The Quiet Man cottage set to be preserved

The Council has started the process of including the house and its curtilage in a list of buildings and sites around the county that will get the Local Authority’s special protection.

The matter was discussed in detail at the recent Conamara Municipal meeting and was put forward by Councillor Tom Healy at a full council meeting subsequently where it was decided what would or wouldn’t be included on the list.

Cllr Healy’s proposal was seconded by Cllr Séamus Walsh and won unanimous cross party support at the full council meeting.

The campaign – it collected over 8000 signatures -- to have the cottage ruins protected is an international one stretching to the US and Canada and involving a Facebook presence by a group called the White O’Morn, which is made up of loyal fans of the cult film, The Quiet Man, starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara and filmed in and around Connemara in the early fifties.

The cottage, which is owned by Canadian, Gregory Ebbitt and has been in serious decline, was the subject of a review by the Council with a view to adding it to the Record of Protected Structures.

The White O’Morn had submitted a copy of their own commissioned Archaeological Heritage Appraisal, as they are concerned about it falling into further disrepair.

The group would love to see the cottage restored to its former glory but of course it is privately owned by a man who has never lived in it and doesn’t appear to have any intention at this stage of refurbishing it.

However, once it is an official Protected Structure, any proposed development of the cottage and the land around it will be subject to even stricter planning regulations.

The idea of having it included as a Protected Structure means that at least now it cannot be demolished – at least what’s left of the cottage.

Patrick McCormack, a member of the White O’Morn campaign and now living in Toronto, Canada, said he welcomed the Council’s decision.