Coding Classes in County Laois

Course picks for County Laois

Four courses for a commuting county

Pick by what the learner wants to make. Each begins with one free lesson, taught live at an hour that suits the household, and no card details are asked for.

Ages 6 to 10

Coding for Kids

First programs in blocks, where a list of places has to be checked before the game will run properly.

See the syllabus

Ages 13 to 17

Python for Teens

Python through the Junior Cycle years, with the habit of opening a file before believing anything about it.

See the syllabus

Ages 14 to 18

Data Science for Teens

Catalogue entries with nothing inside them, labels with stray spaces, and the checks that catch both.

See the syllabus

College and adult

Python Automation Course

For commuters and home workers: scripts that fetch a source, confirm it is real and complain loudly when it is not.

See the syllabus

Browse the course atlas for more than one hundred options and use the coding roadmap to check prerequisites.

The four we are known for

Python, AI, vibe coding and agentic coding

These run underneath everything above. Every one is live and online, placed by ability rather than by age, and the first class is free.

Vibe codingAges 13 to 17

Vibe Coding for Teens

Python, web and AI projects where the learner still owns the thinking.

See the syllabus

Python and AICollege and adult

Python Automation Course

Automate the work you already do, then let AI carry part of it.

See the syllabus

AI and MLAges 14 to 18

AI and Machine Learning for Teens

Train a model, read what it learned, and be able to say why it is wrong.

See the syllabus

Agentic codingProfessionals

Codex & Claude Code

Run AI coding agents on real work without losing control of the codebase.

See the syllabus

The county today

Young, growing and on the road

Laois sits in the middle of the country, which shapes its working life more than anything else about it.

County Laois in Census 2022, Central Statistics Office
Measure	Figure
Population	91,877, up 8% or 7,180 since 2016
Average age	37.3 years, up from 35.6 in 2016
Average commuting distance	25.3 km, the longest in the country, taking 32.3 minutes
Aged 65 and over	11,978, an increase of 25% since 2016
At work	39,934 people aged 15 and over, up 6,393 or 19% since 2016
Unemployment	9%, down from 15% in 2016, with participation at 61%, the same as nationally
Third-level qualifications	Almost 23,000 people, a rate of 39% against 45% nationally

Portlaoise, and then a gap

Portlaoise holds 23,494 people entirely within Laois, at 2,485.7 per square kilometre, with an average age of 35.1 and 23.4% aged under 15, the youngest town in this part of the country.

A town in two counties

Portarlington is published as "Portarlington, Counties Laois and Offaly" with 9,288 people. By our own arithmetic, about 4,855 of it lies in Laois and roughly 4,433 in Offaly.

More men than women

Laois recorded 46,278 males and 45,599 females, which is 101 males for every 100 females, an unusual balance among Irish counties.

The commuting figure is the one that shapes family life here. Laois commuters travel further than anyone else in the country, 23,944 of them by car, and roughly a third of the county lives in a town of ten thousand or more, meaning the rest are spread across villages and countryside. At the same time almost 10,100 people now work from home at least some of the time. A class that starts at a fixed hour in the learner's own house fits both halves of that pattern: the parent who has just got home, and the parent who never left.

Computer Science in Laois schools

No Laois school in the first forty

We read every address on the Department's January 2018 list. None of them is in County Laois.

The finding

When Leaving Certificate Computer Science started in September 2018, no school in the county was among those named. That is a checked result rather than a gap in our reading.

What it does not say

Nothing about today. There is no current official list of schools offering the subject, so we describe how it began and stop there.

Where we fit

We teach the programming, data handling and problem solving the subject assumes, in a weekly live class, and never the assessed work itself.

The county compensates in other ways. Emo Court, the great house designed by James Gandon from 1790 and not finished for another seventy years, was restored in the 1960s and given to the people of Ireland in 1994; the Office of Public Works records 350,000 visitors in 2022, making it the most visited heritage site it owns in the Midlands. A few miles away the Rock of Dunamase, whose name comes from Dún Másc, the fort of Masc, was attacked by Vikings in 845, became one of the most important Anglo-Norman fortifications in Ireland, and formed part of Aoife's dowry when she married Strongbow in 1170; excavations in the mid-1990s recovered over 5,500 objects. A county with that much recorded history is a good place to teach that records are made by people, and that people leave gaps.

