Camross

Camross is a pleasant village nestling close to Ard Erin-the highest peak in the Slieve Bloom Mountains.

Places of interest include:-

The Poets Cottage This is a thatched cottage depicting the type of house, which was common in the Slieve Bloom Mountains in the 18th and 19th century.

The Old Village Church The churchand the adjacent millennium garden showing the parish town lands and its inhabitants Camross is an ideal starting point for walks in the surrounding mountains.

History of Camross Camross from the Irish meaning of “Crooked Wood” is situated in Co. Laois, a small village comprising a church, school and parochial hall. The ruins of an old church are situated near the village, known as St. Fergal’s.

The Old Village Church In the Penal times Mass was offered up, in the open air, in the “Mass-Pit” in Annagh, now Mount Salem, to the rear of Mr. Roe’s farmyard. It was also offered up in the “Mass-Pit” of Killeen, At what precise date those stations were in use is unknown.The first chapel built in the parish, since the Reformation, stood in the townland of Camross, in the field under the present parish chapel. It was a small thatched edifice, and was certainly in use in 1737, having been built in that year or, at most, a very few years earlier. .

This continued to be the parish chapel of Upperwoods till the early part of the 19th century. It was replaced by the present parish chapel of Camross, built in 1811, during the incumbency of Father Rickard Burke, P.P, by the contributions of all the Catholics and, with but two exceptions, of all the Protestants of the district. The belfry was added in 1860, having been built by two different masons. Apparently, the first mason built the lower part up to a visible lip, but then had an argument with the priest and left. The second mason completed the belfry. Adjacent to the church is the millennium garden showing the parish town lands and its inhabitants.