As a result of a specially convened meeting of the Macroom
Castle Demesne Committee, the following statement was made
by the Chairman, Mr R C Williams on the 16th October 1925.
This is the statement as reported in the Cork Examiner of the
day.
Gentlemen, in accordance with the wishes of several members
of our Committee, I propose to make a statement setting forth
in detail the manner in which the Castle Demesne was acquired,
and how it came to be vested in the present Committee.
Towards the end of 1923 or the beginning of 1924, some residents
of the town approached me and asked me to write to Mr Ellis,
Lady Ardilaun’s agent, asking if he would rent the Castle
grounds for a golf links, and at what rent. At that time the
Castle had been burned and the demesne was, to a great extent,
derelict, while no little amount of destruction was being done,
and no revenue was being obtained from the lands.
Mr Ellis wrote back offering the demesne for the purposes
of a golf links at £80 a year. A further letter was written
to Mr Ellis pointing out that the laying out of a links would
involve big expenditure, and a club would be slow to take the
risk of that without a lease of say 20 or 30 year. Mr Ellis
informed us that such a lease would be agreed to. It then came
to our knowledge that Lady Ardilaun had no intention of rebuilding
the castle, and in the circumstances, we thought it possible
that she might sell the demesne at a fair price. The few who
were behind the movement saw what a tremendous asset it would
be from every point of view for the town. They desired to write
to Mr Ellis asking if her Ladyship would entertain any proposal
for the sale of the property. In answer to that, Mr Stephens,
Lady Ardilaun’s legal representative in Dublin wrote
stating that Lady Ardilaun would be willing to meet us at a
date of be fixed to discuss the matter.
An interview having been arranged, myself and Mr Jerh. O’Leary
went to Dublin to endeavour to effect a purchase if possible.
As we approached the house of Lady Ardilaun in Stepen’s
Green, Mr O’Leary suggested it would be better that I
should interview her Ladyship alone, since it would give me
a freer hand, I said “just as you like” and I went
alone, I met her Ladyship and Mr Stephens, and after she had
made enquiries about all the old residents she knew and remembered,
the matter of the estate was mentioned.
Mr Stephens asked me what we would be prepared to offer for
the demesne. I said it was always the custom for the seller
to mention the price. “Well, Mr Williams” said
he “if you want to know we expect £4,000 for the
property” I said “that settled the matter, because
our people could not go into the bank and raise such a sum.
The payment of interest on that sum would impose a burden on
them, which they could not meet annually, and they would much
prefer to revert to the letting arrangement”. “But,
Mr Williams” said Lady Ardilaun “I understand you
came to discuss a sale” I said “Yes your Ladyship,
but I could not entertain the idea of such a figure. Well she
said “what do you really think the place is worth to
you?” I said “Your Ladyship, it would be our intention
to have it taken over by a committee of the leading residents
of the town, men with a deep sense of civic responsibility,
who would be conscious of its beauty and historic associations,
who would lay themselves out to preserve its natural attractions
and enhance its beauty in every possible way; and taking these
obligations on themselves, they though £1,500 would be
a reasonable sum for the property.” Her Ladyship was
undoubtedly impressed by this promise. Lady Ardilaun said “You
can consider the Demesne as yours, on the conditions and the
price you have mentioned.” That concluded the matter.
I appraised Mr O’Leary of the result, and when we came
home our first step was to select sixteen or eighteen men from
amongst the residents of the town who would, if necessary,
put £100 each into the enterprise, not with a view to
securing monetary advantage from it, but rather to exploit
it in the interest of the trade and business of the town. The
following gentlemen, as you are aware, agreed to accept the
responsibility and act on the committee to manage the place:-
Merrs Cros O’Leary, Dr P O’Donoghue, T Lucey, solr,
Jerh O’Leary, p.c.; John O’Shea, Denis Lynch, who
was then Chairman of the Urban Council, T J Twomey, Ml Purcell,
solr, T M Cronin, John M Fitzgerald, Patrick Crowley, Dr Kelleher,
Ml McSweeney, Henry Murphy, P O’Keeffe, p.c., and myself.
An anticipatory balance sheet was laid before them, and from
this it appeared that if the amount were raised in the bank
it would be difficult to meet the annual expenditure, including
interest. Various suggestions for making sufficient revenue
were discussed, one of them being the holding of an annual
sports meeting.
We took steps immediately to organise a sports meeting, but
were obstructed by local clubs, who had priority of right to
the permit, even though we promised them a generous subscription.
In these circumstances some of our members made up their minds
that they would not put their hands in their pockets to finance
the purchase, as it was a thankless job, and felt they were
doing a good thing in offering names as guarantors for the
amount of the purchase money in the bank.
Later, Mr O’Leary and myself were, by resolution, appointed
trustees to take over the conveyance of the property for, and
on behalf of, the committee aforementioned, whose names submitted
to Lady Ardilaun’s representatives. This is the history
of the transaction as far as the purchase is concerned, but
later on, while we were considering the ways and means of making
ends meet, the proposal of a sale of the western portion of
the demesne to Mr Twomey, Rockboro, at £1,500 was introduced,
and after discussion, the offer was accepted, since it would
leave the committee practically free of indebtedness to the
bank, while they would still be in possession of the portion
covered by the golf links including the lawn etc., which they
could exploit in the interest of the town in many ways.
The sale was carried through, and the committee proceeded
to manage the residue of the estate to the best possible advantage.
We were denied the permit to hold a sports meeting, but we
undertook the financial risk of promoting an Agricultural Show
in connection with the Shorthorn Breeders Society. The Golf
Club were charged a rent of £40 per year, and the Tennis
Club £15. We invited the G.A.A. locally to make an offer
for the renting of the football pitch annually, throwing out
the suggested idea that, in order that turf should be in proper
order for important engagements, it should be played upon only
on Sundays, and the Town Park used for practices during the
week. Our committee realised the advantages to be derived from
periodical football and hurling matches from the point of view
of business, quite part from the question of encouraging sport,
and we hoped to receive their co-operation in a manner which
would be to our mutual benefit and to the benefit of the town.
Unfortunately, their only answer was to enter the castle grounds
without authority and play there indiscriminately. Recently
they had adopted the practice of arranging and holding matches
in the grounds without permission from the committee and charging
an entrance fee at the castle gates. In this matter a serious
legal responsibility has been incurred by the representatives
of the football club and I hope they will realise the position.
R C Williams
Chairman
16th October 1925 |
