According to the LEWIS TOPOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF
IRELAND 1837
Stradbally is described as a picturesque market,
post-town, and a parish, in the barony of STRADBALLY, QUEEN'S
county, and province of LEINSTER situated in the heart of Co. Laois
is overflowing with history and culture. Stradbally Manor, the
Georgian seat of the Cosby family. The village is a hive of activity
during the summer months hosting the Flower Festival and Steam
Rally. This place, anciently called "Mon-au-Bealing", was the site
of a Franciscan monastery founded in the 12th century by the chief
of the O'Mores, which, in 1592, was granted with all its
possessions, comprising several castles, to Francis Cosby and his
heirs, to hold as of the Castle of Maryborough, in capite, by
knight's service, at a yearly rent of £17.6.3., and to provide nine
English horsemen. This grant was, in 1609, confirmed and renewed by
Jas. Ist to Richard, son of Alexander Cosby, together with the manor
and lordship of Timahoe. The town is one of the most pleasant in the
county: it is situated on the banks of a small river which flows
into the Barrow, in a vale surrounded by lofty hills, and in a
district richly embellished with cultivated demesnes. The principal
street is spacious: the number of houses, in 1831, was 306, mostly
well built: the river is crossed by a bridge of three arches. The
southern branch of the Grand Canal passes along the eastern side of
the barony into the vale of the Barrow, opening a communication with
Dublin and the towns on that river, but there are no manufactures,
nor is any trade carried on, excepting that arising from the produce
of two flour-mills on the stream that runs through the town. The
market is on Saturday; and there are fairs on May 6th, July 10th,
Aug. 21st, Sept. 14th, and Nov. 21st. A chief constabulary police
force is stationed in the town; general sessions of the peace are
held here twice in the year, and petty sessions on alternate
Fridays. The court-house is a neat building, and attached to it is a
small bridewell, containing three cells, two day-rooms and an airing
yard. There is a dispensary, and also a savings' bank. The parish
comprises 1373 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act: the
land is good, and much of it in demesne; the system of agriculture
is improved, and very excellent limestone is procured, which is used
for building and other purposes. The vicinity is beautifully varied.
Stradbally Hall, the residence of T. P. Cosby, Esq., is a handsome
mansion adjoining the town, and situated in a highly embellished
demesne, within the limits of which was formerly the ancient castle
of the O'Mores. Brockley Park, formerly occupied by the Earl of
Roden, and now the residence and property of W. D. Farrer, Esq., is
pleasantly situated on the opposite side of the town. In the
vicinity are also Ballykilcavan, the seat and improved demesne of
Sir Edw. Welsh, Bart.; Kellyville, the residence of Thos. B. Kelly,
Esq.; Timogue, of Thos. Budds, Esq.; Ballymanus of M. Dunne Esq.;
Moyanna, of J. Lyons, Esq.; Vicarstown, of Jas. Grattan, Esq.;
Rahinduffe, of Mrs. Baldwin; Derry, of John Baldwin, Esq.; Lohihoa,
of R. Dexter, Esq.; Clopook, of Mrs. Mahon; and Esker, of T. Bailey,
Esq. The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Leighlin, united by
act of council, in 1774, to the vicarage of Moyanna, and in the
patronage of T. P. Cosby, Esq.: the rectory is impropriate in the
Provost and Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin. The tithes amount to
£208.14.2., of which £139.9.7. is payable to the impropriators, and
the remainder to the vicar. The glebe-house is a good residence, and
the glebe comprises 12 acres; the gross tithes of the benefice
amount to £207.13.9. The church, a handsome building in the town,
was erected in 1764 by subscription; the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners have recently granted £321 for its repair. In the R.
C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district,
comprising also the parishes of Moyanna, Corclone, Timogue, Fossey,
and Kilcolmanbrook: the chapel in the town is a spacious edifice,
and a handsome chapel has been lately erected at Timahoe in the
Gothic style, capable of accommodating 4000 persons. About 80
children are taught in the national school, which is wholly
supported by Mrs. Cosby; and there are several private schools.
There was formerly a charter school, for which a building was
erected at an expense of £3000, of which sum £300 was a gift from
the late Poole Cosby, Esq. A battle is said to have been fought at
Stradbally bridge between the first settlers of the Cosby family and
a native sept, in which the leaders on both sides were killed. Near
the town are the ruins of an old church, the walls of which are
about six feet thick and of considerable height: under one end is
the mausoleum of the Cosby family. Four miles to the south is the
Dun of Clopoke, an isolated rock, in which are various singular
cavities; it has a level summit, formerly encompassed with a rampart
of stone, and was a fort of the O'Mores; the ascent is steep and
rugged; it is now remarkable only for the romantic views which is
commands along the range of hills in its vicinity and the rich
pastures of Timogue.
