*Mary McAleese at the Michael Cusack Heritage Centre. Photograph: Eamon Ward.
FORMER President of Ireland Dr. Mary McAleese has been officially announced as Honorary Patron of the Michael Cusack Heritage Centre, the birthplace of the founder of the GAA.
In Carron on Thursday, the Down native a regular visitor to North Clare said she was “honoured to be Patron of the place which holds Cusack’s memory.”
Dr. McAleese, who is the independent Chairperson of the integration process between the Camogie Association, the GAA, and the Ladies Gaelic Football Association, described Michael Cusack as someone who “navigated a path to hope and planted it in every part of this island”.
The ceremony was also attended by the Chairpersons of Clare GAA, Munster GAA, Connacht GAA and Ulster GAA; representatives of Clare County Council, the Burren & Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark, Visit Clare and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS); students of Gaelscoil Mhíchíl Cíosóg Inis and Carron National School; and members of the local community.
Apologies were issued on behalf of Crusheen native Pat O’Donnell, a founding patron of the centre who was unable to attend the ceremony.
“You have no idea what this place means to me,” Mary told the crowd. “The first time I came here was the last time I’ve been here. Something about the place gripped me, it is more than just the home of Michael Cusack, it is that, it inputs the role he played in life at home and abroad, it is a place of pilgrimage for all of us”.
She recalled using the GAA as an example in “the strangest of places” such as travelling in a car with the late Queen Eliazabeth and former Chinese President Xi Jinping. “Some people say the GAA is a sporting organisation but that doesn’t get it, it drills into our hearts and soul like you wouldn’t believe”. She added, “the GAA is rooted in parish and town land, that is why it is so strong wherever we wonder”.
Dr. McAleese stated, “When I was asked in 2011 why I wanted the late Queen Elizabeth to visit Croke Park on her historic State Visit, I said it was because I wanted her to see the best of Ireland — and the GAA is Ireland at its absolute best. It is impossible to quantify the phenomenal benefits that the Association and its sister organisations — the LGFA and Camogie Association — have given to us and keep on giving at home and abroad, at club, county, provincial, national and international levels. It is the enduring tie that binds. And it all started in a modest cottage in Carron, County Clare, when Michael Cusack was born and survived the worst year in our history — Black 1847”.
Her love of North Clare also includes listening to the Kilfenora Céilí Band daily in the car with her husband Martin.
According to the former President, Micheal Cusack “could have been crabby but so what, you had to be crabby to get things done”. She noted, “we owe him so much for his vision”.
Mayor of Clare, Cllr Alan O’Callaghan (FF) said the Michael Cusack Centre was “a hidden gem in North Clare, telling the Michael Cusack story and the story of the famine”. He described Cusack as “a beacon for people discovering their roots and for all who seek to understand what it means to be Irish”.
Dónal Ó hAiniféin, Chair of the Board of the Michael Cusack Centre, said: “The GAA that Michael Cusack helped to establish in 1884 has since developed a presence in every parish and community in all of Ireland and worldwide. We are proud to play our role in promoting a key element of Ireland’s rich heritage, and we are delighted that Dr. McAleese has joined the Centre as Honorary Patron”.
Ruan based Dónal noted how communities have been fighting since the 1960s to get recognition for Michael Cusack in his native Carron.
Carmel Kirby, Interim CEO of Clare County Council, congratulated Dr. McAleese, adding that she shares Michael Cusack’s love for education, Irish culture and sport. “Everything begins with an idea. Michael Cusack, through his promotion of Gaelic Games, established an Irish sporting and cultural institution. Cusack’s vision began in a classroom, but it lives on in every child who picks up a hurley or football, every supporter who raises a flag, and every community that believes in the power of coming together. Clare County Council is delighted to support the Michael Cusack Centre in its ongoing work on this incredible legacy”.
Former Clare GAA officials, Michael ‘Malty’ McDonagh, Simon Moroney and Pat Fitzgerald though not in attendance have been key supporters of the centre’s redevelopment. This support has been sustained under the current executive led by Chairman, Kieran Keating and Head of Operations, Deirdre Murphy.
Keating recalled how the infamous All-Ireland championship that Clare won last season was launched in Carron. “Clare GAA has supported the development of the Michael Cusack Heritage Centre since the it’s redevelopment back to the 1970s We recommit the ongoing support of Clare GAA to the Michael Cusack Heritage Centre in 2025 and beyond”.
Murphy maintained it was “a huge boom” for the Centre to have Mary McAleese as honorary patron. “We are hugely invested in this centre, growing and developing it, we are a sticky crowd in Clare and the Michael Cusack Centre espouses that because I’m looking at leaders in Clare County Council, the former Chair of Clare GAA who is now a TD, we’re in a part of the country that we feel is magical. To be able to call a former President a patron is huge, the access means the bit of lobbying or backing we have at national level is absolutely huge”.
Tim Murphy, Chairperson of Munster GAA, commented, “The national and international importance of Michael Cusack is deeply profound and highly significant. Michael Cusack’s vision in creating the GAA has left an indelible mark and wonderful legacy across Irish society since 1884. We are delighted to partner with and recommit our support in Munster GAA to the Michael Cusack Heritage Centre as we work together on the pathway to the 150th anniversary of the GAA in 2034 and beyond”.
Tim Madden, Manager of the Michael Cusack Heritage Centre, said the naming of Dr. McAleese as Honorary Patron coincides with the ongoing development of a new five-year strategic business plan for the attraction. “We are working closely with our partners — POBAL, GAA Croke Park, Clare GAA, Munster GAA, and Clare County Council — in crafting our road ahead. We have delivered the Improving Your Wellbeing workshop programme to 300 post-primary and primary schools and Youthreach groups in Clare and Limerick this spring. Now in its fifth year, we greatly thank Limerick & Clare Education and Training Board for their support. This innovative wellbeing workshop explores identity and values, and how to build resilience in these challenging times.”
Michael Davoren, member of the Michael Cusack Heritage Centre Board and community representative, said the Michael Cusack Homestead Cottage and Exhibition Centre has been a very interesting project since the 1970s from a community perspective. “The Centre is locally significant and globally relevant,” he noted. “The unique landscape and ecosystem here in Carron and in the Burren give a very strong sense of place and pride in place. Here in Poulaphuca, the valley of the Puca, the Samhain Puca Storytelling Festival during Halloween continues to tell the ancient stories which live with us today. We are very much in tune with Nature and with all our farmer colleagues across this unique landscape and in this magical, tranquil setting”.
