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Paul
O’Brien’s Shelley
and
Revolutionary
Ireland
(Redwords,
2002) asserts
that Shelley
stayed
on an island.
Since the
only island
is Ross
Island,
most people
assumed
that Ross
Cottage
was the
site, QED.
It’s
Ross in
the guidebooks,
and it
is certainly
well situated
for tourism,
sitting
perfectly
on a tourist
walking
trail
on public
lands.
Unfortunately
for the
tourist
trade,
Ross Cottage
simply
can’t
be the
place:
Kenmare
Estate
maps
of the
time
do not
indicate
permanent
housing
on Ross
Island
until
the 1830s,
and old
photos
of Ross
Cottage
show
architecture
of a
type built
in the
1850s.
Fortunately,
however,
a Shelley
scholar/sleuth
by the
name of
Brian O’Connor
currently
lives
in Killarney.
Thanks
to his
bulldog
persistence,
he has
uncovered
a tremendous
amount
of useful
information.
Working
with local
historians,
he determined
that Shelley
probably
stayed
at Reen
Cottage
(not so
easily
reached
and on
private
property).
Old Estate
maps indicate
that the
Reen Cottage
of the
period
was located
on a narrow
peninsula
jutting
out into
the lake
called
Reen Point.
Interestingly,
Reen Point
is cut
off during
heavy
rain and
becomes
a temporary
island.
Aha.
But the mystery thickens! There currently is a Reen Cottage,
but it is not the one Shelley stayed in—indeed, the present
cottage is not even on the same site. Shelley’s cottage
was on Reen Point.
Unlike most of the Shelley sites, this one has not been
the object of renewal or replacement. O’Connor tells us,
“The area has not been used since Shelley’s time and the
view from there is exactly the same now as then.”
O’Connor notes that “Reen Point is a stunning location
for a cottage. It has super views over Lough Leane to
Innisfallen island and the mountains beyond. It is isolated
but is still only a short walk from Killarney town. .
. . Certainly, if one was prone to a bit of poetry, this
spot would do nicely.”
As
for the
cottage
itself,
O’Connor
recalls
that “.
. . across
a small
stream,
I could
clearly
make out
the
ruins
of a very
old stone
cottage.
If Shelley
stayed
in Reen
Cottage,
this is
it.
It certainly
wasn’t
a peasant's
cottage
as it
was made
of stone,
[was]
inside
the walls
of the
main
estate
and had
a
cobbled
entrance.”
On
a wet day
it is easy
to see
why the
older cottage
was abandoned.
Simply,
it was
badly located
and at
best it
was damp,
at worst
flooded.
N.B. The view includes a small island known, now
and then, as “Darby’s Garden.”
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