Roscrea's new mural - the hare and the Liberator

Early in February Roscrea awoke to a strange beast on their streets - the March Hare seemed to have arrived early.

This is a large mural covering the gable end of a house at the Church St. and Castle Street junction. The mural, the work of Dan Leo, was the culmination of over a year’s interaction between council officials, Joe Dooley, the owner of the building and Roscrea Tidy Towns members.

It was first mooted that murals could be put on some walls in the town at a meeting between council officials and Roscrea Tidy Towns.

The only question was where to begin. Tidy Towns members were asked to seek out possible locations, so with camera in hand they photographed many different possible locations for a mural. The artist, Dan Leo, chose the one used as the most suitable and impactful.

The next phase of the project was to contact the owner of the premises, Mr. Joe Dooley, who was most encouraging in his approach, welcoming the project. At this stage, we had no idea as to what form the mural would take.

Joe was most anxious that it should be some form of wildlife as both he and his son Brian are wildlife enthusiasts. Dan Leo submitted a few options for the mural and the hare was the one chosen as being most suitable.

Upon completion, there were many compliments paid to the artist and to Joe himself as he met people while out shopping etc. There were more than 500 likes on Roscrea Tidy Towns’ Facebook Page in the weeks following its installation.

The building on which it is located is of historical significance. It was once a Bianconi Stagecoach Hostelry.

These coaches operated by using a series of Stage Posts, where the horses were changed, and passengers could rest overnight if needed.

Before and after - the building on Church Street has a commanding presence

The journey was from stage to stage approximately 15-20 miles apart. Many changes were needed to travel from Dublin to Roscrea and on to Limerick.

The first public conveyance from Dublin to Limerick, via Roscrea, stopped here in 1760. At that time the stagecoach journey took four days; later, the journey was reduced to three days.

Road travel was speeded up a lot by Charles Bianconi who used this Inn as a stop on the journey. His charge was “a penny farthing per mile”. The building was known as the White Hart Inn in those days.

It has another claim to fame – Daniel O’Connell, The Liberator often stayed there on his travels from Parliament to home.

Indeed, on one such occasion, while still campaigning for Catholic Emancipation on July 1st , 1828 the Freeman’s Journal records that he arrived in Roscrea “at a quarter to eight o’clock”. It records that he then went to eight o’clock mass and afterwards addressed the people.

He spoke to a crowd of about 5,000 from the window above the front door. His strong voice easily travelled up the natural amphitheatre that is Castle Street.

Pictured above at the mural are Sharon Scully, Council Administrator; Joe Dooley, homeowner and Dick Conroy from Roscrea Tidy Towns

Having spoken to Joe about this, Roscrea Tidy Towns members asked if he had any objection to a commemorative plaque being added to the building. Again, Joe was very supportive. We must thank him profusely for his generosity - both for allowing us to put the mural and the plaque onto his home.

A great deal of thanks is also due the Thurles Municipal District and its administrator, Sharon Scully, without whose financial help and support via Arts Fund neither project would have been possible. Míle buíochas do gach duine!