Old Mayo RIC barracks given a new lease of urban life

A FORMER Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) barracks, dating back to 1830, has been lovingly restored in the centre of Castlebar, back to its original glory.

The two-storey building at Chapel Street in the county town is now the residence of auctioneer Kevin Beirne and his family.

It took workmen 18 months to convert the property from a derelict site to its present stately condition.

In I830 this property was originally built by the British and from 1830 up to 1895 the RIC were in residence there, after which they moved to Chambers House on Ellison Street.

They occupied the coach house out the back of the property, which Kevin has also renovated.

The adjoining building, which is now occupied by O’Malley’s Accountants, was also part of the RIC barracks.

On May 9, 1895, it was passed on to George Bingham (Lord Lucan) on a 999 year lease and he leased it to the representatives of the Catholic Church in the names of Dr. John McEvilly, Archbishop of Tuam, Very Rev. Patrick Lyons, Parish Priest, Castlebar, and Jane Leonard, Superiorness of the Convent of Mercy, Castlebar.

In the Indenture of Lease the property is described as ‘that piece or plot of ground with the buildings thereon formerly used as a Police Barracks, bounded on the north by the chapel grounds (the Parochial House where the old church was to be located), on the south by the Presbytery premises and Mr. Quinn’s field on the east and by the public road on the west’.

The lease was subject to the annual rent of five pounds, 10 shillings and nine pence for the term of 999 years from November 1, 1895.

The lease continued: "Whereas the Most Rev. McEvilly died on or about November 26, 1902, and Rev. Lyons died on or about December 13, 1911, and whereas Jane Leonard, the last surviving joint tenant, died intestate on or about June 2, 1917, and whereas Letters of Administration Intestate to the estate of Jane Leonard, deceased, were granted forth of the District Probate Registry at Ballina of the High Court of Justice Eire on July 27, 1938, to Barbara Leonard of Athenry in the county of Galway, spinster, and since the date of said lease, the building upon the lands comprised in said lease, were reconstructed into two dwelling houses with yards and gardens attached."

By Indentured Assignment on September 17, 1938, the property was leased to a Julia Haughey.

Kevin said the premises was then occupied by three generations of doctors - Dr. McCarthy, and from March 27, 1961, by Dr. Patrick Joseph Coyle of Newport Road, Castlebar, and later by Dr. Bert Moran, whose family sold the property to Thomas Lyons.

Kevin admitted: “There was nothing done with this house for 25 years. The attic was definitely not touched and we brought all that back, stonework and all.

“We were a year-and-a-half renovating the house and, as you can see, we kept its character. The coach house was a two-storey building where the policemen lived upstairs and the horses were stabled below.”

He continued: “The original kitchen has been turned into a bathroom.

"We replaced the herring bone flooring and installed under floor heating. We kept the original architraves and doors and we have the original balusters. The original beams, from 1830, were retained in converting the attic.”

The contractor for the renovation was Chris Moran from Islandeady.

Kevin said of him: “He is a qualified engineer so if he hit any trouble he could sort it himself.

"People are delighted we brought the house back to life. This was actually a building site. We were a year-and-a-half doing it up and my wife, Theresa, had a big input in the interior design.

“The rooms kind of talked to you - don’t touch that, keep this.

"We are only passing through but it was lovely to bring it back to life and to what it originally was.

"We had no plan in our heads. It just happened. I am looking at houses every day of the week but this was unique.

"We never lived in town. We were all born and reared in Saleen. Now we are in town and town living is fantastic. But it is still taking time to get used to town living.

“Imagine this building was erected in 1830 and it is amazing how it has stood the test of time. It is lovely to have brought it back.”

He revealed it was a huge burden cost wise.

Kevin elaborated: “If we sold it in the morning we would do well. It was a derelict building site. When they went up to inspect the middle chimney, it was in grave trouble.”

After completing his Leaving Certificate in St. Gerald's College, Castlebar, Kevin didn’t go to third level education.

Instead, he got a position with Lyons Tea and he was 19 years with them. He ended up in Co. Clare for seven years where he met his wife, Theresa.

Kevin explained: “Unilever took over Lyons Tea. They condensed it and closed the factory in Dublin and manufactured all the Lyons Tea in Old Trafford in Manchester. That is where Lipton’s Tea is made and they are the one company now.

“Then they stopped delivering to all the shops, which was what I was doing. You have to go to a cash-and-carry to get the tea now. Supermarkets like Dunnes or Tesco get it delivered to their warehouse, which is called central distribution.

“They gave us five years notice. They told me if I wanted to go back to college that they would pay for it. I went back and done auctioneering in the evening time for three years and qualified.

"Then I took my redundancy and came back to Castlebar and set up an auctioneer’s office in ‘Paddy Wellwares' on Tucker Street.

“I always liked property and valuing. I dabbled in a bit of buying here and there. It is selling, like what I was doing with Lyons Tea, just a different commodity. I loved the auctioneering course as it was so broad.

"You did building studies, you did valuations and law. I never thought I would take to law but it was fine.”

Auctioneers, he said, are now regulated by the Property Regulator and they are as strict as the Law Society.

He pointed out: “Heretofore all you had to do was go to the court and if you were of good character you got your auctioneer’s licence.

"That is all stopped now. Now to get an auctioneer’s licence you have to have a degree. It is good for the trade and it regularised it and gives us a chance to make a few pound.”

Kevin is also Commissioner of Oaths and a Peace Commissioner.

When he is not selling property he enjoys fly fishing for trout and salmon, doing some coaching with the Castlebar Mitchels and having a flutter on the horses.

But, as the photographs reveal, he and Theresa are pretty adept at house restoration and renovation.

And, hopefully, they have set a trend that will see many other of the old town centre streets in Castlebar experiencing a revival.