Thursday Doors – Cootehill

This week’s Thursday Doors comes from Cootehill in County Cavan. I have featured this historic market town before but it was a few years ago and highlighted only a small sample of what the town has to offer. The main street is wide and colourful, retaining many of the period features on its mostly well preserved buildings. Even the library, which is a recent addition, blends in well with the streetscape. I like the pillars and wood around the entrance and the beautiful clock suspended over the doorway.

In the early 1700s the Coote family, who had intermarried with the Hill family, created Cootehill as a linen-producing town. By the end of the eighteenth century it had become the major centre for the linen trade in Ireland. The history of the French weavers, spinners and flax growers in counties Cavan and Mayo is fascinating, so I’ll leave a link at the end of this post for anyone interested. * 

A large van was parked right in front of this pub so I had to stand very close to get take these photos.

Yes, that’s Elvis in the window of The West End Bar. Having spent far too long looking at the interesting collection on display I finally got round to taking a shot of the door. Some road works were taking place in the street, which explains the dust you can see on the shiny black paint.

Some buildings in the main street really stand out both in size and colour, like in the next image.

Others make a statement just by having an unusual design. The blue saloon type outer door and surround was painted a vibrant red last time I was in Cootehill.

The Irish phrase Tir na n-Og means Land of Youth, a reference to a mythical Celtic otherworld where nobody grows old and dies. I like the sign in the window – “We’re open when we’re here. We’re closed when we ain’t.”

I will have more from Cootehill over the coming weeks but in the meantime, Dan has a great selection of Thursday Doors over on his blog.

Linen Trade History French Connection *

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