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Welcome to EyrecourtJohn Eyre founded the Village of Eyrecourt; he was a Cromwellian soldier who was granted large tracts of land in East Galway. He built a castle here on the site of a former OMadden Castle. This castle is still to be seen within the outbuildings of the present courtyard. Three phases of building survives, the earliest the OMadden tower house, possibly sixteenth century, a later long house from the seventeenth century built on the bawn wall of the tower house and the later Eyrecourt Castle or mansion. The now ruined Eyrecourt Castle dates from the 1660s. The village dates to a little later than this, with many of the houses on the main street dating to the eighteenth century. The present day village of Eyrecourt has all the appearance of a planned town, with its wide main street, large market-square and elegant mall at the entrance to the Castle. Overall Eyrecourt is a very attractive village with some interesting architecture. The village has two nineteenth century churches, one Catholic and the other Church of Ireland. The Church of Ireland church has some very fine Mural plaques bearing the names of the Eyres, Pollocks and other local latter-day gentry. The church itself is an architectural gem and exhibits some interesting carved ornamentation. The Catholic Church has some fine stained glass windows, the work of John Early of Dublin. It also has a Sanctuary Lamp donated by Count de Bastro, from Kinvara, a friend of Dick Martin and Lady Gregory. The large house, beside the Catholic Church now the home of the Clarke family, was formerly the presbytery. A man named Martin built it. It is said that he made his fortune on the Continent and returned to Eyrecourt and built this as a folly. There is a roof garden at the back and a fine seventeenth century doorway obviously removed from elsewhere. There is a roofed passageway at the side linking it to the church. Some of the houses on Main Street were originally Inns. What is reputed to be Irelands oldest theatre is located in the market square. This was originally a market house but later was used as a theatre. John Wesley preached here in the eighteenth century. There is an old nineteenth century Court house still in use today and a now unused Protestant National School opposite the Church of Ireland church. The Irish name for Eyrecourt is Dn an Ochta. Close to Eyrecourt can be found Doon Cemetery, the site from which the village gets its Irish name. Doon is on the side of Redmount Hill the highest point in the Parish. There is an unusual landmark on the top of Redmount in the form of seven groves of beech trees. These can be seen from far off and are known as the "Seven Sisters" and it is believed that the last John Eyre, in honour of his seven daughters planted them. There is a ruined Protestant church at the gate to the castle. This was built in 1677 by John Eyre and was first used on the occasion of his son John Eyre Juniors wedding. Eyrecourt has a large community centre, a five teacher National School, a Post Office, a social services centre, a dispensary, a FAS office the offers local secretarial services, a Garda Station, three shops and an undertakers business and five pubs. The Parish of Eyrecourt consists of four separate localities, Eyrecourt, Clonfert, Esker and Meelick. In the past there were two separate Parishes, Clonfert and Dn an Ochta, these were redefined in the last century creating the Parish of Eyrecourt. Eyrecourt because of its links with the castle and because of being a village had a different social history. Many of the residents were in commercial business or worked for the castle.
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Doras Award - 4 Shamrocks