# Geashill

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Village in County Offaly, Ireland

Village in Leinster, Ireland

Geashill Géisill (Irish) Village Pub in Geashill Geashill Location in Ireland Coordinates: 53°14′13″N 7°19′19″W / 53.237°N 7.322°W / 53.237; -7.322 Country Ireland Province Leinster County Offaly Elevation 89 m (292 ft) Population (2016)[1] • Total 395 Time zone UTC+0 (WET) • Summer (DST) UTC-1 (IST (WEST)) Irish Grid Reference N450206

**Geashill** [/ˈɡiːʃəl/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) ([Irish](/source/Irish_language): *Géisill*)[2] is a village in [County Offaly](/source/County_Offaly), [Ireland](/source/Republic_of_Ireland). It is situated between the towns of [Tullamore](/source/Tullamore) and [Portarlington](/source/Portarlington%2C_County_Laois) (each 12 km away), on the [R420 road](/source/R420_road). The village has a [Church of Ireland](/source/Church_of_Ireland) church, a shop and petrol station, a school, a [GAA](/source/Gaelic_Athletic_Association) club, two public houses and a playground. Geashill was named "tidiest village" in the 2021 and 2023 [Tidy Towns](/source/Tidy_Towns_(Ireland)) competitions.[3][4] The village is in a [townland](/source/Townland) and [civil parish](/source/Civil_parishes_in_Ireland) of the same name.[2]

## History

The name Geashill is an anglicisation of the Irish name *Géisill*. Older anglicisations include *Geashil, Geshill, Geshell, Geisshell* and *Gessill*.[2]

### Medieval period

An ancient place named *Brí Dam* was situated in or near Geashill;[5] it had its sacred tree ([Old Irish](/source/Old_Irish_language): *bile Brí Daim*) that was mentioned in *Lives of Saint Patrick*. In 600 AD, Brí Dam was the place of death of king of Uisnech (according to some sources - King of Ireland) [Suibne mac Colmáin](/source/Suibne_mac_Colm%C3%A1in), who was killed near an unidentified stream.

An [Anglo-Norman](/source/Anglo-Normans) settlement was built here between 1185 and 1204 by the first Lord of Offaly, [Gerald Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald](/source/Gerald_FitzMaurice%2C_1st_Lord_of_Offaly), an ancestor of the Earls of Kildare. Originally of [motte-and-bailey](/source/Motte-and-bailey) design, it was a timber castle on an earthen mound, nearby were located the church and tenant dwellings. In the 15th century the wooded fortress was replaced by a stone tower house. Today, only the west wall of the castle remains.

In 1598, [Lettice Digby, 1st Baroness Offaly](/source/Lettice_Digby%2C_1st_Baroness_Offaly), daughter and heir of Gerald, the Lord Offaly of the time, married a Robert Digby of [Coleshill, Warwickshire](/source/Coleshill%2C_Warwickshire), England, who was a brother of [John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol](/source/John_Digby%2C_1st_Earl_of_Bristol) and whose son was created [Robert Digby, 1st Baron Digby](/source/Robert_Digby%2C_1st_Baron_Digby), of Geashill in the [King's County](/source/County_Offaly), in 1620.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

### 19th century

The triangular green in Geashill

The Digbys developed Geashill as a planned estate village. [Samuel Lewis](/source/Samuel_Lewis_(publisher)), writing in 1837, described the village as containing 87 mostly thatched houses arranged around a triangular green.[6] Fairs were held on 1 May, 6 October and December, the latter being one of the largest pig markets in Ireland. Consisting of over 34,000 acres (140 km2), the Digby estate was the largest in County Offaly.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

[Edward Digby, the 9th Baron Digby](/source/Edward_Digby%2C_9th_Baron_Digby), came into the estate in 1856, but had no money to keep it. Consequently, he evicted a large number of families from their lands. A local priest, Father Patrick Dunne, arranged for 400 people to be taken to [Australia](/source/Australia) on a ship named the *Erin-go-Bragh*, which took a record 25 weeks to reach [Moreton Bay](/source/Moreton_Bay); 51 passengers died en route.[7] Following the evictions, Lord Digby carried out extensive improvements in the 1860s and 1870s and many of the current buildings around the triangular green date from this time. The *Kings County Directory* recorded that Digby had "converted the village of Geashill into what it now is, one of the neatest, cleanest and best kept in Ireland".[8]

At the Paris Exhibition of 1867, Lord Digby was awarded the bronze medal for models of the village he was building. He was awarded the gold medal for three years by the Royal Agricultural Society, for improving the greatest number of cottages in the best manner in the province of [Leinster](/source/Leinster). The Digbys built a house called Geashill Castle near the medieval tower house, but this was burnt down during the Civil War in 1922.[9]

