Yeats's wild swans at Coole may have their tranquillity shattered by plans for a dual-carriageway running from Oranmore to Gort in south Galway. The preferred route for the N18 highway runs through the entrance to Coole Park, former home of Lady Gregory.
The proposed route does not actually affect the park grounds, owned by D·chas, the Heritage Service. However, in cutting a swathe between the park's gate lodge and the avenue, it threatens the integrity of a unique environment, according to the association which hosts the annual Lady Gregory Autumn Gathering.
The gathering, which was held on Coole Park's grounds this past weekend, was opened by the writer, Colm Toibin. The Irish Times journalists, Kevin Myers, and Robert O'Byrne, were among the speakers, along with Dr Rosangela Barone, former director of the Italian Institute in Dublin. However, even as she prepared for the event, Ms Sheila O'Donnellan, the course director, was most exercised by the motorway plan.
"With Coole, Tullira Castle and Yeats's Thoor Ballylee so close together, south Galway enjoys a very rich heritage which must be protected," she said. "These were homes to three founders of the Abbey Theatre, and were central to the Irish literary revival".
The plans for the emerging route, including a fly-over close to the Coole entrance, were shown to residents and interested parties by the National Roads Authority and Galway County Council at venues in Gort, Labane and Athenry last month. Mr Tony Collins, project engineer with Galway County Council, told The Irish Times that this represented the initial stage of public consultation over the next four weeks.
Mr Collins accepted that Coole Park Avenue residents, and the management board of a national school at Kiltiernan, had very valid concerns. The junction for the emerging preferred route - which was identified by consultants for the project team - involves blocking off the existing roadway running past Kiltiernan National School. It may force some parents to make a detour of five miles every morning and afternoon.
The south Galway area, including Coole Park grounds, is subject to flooding due to the limestone terrain, and much of the area has been considered for special area of conservation (SAC) status. The road will run over the Coole caves, which are of extraordinary geological merit, Ms O'Donnellan stresses, and will also pass close to Kiltartan, where there is a cultural centre associated with Lady Gregory.
Mr Collins said the project team had held discussions with D·chas and would be consulting with it on a continuous basis.
"The route does not go through D·chas property," he emphasised, but through neighbouring agricultural land. However, up to 40 houses could be affected, directly or indirectly, and compulsory purchase orders are expected to be issued.
The Lady Gregory Association has plans for a theatre at Coole Park, and has been talking to D·chas about this possibility. Ms O'Donnellan believes a new motorway close by would be "disastrous", and questions the need for such radical changes to that section of the Galway-Limerick route at all.