Keshcarrigan

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Keshcarrigan
Ceis Charraigín

Location

WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates:
54°01′04″N 7°56′36″W / 54.0178, -7.9433

Irish grid reference
H037076

Statistics

56 m

Population (2002)
- Town:
- Environs:

-
270

Keshcarrigan (Irish: Ceis Charraigín, the small rock on the wicker causeway) is a village in County Leitrim, Ireland. The village is on the Shannon-Erne canal, the R209 road near Lough Scur and Sheebeg, an ancient pagan burial site overlooking Kesh Lake.

Keshcarrigan features in the writing of the late John McGahern who lived about 3 km away along the shores of Laura (Rowan) Lough. In 1798, the French Army under General Humbert passed through on the way to eventual defeat at the Battle of Ballinamuck. A bronze age gold artifact 'The Keshcarrigan Bowl' was discovered in 1954 and is displayed at the National Museum in Dublin.

In more recent times, Kesh has been famous for its alternative St Patrick's Day parades over the years which included amongst others, an invisible parade, marshalled by an invisible Pamela Anderson, an indoor parade (in Gertie's pub) and a backwards parade. The local Gaelic Football team, Kiltubrid, were Leitrim County Champions in 2005 and Ireland rugby international Victor Costello was a former resident of Kesh. The village has experienced dramatic changes recently and has quadrupled in size since 2000 with over 150 new houses being built. However these are largely unoccupied, being either holiday houses or completely empty all year round (absentee owners can write off substantial tax liabilities).