The Gurlys
Shaw at work
This picture shows Shaw in a quite typical pose: at a typewriter! Chances are he is writing one of the more than 250,000 letters he penned in his lifetime.
www.kennys.ieShaw at work
www.kennys.ie
www.kennys.ie
Shaw at work
This picture shows Shaw in a quite typical pose: at a typewriter! Chances are he is writing one of the more than 250,000 letters he penned in his lifetime.
www.kennys.ieThe Gurly family can be traced in Carlow as far back as the middle of the 18th Century when Thomas Gurly Snr., and his son, Thomas Gurly, were both attorneys based in the centre of Carlow town at Tullow Street and Belleville.
Shaw's mother, Lucinda Elizabeth Gurly, was a blood descendant of these gentlemen.
She was a daughter of Walter Bagenal Gurly, whose grandfather had a lot of property in the county. When his mother died, George Bernard Shaw inherited his great-grandfather's Carlow property.
"that cursed property in Carlow"
Shaw the "absentee landlord"
In a letter to the Urban Council of Carlow, Shaw declared himself to be an absentee landlord "having spent out of 88 years of my life, only one day in Carlow." At this time, he was trying to give his property back to the Carlow Urban District Council for them to use for "the common welfare".
Carlow's International Achievers by Jimmy O'TooleShaw the "absentee landlord"
Carlow's International Achievers by Jimmy O'Toole
Carlow's International Achievers by Jimmy O'Toole
Shaw the "absentee landlord"
In a letter to the Urban Council of Carlow, Shaw declared himself to be an absentee landlord "having spent out of 88 years of my life, only one day in Carlow." At this time, he was trying to give his property back to the Carlow Urban District Council for them to use for "the common welfare".
Carlow's International Achievers by Jimmy O'TooleHowever, Shaw was not pleased by his good fortune.
Many men would have been delighted but Shaw was different.
He was a committed Socialist so did not like the idea of profiting from property.
Therefore he referred to the estate as "that cursed property in Carlow".
Rather than managing the properties, Shaw spent a great deal of time and effort trying to get rid of them!
Many men would have been delighted but Shaw was different.
He was a committed Socialist so did not like the idea of profiting from property.
Therefore he referred to the estate as "that cursed property in Carlow".
Rather than managing the properties, Shaw spent a great deal of time and effort trying to get rid of them!