House - 17th century

The National Monuments Service's description

No medieval houses survive in Athlone and nothing is known of domestic housing in the town before the seventeenth century. A considerable amount of house construction seems to have occurred about 1620 as a result of Wilmot's scheme whereby Protestants were granted lands in Athlone on condition of building stone houses "after the English manner". Stokes suggested that many of the buildings in Custume Place, Bridge Street and Church Street as far as Mardyke Street may be of seventeenth century fate and this is supported by a number of seventeenth century armorial plaques (WM029-042037-, WM029-042038-, WM029-042039-, WM029-042040-) known from houses in this area. The surviving seventeenth century remains are located in the Westmeath side and this is largely due to to the destruction of the Connacht side by Ginkel in the siege of 1691. Further destruction was caused in 1697 by an electric storm which destroyed at least 64 houses.
A number of long burgage plots survive on the SE side of Main Street. Sean's Bar, 13 Main Street, has thick walls; it is two storeyed with an additional third storey in in brick and a late medieval stone built fireplace from a house on an island in Lough Ree. Preserved on the premises is a section of wattle partition removed from a first floor wall. This could be of seventeenth century date but it is not securely dated. Other houses in this street appear to have been similarly constructed (Bradley et. al. 1985, 25-6).

Compiled by: Rachel Barrett

Date of upload: 15 October 2010

References

Bradley, J., Halpin, A., and King, H. 1985 Urban archaeological survey - county Westmeath. Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works, Dublin.