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This holding was purchased from the O Shea family in 1941 who had occupied the property from before the early 1800’s. The house was originally a three roomed thatched farmhouse that was abandoned in 1953. Denis O Shea was the first Officer in Charge of the Lombardstown Company of the Irish Volunteers. Mrs Mary O Sullivan’s grandfather and my great grandfather, Morgan Hayes, was shot dead by British soldiers on Easter Monday 1916 in Dublin and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery. His name is recorded on the 1916 memorial wall erected and unveiled in 2016. Morgans wife was Catherine Coll and a 1st cousin to Eamon deValera’s mother who was also a Catherine Coll so this house has a connection with deValera. A grandniece of Jack O Sullivan, walker Gillian O Sullivan, represented Ireland at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and came home in 10th place .She won a silver medal at the World Championships in 2003., held the world record for the 25k walk and was one of the favourites for the 2004 Olympics but injury curtailed her progress.
