Leitrim National School

Public space is anywhere that public life happens, anywhere that people who don’t know each other can meet and engage, breathing space in the town where people can gather. Unlike the Italian piazzas and Spanish plazas, which don’t have to contend with the Irish weather, Ireland’s rainy climate continues to provide a major challenge to the viability & use of our public open spaces.

The Market Yard is a public space located at the heart of Carrick on Shannon and has traditionally been a location for trading since the early 19th century, where fruit and vegetables, meats, butter, flannel, linen and other goods were bought and sold. While the yard since its restoration in the 1990’s has been a very pleasant retreat, its exposure rendered it unusable for a large portion of the year.