De Valera's Cottage is a cottage and

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

located in

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It was the former home of the Irish rebel leader, and later

President of Dáil Éireann President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State The president of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State ( ga, Uachtarán ar Ard-Chomhairle Shaorstát Éireann) was the head of government or prime minister of the Irish Free State which existed from 1922 to 1937. He was the chairman of t ...

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

and

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can ...

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...

(1882–1975) during his youth.

Location

De Valera's Cottage is located 1 km (0.6 mi) north of

Bruree Bruree () is a village in south-eastern County Limerick, Ireland, on the River Maigue. It takes its name from the nearby ancient royal fortress, the alternative name of which from the earliest times into the High Middle Ages was ''Dún Eochair M ...

, on the road to

Athlacca Athlacca (historically ''Athlacka'', from )Placenames Database of Ireland
(see archival records) is a sm ...

History

The house is a labourer's cottage, built in 1885 by

Kilmallock Kilmallock () is a town in south County Limerick, Ireland, near the border with County Cork. There is a Dominican Priory in the town and King's Castle (or King John's Castle). The remains of medieval walls which encircled the settlement are sti ...

Poor Law Union. Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1882, de Valera (then known as George, and later Edward or Eddie) was brought to Ireland by his uncle Ned in 1885, following the death of his father Juan Vivion de Valera, and lived at this cottage. Even after his mother remarried, de Valera remained in Ireland, living at this cottage outside Bruree with his grandmother Elizabeth Coll, her son Patrick and her daughter Hannie. De Valera worked hard on the family farm, a mere half-acre; they also used "the long farm", grazing

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

on the roadside grass. This was illegal, so de Valera kept watch for

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...

policemen and had to pretend to be moving the cattle across the road if the police saw him. As a teenager he walked from there to

C.B.S. Charleville C.B.S. Charleville (Christian Brothers School) is a secondary school located in Charleville, County Cork, Republic of Ireland. Notable alumni *Éamon de Valera - Politician, statesman, the founder of the Fianna Fáil party. Later elected Tao ...

during schooldays, a distance of 11 km (7 miles) each morning and evening (the family could not afford a

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

). De Valera regularly visited the cottage in later life. It is today a museum containing de Valera memorabilia, including the trunk he brought back from New York.

Description

The house is a detached three-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

single-storey house.

In culture

Poet Thomas McCarthy wrote, in 1984, "Returning to De Valera's Cottage", about the strange shadow the cottage cast over the village.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in County Limerick Tourist attractions in County Limerick National Monuments in County Limerick Museums in County Limerick 1885 establishments in Ireland

Location

History

Description

In culture

See also

References