Rent An Irish Cottage in Broadford, Co. Clare, 1971

In Broadford local people have put their own money into a holiday cottage scheme to develop tourism in the area.

Postman Tom Kelly, farmer Eoin Maloney, shopkeeper Tom Maloney, publican Jimmy Danny Maloney, and blacksmith Tommy Marsh, are among the shareholders in this new tourism initiative.

All these men of a quiet backwater village have their money sunk in a contributing but violently contrasting world.

The six men are among the many Broadford villagers who have invested £6,000 in six cottages with the intention of renting them to tourists who want to experience a long lost traditional way of life. The total cost of the project was £36,000. The Broadford cottages, located 12 miles from Limerick city, are part of a larger project of one hundred cottages operating across the mid west region run by a company set up under the Shannon Free Airport Development Company. It is hoped that investment will benefit the whole community.

Patrick Monaghan of ‘Rent an Irish Cottage Limited’ says that the cottages offer a unique experience for tourists. The objective of the scheme is to be both a social success and commercially viable. He is hopeful that with the success of the project, shareholders will receive dividends within the next two years.

Patrick Monaghan points out that while every village is eligible for the scheme, they are not all suitable.

It achieves the involvement of the local community in so far as it’s their scheme.

Commenting specifically on the development in Broadford, he praises the local committee and outlines the factors which led to its inclusion in the scheme. These include its geographic location near Shannon Airport and Limerick city, its scenic beauty, and the cooperation of the community led by Fr Pat Sexton.

In a village where nothing much has changed for decades, the impact of the cottage scheme has already been felt just six months in. Broadford now has a new supermarket, pubs have been extended, bicycle hire and pony trekking services have opened up, the river has been cleaned, and local farmhouses are now serving dinner. All of these new businesses benefit both local people and tourists. Fr Sexton believes that Broadford was selected as a location for the cottage project because of the as the determination of local people to make it happen.

The local people were very enthusiastic about anything that might improve their lot economically, socially, psychologically.

The people of Broadford also had the advantage of having witnessed the scheme in operation in Ballyvaughan. In total, there are 225 shareholders in the village so there is a huge vested interest in the scheme being a success. Even the primary school children have a stake with 90 of them contributing approximately £175 providing them with a real interest in the development of their own area.

Practically every home has a shareholding in this particular cottage site.

Fr Sexton says one of the most important outcomes of the project is that it makes the people of Broadford more outward looking. He is hopeful for the future development of the village.

A pilot for the Cottage Project was set up in Ballyvaughan where it has been a huge success and is now attracting international visitors to the region seeking to experience the quiet life. While what is on offer in Ballyvaughan is a traditional way of life, it is a traditional way of life with all the comforts of modern life.

This episode of ‘Enterprise’ was broadcast on 4 October 1971. The reporter is Michael Ryan.