White O’ Morn cottage still in ruins

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Despite being voted a “Protected Structure”, Maureen O’Hara’s dearest wish to see the beloved Galway cottage restored can not happen without the owner’s involvement and actions from the Council


There are no plans for the cottage, made famous in the 1952 movie The Quietman, starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara, to be saved despite the fact that it legally qualifies as a protected structure a dismayed community leader told IrishCentral.


The White O’ Morn Cottage, in Ternakill, Maam, County Galway, was the love nest of fiery Mary Kate Danaher and Sean Thornton (aka Maureen O’Hara and John Wayne) in the 1952 John Ford helmed movie The Quiet Man. The structure itself dates back to the pre-1820s.


Now the once white-walled thatched cottage is lying in ruins and despite well-wishes and thoughts of restoring the beloved house, nothing has been done to protect it. Paddy McCormick, who runs the White O'Morn Cottage Community Group, told IrishCentral “Despite numerous rumors and gossip over the years there have never been any actual real 'plans' to restore the cottage - just statements of intent, expressions of goodwill and offers of support (both financial and material) which are always ignored.”


The White O’ Morn cottage has been abandoned. Gregory and Shirley Ebbitt are named on the title deeds as joint owners. Gregory Ebbitt, who worked as a builder in the US, has not been heard from while the cottage has fallen into utter disrepair. He had in the past claimed that it is his ambition to renovate the cottage but said he received no cooperation from the government.


Sadly, according to McCormick, it’s down to the property’s owner to save the White O’ Morn cottage and it is only Galway County Council who have the power to compel the owner to act.


McCormick asked “How many more winters can it survive just being ignored like this?


“Surely the cottage should now be classified as 'endangered' and substantive action should be taken now before it is lost forever."


In 2014 the Council issued its official guidelines on what a “Protected Structure” is. The cottage was unanimously voted to be classed as "protected".


Sadly, according to McCormick, it is the Galway County Council “have refused, to follow-up on their own 2014 designation (not even sending a simple letter to the owner) - despite having full legal authority to request the owners fulfill their obligations under Irish law.”


McCormick clearly frustrated by the sad situation is disheartened by has no plans to relent.


You can find the full article at Quiet Man’s famed White O’ Morn cottage abandoned


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