Clonaslee (Irish: Cluain na Slí)[2] is a village in north County Laois, Ireland, situated in the foothills of the Slieve Bloom Mountains on the R422 Mountmellick to Birr road.

[1] The primary spelling of the name, Clonaslee, is associated by several sources to the Irish Cluain na Slí (translated as "pasture of the way" or "roadside meadow" or similar) and related to the village's location on ancient cross-country route.

[2][3] Though this is the commonly and officially accepted version, an alternative spelling of the name, Cloneslieu, is associated by some sources to the Irish Cluain na Sléibhe (translated as "the mountain meadow").

[4][3] While earlier archaeological remains suggest more ancient settlement in the area (including a ringfort in nearby Larragan townland),[5] the modern day Clonaslee evolved from its beginnings as an Anglo-Norman town of the late-12th century.

[citation needed] At this time the eskers and related landforms gave a great strategic advantage by providing ideal vantage points where mottes and other defensive battlements were constructed.

The parish church was erected in 1814 under General Dunne (known locally as 'shun-battle Ned' because of his rumoured refusal to fight at the 1815 Battle of Waterloo).