The Swan, County Laois

Swan or The Swan is a small village in County Laois, Ireland. It lies near the County Kilkenny border where the R430 regional road crosses the R426. The village lies within the townland of Slatt (Lower), in the civil parish of Rathaspick.FeaturesThe village is linear, developed along the regional road to Carlow. The Swan has a low level of services and facilities. No definite village centre exists and the village is serviced with a public house only. No shops are available. This is a purely residential community with some institutional uses. In the last five years the village has experienced a reasonably low level of growth despite a number of new residential developments. The Community Centre in the centre of the village is used by local groups and caters for a wide catchment area.HistoryThe Swan is one of the newest villages in Laois and is named after a local public house, The Swan Inn. In 1935, to create employment, a fire clay factory was opened because of local fire clay deposits while coal deposits provided a local energy source. Local population isEconomyFleming's Fireclays was started by PJ Fleming in 1935. It generated employment for the village and the surrounding areas and provided housing for many of its workers. These houses constituted nearly all the dwellings in the village until 2003, when two new housing projects began and the number of houses has almost doubled as a result. The factory utilises fireclay, which is an abundant local resource, to make bricks and chimney flues. The factory was rebranded as Lagan Brick when Flemings Fireclay was absorbed into the Lagan Group.