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Family Fortunes: A Roscommon cottage that has multiple stories

Removing the deeply set growth of ivy, rusting roof and loose stones revealed not one but two structures from different eras

The cottage has been restored and whitewashed in the traditional style

Michael McGreal
Thu Apr 21 2016 - 13:00

On the Roscommon 1838 Ordnance Survey map, it stands as one of a cluster or clochán of cottages in Carrick alongside the road leading to St Patrick’s hill of Kiltullagh.

In my younger days it was called the barn or cowhouse and was home for part of each year to two or three cows or calves, a clutch of chickens, and some turkeys or geese waiting for Christmas.

In more recent times, having clearly outlived its usefulness, a decision had to be taken on its future. The soot-stained wall over a once-active fireplace, along with other domestic relics such as stone fireside cleibhí, stone shelving and pieces of well-polished flag flooring, convinced a sympathetic owner that demolition was not the only option.

Removing the deeply set growth of ivy, rusting roof and loose stones revealed not one but two structures from different eras, which at some time in history had blended as one. The Lyons family lived on this small holding for many generations before emigrating to the US in 1950.

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The 1901 census lists seven members of the Lyons family – one of three families of that name in Carrick – at this address. The census return shows one of the family, Emma, aged 19, with an occupation as teacher.

Ten years later, the 1911 census shows six people living in the Lyons household. Emma is now Emma Winston and lives here with her new husband, Tom Winston. Both are described as “national teacher”. Tom and Emma married in 1910 and taught at Carrick National School for many decades. Their son Kevin was one of Roscommon’s greatest Gaelic footballers and their grandson Martin Newell was a stalwart of the Galway three-in-a-row team of the 1960s. Willie Lyons was elected a member of Roscommon County Council in 1928.

This cottage, now a listed building, has been restored and whitewashed in the traditional style, with help and advice from Roscommon County Council’s heritage section and the Lime Council of Ireland. It has stories to tell. I hope this is the first of many.

  • We would love to receive your family memories, anecdotes, traditions, mishaps and triumphs. Email 400 words and a relevant photograph to familyfortunes@irishtimes.com. A fee will be paid