Gardai in Clifden, Co Galway, are investigating the cause of a fire at a 19th century thatched cottage, which became the postcard symbol of a disappearing Ireland.
Roche's cottage on the lower Sky road outside Clifden was immortalised on John Hinde and Peter Zoller postcards as a typical two-room thatched dwelling with the stack of turf and currachs moored at a jetty close by. Late last week, the roof of the house, which has been unoccupied for several years, was destroyed in a fire and only the four walls have been left standing.
Gardaí in Clifden said that the ownership of the house was in dispute and it was understood that an owner was entitled to burn the thatch. However, Connemara archaeologist Mr Michael Gibbons, has expressed dismay at the damage. "Once the roof is gone, it is no longer a house," he said.
Mr Gibbons has called on the State to reconstruct the dwelling as a priceless example of Irish vernacular architecture. The house on the townland of Fahy is "the jewel in a rich archaeological landscape", he said. The cottage lies close to the "Fahy tomb", which is the largest megalithic tomb found in Galway. It also borders on an Iron Age fort, a holy well, and a children's burial ground.
Built on the "edge of the tide", as the archaeologist put it, the house looks out on a small inlet close to a significant Viking burial place. It was discovered at Eyrephort in 1947 by Festy Pryce, and may have formed part of a Viking settlement or a raiding base.
The recent discovery of a Bronze Age pin on Omey island at the head of Streamstown Bay is further confirmation of the Hiberno-Norse connections with the landscape, Mr Gibbons said.
The house was occupied until several years ago by the late Maggie Roche and her son Frank. Mr Gibbons recalled that Mrs Roche had informed him that the megalithic tomb at Fahy was known locally as Poll Uaimhín (the hollow of the cleft or grave), and she said that local people were afraid to go near it at night-time, because it was "alive with siogí" or fairies.
Mr Gibbons said that he had written last year to Mr Eamon O Cuiv, then Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage, the Gaeltacht and the Islands, recommending that the house be taken over by the State.
