Caroline Allen
Caroline Allen is a freelance journalist based in Portlaoise. She has written for numerous local and national publications and lives outside Portlaoise with her husband Martin and sons Evan and Colin
‘Sold out crowds and standing ovations every night’ – Guys and Dolls takes Portlaoise...
The award-winning Portlaoise Musical Society celebrates its 25th anniversary this year as it whisks audiences back to 1920s Manhattan with performances of the Broadway...
Alice (77) set for her annual fast for Concern – with collections planned for...
Seventy-seven-year-old fundraiser and former aid worker, Alice Culliton from Mountmellick, is set to fast for Concern once again.
The Mountmellick woman will hold her annual...
Serene Beauty and Wellness sparkles for Christmas
The start of a sparkling Christmas was marked with the official launch Serene Beauty and Wellness, Market Square, Mountrath, on Friday last, November 15.
With...
Kind-hearted Laois seven-year-old makes the cut for charities
A seven-year-old Ballybrittas girl recently sacrificed much of her crowning glory by taking part in the Locks of Love for LauraLynn hair donation fundraiser.
Poppy...
Kathleen prepares to pack her bags after 33 years in business
After 33 years in business in Portlaoise, Kathleen Carroll of the Wool Shop in Bull Lane, is retiring.
Having started out in Laois Shopping Centre,...
Laois rural artist urges people to mind their language on illness
A rural artist from Laois has performed in ‘Illness As Metaphor’, an adaptation of American critic Susan Sontag’s book, by renowned Dublin-based theatre company, Dead...
Local star all set to perform at newly refurbished Balcony Arts Theatre
With three number one songs and a chart-topping album in the official Irish charts, Mountmellick folk singer, Emer Dunne, has been making her mark...
From Cullahill to Kentucky – Meet the Laois man who is thriving in the...
“Farming is pretty much the same everywhere you go" - Brian Caldbeck, a Laois man working in Kentucky’s agricultural industry, running a business called...
‘Help children develop a passion for learning’: Wolfhill-based Trinity researcher
A single individual can have a far-reaching impact on a child’s academic performance, according to the lead researcher in a new study from Trinity...
‘In a second, your life is changed’: Abbeyleix man on his son’s leukaemia diagnosis...
Abbeyleix native Steven Reilly remembers all too well the trauma of his son Jude’s diagnosis with Acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
“It was June 10 last. I...
‘Find your voice and use it’ says Laois children’s author as he launches fourth...
It may be a long way from the Champs-Élysées to Killeen but Brendan McDonald has brought the two together in writing and publishing his...
The road to a go-getting glittering career: James MacInerney on life ‘finding joy’ as...
The Ballacolla road in Abbeyleix was the unlikely backdrop for the creation of most of the work in make-up artist (MUA) James MacInerney’s fantastical exhibition...
All systems go as Knock Vintage Men’s Shed set to host annual threshing festival
Knock Vintage Men’s Shed will bring the country’s rich agricultural heritage to life when it hosts its annual threshing festival in Spink this weekend.
“The...
In Pictures: Camross Comhaltas impress at Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann
Camross Comhaltas impressed at the recent Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann in Wexford town, taking three first prizes and two third places.
The Laois group faced...
Forge: The Laois/Carlow four-piece Indie rock band who are all set for Electric Picnic
The last few months have been hectic for four-piece Indie rock band Forge and they are now set to play Electric Picnic.
It began by...
70 years and still going strong – Clonaslee all set for annual Agricultural and...
Having created confidence in the local community and helped to preserve the fabric of rural Ireland down through the decades, Clonaslee Agricultural and Livestock...
Camross Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann all set for All-Ireland Fleadh in Wexford
Camross Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann will represent Laois and Leinster in eleven different disciplines at this year’s All-Ireland Fleadh.
The group, which this year celebrates its...
Clonaslee family build on compassion with cycle challenge
A Birmingham-based family with strong Clonaslee connections have organised a cycling challenge from Birmingham to Clonaslee this weekend in memory of their 30-year-old brother,...
‘We want to bring a bit of rawness back to Irish music’: Laois’s Cur...
A self-confessed childhood with its moments of mischief led to brothers Adam and Martin Culleton often being dubbed ‘curs.’
Rather than take umbrage at the...
In the company of Chiral: Meet the Laois punk, metal, rock and dance band...
Laois-based punk, metal, rock and dance band, Chiral, is just back from a flying German tour, supporting ska band The Legendary Hackers.
Chiral officially launched...
The sky is the limit for as Laois teachers set for St Anne’s Special...
A Portarlington woman who is afraid of heights is adopting the mantra ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway’ as she prepares to join...
Weekend Read: ‘Salud’ says Stapo Brown as Lanzarote bar venture shines
“It’s a home away from home,” says Liam ‘Stapo’ Brown of his pub in Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote.
‘Stapo’s’ Kazbar’ is a magnet for many...
Crettyard brothers to lead charity walk for homeless charity in memory of late sister
The family and friends of the late Ann Delaney from Crettyard will undertake a sponsored walk on the morning of Saturday, May 25 to...
To Berlin and back: Laois woman Molly Donnery on forging a creative career
Based between Berlin and Laois, a traditional Irish and contemporary singer and film producer, will release an EP later this year.
Molly Donnery hails from...
‘Don’t let the fear of cancer and chemo stop you from seeking help’ –...
A Ballybrittas woman is sharing her experience of bowel cancer in a bid to increase awareness of the second most common of all cancers...
Weekend Read: Laois artist draws on local scenes for inspiration
Spending summers as a child going around with her maternal grandad, Jim Tyrell, the well known Portlaoise vet, engendered a love of animals in...
Portlaoise woman set to scale the heights for 60th birthday with skydive fundraiser for...
A Portlaoise woman will celebrate her 60th birthday on Saturday, March 30, with a real adrenaline rush - a tandem skydive to raise funds...
Weekend Read: Davie Furey back on track with new album and tour
Covid dashed his plans to tour with his last album ‘Haunted Streets’ but Durrow-based Davie Furey is looking forward to traversing the country to...
Portlaoise College students work to improve job opportunities for adults with autism
After learning that 85 per cent of adults with autism are either unemployed or under-employed, a group of students at Portlaoise College have been...
Laois man and girlfriend set to scale the heights of Kilimanjaro in aid of...
A Timahoe man and his girlfriend are raising funds for the Meningitis Research Foundation.
Micheál Conlan and Kirsha Rice - students at Maynooth University who...