WHEN THE Gore-Booth family put the Lissadell estate up for sale in 2003, the owner Sir Josslyn Gore-Booth, a grand nephew of Countess Constance Markievicz, had discussions with Hubert Kearns, the Sligo county manager, about the possibility of the State buying the property.
Once it became clear that the government would not be tempted, rumours abounded that Bono and his wife Ali would buy the manor. In the end, the historic house was bought by barristers Edward Walsh and Constance Cassidy, who won universal praise for the energy and enthusiasm with which they embraced the restoration work.
The couple paid more than €3.5 million for the estate and spent €9.5 million refurbishing the house and gardens, opening tearooms, and mounting a Countess Markievicz exhibition in the former coach house. Their pride and joy was their impressive collection of Yeatsian memorabilia.
Even their critics always accepted that they had done more to restore the estate to its former glory than any other potential owner, including the State, was likely to have achieved.
But what had initially been a cordial relationship with the local community soured when the couple started to restrict access to the estate, citing concerns about the safety of their children and the difficulty in getting insurance for the flagship tourist facility if the public was free to come and go at any hour.
Signs went up, gates were locked and some local families, who had enjoyed unrestricted access for generations, started to campaign on the issue of public rights of way.
However, given that they had boosted visitor numbers from about 4,000 a year before they moved in to more than 40,000 a year by 2008, some local people seemed uneasy about the row and were sympathetic to the family’s wish for privacy.
In December 2008, a motion proposed by Fine Gael councillor Joe Leonard, that the county development plan be amended to preserve the rights of way, was unanimously passed by Sligo County Council. The owners closed the house to the public in January 2009.
While it has opened for limited periods since – Lissadell was registered with the Revenue as a heritage house and could avail of tax relief for expenditure on repair and maintenance work if open for 60 days annually – the family has always indicated that it would shut permanently if they lost the legal battle.
At a meeting in January 2009, Edward Walsh told council officials that he had difficulty sitting in the same room as them. He described the row as “a kick in the teeth in the true spirit of Irish begrudgery”.
