LOOKING back on his childhood, Hector Mac Lennan still remembers vividly the sights and sounds that made Leck View Terrace home.
Playing ‘Ally Bally who’s got the ball’ with neighbouring children, going to McKendrick’s shop to collect “the messages”, and Oatfield Sweet Factory were all part of daily life in Letterkenny when he was growing up.
Hector, now 70, was one of ten siblings born in No. 6, the end of the row of houses on Leck View Terrace.
He attended St Eunan’s College before moving to Kildare to join the Irish Prison Service in 1980. He raised a family of five in Leixlip before returning to Letterkenny in 2012.
Hector has always had an interest in local history and his visits to the County Museum inspired him to write a book.
He decided its focus should be on what he knew and loved best: his home.
“I felt that I wanted to contribute in some small way, and what better than to write about something that was very close to my heart, the terrace where I was born and raised,” said Hector.
“Letterkenny is changing fast. Many of its old characters have passed on. Large families are a thing of the past. Many of the family names that we knew growing up in Letterkenny are dying out.
“Yet one thing remains constant, like monuments to the past, and that’s Letterkenny’s terraces. They all have their stories to tell, and I tried to tell the story of Leck View Terrace.”
Nestled behind McGettigans Hotel, Leck View Terrace has seen many changes in its 120 years of existence.
Hector has spent three years collecting information on the history of the six houses and its inhabitants. Using written records, photographs and word-of-mouth, he has produced a book that provides an in-depth account of a corner of Letterkenny’s history.
The book, Hector’s first, is titled “History of Leck View Terrace, Letterkenny”. He has described the writing process as “a labour of love”.
He relied primarily on the Property Valuation Records and the Censuses of Ireland 1901, 1911 and 1926 for his research.
The book’s chapters focus on each of the six houses and describe the lives of the residents and owners from 1906 up to the present day.
A period of change
The first inhabitants moved into Leck View Terrace in late 1906, after John McManus bought the plot of land from Jane Fisher.
At this time, a number of terraced houses had already been built in Letterkenny, including St Columba’s, McClures, St Eunan’s and Ballymacool.
Other terraces such as Rosemount came afterwards and there was a huge demand for housing at the time.
The early decades of the 20th century saw a period of unrest and rebellion in Ireland.
As a wave of nationalism and republicanism spread across the country, the houses of Leck View reflected the uncertainty of the times.
Those who lived there witnessed many defining events of modern Irish history, including the 1916 Easter Rising, the War of Independence, The Anglo-Irish Treaty and the partition of Ireland.
“What made the terrace stand out during the first 20 years of its existence was the large number of Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) officers who lived there,” explained Hector.
The first resident of No. 1 was John Michael Culkin, a member of the RIC who rented from John McManus and Mrs Margaret McKelvey.
At one time, there were three RIC officers living in the first three houses of Leck View Terrace. Hector acknowledged that they would have faced a concerning time.
A young constable from Kildare was shot and killed on Letterkenny Main Street, something which sent shockwaves through the town at the time.
However, Hector found a quote from RIC officer John Kenny from house No. 1, which praised the local community.
“He patrolled the streets by day and by night, and he said that he ‘never had a moment’s trouble’, and he said ‘that’s a tribute to the people of Letterkenny’,” said Hector.
At the outbreak of the First World War, five residents of Leck View signed up to fight, including Hector’s uncle Allan, who sadly died in 1918.
“Other residents of the terrace included a member of the Donegal Militia stationed at the High Road in Letterkenny, Coast Guard officers, and two watchmakers and jewellers,” said Hector.
From the late 1930s onwards, Leck View Terrace started to take on a more settled appearance as families moved in.
The descendants of many of these families still live at the terrace to this day, including the Mac Lennans, the Fishers, the McCauls and the McCauleys.
Although the residents faced the hardships of life, many happy memories were made too.
“There are only six houses but they all have their own stories to tell,” said Hector.
As 2026 marks the 120th anniversary of Leck View Terrace, Hector hopes that his book can contribute to the wider history of Letterkenny.
Most of all, he hopes to honour the stories of the many wonderful people who have lived in Leck View Terrace.