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heritage · Saturday 15 August 2026 · Various 
Guided Tour of Clopook Church, Graveyard & the Dún of Clopook Cave
At Clopook Church · Clopook, Co. Laois
At Clopook Church · Clopook, Co. Laois
Clopook is one of those rural Laois sites that rewards the curious - a medieval church ruin, an Iron Age hillfort, a cave, and a graveyard where the oldest headstone dates to 1706, all within a short walk of each other. During National Heritage Week, the Laois Heritage Society leads a free guided tour of the whole complex, bringing local historians who know exactly what you are looking at and why it matters. If you have any interest in archaeology, local history, or simply finding places most visitors never see, this is a worthwhile afternoon out.
The tour takes in three distinct elements. The church itself is a substantial ruin - nave and chancel divided by an arched opening, the walls measuring roughly 21 by 9 metres and noted as far back as the 1841 Ordnance Survey. The surrounding graveyard spans the 18th to 20th centuries, with table and slab tombs making up a notable proportion of the memorials and the earliest dated stone inside the ruins themselves. The guides from the Laois Heritage Society walk visitors through the headstone inscriptions, explain what they reveal about the families and history of the area, and cover the ongoing conservation work at the site - including the logging of inscriptions for the Historic Graves archive.
The Dún of Clopook, a hillfort sitting about 200 metres northeast of the graveyard, is also part of the visit, along with access to the cave beneath it - a site that is rarely accessible to the public outside of events like this. The guide weaves in local folklore alongside the archaeology, so you get the full picture of how this corner of Laois has been settled, used, and remembered across several thousand years. Wear sturdy shoes - the graveyard ground is uneven.
Clopook is in rural Co. Laois, roughly a half hour’s drive from Portlaoise. The nearest Eircode for navigation is R32EY16, and the site is signposted on tour days. There is no direct public transport to the site, so a car is the practical option. Portlaoise itself is well connected by road (M7 from Dublin, about 90 minutes) and by Irish Rail on the Dublin Heuston to Cork and Limerick lines.
Co. Laois has a strong heritage trail and the area around Clopook sits within a landscape dense with early Christian and Iron Age remains. There is more to see in Portlaoise and across Co. Laois.
Heading to Clopook Church? Laois has plenty more to see. Browse the area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.