De Valera's Cottage is a cottage and National Monument located in County Limerick, Ireland. It was the former home of the Irish rebel leader, and later President of Dáil Éireann, President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State, Taoiseach and President of Ireland, Éamon de Valera (1882–1975) during his youth.
| De Valera's Cottage | |
|---|---|
Teachín De Valera | |
  | |
| General information | |
| Status | Museum |
| Type | cottage |
| Architectural style | Vernacular |
| Location | Knockmore |
| Town or city | Bruree |
| Country | Ireland |
| Coordinates | 52°26′01″N 8°39′26″W / 52.433639°N 8.657111°W |
| Elevation | 54 m (177 ft) |
| Construction started | 1885 |
| Owner | Office of Public Works |
| Technical details | |
| Material | cast iron, timber, slate, concrete, limestone |
| Floor count | 1 |
| Designations | |
| Official name | De Valera's Cottage |
| Reference no. | 576 |
| Known for | Childhood home of Éamon de Valera |
Location
editDe Valera's Cottage is located 1 km (0.6 mi) north of Bruree, on the road to Athlacca.
History
editThe house is a labourer's cottage, built in 1885 by Kilmallock Poor Law Union.[1]
Born in New York City in 1882, de Valera (then known as George, and later Edward or Eddie) was brought to Ireland by his uncle Ned in 1885, following the death of his father Juan Vivion de Valera, and lived at this cottage. Even after his mother remarried, de Valera remained in Ireland, living at this cottage outside Bruree with his grandmother Elizabeth Coll, her son Patrick and her daughter Hannie. De Valera worked hard on the family farm, a mere half-acre;[2] they also used "the long farm", grazing cattle on the roadside grass. This was illegal, so de Valera kept watch for Royal Irish Constabulary policemen and had to pretend to be moving the cattle across the road if the police saw him.[3]
As a teenager he walked from there to C.B.S. Charleville during schooldays, a distance of 11 km (7 miles) each morning and evening (the family could not afford a bicycle).[4][5]
De Valera regularly visited the cottage in later life.[6] It is today a museum containing de Valera memorabilia, including the trunk he brought back from New York.[7][8]
Description
editThe house is a detached three-bay single-storey building.[9]
In culture
editPoet Thomas McCarthy wrote, in 1984, "Returning to De Valera's Cottage", about the strange shadow the cottage cast over the village.[10]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Travers, Pauric (1 January 1994). Éamon de Valera. Historical Association of Ireland. ISBN 9780852211236 – via Internet Archive.
de valera cottage.
- ^ The 25-inch OS map gives its area as 0.567 acres (0.23 ha)
- ^ Dwyer, T. Ryle (19 November 1998). Big Fellow, Long Fellow. A Joint Biography of Collins and De Valera: A Joint Biography of Irish politicians Michael Collins and Eamon De Valera. Gill & Macmillan Ltd. ISBN 9780717157464. Archived from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2020 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Clare People: Eamon De Valera". www.clarelibrary.ie. Archived from the original on 2 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
- ^ "The Boy from Bruree". www.irishidentity.com. Archived from the original on 29 November 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
- ^ "Letters: Myers On De Valera". The Irish Times. Dublin. 9 December 1998. ISSN 0791-5144. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
- ^ Hudson, Kenneth; Nicholls, Ann (18 June 1985). The Directory of Museums & Living Displays. Springer. ISBN 9781349070145. Archived from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2020 – via Google Books.
- ^ Greenwood, Margaret; Connolly, Mark; Wallis, Geoff (1 January 2003). Ireland. Rough Guides. ISBN 9781843530596. Archived from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2020 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Additional Images: Buildings of Ireland: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage". www.buildingsofireland.ie. Archived from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
- ^ McCarthy, Tom (1984). "Returning to De Valera's Cottage". The Iowa Review. Vol. 14, no. 2. University of Iowa. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.