The aforementioned inn may have been the establishment which gave shelter and hospitality to the founder of Methodism, John Wesley. In the 1770s, during one of his many tours through the Kingdom of Ireland, he recorded how bad weather forced him to stay the night at a local inn, Carrick a Beg, whose proprietor was sympathetic to his message- "After riding round, and round, we came in the evening to a lone house called Carrick-a-Beg. It lay in the midst of horrid mountains; and had no very promising appearance. However, it afforded corn for our horses, and potatoes for ourselves. So we made a hearty supper, called in as many as pleased of the family to prayers, and, though we had no fastening either for our door or our windows, slept in peace." The site of The Black Lion Inn was occupied by Dolan's Hotel in the 1920s. Ambrose Leet's 1814 Directory spells the name as "Black-lion".