahoe video ↓🎉 Timahoe Heritage Festival
We caught the local Heritage Festival in Timahoe too — exactly the kind of community event that brings a small village and its history to life for a weekend.
Watch the Festival video ↓🏛️ Stradbally Hall
A Georgian mansion home to the Cosby family since the 1620s, set in 550 acres of woodland and parkland. It's best known nationally as the site of Electric Picnic and the National Steam Rally, but during Heritage Week it also opens for family-led guided tours of the house itself.
Watch our Stradbally Hall video ↓💎 Why this is our kind of Laois
We love the childhood spots, but the ones that stay with us are often the ones we'd never have found without a bit of digging — a heritage festival in a small village, or a house that only opens its doors for one week a year. If that sounds like your kind of trip too, our Hidden Ireland collection is where we keep those finds.
Timahoe Round Tower
A closer look at one of Ireland's most beautifully carved round towers.
Timahoe Heritage Festival
A weekend of local history and community spirit in the village of Timahoe.
Stradbally Hall
Our visit to the Cosby family seat, home of Electric Picnic and the National Steam Rally.
Still to come...
One thing we don't want to do on Two for the Row'd is pretend we've personally experienced somewhere when we haven't. So this section is deliberately our Laois wish list.
🌿 Abbeyleix Bog
A 500-acre community-restored raised bog on the edge of Abbeyleix, with boardwalk trails through a genuinely rare habitat. It's firmly on our list — when we visit, it moves into the first-hand part of this guide.
🏚️ Donaghmore Famine Workhouse Museum
A restored 1840s workhouse near Portlaoise telling the story of the families who lived and died there during the Great Famine. We haven't been yet, but it's on the list.
We put together our own local guide to Laois, covering must-see attractions, our favourite places to eat, coffee stops, pubs worth visiting, shopping, hidden gems and easy day trips from the county — plus our own top picks for coffee, lunch, dinner, a pint, the best walk and the best photo.
💡 Our local tip
Visit the Bog Walk in Mountmellick early in the morning or late in the afternoon for the most peaceful experience — the light on the boardwalk is magical.
🏰 Did you know?
The Rock of Dunamase was once one of Ireland's strongest fortresses, withstanding many sieges before finally being captured in 1650.
Make Laois part of a midlands road trip
Laois sits right in the middle of the country, making it an easy addition to a wider Ireland itinerary. If you're travelling without your own car, organised Ireland tours can take some of the logistics out of the trip.
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Laois's best mix of heritage stops, woods and viewpoints is much easier when you can detour whenever something catches your eye.
It's not the biggest castle ruin in Ireland, but the setting and the views make it one of Laois's genuine highlights.
Places like Timahoe's heritage centre and Stradbally Hall's house tours often run seasonally or during Heritage Week specifically.
Mountain weather changes fast, even on what looks like a mild midlands day.
Events can open doors that normally stay closed — our Stradbally Hall visit is a good example.
Our ideal Laois day is one well-known stop, one woodland walk and at least one place that means something to us personally.
Keep exploring Ireland with us
Laois is the county at the heart of our Ireland archive — quite literally. Head back to the Ireland hub, explore Nicola's other home turf, or dive into the places most visitors drive straight past.