Who lives here

Non-Irish citizens make up 10% of the county, led by Polish at 2,298, UK at 1,159, Lithuanian at 712 and Romanian at 569. Dual citizenship nearly doubled to 2,527, most commonly Irish and Polish. In the year before the census, 2,686 people moved into the county, 1,932 of them from elsewhere in Ireland.

Signature project

Thirty-nine titles, and what is behind six of them

This is a project about verification rather than analysis, and it takes about twenty minutes. Every learner who does it becomes harder to fool.

What we found when we opened the catalogue entries, read 16 September 2026
Dataset title	Files attached	Licence stated
Planning applications	None	None
Recycling locations	None	None
Rateable properties	None	None
Register of electors	None	None
Sales ledger	None	None
Purchase orders	None	None

Why this happens

A catalogue entry is a record about data, not the data itself. Entries get created when a publishing plan is made, and the files sometimes never follow, or move, or are withdrawn. The title survives either way.

How to check in seconds

Every catalogue offers a machine-readable view of a record. Look for the resource list. If it is empty, there is nothing to download, whatever the description promises.

Why it matters more than it sounds

A student who plans a Transition Year project around a title loses weeks. A council officer who cites one in a report has cited nothing. The check costs nothing and the omission is expensive.

And then a stray space, in an official label

For the real analysis, learners use the county's electoral areas, and immediately meet a smaller problem. The three areas are Portlaoise with 34,603 people, Borris-in-Ossory and Mountmellick with 26,452, and a third whose official label reads "Graiguecullen -Portarlington", with a space before the hyphen where no space belongs. Match that label against a tidy version of the same name and the match fails, silently, in exactly the way place names always do. The fix is to normalise text before comparing it: collapse repeated spaces, trim the ends, and standardise punctuation. The lesson is that official data is typed by people, and people leave fingerprints.

The project ends with a short verification note listing which sources were checked, which were real, and which were titles with nothing behind them. It is the least glamorous artefact a student produces all year, and the one most likely to be used at work.

Verify before you analyse

Five checks that decide whether a project is possible

Run these before writing any analysis code, on any dataset, from any publisher.

Verifying a source in the first twenty minutes
Check	What you look for	What it saves
Is there a file?	A resource list with something in it	Weeks spent on a title
Is there a licence?	A stated licence, not silence	Publishing work you had no right to publish
Does it cover what you need?	Dates and areas inside the file, not in the description	A year that turns out to be a week
Is the text clean?	Stray spaces, odd punctuation, inconsistent capitals	Matches that fail without an error
Can you reach it again?	A stable address you can fetch a second time	A result nobody can reproduce

Younger learners

A treasure-hunt game where some of the boxes on the map turn out to be empty, and the program has to say so rather than pretend.

Teenagers

The real catalogue in Python: check the six entries, normalise a set of area names, and write the verification note.

Adults

The same routine applied at work, where most reporting failures start with a source that was assumed rather than checked.

None of this is a complaint about Laois County Council, which publishes as much as many of its neighbours and more than some. Catalogues run ahead of files everywhere, and the county's own contact address, Áras an Chontae on JFL Avenue in Portlaoise at R32 EHP9, is easy enough to write to if a learner wants to ask when a file might appear. That is a perfectly good next step for a school project, and we encourage it.

Living in the county

R32, the motorway and a county in the middle

Most of what is distinctive about Laois comes from its position: everyone passes through it, and a great many people commute out of it.

One routing key

R32 covers the county's published addresses, from the council at Áras an Chontae, R32 EHP9, to Emo Court at R32 C44V.

The furthest commute

Laois commuters travel an average of 25.3 km, the longest distance of any county, and take 32.3 minutes doing it. That is the practical reason an evening class in a room is difficult here.

Who owns their home

71% of households own, the highest share among the counties we have written about, with a further 24% renting. Families here tend to settle, which suits a course measured in years.

Irish in Laois

The census recorded 33,538 Irish speakers, 40.2% of everyone aged three and over, down slightly from 41.5% in 2016 and close to the national rate. Our teaching is in English, and programming keywords are English whatever language a school teaches through.

Learning ladder

From checking a box is full to verifying a source

The bands are a guide only; the free lesson decides where a learner begins.

Ages 6 to 10

Is it really there?

Programs that look for something, find nothing, and say so instead of guessing.

