Stop 4: fitzpatrick’s house
Fitzpatrick’s house on the corner of Brown Street and
Stoney Road used to be a Church of Ireland school. This crossroads was always
called Haugh’s cross. The house was built by the Medleycotts for Haugh. Once
upon a time, the Medleycotts owned all the land in the townsland, which was
known as Coolroe. There was an auction in Brown St. in the early 1900s and the
Church of Ireland purchased this house when Cloneygam school was burned down
during the Civil War. The Fitzpatricks who live there now used to have a shop in
the house. Our teachers remember buying biscuits there. The family kindly
donated land to Portlaw National School in 1995 when we were extending the
school.
Notice
that outside the front door there is an old horse handle on the ground to tie a
horse up
It
Used to be a Sweet Shop
It
used to be a sweet shop
On the corner of Stoney Road
Where sweets like bulls-eyes and cough drops
Were always sold.
Before that, it was a small school
Where boys and girls went to learn
Reading, writing and arithmetic
Throughout the school term.
The Fitzpatrick’s live there now:
John, Joe, and their mother,
One is an electrician, the other a farmer,
And they all live with each other,
Where the people play on the corner.
By Alex Hackett
