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Pearse's Cottage
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Ros Muc's most famous landmark is Pearse's Cottage, which
attracts up to ten thousand visitors each year.
It was April 1903 when Paraic Mac Piarais first came to Ros
Muc as an examiner for Conradh na Gaeilge. He was to stay in
the teacher's residence in Gortmore. |
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There were Irish lessons being given in Gortmore School by
Colm O'Gaora and these were the students that Paraic Mac
Piarais was going to test. There were members of the Conradh
waiting for the train at Maam Cross, a stranger alighted, he
was taken by side car and brought to the teacher's
residence, when a second stranger alighted, it was realised
this was Paraic Mac Piarais and that he would have no place
to stay. He was twenty-three years of age and a month
previous he had been the editor of the paper "An Claidheamh
Soluis". He was a member of Conradh na Gaeilge since he was
seventeen years of age, It was settled that he would stay
with Michael O'Malley in the house where the post-office and
supermarket is today.
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It was not his first time to the Gaeltacht. In 1898 he was
in Arainn and he visited other Gaeltachts before he came to
Ros Muc. He was taught Irish by Mairtin O'Conghaile, a blind
man, in Arainn, John Millington Synge was also being taught
at the time.
Ros Muc and it's people
made an impression on him like no other place had previously
and because of this he decided to build a holiday home
there. He stayed an extra day after he had examined the
twelve students. Shortly after this he started looking for a
site for his cottage. |
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He bought a
site with a magnificent view of Loch Eiliarach. Mairtin
Labhrais Nee and Tom Labhrais Nee built a two bedroomed-thatched
cottage for him.
It was Bartley Mannion that did the carpentry work in the
house. They were told that Mac Piarais did not have much
money and that he was working on behalf of the country so
they did not charge him much. |
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He was not in any hurry to pay his bills, when he
was not paying for the timber and the other requirements for the house he was
summoned to court in Oughterard, it is thought that he still owed for those
bills when he was put to death by the English in 1916.
Between 1903 and 1915 he spent a lot of time in Ros Muc and his knowledge of the
Irish language greatly improved. Paraic Mac Piarais was born in Dublin in 1879.
He was a schoolteacher. He wrote many short stories. for example: "Sean-Mhaitias",
"Na Boithri" and "An Mhathair". He also wrote poetry, for example: "Bean
tSleibhe ag Caoineadh a Mhic" and "Miana mo Chroi". Life and customs in Ros Muc
at that time are reflected in his writings. It was in Ros Muc he wrote the
historic speech that he orated at O'Donovan Rossa's Grave.
Padraic Mac Piarais was a great orator. He was the founder of Scoil Eanna in
Rathfarnham in Dublin. On the other side of the road to Paraic Mar Piarais's
Cottage is Inver Lodge, an estate which was owned by Lord Dudley, the Lord
Lieutenant to Ireland, who stayed there at the same time as Paraic Mac Piarais
was staying in his cottage. The cottage has been under the auspices of "Duchas",
a state sponsored body that looks after historical sites. The house is open to
visitors for four months of the year with two or three guides employed.
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