In 2017, on a wonderful vacation with my daughter and son-in-law, we toured the Killarney National Forest and the adjacent Muckross House.
In a private moment, I asked the tour guide how the local people felt about the house in the park. She answered, "that's a very interesting question ..." She smiled, and change the subject.
History has many ugly stories. Somehow, it seems, we just have to move on.
The locals were the descendants of former owners, kicked off their land, then taken back as tenant farmers, if not deported to the Americas! But, eventually the manor's lord had sold the estate to a rich Irish American immigrant who had made his fortune in the California Gold Rush. He had given the place to his daughter as a wedding gift. But, eventually the estate was donated to Ireland for a national park.
It is indeed an ironic twist in history?!
No comments:
Post a Comment