Sixty years after housing the iconic romance of John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara in ‘The Quiet Man,’ the cottage of White O’Morn finally faces restoration. The thatched house has lain empty, growing ever more decrepit, for the past 27 years.
Now Culture Minister Jimmy Deenihan has at last persuaded the cottage’s owner, Gregory Ebbitt, that there’s money to be made by fixing up the cottage and charging admission to it as a heritage site, the Irish Examiner reported.
When Ebbitt, a Canadian living in California, bought White O’Morn in 1985, he said he wished to restore the site—but for years, the cottage showed no signs of repair.
Admission fees to a White O’Morn heritage site could total $25 million annually, according to Mike Ward, founder of the ‘Save the Quiet Man Cottage’ group, the Examiner wrote.
The renovation costs will reach $5 million, most of which will be solicited from Hollywood and corporate investors who recognize the moneymaking potential of the project.
“There’s no doubt it has the potential to be an absolute goldmine and everyone sees that,” Ward told the Examiner.
White O’Morn cottage lies 18km from Cong, the village shooting location for most of the film. Now a tourist attraction, Cong will host a three-day festival next weekend, celebrating the movie’s sixtieth anniversary, which at least 5,000 fans are expected to attend.
O’Hara, who will be honored at the festival, turned 92 last week.
Watch the RTE News report on the cottage restoration—and see the cottage in its current state—here:
Here's the movie trailer for the much loved movie "The Quiet Man":
13 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.teepee12 | Sep 23, 2012, 03:00 PM EDT
We went looking for and found what remained of the "cottage" while we were on our honeymoon in Ireland in 1990. It was barely a ruin, for all practical purposes, "restoring" it means rebuilding it from the ground up. There was nothing to restore 22 years ago ... I can't imagine that it improved in the interim. Millions of dollars? Really? Why? The hardest part of the process would be bringing the necessary materials to the site since there is no road, but building a path across the pasture leading to the cottage is not exactly superhighway construction. I'm glad they are recreating the cottage, but restoring it? It was nothing but the outline of what had once been a cottage and some rubble. No walls, no roof, no rooms. If it hadn't been recognizable from the landscape, there would have been no way to know it had ever been there at all.
curtisjohnson | Aug 23, 2012, 10:56 PM EDT
This guy let the property degenerate to a state in which it was tantamount to a nuisance. As one cannot hold property interest in a nuisance, the government should have taken it (don't get me wrong, I also think they should take the Blarney estate from its squatting anglo landowner - who evicted an indigenous inahbitant after nearly 50 years with no cause - even though it's not a nuisance). Of course, in anglo tradition, greed is the only thing that motivates the owner.
Buffalobrave | Aug 23, 2012, 03:18 PM EDT
$5, million for renovation.? Some slick con artist is going to make a bundle on this! For $5 million you could build 50 cottages. This is pure bs.
PatriciaMarya | Aug 23, 2012, 09:42 AM EDT
TisIrish - right on the nickle - this guy let's the place run down and should have the place restored on other people's money and then what, he sits back? If ever there was Emminent Domain in place for historical purposes, this is it. My question - $5,million to repaid a 5-figure cottage? And is that an investment that you can recoup? How many tickets and how expensive to they have to be to retrieve your dollars?
pilib04 | Aug 23, 2012, 08:59 AM EDT
First thing I saw in this article was the 5M comment. That is clearly ridiculous. What is wrong with this "writer." Obviously that is not just "renovation" costs.
plstg67 | Aug 22, 2012, 10:25 PM EDT
"The Quiet Man" is the reason why I fell in love w/Ireland.I have always wanted to visit it & the house.It is so beautiful the kind of house I would buy if I lived there @ the time.Thank God it's being saved & restored.
Cyn | Aug 22, 2012, 09:36 PM EDT
Why on earth would it cost 5M to restore a thatch roof, plumbing and electric? That cost is not restore, it's restore and market. Lets be real about costs.
TisEyerish | Aug 22, 2012, 08:42 PM EDT
It's about time. This guy should have had the cottage taken from him years ago...there should have been a way to do. Money talks, as usual. There is not much of the original cottage left and, frankly, I wouldn't put money in this guy's pocket by visiting in, no matter how much I might want to.
Nicoletta | Aug 22, 2012, 02:54 PM EDT
$5M - what are thatching the roof with, gold bars?
boydshield | Aug 22, 2012, 01:36 PM EDT
I am thrilled this is going to come about! Please, list the place to donate as soon as it becomes available!
Ms.Gail | Aug 22, 2012, 12:02 PM EDT
Who can build a new cottage like that for 20K? What does it cost to remove and rethach a roof? How about everything to accomodate the handicapped. How about things like climate control to ensure the ongoing presevation of the place. What about things like nearby public toilets and drinking fountains. The renovation isn't to make it a hardscrabble cottage, but a moneymaking tourist attration and the infrastructure and logistics would easily cost $5 million. You've got to spend money to start making money, even if you've just digging clay to make and fire sculpture, you need to spend money for the fuel.
handsome68 | Aug 22, 2012, 10:17 AM EDT
With all the important things there are to think about and do, youse liberal omadhauns write about this! Once again, I suggest you try using your heads for more than hat racks.
JimmieM | Aug 22, 2012, 09:03 AM EDT
renovation costs will reach $5 million?...kind of hard to imagine to renovate a $20,000 cottage?...