Coding for Kids Scratch Coding for Kids

Ages 11 to 13

Opening files

Fetching real files, checking they contain rows, and reading what the publisher claims.

Python and AI for Kids Maths Through Coding

Ages 14 to 18

Verification and cleaning

Checking resources and licences, normalising messy text, and writing the note that records it.

Data Science for Teens Python for Teens

Ages 18 to 67

Automated checks

Code that fetches a source, verifies it and fails loudly, before any report depends on it.

Python Automation Course Data and AI Analytics for Non-Programmers (Excel, Sheets, Power BI)

Coding and AI

An assistant will describe these datasets convincingly. Why should a Portlaoise teenager open them?

Because a catalogue entry gives a language model plenty to describe, and the file behind it does not have to exist.

Ask an AI tool what data Laois County Council publishes and it can answer at length, because the titles and descriptions are public and readable. Planning applications, the register of electors, purchase orders: it will list them, and it may well tell you what each contains. What it cannot do, unless it actually fetches them, is tell you that the six we opened carry no files and no licence. The description is the thing that got indexed; the emptiness is only visible to somebody who goes and looks.

That gap between what is described and what exists is where a great deal of bad analysis is born. The defence is old-fashioned and cheap: open the source yourself before you build anything on it, and write down what you found.

So a Laois child learning to code in 2026 is learning something more durable than a language. They are learning to ask whether the thing everyone is describing is actually there. The longer argument is in why a child should still learn to code in 2026.

Delivery

Portlaoise, Mountmellick, Abbeyleix or the Slieve Blooms

In a county where the average commute is the longest in Ireland, the last thing a family needs is another journey at six in the evening.

The lesson comes to the house

A learner in Durrow and one in Portarlington are in the same group, and no parent drives either of them anywhere.

School stages by their Irish names

First Year, the Junior Cycle, Transition Year and sixth year, used exactly as they are used locally.

A free lesson with teaching in it

Real work on a real task, then a recommendation on level, course and hour, with no card details requested.

Ability groups

Five to ten learners at one level, drawn from Laois and several other countries, so a good hour exists at every stage.

Built around the commute

Two lessons most weeks, about eight a month, at a fixed hour chosen to fall after the drive home, with pauses agreed for exams and holidays.

Teachers on Indian time

Their clock never shifts, leaving them four and a half hours ahead of Ireland in summer and five and a half in winter, which covers Laois evenings comfortably.

Why the longest commute matters

A 25.3 km average each way, and 32.3 minutes of it, means an evening class in Portlaoise costs a family from Rathdowney well over an hour on top of the lesson. Online, the hour that used to be the journey becomes practice time.

Fees

What classes cost in County Laois

Three numbers, and nothing else afterwards.

First classUSD 0

A full lesson free of charge, ending in an honest placement and a recommended course.

Group tuitionUSD 100

A month of teaching, usually eight lessons, with five to ten learners of matching ability.

Private tuitionUSD 150

The same month of about eight lessons, with one teacher working with one learner.

Fees are charged in US dollars at the one rate used outside India, so Portlaoise pays what Abbeyleix pays and there is no euro list. Nothing is charged until the free lesson has settled a course and a weekly hour, and the pricing page explains pauses, missed lessons and changes of format.

Request placement Check availability

Reviews

Six unedited Google reviews from our families

Rated 4.9 across 547 Google reviews. These are real reviews, reproduced as written.

★★★★★

"The one step solution for my son. Modern Age Coders make learning coding so simple that kids love it. The teachers explain complex concepts clearly with practical exercises and interactive content."

Ria Mukherjee

Parent

★★★★★

"Modern Age Coders has been a game-changer for me. I struggled to grasp IT concepts and coding before joining, but their classes transformed everything. I can now confidently write complex programs with ease."

Samriddha Mondal

Student

★★★★★

"One of the most wonderful education centres out there. Education is not limited to school syllabus but focuses on skill development."

Vansh Agarwal

Student

★★★★★

"My child Dhairya is really enjoying the Modern Age Coders classes. This is his first online class and he eagerly looks forward to it. I can already see his improvement, and the teachers are very cooperative."

Sonam Oswal

Parent of Dhairya

★★★★★

"Modern Age Coders have wonderful teachers who teach in a clear, easy and practical way. The teacher boosts students' confidence and inspires them to learn without hesitation."

