Lynda Kiernan, Leinster Express Journalist Profile

Articles

New Rock of Dunamase experience to attract thousands of paying vistors to Laois

4 days ago | leinsterexpress.ie | Eoghan MacConnell |Lynda Kiernan

Ambitious plans have been drawn up for a new Dunamase visitor experience linking Portlaoise and the Rock of Dunamase. It’s envisaged that thousands of paying visitors will be attracted to the experience each year and there is a proposal to run an electric shuttle bus service to the Rock of Dunamase from a visitor centre in Portlaoise town.
Deceased Laois student remembered at annual GAA hurling tournament

4 days ago | leinsterexpress.ie | Lynda Kiernan

A past pupil of a Laois secondary school has been immortalised in a memorial hurling tournament, presented for the second year recently. Mountrath Community School was a hive of activity on Friday April 11 when their Transition Year GAA Future Leaders students hosted the now annual ‘Future Leaders, Future Stars’ Event. A special event on the day was the tournament by young male hurlers for the Adam Kirwan Memorial trophy.
Biodiversity but no wheelchair seesaws coming to a Laois playground

4 days ago | leinsterexpress.ie | Lynda Kiernan

A grant has been won for a Laois playground to upgrade biodiversity, from a fund which will pay for wheelchair seesaws in other counties. Mountrath playground beside the Slieve Bloom Mountains, is getting €20,000 for Biodiversity improvements, under the Capital Grant Scheme for Play and Recreation, announced on Monday, May 12 by Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley. It is one of 28 Irish playgrounds to share in €500,000.
No bins to form part of the Rock of Dunamaise tourism upgrade

6 days ago | leinsterexpress.ie | Lynda Kiernan

The famous Rock of Dunamaise monument in Laois is getting a new visitor carpark and toilets but there are no bins coming with them. Laois County Council has explained the eco friendly reason why. “Will there be bins, managed by the council? It seems a small issue but it's important to residents,” Cllr Vivienne Phelan from the Portarlington Graiguecullen Municipal District said at the April meeting of Laois County Council.
Renowned Indian film director is special guest at Midland Indian Fest in Laois

1 week ago | leinsterexpress.ie | Lynda Kiernan

A Laois GAA grounds will again be filled with sights, sounds, tastes and cultures of India this July, and the organisers are hoping the community will come along to sample them, in a spirit of unity. The Midland Indian Fest UTSAV 25 will take place at Portlaoise GAA grounds in Rathleague on Saturday, July 5 from 9am to 9pm, following the first Laois gathering there in 2024. Asha Madhavan is the Publicity and Cultural Committee Co-Ordinator for Midland Indian Fest UTSAV.
'Be firm' pressure urged for footpath at busy Portlaoise level rail crossing

1 week ago | leinsterexpress.ie | Lynda Kiernan

The chief executive of Irish Rail has given an update on a much needed footpath at a level crossing in Portlaoise, but it will not be coming down the tracks any time soon. Irish Rail say they are "actively engaging" with Laois County Council to agree a design, however the council says they are not. The footpath is wanted across the tracks on a road that Laois County Council now uses to divert N80 road traffic around Portlaoise, at the Old Knockmay Road in Clonminham.
Donations surge for Mountmellick charity fundraiser honouring man who died in New Zealand

1 week ago | ireland-live.ie | Lynda Kiernan

Support is flooding in to a Laois family's charity fundraiser appeal, as they prepare for a huge night out in memory of a young man who died in New Zealand last year. David McDonald's family are holding a fun music filled celebration in Moloney's Bar, Mountmellick this Saturday, May 10, kicking off at 6pm in the sunshine with Portlaoise band Transmitter. There will be a barbecue from 6 to 8pm and a raffle. Billy Meehan will follow Transmitter, playing from 9 to close. The entry is a requested €5.
Donations surge for Mountmellick charity fundraiser honouring man who died in New Zealand

1 week ago | leinsterexpress.ie | Lynda Kiernan

Support is flooding in to a Laois family's charity fundraiser appeal, as they prepare for a huge night out in memory of a young man who died in New Zealand last year. David McDonald's family are holding a fun music filled celebration in Moloney's Bar, Mountmellick this Saturday, May 10, kicking off at 6pm in the sunshine with Portlaoise band Transmitter. There will be a barbecue from 6 to 8pm and a raffle. Billy Meehan will follow Transmitter, playing from 9 to close. The entry is a requested €5.
Laois Irish famine burial site to be honoured with a Mass for the first time

1 week ago | leinsterexpress.ie | Lynda Kiernan

The site of a famine burial ground in Laois is about to be honoured with its first Mass, by the same committee who last year installed a memorial for unbaptised babies. The Abbeyleix Tonduff Cillín committee are continuing their work to remember and honour the deceased in their locality who were buried without ceremony in darker times.
'Shocked' Laois councillor opposes housing plan for controversial Portlaoise site

1 week ago | leinsterexpress.ie | Lynda Kiernan

A Laois councillor has expressed shock at the amount of homes planned in a controversial Portlaoise site. The former Sinn Féin councillor has also urged Laois County Council not to take any more than on fifth of the estate for new social housing, predicting "mayhem" if it becomes a fully social housing estate. Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley spoke at the April council meeting about the new plan for Doran's Field, a privately owned site next to O'Moore Place in Portlaoise.