From the archives: Princess Grace's home visit to Mayo in 1961 recalled
By Tom Gillespie
THE late Princess Grace of Monaco made her first visit to the west of Ireland in June 1961.
And The Connaught Telegraph of June 17, 1961, carried an extensive article on the royal visit.
It was penned by journalist the late Bernie Gillespie, who wrote:
As we go to press tonight (Wednesday) the dream of a princess who is a grand-daughter of a Mayo emigrant has come true: her life’s ambition to visit the west of Ireland and the place where her grandparents were born has become a reality.
This (Thursday) morning Princess Grace, and her husband, Prince Rainier of Monaco, with their two children, arrived in Ashford Castle, Cong.
From once they crossed the Mayo border, the serene atmosphere, which can always be associated with the county, had a soothing, relaxing and refreshing effect on the royal family.
While it has this effect, particularly after glittering splendour and maddening noise of the cheering thousands who accorded them the greatest reception ever to any visitor to this country, the quiet and peace of Mayo meant more to Princess Grace and her husband.
“It is one of the greatest moments in my life,” she said when told she was in Mayo. Her words were sincere as she was fulfilling her promise to visit Mayo and her ancestral home.
Frequently during her State visit she has expressed her great desire to visit Mayo, the county which she has called her own.
While her arrival in Mayo must be one of the happiest moments in her life, the most significant aspect of her visit is that, despite her exalted position in life, she, like the sons and daughters of all Irish emigrants, has the same sentiment and desire to see the place where her ancestors were born.
Her five days’ State visit was one of the most memorial events in the history of Ireland’s capital city, and when it ended on Wednesday she moved quietly with her husband and family to the county where her grandparents were born.
With her headquarters at the picturesque Ashford Castle, Cong, one of Ireland’s showpieces, overlooking Lough Corrib, she will tour the county extensively and enjoy the peace and tranquility of the county she so much longed to see.
On Wednesday night there was an air of great excitement in Mayo as preparations were being made to greet the royal family.
At the Princess’s expressed desire, and as her visit is a private one, no special festivities or civic reception were planned for them during their stay.
However, everywhere she goes there will be a warm welcome for her, and her visit evokes great joy as it marks the historic visit of a princess whose ancestors came from old West Mayo stock.
Another outstanding feature of the visit is the meeting of the Princess and her cousins.
On Wednesday morning the royal party leaves Ashford Castle at 10 a.m. and at Partry they will be met by His Grace Most Rev. Dr. Joseph Walsh, Archbishop of Tuam, who will accompany them to Croagh Patrick.
Returning to Westport town, they will be escorted through the principal streets by the local brass bands and in the Presbytery she will meet her cousins, who include:
Second cousins: Anthony Kelly, Eileen Kelly, Vincent Kelly and Anne Kelly, Cogaula, Westport; James Cummins, Kilmeena, Westport; Pat Quinn, Innishcuttle Island; Maura Casey, Newport; Mrs. Gill, Carraholly, Westport; Michael Bernard Kelly, Balintleva, Clogher, Westport.
Third cousins (the offspring of second cousins): Patrick and William Quinn, Innishcuttle Island; Una and Dick Gill, Demesne, Westport; Mrs. Boylan, Croy, Westport.
Family of Michael Bernard Kelly: James, Mary, Rose Patrick, Bernard, Michael John, Gerard, Henry and Agnes; Bernard Walsh, Newport; Michael Flannery, Drimulra, Newport; sons and daughters of the late John Cummins, Letterfrack.
It is expected that large crowds of people will gather in Westport to give the Princess a royal welcome.
Prominent among the few voluntary workers who turned out to prepare the processional route in Westport for the royal visitors was Councillor Thomas Giblin, who worked all day and late into the night making the route from St. Mary’s Parish Church to the railway bridge presentable for the occasion.
After meeting her relatives Princess Grace and her husband will be presented by His Grace, Dr. Walsh, with two specially struck gold medals bearing an outline of Croagh Patrick and a bust of St. Patrick.
As a special gesture from her Kelly cousins, Michael Bernard Kelly will present Princess Grace with a beautiful specially manufactured jewel casket.
He will also present to her Serene Highness two paintings of her ancestral home by Mr. Michael O’Gara, a young Ballaghaderreen artist.
It is understood that the Kelly cousins will be guest of her Serene Highness at a dinner in Mulranny Hotel on Saturday.
After the presentations and ceremony in the Presbytery, Westport, on Thursday, the party leaves for Newport, where they will have lunch.
Newport town has been lavishly decorated for the occasion and it is expected that the royal family will be accorded a wonderful reception.
HIGHLIGHT
However, the highlight of her visit was to her ancestral home at Drimurla, two miles from Newport, where her grandfather, John Bernard Kelly, was born in the two-roomed cottage overlooking the Leg of Mutton lake.
At the time it was owned by Mrs. Ellen Mulchrone who greeted the princess (pictured) and subsequently sold the holding to the princess.
In 1995 plans to restore the cottage and develop a memorial park were given the thumbs up by the Gramaldi family in Monaco. The cottage was to contain photographs and memorabilia of the Princess, but these plans never came to fruition.