Presentation House, John Mc Gahern, M.J. Mc Manus, Carrick-on-Shannon.

At the end of Main Street at its junction with Dublin Road is Presentation House. During its long history it has fulfilled a variety of roles. First built as a Militia Barracks by the St.George family it was leased to the War Office in 1784. In 1835 it had a garrison of 35 men.

The Presentation Brothers came to the town in 1894 at the request of the Parish Priest Rev. Canon Hoare. In 1911 the house was purchased from the War Office by Brother Cyril and became a monastery. In 1944 a secondary school was established here and remained in operation until its merger with the Marist Secondary School in 1972.

Among the many famous pupils of the school were M.J. McManus and John McGahern...

was born in 1934. He received his secondary education at the Presentation Brothers' College, travelling by bicycle from Cootehall where his father was Sergeant in the Garda Siochana.

A brilliant student in Secondary School, he qualified as a teacher, but soon achieved international recognition for his talent as a writer with such works as "The Dark" and the Booker nominated "Amongst Women". Carrick, Cootehall and the surroundings of his youth provide the background for much of his writing.

We now leave Main Street and walk towards St. Patrick's Hospital. Now known as Summerhill, this street was formerly the mail coach road and was known as "Gallows Hill." It is certain that executions were carried out here but the exact location of the Gallows tree is now uncertain.

Inset in the wall in front of the ESB premises is a stone tablet to the memory of M.J. McManus. He was born in 1887. His father was master of the Workhouse School and his mother matron of the he Workhouse itself.

He attended the Marist and Presentation schools, where he was imbued with a deep patriotism and a passionate interest in history. Later he studied at Farnham College in Surrey and London University. After some years teaching he took up journalism full-time, and soon had many friends in the writing and publishing world - Yeats, Shaw, Chesterton, Belloc, Betjeman among them.

He returned to Ireland in 1916 and from then on his pen was at the service of his native country. Literary editor of the Irish Press from its foundation in 1931; author of historical pieces "This Happened Today" in that paper for 15 years; close friend of established writers, developer of budding talent (e.g. Brendan Behan); author of a very popular life of de Valera; writer of poems and parodies; M.J. McManus was one of the outstanding figures in the literary and journalistic Ireland of his time. He retained all his life a deep affection for his native town. He died in 1951 and is buried in Glasnevin, Dublin.