placenamesClash
An Chlais
Clash survives as a distinct locality in Shanahoe townland, with an older spelling recorded by the Ordnance Survey.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- An Chlais · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Clash · English · main form
Place & story
Closh in the surveyors’ record
The Placenames Database places Clash in the south-western part of Shanahoe townland. Its historical evidence includes an Ordnance Survey description from 1838 which records this corner as Closh. The modern research note questions a straightforward interpretation involving a trench, suggesting that wet ground might preserve the trace of an old stream. The recorded locality is clear even though the precise origin of its name remains unsettled. [2]
The schoolmaster and his poet nephew
Nearby Shanahoe’s school history records Thomas Maloney moving his pupils from Killeaney into the chapel vestry in 1822. A purpose-built school followed in 1830, with his nephew John Keegan working alongside him as assistant teacher. Keegan later became known for poetry and sketches of rural life. This is a specific teaching connection with the neighbouring village, where education moved between household, chapel and schoolroom before the national system was established. [3]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Laois
- Barony
- Maryborough West
- Civil parish
- Clonenagh and Clonagheen
- Within
- Shanahoe
- Coordinates
- 52.92655, -7.42561
- Logainm ID
- 107037 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Clash. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Clash107037 and Shanahoe27842: explanatory note and1838descriptive remarks · Placenames Database of Ireland
- History of Our School: Thomas Maloney and John Keegan · Scoil Fionntáin Naofa, Shanahoe
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2026-06-08. How this page was prepared.