Named after the Lawrence family; the first Lawrence in the area came from Lancashire as a follower of Sir John Perrot, Lord Deputy of Ireland in the reign of Elizabeth I, and married an O'Madden, daughter of the local chieftain. Walter Lawrence (1729-1796) arranged for the erections of a victory arch to mark the success of Henry Gratten and the Volunteers. The Volunteers were a military force raised to repel a threatened French invasion which never materialised; they turned their attention to domestic politics and under the leadership of Henry Gratten and Henry Flood, by means of a series of intimidatory marches in Dublin, forced several important concessions from the Government leading to a period of significant commercial prosperity after 1780. The arch is still standing , but the stone urn which surmounted it has sadly been removed.