Sir, - Ireland takes great pride in its literary achievements, and rightly so. One would expect, therefore, a less careless attitude towards the places that inspired so much of Irish writing. Is it not enough that much of Joyce's Dublin has disappeared, and that many country houses, such as Coole Park and Bowen's Court, are gone irretrievably?
Will Tyrone House, another of those houses with strong literary reverberations, soon be lost, too? This house, which figures in various literary travel journals, and most notably in Lady Gregory's writings and Somerville and Ross's Irish letters and memoirs, also inspired their novel The Big House of Inver. As a result, it is also referred to by countless books on the Irish literary scene, to which big houses have contributed in an important way.
If it is good to know that at last the restoration of Moore Hall in Co Mayo - in many ways a "sister house" to Tyrone House - is now within sight, it is all the more lamentable that, although Tyrone House is "listed", no effective measures seem to have been taken to stop vandalism and looting.
Why cannot the State take it into its care and initiate the restoration? Why not use it as a centre for cultural studies and activities? "No money" is no excuse, Ireland's economic performance being what other nations (including the country I live in!) can only dream of. - Yours, etc., Ruth Frehner,
Zurich James Joyce Foundation, Augustinergasse 9, Zurich, Switzerland.