County Longford Ireland · Co. Longford · Killashee Save · Share
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KILLASHEE
CO. LONGFORD · IE

Killashee
Cill Lasair

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Cill Lasair · Co. Longford

A small village in south Longford, built around a church named for an early Irish saint.

Killashee is the kind of village that does not appear in most guidebooks, which is accurate. The name comes from Irish: Cill Lasair, 'Church of Lasair,' where Lasair was an early Irish saint. The village sits a few kilometres south of Longford town, along quiet roads where the traffic is mostly local.

There is a church, modest and old. There are houses scattered along the road. There are fields. If you pass through on a weekday afternoon, you will likely be alone, or nearly. That is not a complaint.

Come here if you want to see what the landscape looked like before tourism found it. Stay in Longford town or Ballymahon — both are nearby — and drive out through Killashee on a quiet morning. You will have seen something real.

Population
~200
Founded
Medieval (Church of Lasair)
Coords
53.7333° N, 7.7667° W
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Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

An early Irish saint

St Lasair

Lasair was an early Irish saint, though the records are thin. The name Cill Lasair — Church of Lasair — appears on maps and in parish records. Little is known of her life or her cult beyond the church dedicated to her name. That is often the way with early saints: the names survive, the stories do not.

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Getting there.

By car

Longford town is 5 kilometres north. From Dublin, take the N4 to Longford, then local roads south. The drive from Longford town is 10 minutes.

By bus

Bus service through Longford; Killashee is a small stop on the route. Check local schedules.

By train

Longford station is 5km north — on the Dublin–Sligo/Westport line, about 1h 45m to Dublin Connolly.

By air

Dublin Airport is 2 hours. Shannon is 2 hours. Longford is not a fly-in destination.