11. SVT Castlecoote origins

PULL OVER #4 Castlecoote   Location: 53.613399, -8.290644 Our fourth Pull-Over point is Castelcoote picturesquely located beside the Suck River. Look out for possibly Ireland's smallest museum in the yellow phone box! The village of Castlecoote as it is known to-day got it's name from ‘Coote. Literally translated it means Cootes' Castle. The original name was Baile Mhic Oireachtaigh, which can still be seen over the Post Office in Castlecoote. Some traces of the castle still survive, the ruins were probably used to provide stones for the new residence which was built in the 1790's by the resident Coote family. Predecessors of these built the castle and one of these, Sir Charles Coote was the president of Connaught in the 1640's. The castle was the centre of much activity, being under attack and siege many times. In the vicinity stood a house lived in by Brian Gunning, grandfather of the famous Gunning sisters or "Hibernian Beauties" as they were known.