Just published: An award-winning history of Kiltartan Parish : "Kiltartan - Many Leaves, One Root"
by Mary de Lourdes Fahy R.S.M.
Hardback €35; Paperback €22. Post & packing extra. Available from Museum and shops in Gort and Galway.
Awards:
1994 -1995 FÁS Commendation Award
1996 Galway Trust Award
1997 Galway Council Arts Award
1999
AIB Better Ireland Award
What others have written:
Ex-President Mary Robinson - “a Very Special Place”
Connacht Tribune - “the only building of its kind in Ireland”
Anne Gregory de Winton - “absolutely brilliant”
The Kiltartan Gregory Museum and Millennium Park is located two miles
outside Gort on the main Galway
Road at the historic spot “Kiltartan Cross” where the blind
poet Rafferty met and fell in love with the “Beauty of Ballylee”
Márre ní hEidhie and often played music for local dances.
This building was a National School built in 1892 at the behest of the local landlord, Sir William Gregory of Coole Park, Gort. The architect, Francis Persse was his brother-in-law and he incorporated into the building, the ornamental portions with which Sir William was familiar, when he was Governor of Ceylon. The school was closed in 1960 and was acquired by the local branch of the Irish Farmers Association. Restoration began in 1990 with the formation of the Kiltartan Gregory Cultural Society and assistance from Government Agencies and the Local Fundraising. The Museum was officially opened by Mary Robinson on the 8th August, 1996.
Visitors Comments:
“marvelous” , “inspirational”, “lovely”, “friendly place”, “superb”, “could stay all day”, “excellent guide”
The Museum is Largely devoted to the works of Augusta Lady Gregory (1852
- 1932), widow of Sir William. The most renowned member of the Gregory
family was Lady Gregory. During her time there, Coole became the meeting
place for writers, chief of whom was W.B. Yeats who later bought Thoor
Ballylee, Artists, Actors, Statesmen, Irish language enthusiasts,
Folklorists and the traveling Musicians. She took an active interest in
the welfare of her tenants. Lady Gregory and her son, Robert, were held
in high esteem by local people.
Lady Gregory was the cofounders of the Abbey Theatre for which she wrote several plays. She collaborated with W.B. Yeats in collecting folklore and she formed a ranch of the Gaelic League in this building in 1899. With the help of Douglas Hyde, later to become the first president of Ireland, she revived interest in the works of the blind poet, Rafferty. It is hoped that the opening of this museum will, in some way , compensate for the tragic demolition of Coole House in 1941 by the Department of Forestry.
Click here for a full list of Facilities and Amenities available at the Museum
The second smaller room(see left) is a lovingly recreated classroom of the past, with old desks., an old blackboard, the maps, paintings, charts, and other teaching aids that will be familiar to anyone of an older generation who attended a National School, and an eye-opening to a young generation that now takes for granted all the wonders of technology that would have dazzled the old pupils and their master or mistress.
Other Places of Interest in the Area
Links
Kiltartan Gregory Museum & Millennium Park
Kiltartan Cross, Gort, Co. Galway.
091 - 632346
E-mail: mlf1892@eircom.net