Lisryan, Lios Riain, Co. Longford

Lios Riain · Co. Longford

A crossroads in north Longford with no pub of its own, but a 13th-century Norman hall house in a field beside it that Cromwell came to besiege.

Lisryan is a small rural townland in the middle of north County Longford, named for an early ringfort - lios, a fort, Lios Riain, Rian's fort. It sits on the R395 between Granard and Edgeworthstown, far enough from both that it keeps its quiet. There is a crossroads, a sports field, a graveyard at Coolamber, and a community that turns out for its own family weekends. There is no pub in the village and no shop. That is the honest shape of the place.

What gives Lisryan its weight is in the fields just outside it, at Coolamber. There you will find a thirteenth-century Anglo-Norman hall house - a two-storey hall with a tall service tower, a barrel vault still standing at the north end, later fireplaces and ogee windows cut into it in the 1500s. It stood on the boundary of the English Pale, the line between the area England claimed and the Irish lordships beyond, and it was besieged by Oliver Cromwell during his campaign after 1649. It is right beside the road, very visible, and on private land, so you look from the verge.

A short distance on is Coolamber Manor, a late-Georgian house of around 1830 on 150 acres, called the finest of its date and type in the county. It was built for the Blackalls; one of them, Samuel Wensley Blackall, became Governor of Queensland and died in office there in 1871. The house later served as a drug rehabilitation centre and is now closed and empty, sitting on its own ground.

Come to Lisryan if you want to stand at the edge of the Pale where a Norman tower has been quietly losing to the weather for eight hundred years, and to see what a place with no agenda looks like. Then drive to Granard or Edgeworthstown for the pint. This is a place to pass through slowly, not a place to be served.

Population

A rural townland, under 200 in the immediate area

Founded

Named for an early ringfort (lios); Anglo-Norman settlement at Coolamber from the 13th century

Coords

53.7282° N, 7.5033° W

01 / 06

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The ruin

Coolamber Hall House - an Anglo-Norman ruin from the early 1200s.

A two-storey hall with a four-storey service tower at one corner, on a raised platform beside the road just outside the village. It sat on the boundary of the English Pale, may have been home to a Plantation commissioner, and was besieged by Cromwell after 1649. Highly visible from the road, but on private land.

Stories & lore → 02 The demesne

Coolamber Manor on 150 acres - the finest country house of its type in Longford.

A late-Georgian classical house of around 1830, built to designs by the architect John Hargrave for the Blackall family. One Blackall son went on to govern Queensland. Later a drug rehabilitation centre, now closed and in disuse. Private ground, but the demesne sets the scale of the place.

Stories & lore → 03 The hamlet

A crossroads on the R395, not a service stop.

Granard is five kilometres north, Edgeworthstown eight south-west. Both have pubs and shops. Lisryan has a sports field, a graveyard at Coolamber, an active Tidy Towns committee, and the kind of quiet that does not need explaining. Stock up before you arrive.

How to get there →

02 / 06

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

Anglo-Norman, early 13th century, besieged by Cromwell

Coolamber Hall House

Just outside Lisryan, at Coolamber, stands the ruin of an Anglo-Norman hall house dating from the early thirteenth century - a rectangular two-storey block with a large first-floor hall and a separate four-storey service tower at the south-east corner, a late-medieval church to its north-west. The remains of a barrel vault survive at the north end of the ground floor; fireplaces and ogee-arched windows were cut into it in the sixteenth century. It sits on a semi-circular platform once enclosed by stone walls, on what was the boundary of the English Pale in the seventeenth century. It may have been the residence of Thomas Nugent, a commissioner of the Plantation of Longford under James I around 1620. It was besieged by Oliver Cromwell during his invasion of Ireland after 1649. It stands next to the road, highly visible, but on private property and not open to the public - this is a look-from-the-verge ruin, not a managed site.

John Hargrave, c. 1830, for the Blackalls

Coolamber Manor and the Governor of Queensland

A short way from the hall house is Coolamber Manor, a detached three-bay, two-storey-over-basement Georgian house built around 1830 to designs by the architect John Hargrave, who worked extensively across Longford in the 1820s. Late-Georgian classical, with giant-order pilasters between the bays and a full-height bowed projection, it is on record as the finest house of its date and type in the county, on a demesne of roughly 150 acres. It was built for the Blackall family. Samuel Wensley Blackall (1809-1871), High Sheriff of Longford and MP for the county, went into the colonial service - Lieutenant-Governor of Dominica, Governor of Sierra Leone, and finally second Governor of Queensland, where he died in office in 1871. His son Robert held Coolamber after him. In recent decades the house served as a drug rehabilitation centre; it is now closed and in disuse, sitting quiet on its own ground.

03 / 06

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

Coolamber ruin and demesne road There is no waymarked trail here. The walk is the quiet country road past Coolamber, where the thirteenth-century hall house stands beside the verge and the manor demesne sits behind its trees. Both are on private land - look, do not enter. Coolamber graveyard is in the same townland. Bring boots for the verges and a healthy respect for field gates and farm traffic. This is a stroll through working farmland with one remarkable ruin in it, not a heritage park.

2-3 km returndistance

45 minutestime

04 / 06

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

Long light on the Coolamber ruin and the hedges greening. Roads quiet, farmland busy. The best time to look at old stone in a field.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Warmest and driest for the verge walk past Coolamber. The community runs family events in the village some summers - worth checking locally before you arrive.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Fine on a clear day, but the unlit country roads get dark early and the verges turn muddy. Walk in daylight.

◐ Mind yourself

Winter

Nov-Feb

Short days, wet ground, nothing open in the village. The ruin is still there if you want a bleak look at it, but you will be doing it from a cold roadside. Granard has the fire and the pint.

◐ Mind yourself

05 / 06

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Looking for a pub or a coffee in Lisryan

There is no pub and no shop in the village. This is a crossroads, not a service stop. Granard is five kilometres north, Edgeworthstown eight south-west - both have the pint, the food and the supplies. Stock up before you turn off the main roads.

Trying to get inside the Coolamber ruin or manor

Both Coolamber Hall House and Coolamber Manor are on private land. The hall house is very visible from the road and that is as close as you get; the manor is closed and in disuse behind its demesne. Admire from the public road, do not climb gates.

Expecting a heritage centre or signage

There is none. The thirteenth-century hall house has no car park, no interpretive panel and no opening hours. If you want a place that explains itself, this is not it. If you want a Norman tower quietly rotting in a Longford field with nobody else around, it is exactly it.

Getting there.

By car

On the R395 between Granard (5 km north) and Edgeworthstown (8 km south-west). Longford town is about 20 km south-west. From Dublin, allow roughly 2 hours via the N4 to Edgeworthstown then the R395 north.

By bus

No direct service to the village. Bus Éireann route 111 stops in Granard, 5 km north. Local Link covers the rural parts of Longford but services are sparse - a car is the practical option.

By train

Nearest station is Edgeworthstown (Mostrim), 8 km south-west, on the Iarnród Éireann Dublin to Sligo line. Taxi or lift from there; there is no public transport into Lisryan itself.