This article is from page 29 of the 2008-01-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 29 JPG
THE house that inspired the final play ever penned by WB Yeats is in the centre of a growing row between the descendants of its former owner and the State.
Tyrone House, which is located on the outskirts of Kilcolgan and close to Coole Park in Gort, where Yeats spent much of his time, was the inspiration for the Nobel Prize winners’ final play, “The Death of Gee y re
The 18th-century property, which was formerly the home of the St George family, has also been cred-
ited as inspiration for a number of other artistic works, including “The Big House of Inver’ by Somerville and Ross.
According to the St George family, the Government has gone back on a commitment to purchase and pre- serve the historic property.
The property, which is currently in a State of disrepair, was designed by renowned Irish architect, John Roberts for Christopher French St George in the early 18th century.
One of his direct descendants, Gordan St George, last week criti- cised the Government for going back on acommitment to allocate funds to
purchase and preserve the property.
The house was abandoned in 1905 and then burnt by the IRA during the War of Independence in 1920. It iS now in private ownership but has been ransacked and looted down through the years.
Galway County Council has pre- viously tried to purchase the build- ing on behalf of the Department of the Environment, but with no suc- TIE
Labour TD and former Minister for the Arts, Michael D Higgins has sup- ported a proposal to purchase Tyrone House, but ownership problems de- layed the plan.
According to Deputy Higgins, fur- ther representations were made last year but he was informed that Gal- way County Council had written to the owner in relation to the building but had received no reply.
‘The Death of Cuchulain’ was writ- ten by Yeats in 1939 and tells the sto- ry of the last few days of his life. It was the fifth in Yeats’ series of plays on Cuchulain.
He also wrote ‘On Baile’s Strand’ in 1904, “The Green Helmet’ in 1910, ‘At the Hawk’s Well’ in 1917 and “The Only Jealousy of Emer’ in 1919.
Yeats also penned a number of po- ems on the legend of Cuchulain.