Lisacul () is a village in

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

, Ireland. The village is in the north-west of the county, midway between

Ballyhaunis Ballyhaunis () is a town in County Mayo, Ireland. It is at the crossroads of the N60 and N83 National secondary roads and on the railway line linking Dublin to Westport and Ballina. It is thought that the town grew up around St Mary's Augus ...

and

Ballaghaderreen Ballaghaderreen () is a town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It was part of County Mayo prior to 1898. It is located just off the N5 National primary road. The population was 1,808 in the 2016 census. History As of 1837, the town was recorde ...

, on the R293 road. It is part of the Barony of

Frenchpark Frenchpark, historically known as Dungar (), is a village in County Roscommon, Ireland on the N5 national primary road. It was the home of Douglas Hyde, the first President of Ireland. The nearby French Park Estate was until 1952 the ancestra ...

(the de Freyne family). Lisacul lies on the Lung River which is popular with anglers. There are several ancient

ring fort Ringforts, ring forts or ring fortresses are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Bronze Age up to about the year 1000. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are also many in South Wales ...

s in the area.

Education

There are two schools in Lisacul. Brightsparks Pre-School and Lisacul National School. Brightsparks has a roll of 28 pupils and five staff, while the national school (as of 2016) had over 70 pupils and five active teaching staff.

Geography

The principal river in Lisacul, the River Lung, is well stocked with fish, chiefly bream, perch, pike, roach and rudd and attracts anglers during the fishing season. The Loughglynn and District Angling Association holds open competitions throughout the year in the lakes around Loughglynn and Lisacul. The Lung takes its name from the Luighne people, who claimed ancestry from Lugh, the Celtic war deity. Lisacul has at least seven ring forts and, according to tradition, there is a treasure buried in one of these. The main fort was situated in Whitestown, and all the other forts were said to be visible from this. One of the forts is now part of the grounds of Lisacul's national school. Another, in Kiltybranks, has a cave: during the rural electrification scheme in the late 1950s human remains were found there. Pollawaddy cave is located approximately 1.5 km southwest of Lisacul village in Carrownaknockaun townland. The cave has a surveyed length of 45.5m and was explored and surveyed in September 2000 by David Drew and Caoimhe Hickey.

Community centre (Memorial Hall)

Dedication plaque on Lisacul Memorial Hall

The community centre in Lisacul was originally built in the 1930s, with a new extension completed in 2013. The original building was raised as a memorial to locals who died between 1920 and 1923 in the

War of Independence This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence. List See also * Lists of active separatist movements * List of civil wars * List of o ...

and the Civil War. The dedication plaque reads: :I ndil cuimhne ar :Sheamus O’Maoil Bhreanainn :Eoghan O’Ceallaigh :Thomas O’ Flannghaile :Phadhraic O’ Maoil Bhreanainn :Tomas Mac Gabhann :A marbhuigheadh ar son poblacta na h-Eireann (1920-23) (In memory of James Mulrennan, Eugene Kelly, Thomas Flannery, Patrick Mulrennan ndThomas McGowan who died for the republic of Ireland (1920-1923))

Handball alley

The original

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

alley was built in 1916, using donated materials and voluntary labour. It was opened by the principal of the local school, Bill Ford. It was demolished and rebuilt in the 1970s. Refurbishments since have included adding tiered seating and wheelchair access.

Community

In 2016, members of the Lisacul community undertook a project, the "365 Project" to assemble an archive of photographs (one for each day of the year) capturing the people, places and things in the Lisacul area.

References

{{County Roscommon Towns and villages in County Roscommon