## Transport

Geashill railway station opened on 2 October 1854, was closed for passenger traffic on 17 June 1963 and finally closed altogether on 30 August 1982.[10]

There are several buses each day to Tullamore and Portarlington, and other local places.[11]

## Sport

The local [Gaelic Athletic Association](/source/Gaelic_Athletic_Association) club, [Raheen GAA](/source/Raheen_GAA),[12] won the Offaly Intermediate Football Championship in 1981 and 2014.[13]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-cso2016_1-0)** ["Sapmap Area - Settlements - Geashill"](http://census.cso.ie/sapmap2016/Results.aspx?Geog_Type=ST2016&Geog_Code=0395C81B-9FE2-4354-8E78-55BF5DE96E5A#SAPMAP_T1_100). *Census 2016*. Central Statistics Office. April 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2020.[*[permanent dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*]

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-logainm_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-logainm_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-logainm_2-2) ["Géisill / Geashill (see archival records)"](https://www.logainm.ie/1416832.aspx). *logainm.ie*. Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 8 August 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Kane, Conor (12 November 2021). ["Ennis in Co Clare named Ireland's tidiest town"](https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2021/1112/1259509-tidy-towns/). [RTÉ News and Current Affairs](/source/RT%C3%89_News_and_Current_Affairs). Retrieved 12 November 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Fletcher, Laura (6 October 2023). ["Abbeyleix named Ireland's Tidiest Town for 2023"](https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2023/1006/1409365-tidy-towns/). *[RTÉ News](/source/RT%C3%89_News)*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Hogan, E. (1910). "s.v. Brí Dam". *Onomasticon Goedelicum Locorum et tribuum Hiberniae et Scotiae: An Index, with Identifications, to the Gaelic Names of Places and Tribes. Dublin - London*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Lewis, Samuel (1837). ["Geashill"](https://www.libraryireland.com/topog/G/Geashill-Geashill-Kings.php). *Topographical Dictionary of Ireland* – via libraryireland.com.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Boland, Thomas Patrick (1964). [""The Queensland Immigration Society" : a notable experiment in Irish settlement"](http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/eserv/UQ:212719/s00855804_1963_1964_7_2_307.pdf) (PDF). *Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland*. **7** (2): 317–18. Retrieved 22 May 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["From King's County to Quinnsland - Ancestral Research, Family History, Laois, Offaly, Genealogy"](https://web.archive.org/web/20071117033620/http://www.irishmidlandsancestry.com/content/offaly/community/kings-quinnsland.htm). *irishmidlandsancestry.com*. Archived from the original on 17 November 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["List by Places"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080627013908/http://www.r-alston.co.uk/ch_ire.htm). *r-alston.co.uk*. Archived from [the original](http://www.r-alston.co.uk/ch_ire.htm) on 27 June 2008. Retrieved 4 August 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Geashill station"](http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf) (PDF). *Railscot - Irish Railways*. Retrieved 14 October 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["829 - Laois Shopping Centre - Tullamore Hospital"](https://bustimes.org/services/829-laois-shopping-centre-tullamore-hospital). *bustimes.org*. Retrieved 23 April 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["Offaly GAA club makes presentation to longtime sponsors"](https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/sport/376549/offaly-gaa-club-makes-presentation-to-longtime-sponsors.html). *offalyexpress.ie*. Iconic Media. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["Roll of Honour - Offaly Intermediate Football Championship Roll of Honour"](https://offaly.gaa.ie/roll-of-honour/). *offaly.gaa.ie*. Offaly GAA. Retrieved 8 August 2021.

v t e Places in County Offaly County town: Tullamore Towns Banagher Birr Clara Cloghan Daingean Edenderry Ferbane Tullamore Villages and Townlands Ballinagar Ballyboy Ballycumber Belmont Blue Ball Bracknagh Brosna Cadamstown Clareen Clonahenoge Clonbullogue Clonmacnoise Clonony Clonygowan Coolderry Crinkill Croghan Cushina Doon Dunkerrin Durrow Geashill Horseleap Kilcormac Killeigh Killoughey Killurin Kinnitty Moneygall Mountbolus Mucklagh Pollagh Rahan Rath Rhode Shannonbridge Shannon Harbour Shinrone Walsh Island Landforms Arderin Barcam Bog of Allen Boora bog Carroll's Hill Farbreague Clara Bog Croghan Hill Esker Riada Grand Canal Raheenmore Bog River Brosna River Camcor River Shannon Silver River Stillbrook Hill Wolftrap Mountain Yellow River Topics Education in County Offaly Geography of County Offaly History of County Offaly List of National Monuments in County Offaly List of townlands of County Offaly Media in County Offaly Mountains and hills of County Offaly Politics of County Offaly Religion in County Offaly Rivers of County Offaly Transport in County Offaly Counties of Ireland

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Geashill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geashill) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geashill?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.