Although not lived in for some time after Violet Martin went to live with her cousin Edith Somerville in Castletownsend
in Skibbereen, Ross House remained in the possession of the Martin family until it was sold to Claud Chavasse in the 1920s. Chavasse became
a well known figure round Galway because of his way of dress. He wore a saffron kilt and cloak and refused
to speak English. He has variously been described as a Scotman an Englishman and a Frenchman but the truth is he was born
Claud Albert Chavasse in Oxford on the 2nd April 1885 . His father was a Fellow of University College Oxford
at the time, who had himself been educated at Balliol. Claud was fined £5 at Macroom court in 1916 for speaking
Irish to a police constable by the name of Appleby* who was stationed at Ballingeary in Cork. At the time he was president
of the Oxford branch of the Gaelic League. He seemed to have been a perennial student having entered Oxford as a student in
1903 but didn't collect his degree until 1909. He was still on the register in 1916 when he was arrested.
This would have allowed him access to Gaelic manuscripts and texts in the University libraries. He seemed to have been interested
in Irish culture from an early age. He was a founder member of Scol Acla, a summer school for the teaching of Irish
language and culture which ran from 1910 to 1914. Meantime he had met and married Moirin Fox who later wrote a biography of
Terence McSwiney Mayor of Cork. They had one daughter called Eiri Na Greine. In 1925 Claud Chavasse bought Ross
house. He frequently visited schools in Galway. He was interred in the Curragh for 12 months where he busied himself
teaching Irish,and he continued this activity at his home Ross House. He was elected as the Galway representative
for Sinn Fein at the Ard Feis in 1949 under the name Cluad de Ceabhasa. In earlier years he and his wife
used the form Cheavasa.
Like all good myths there was a grain of truth in the rumours about Claude Chevasse. One of his ancestors
came from from South East France in the 17th century to the area of Burford in England and Claude believed one of his
ancestors fought with James 1 in Ireland. He spent a great deal of his life looking for his Irish ancestors. He was
a 4th cousin of the Godfrey Noel Chavasse who won two Iron crosses for his valour in WW1.
Claude Chavasse came to Ireland to stay with an uncle in Waterford so that he could learn Irish.
Violet Martin is buried in the cemetary of St Barrahane's church in Castletownsend. There is an old table
in the church which was donated by Edith Somerville in her memory. There are also memorials to their cousin Henry Chavasse
whose family lived in the area for generations.
*Parody of Sergeant Appleby published in a local paper of the time 'The Leader'
" Oh , Paddy dear and did you hear the news thats going 'round -
speak Irish to a policeman now , and you'll be fined
five pound .
Sure the light of English learning soon our island will illume ,
for it's fining Irish speakers are the
J.P.'s of Macroom .
I met with Sergeant Appleby and I took him by the hand ,
and asked him if the Ballingeary folk the olden tongue had
banned -
'Ah, no' , said he , 'they speak it still , and fill my heart with gloom ,
and fifteen miles away , alas ,
are the J.P.'s of Macroom'.
Now Applebys and grand J.P.'s , who dwell in this dear land ,
must put aside their upstart pride and Irish understand
-
we mean to strive and keep alive our tongue 'till crack of doom ,
so to pot with all , both great and small , the
J.P.'s of Macroom ! "
/local%20history%20and%20myths_files/spacer.gif){kind=spacer}