Sonu Goyal

Parent

★★★★★

"I highly recommend this computer coding class! The teachers are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about coding."

Ritu Kedia

Parent

Free placement class

Tell us where the learner is now

The first task suits the learner: a searching game for a younger child, a first script that fetches a file, or the catalogue verification exercise for a teenager.

FAQ

County Laois coding class questions

The county, its data and how the classes run.

How many people live in County Laois?

Census 2022 counted 91,877, up 8% or 7,180 since 2016, with an average age of 37.3. Portlaoise is the largest town at 23,494.

Is it true Laois has the longest commute in Ireland?

Yes. The statistics office recorded an average commuting distance of 25.3 km, the longest in the country, with an average journey time of 32.3 minutes.

Did any Laois school offer Leaving Certificate Computer Science from the start?

No. We read all forty addresses on the January 2018 first-phase list and none is in County Laois. That describes 2018 only; no current official list exists.

What is the Laois data project?

Students check whether published datasets actually contain anything. The county has thirty-nine titles listed, and the six we opened had no files attached and no licence stated, which is a lesson in verification before analysis.

Is that a criticism of the council?

No. Catalogues everywhere run ahead of the files behind them. The point for a learner is to check first rather than assume, and writing to the council to ask when a file might appear is a perfectly good project step.

Why is Portarlington counted differently?

Because its built-up area crosses into County Offaly, so the statistics office publishes it as Portarlington, Counties Laois and Offaly, with 9,288 people in total.

What hours do classes run?

Afternoons, evenings and weekend mornings, with evening slots most popular here because of the commute. Our teachers are four and a half hours ahead of Irish time in summer and five and a half in winter.

Is there a Modern Age Coders classroom in Laois?

No, and we never imply one. All teaching is live online, with no premises in Ireland. A learner needs a laptop or desktop, working sound and a reliable connection, and the number shown here is an Indian one.

What do County Laois coding classes cost?

The first lesson is free. Continuing costs USD 100 a month for a group place, covering two live lessons a week and about eight a month with five to ten learners, or USD 150 a month privately on the same schedule. Everything is settled before payment.

How many learners are in a group?

Five to ten, grouped by ability, pace and goal rather than age or address. Where nothing suitable runs at a workable hour, we offer one-to-one lessons instead.

Explore Ireland

The neighbours, and the national page

Carlow town reaches into this county, and County Carlow has its own page, as does County Louth. The nearest city page is Dublin. For comparing online schools there is best online coding classes in Ireland, and everything else sits on the Ireland coding page.

Book the free class Message us on WhatsApp

Four courses for a commuting county

Coding for Kids

Python for Teens

Data Science for Teens

Python Automation Course

Python, AI, vibe coding and agentic coding

Vibe Coding for Teens

Python Automation Course

AI and Machine Learning for Teens

Codex & Claude Code

Young, growing and on the road

Portlaoise, and then a gap

A town in two counties

More men than women

No Laois school in the first forty

The finding

What it does not say

Where we fit

Thirty-nine titles, and what is behind six of them

Why this happens

How to check in seconds

Why it matters more than it sounds

And then a stray space, in an official label

Five checks that decide whether a project is possible

Younger learners

Teenagers

Adults

R32, the motorway and a county in the middle

One routing key

The furthest commute

Who owns their home

From checking a box is full to verifying a source

Is it really there?

Opening files

Verification and cleaning

Automated checks

An assistant will describe these datasets convincingly. Why should a Portlaoise teenager open them?

Portlaoise, Mountmellick, Abbeyleix or the Slieve Blooms

The lesson comes to the house

School stages by their Irish names

A free lesson with teaching in it

Ability groups

Built around the commute

Teachers on Indian time

What classes cost in County Laois

Six unedited Google reviews from our families

Tell us where the learner is now

County Laois coding class questions

How many people live in County Laois?

Is it true Laois has the longest commute in Ireland?

Did any Laois school offer Leaving Certificate Computer Science from the start?

What is the Laois data project?

Is that a criticism of the council?

Why is Portarlington counted differently?

What hours do classes run?

Is there a Modern Age Coders classroom in Laois?

What do County Laois coding classes cost?

How many learners are in a group?

The neighbours, and the national page

Keep exploring Modern Age Coders

Coding classes in nearby places

Free resources

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