Ballyadams Baile Adaim (Irish) | |
|---|---|
 Barony map of Queen's County, 1900; Ballyadams is orange and in the east. | |
| Sovereign state | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | Laois |
| Area | |
• Total | 97.45 km2 (37.63 sq mi) |
Ballyadams (Irish:Baile Adaim[1]) is abarony inCounty Laois (formerly calledQueen's County orCounty Leix),Ireland.[2][3][4]
Ballyadams barony is named afterBallyadams Castle, a 15th-centuryfortified house nearBallylynan.[citation needed]
Ballyadams is located in the east of the county, north of theRiver Douglas and west of theRiver Barrow (where it forms part of the border withCounty Kildare). It is alimestone region, with someanthracite coal being mined in the past.[5]
Ancient chiefs in the area include the Uí Caollaidhe (Keely), who were chiefs of Críoch Uí mBuidhe.[6]
It is referred to in the topographical poemTuilleadh feasa ar Éirinn óigh (Giolla na Naomh Ó hUidhrín, d. 1420):
Críoch Ó mBuidhe an fhóid fhinntigh
ós Bearbha mbuig mbraoinlinntigh;
d’Ó Chaolluidhe as caomh an chríoch,
aoghoire nár fhaomh eissíoth
("Crioch O-mbuidhe of the fair sod, Along theBarrow of the bright pools, To O'Caollaidhe the territory is fair, A shepherd prepared to encounter enemies.")[7]
The Uí Caollaidhe were expelled during theLaois-Offaly Plantation of the 16th century, and took land at Kylenabehy.[8] Ballyadams went to the Bowen family, including Robert Bowen (High Sheriff of Queen's County 1579) and Lucy Bowen (wife ofWilliam Southwell).
Below is a list of settlements in Ballyadams barony:
