History Watch for the "Castle of Kings" !
Kathleen Martin's was not only a shop,it also had an Argus Library in it.
Feely's Pub consisted of a small bar at the front and in the kitchen behind many a bottle of guinness was downed beside the open fire.It had an early opening license which allowed it open at 6 AM for the fairs. James was known as the general.He bought animal skins and hung them up in the pub(sometimes very fresh).
St. Joseph's Church, Boyle built in 18761876 St Josephs Boyle 1876
St. Joseph's catholic church was built in 1876 by architect George Goldie. The church body consisted of a central nave, with cylindrical limestone columns and two side aisles. Built in the Gothic style, it had a magnificent pitch pine, hammer beam style roof, and a striking rose stained glass window above the alter. The church was burned down in 1977 and the new St. Joseph's Church was built on the same site in 1980. 		Church of Ireland In 1765 Lord Kingston gave the Boyle Parish Church( C of I)an acre of land in Lowparks for a site for the new church. The builder appointed was a Mr Oliver Grace.Each parishioner was levied to pay 2 shillings per acre per year to pay the bill. The main building was completed in 1773. It was enlarged in 1818 to facilate the increased number of soldiers from the military barracks who paraded there each Sunday led by their military band.

Extracts from ISAAC WELD 1832 Survey of county Roscommon ref . The Princess Hotel & Wards
"From one extremity of the island to the other, possibly, no establishment exists in a town of the same size, provided with so great a variety of articles, or on so extended a scale as the shop and warehouses of Mr.Mulhall, already alluded to, in the description of the new building of handsome cut stone, lately erected at the foot of the old main street, near the bridge.
Princess Hotel link The retail shop, for its breadth, depth, and height, would be considered large even in a capital city; and an upper ,wareroom over it, of nearly similar dimensions, is laid out for the further display of goods, communicating with the divisions , not merely by stairs, but by a broad circular aperture, bounded by a balustrade, by means of which parties in each story hold intercourse. On the Opposite side of the street, belonging to the same individual, stood a range of warehouses for more bulky and coarser goods. Woollens, cottons, silks, in all their multifarious forms; hosiery, haberdashery, perfumery; hardwares and soft wares; groceries and drugs; timber, iron, pitch, tar, with an endless list of et ceteras, were all to be had here, both wholesale and retail, in such abundance and in such great variety, as to leave nothing deficient which was likely to be required ;and I was challenged to ask at a venture, and put the resources of this grand emporium to the test. Really it is refreshing in this land of murmuring and repining, to see 'what may be effected, when industry and prudence, judgment and enterprise, go hand in hand. Yet it would not be fulfilling the task I have undertaken, of representing, as far as I am able, the state of things as they really are, did I not mention, that in by far the greater number of shops I entered at Boyle, complaints were common of the stagnation of commerce and decrease of the country trade. It was an unvarying tale, that the peasantry who frequented the town were poorer than formerly; at least, that they did not spend money as they heretofore used to do. Now, that the peasantry have lost the benefits arising from the linen manufacture, which had, heretofore, spread extensively through this district, but which notoriously declined, must be admitted as true; and no other branch of manufacturing industry has yet supplied its place. On the other hand, the increase of shops does not support the position, that the demands of the country folk are less than they were; since it is quite idle to suppose, that shops would be opened without a prospect of customers; and it is evident, not only that the shops are more numerous than they used to be in Boyle, but from all I could learn, they are incomparably better furnished. Even whilst I staid there, preparations, as I have stated, were making for several additional ones in the new buildings, and generally on a scale superior to the old, excepting always, the grand magazine of Mr.Mulhall, the shop par excellence."

In the 1749 census an Inn was listed for Fort Lane, one of six in the town.

LEGEND
A well said to be associated with St Patrick is located off Lowparks to the south east of the Church of Ireland and was not blessed because he was refused a drink of water from it..

Circa 1800

Boyle's population was over 3,000 and with nine clothes shops and a milliner was classed as a wealthy area. Beggars were plentiful and often were allowed to beg in the doorway of shops. Throngs of up to fifty plagued travellers alighting from coaches. The highway from Carrick to Sligo was known as a "first rate road" winding past the Cistercian Abbey and on to the centre of Boyle, Bridge street/Green Street. On up the street past the Princess Hotel and then through the long archway into the courtyard for a change of horses. While the patrons alighted away from the crowd in the tranquillity of beautiful terraced gardens, here to relax and maybe enjoy accommodations for a meal or an overnight stay in palatial surroundings.trad.dress This was the resting point for the coach horses and here extra horses would be added to help the coach up the steep hills ahead,and over the Curlews Mountains and on to Sligo. Fairs were held about every six weeks and were continuous from the Fairgreen on the north side to the Crescent on the south side. Apart from livestock there was a brusque trade in butter, eggs and corn. This fair attracted much traffic from the port town of Sligo from which lobsters were sent to complement fresh trout from the local lakes
"Extract from Boyle Book vol 1 on Clewes Hall written by Bertie Ahern (R.I.P.)" The Clewes Hall on the Crescent was names after a man named Clewes who was rent collector for the Rockingham Estate. His office was the building I remember as the Catholic Club. At that time he was collector for the whole area as Boyle and surrounding countryside was the property of the King Harman family and rent was paid to Clewes on behalf of King Harman. With the passing of the Wyndam Act the lands became the property of the Land Commission. The commission advanced monies to all the tenants to enable them to buy their holdings and in turn the tenants paid back an annual fee to the commission. These were the Land Annuities, which in later years were to cause so much controversy in Irish Politics. The average half year payment made by most townspeople was £5 4s 5d = £10 8s 10d (13.25 euro per annum). In recent years people bought out their holdings entirely and so the properties are now Fee Simple.


Green Street
Boyle
Co. Roscommon
Ireland