Richmond–Munster
South
Fast Facts
- Population: 11,374 (City of Ottawa Neighbourhood Study (sum of the two combined boundaries))
- Size: 302.96 km² (Computed from the combined City of Ottawa Neighbourhood Study boundary polygons)
- Distance from Parliament Hill: About 29.2 km southwest (straight-line distance)
Overview
Richmond–Munster groups three rural villages in Ottawa's far southwest, all founded around 1818 as military settlements for disbanded soldiers who had fought in the War of 1812. Richmond, named for the Duke of Richmond, was Ottawa-area's first large planned community; Munster was settled by Irish veterans and named for one of Ireland's four ancient kingdoms; and Ashton, which straddles the Ottawa-Beckwith township boundary, grew around a 19th-century grist mill on the Jock River.
Boundaries
The City of Ottawa Neighbourhood Study covers this area with two separate boundaries — Richmond and Munster-Ashton — merged here into a single shape spanning a large, mostly rural area in Ottawa's southwest corner, bordering Lanark County.
Map
History
In August 1818, about thirty disbanded veterans of the 99th Regiment, led by Captain G.T. Burke, arrived in newly surveyed Goulbourn Township to form the advance party of a planned military settlement for soldiers who had fought in the War of 1812. The town site was named Richmond after the governor-general, the Duke of Richmond, and by the end of 1818 about 400 heads of families had been established there, forming the first large community in present-day Carleton County.
Disbanded Irish soldiers were among the main settlers of both Richmond and nearby Munster, founded around the same time and named for one of Ireland's four ancient kingdoms.
Ashton began in 1818 with a few former soldiers of the 100th Regiment who received land grants there, at the corner of what is now Flewellyn Road and Ashton Station Road. A settler arriving in the mid-1820s built a mill and engaged in lumbering on the Jock River, and by the 1840s the village had several stores, a blacksmith shop, a tannery, and steam grist, saw and shingle mills.
Richmond, Munster and Ashton became part of the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton in 1969 and of the amalgamated City of Ottawa in 2001; Ashton itself remains split between Ottawa and the neighbouring Township of Beckwith along Ashton Station Road.
Claim to Fame
This area's defining feature is its origin as one of Ottawa's earliest planned communities — a series of 1818 military settlements for disbanded War of 1812 veterans, predating the founding of Bytown (Ottawa) itself by several years.
Surrounding Neighbourhoods
Stittsville lies east, Carp and Fitzroy lie north, and Lanark County (including the Township of Beckwith and the Town of Carleton Place) lies west and south.
Architecture
Richmond's village core along Perth Street and McBean Street retains 19th-century buildings from its founding as a military settlement, while Ashton's centre preserves its mill-era buildings, including the historic Ashton Mill site now home to Ashton Brewing Company. The surrounding rural area is otherwise farmland and low-density acreage lots.
Restaurants
Ashton Brewing Company — BrewpubBrewpub in a historic mill building at 113 Old Mill Road in Ashton.
Photo: P199, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsVisit website
Pedestrian and Cycling
This is a rural, car-dependent area with limited sidewalks outside the village cores of Richmond, Munster and Ashton; the Jock River and Goodwood Marsh trails offer some recreational walking near Richmond.
Schools
- Richmond Public School — Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
Elementary school (K-5) at 3499 McBean Street, offering English and Middle French Immersion programs.
Visit website - South Carleton High School — Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
Secondary school at 3673 McBean Street, serving students from across Ottawa's rural southwest, including Stittsville, Manotick, North Gower, Kars, Ashton and Munster.
Visit website
Transit Options
This rural area is not served by OC Transpo rapid transit; residents travel primarily by personal vehicle along Perth Street, McBean Street and Flewellyn Road.
Nearby on This Site
No listings yet in this area.
Official Information
Last verified: August 27, 2026