Ballyroan, County Laois 2.11

Ballyroan is a small town in County Laois in Ireland. It is in the civil parish of Ballyroan and in the former barony of Cullenagh. Ballyroan has a community hall, health centre, a sheltered housing facility for the elderly, two schools – boys' and girls', a small public park, two churches – Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland, three pubs, and a shop/petrol station. The R425 regional road passes through the village.HistoryThere was a druids altar in Cashel. Saint Faolan founded a church in Cashel in 468, and between then and the ninth century, seven bishops are said to have been interred in Tullore, an ancient cemetery, one of the oldest in Ireland.The motte was built by the Normans towards the end of the 12th century. Conall O'Moore built a castle in the 14th century. In the stagecoach days the castle was an inn known as The Bull's Head.The Brigidine Sisters came to the village in 1877. Three sisters from the Abbeyleix Community took up residence in their newly built convent on 25 September of that year. Their convent and school closed in 1974.