Abbeyleix

"One of the most pleasing villages in Leinster, with each cottage having a useful garden!" Thus spoke J. M. Brewer, a noted 19th-century writer, of Abbeyleix in 1826. Today it happily remains one of the most elegant small towns in Ireland, having retained its charming Georgian ambience and its broad main street, which is lined with well-appointed, stone-cut buildings and original shop fronts in the traditionally ornate Irish style. The entire tree-lined village was built in the 18th century, on the orders of the Viscount de Vesci, to house servants and tradesmen working on his nearby estate. Many town houses and vernacular buildings date from the 1850s, but more recent buildings, including the Market House, erected in 1906, and the Hibernian Bank, from 1900, contribute greatly to the town's tranquil and refined character.