John McGahern Barracks open by Appointment only.
For Bookings: info@mcgahernbarracks.ie 087 9588734
The John McGahern Barracks is operated by a local voluntary community group, therefore advanced booking is essential.
John Mc Gahern Barracks, Cootehall, County Roscommon Eircode F52 YD92
Opening Hours
As The John McGahern Barracks Museum is operated by a group of local volunteers, visits strictly by appointment only. Bookings must be made at least 48 hours in advance.
8 euro per person. Card/cash payment accepted at entry.
Cootehall Barracks
Everyplace has its history. Every family, village and town has stories that are told that create a sense of the past. Cootehall barracks sits outside the arched entrance to The Bawn, Chidley Coote’s estate house which was built in the latter half of the seventeenth century.
Although the barracks would have been one of the biggest houses in the village, as well as there being no electricity, there was no running water; it had to be fetched from the village well. The toilet was in a shed at the back. Adjacent to the house was a large plot – where the playground is now – which was used to grow vegetables and fruit for the house; – potatoes, cabbages, carrots, and gooseberries and blackcurrants.
The writer, John McGahern lived in the barracks in Cootehall from 1944 to 1953: his father was the serving sergeant there. He, his five sisters and young brother came to live in the barracks when their mother died. John was the eldest. He was nine years old.