THE HOME of the legendary but often-maligned 19th-century herbalist, healer and “wise woman of Clare”, Biddy Early, has been placed on the market. Its owners are hoping it can be restored and opened as a tourist attraction.
The derelict cottage, on an acre at Dromore Hill near Feakle in east Clare, has been described as being of “considerable significance to Ireland’s heritage and folklore”. It still attracts a “small but steady number” of curious visitors every year.
The cottage, which has an asking price of €75,000, is two miles southwest of Feakle and overlooks Carter’s Lough. According to local legend, it was into that lough that Biddy Early, while on her death bed, asked a local man to throw her famous “blue bottle” in which she carried her remedies.
A well-beaten track still leads to the heavily overgrown shell where visitors have placed items in a window to create a shrine to Early. Two blue bottles, one wrapped in cloth, as well as rosary beads and money, old and new, adorn the window sill.
The property’s owner, Billy Loughnane, believes with the strong interest still in Early, now would be a good time for someone to take up the mantle.
“I spent many years back in the 1970s restoring the cottage but that couldn’t last forever and it fell into disrepair again. I had sought State funding to develop it back then but no one was interested. But the interest in Biddy Early from the public is still very strong and there is certainly a steady flow of visitors to the area all year round.”
Mr Loughnane bought the cottage from his late father, former TD Dr Bill Loughnane, back in the 1970s. “Dr Bill” bought the property from local man Jim Fitzgerald in the 1960s.
“I would be absolutely delighted if someone could take over the cottage, it needs a new energy. I’d only be happy though if whoever did take it over did so for the right reasons and actually has a real feel for who Biddy Early really was,” Mr Loughnane said.
“She is fondly remembered locally, nationally and internationally as an extraordinary woman who devoted her time to comforting and healing the sick.
“She is not known ever to have cursed anyone. She experienced some difficulty with one local clergyman of the day who, for reasons of his own, labelled her a ‘witch’.”
He said Early had been accused of putting a curse on the Clare hurling team, saying they would never win an All-Ireland. Mr Loughnane has dismissed this for many years as “rubbish”.
“Any intelligent person would have realised by now that Biddy Early died in 1874, 10 years before the GAA was even established. She would never have cursed anyone. She was a quite benign woman who did what she could for anyone she met.”
Mayor of Clare Pat Hayes said: “There is no doubt that people are still very interested in Biddy Early and the opportunity to open up the cottage would be a welcome development. People are calling to Feakle just to know where Biddy Early came from, and others even call to cottages in the area to see if one of them is Biddy Early’s.
“If the cottage was refurbished and advertised, I imagine there would be huge interest in it and it could even be restored as a community project,” Mr Hayes added.
“I know it is not exactly the same but the council opened up Loop Head lighthouse to the public only two weeks ago and thousands of people have visited.
“We need to open up or own heritage and tourism products in east Clare and I do hope we can sit down as a community and discuss this in the future.
“Biddy Early’s cottage is a unique product and is something I will also talk to the council about and see if there is funding to buy and possibly reopen the cottage.”