Madam, - I beseech the State to purchase Lissadell House and continue to make it accessible to the public, as it has been for as long as I can remember.
I am originally from the Sligo area; as a teenager I visited Lissadell House, and again during college years when I was studying Yeats's poetry. Later I remember taking a steady boyfriend there; later still, my husband, then children; and I would hope to being grandchildren in future.
My daughter, aged 18, recalls the dolls' house the Gore-Booth children played with, which she said she'll never forget.
I remember myself the beautiful baby's crib with the antique christening robes nearby in the nursery, the other antique baby's rattler and toys; and the fabulous rocking horse. In another room I remember the stuffed animals, the picture of the huge fish the Gore-Booth men caught when they went to the Arctic on whaling fishing expeditions.
In another room I remember the beautiful bay window mentioned in Yeats's famous poem. I remember the beautiful paintings in the drawing room, the long dining-table, the Sarah Purser paintings.
Lissadell is part of the Yeats County's culture. It can't be closed to the nation. It is part of our nationality, part of the Irish State. It has to be bought! - Yours, etc.,
SHAUNA SHEILA McGARRY EGAN, Russelstown, Clonmel, Co Tipperary.