Portlaoise (older spelling Port Laoighise; former name Maryborough: in Irish Port Laoise a shortening of Port Laoighise),'s the county town of County Laois in the midlands of Ireland. The name's Irish for "Fort of Laois", and properly ; however, a more anglicised pronunciation of "Port Laois" (/pɔrtˈliːʃ/)'s common. The population was 14,275. History The site where the present town's situated's referred to in the Annals of the Four Masters as Port Laoighisi during the 1500s.… (More on Portlaoise)