Final Lecarrow Village Design Statement - Roscommon County ...

LECARROW VILLAGE DESIGN STATEMENT
Location and Profile
The village of Lecarrow is a rural village
in South Roscommon, situated just off the
N61 National Route between Athlone and
Roscommon. It is approximately 17km
northwest of Athlone Town and
approximately 15km southeast of
Roscommon Town. (See Map 1). It is
situated adjacent to Lough Ree and is
connected to it by Lecarrow Canal.
Lecarrow is a quiet, attractive village with
much to offer, from it’s pretty harbour and
beautiful landscape to it’s traditional pubs
and contemporary restaurant. Despite the
increased pressure for development in
South Roscommon in recent years,
Lecarrow has managed to retain its historic
and distinctly rural character. It has a
vibrant heritage enriched by local features
such as the Lecarrow Mill, Nellie’s Rock,
the old Courthouse, the old Garda
Barracks, St John’s Wood, Rindoon Castle
and the Lecarrow Canal.
Lecarrow is identified as a ‘Smaller
Settlement’ (population range 50-300
persons) within Tier 5 of the Settlement
Strategy in the Roscommon County
Development Plan 2008-2014. These
Smaller Settlements act as nodes for
“distinctive quality driven residential
development and essential local
commercial and community services”. It is
envisaged that the future growth of these
villages should be safeguarded so that they
do not act as catalysts to facilitate
continuing expansion of larger urban
centres. It is important that the existing
character of the villages be maintained;
that the local community’s needs in
relation to future development is taken into
consideration; and that new development
should harmonise with the ‘old’ existing
settlement form.
The Historical Development of
Lecarrow
Lecarrow Village, ‘An Leath
Ceathru’ (Half quarter) obtained its name
from a pound which was located to the rear
of the old Courthouse in the centre of the
village. Traditionally, a pound was
composed of a half rood of land or a
quarter of an acre. The area referred to was
only a half of a quarter of an acre, hence
the name Lecarrow. Historically, this area
was Lecarrow and the traditional name for
the village was Knockanyconor.
Historically, Lecarrow Village is located
within 2 parishes, St. John’s and
Knockcroghery. A number of townlands
converge within the village including;
Curraghalaher, Killoy, Knockanyconor and
Galeybeg (see Map 6).
Lecarrow, as it appears today, developed at
the beginning of the 19 th century with the
establishment of a Flour Mill close to the
centre of the village, and a Corn Mill to the
west in the vicinity of the local dolmen
known as Nellie’s Rock. At the same time,
two stone single arch bridges were
constructed to allow traffic across the mill
race.
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