portlaoisepictures.com/

Bicky

Have a look at this site. It has some interesting vintage pictures of Portlaoise. It is like a blast from the past. Especially the picture of odlums mill and the old cinema.
You should also read the history section. When you are reading the following quotes please do a Victor Mildrew voice in your head.

And despite the plethora of recreational activities, many young people still whinge that there’s ‘nothing to do in this dump’.

today it took almost twenty minutes - to buy a stamp. Is the Postmaster – or whoever is in charge of staffing – blind to the plight of elderly people waiting patiently as only two or three of the six counters are normally in use?

I regularly see modified cars roaring past the Garda Station and, despite legislation banning hand-held mobile phone use in cars (September 1st, 2006), drivers yakking away while controlling (?) their vehicles with one hand

The Triogue [1] (say 'Try-ogue' to rhyme with 'rogue', with the emphasis on the second syllable), a tributary of the River Barrow, flows through our town and, according to figures produced by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1999, this little stream enjoyed the dubious distinction of being Ireland’s fifth most polluted waterway.

In November and December, our town hit the national headlines again when it emerged that nine local women had been given the wrong cancer diagnosis at Portlaoise Hospital.

Hehe, I could give ten more quotes. Not so much a History, rather a rant about how much better things were in the old days. Classic.

jack of all

Becky,
I think your "Victor Meldrew" comments are very unfair; I actually know the man responsible for putting that site together and I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone more "in tune" with modern Ireland. As it happens I would identify with a lot of the sentiments expressed in those quotes and like the author, I too am proud Portlaoise man.

Bicky

You are right. I did not mean any disrespect. I think the site is very good with interesting pictures of portlaoise. Fair play to him for putting it up.
However, i did find the quotes funny because they are in the History of Portlaoise section.

CCCP^

Come across the site when I was in Canada, it's great to see old pics of the town, it's changed so much in the last 10 years.