County Laois, also spelt Laoighis or Leix (Irish: Contae Laoise), is a county in the midlands of Ireland. It is situated in the province of Leinster.
Created in 1556 by Mary I of England as Queen's County, Laois received its present Irish language name following the Irish War of Independence. Portlaoise (previously Maryborough) is the county town. Laois was the subject of two Plantations or colonisations by English settlers. The first occurred in 1556, when the Earl of Sussex dispossessed the O'More clan from the area and attempted to replace them with English settlers.
However, this only led to a long drawn out guerilla war in the county and left a small English community clustered around garrisons.
There was a more successful plantation in the county in 17th century, which expanded the existing English settlement with more landowners and tenants from England. Neither plantation was fully successful due to a lack of tenants and because of continuous raids and attacks by the O' Mores.
Finally, the county became home to a community of French Huguenots in the 1690s, who were settled in Ireland after their service to William of Orange in the Williamite war in Ireland. In addition to this, large numbers of Quakers settled in Mountmellick and developed the area.
The county was renamed in the early 1920s, following a competition.
The county is landlocked and, uniquely amongst Irish counties it does not border any other counties with a sea coast. It is therefore considered to be "the most landlocked county in Ireland.
Agriculture is the largest sector of the economy, with 70 % of the area (1,200 km²), farmed every year. The county is home to over 230,000 cattle, four cows for every person.
The county has a small industrial base, with industrial parks at Portlaoise and Mountmellick.
Over 1500 people work in the industrial sector in County Laois.
However, unemployment is higher than other Irish counties and annual income is lower than the national average, at about 88% of the average. The county makes up part of the Border Midlands and West region for the purposes of EU funding.
Laois tends to strongly support the Fianna Fáil party in Irish elections. In the last local elections, however, there was a sharp swing to the opposition Fine Gael party.
Historically important Irish figures, such as Kevin O'Higgins and Oliver Flanagan were born in County Laois. Laois is in the Laois-Offaly constituency for elections to Dáil Éireann.
The population of County Laois is expanding rapidly, given its easy commute to Dublin and affordable housing in pleasant surroundings. In the 2006 census the population had increased by 14% to 67,000 people.
