The area is popular with holiday-home hunters and the former fishing lodge has already attracted interest from as far away as France. Such splendid isolation hasn’t gone unnoticed, however. The surroundings are ideal for ramblers and the 149 acres are actually a one-fifteenth share in 2,235 acres of undivided commonage. There is also a fairy rock nearby which, according to local legend, has mystical powers. Outside there are patios to the west and south, while trees and shrubs surround the house. The lodge has five bedrooms and a drawing room that opens on to a terrace. It retains many of its original features, such as marble floors, ornate cornicing and brass taps and handles. Owned by the Guinness family during the 19th century, Gowla Lodge fell derelict during the 1960s but was eventually restored in 1979. King Edward VII visited the house on one of his fishing expeditions.” It is set in secluded grounds at the foot of a hill overlooking the Gowla river, which is famous for its trout fishing. Selling agent Rod Spencer says: “The house is of cut stone constructionand is nearly 300 years old. Now on the market for €400,000, U2’s one-time hideaway is expected to achieve in excess of its asking price. Most of the older generation in the bar didn’t even know who they were.” “Overall, nobody got too excited about it. It was more a family get-together than a rock star party.” She remembers the band signing autographs for anyone who was interested. “They came in on a couple of occasions with their wives and children and were very well behaved. The barmaid in Bolger’s pub, which serves Cashel as a bar, shop and post office, remembers the band mixing easily with locals. The interview got picked up nationally and we got great publicity out of it.”ĭespite their superstar status, the group didn’t entirely hide their presence in Gowla Lodge during their stay. O’Cathain says: “They were the biggest band in the world at the time and they didn’t have to bother with us. He seemed really interested in Irish culture.” While both had chosen to do the interview, they insisted it shouldn’t be aired until the day they were leaving Connemara. O’Cathain says: “Bono was the most culturally tuned in and he talked about Peig Sayers knowledgeably. They were very friendly and really made a good effort.” Raidio Na Gaeltachta asked them to record a couple of intros and Bono and the Edge practised repeatedly until they felt their Irish was up to scratch. Recalling this significant event in his career, the broadcaster says: “Bono had a little Irish, and the Edge had some but not as much. While working on new material, they blew their cover only once, when they contacted Martin O’Cathain, a journalist then working with Raidio Na Gaeltachta, to do an interview. Recess, the nearest village, is five miles away and there isn’t a neighbour within shouting distance. Sixteen miles east of Clifden, in an area of sparse, rugged beauty, it’s easy to see why the paparazzi-shy group chose to hole up in Gowla Lodge. Bono and the Edge spent most of the two weeks recording new material for Achtung Baby, the album that would revolutionise the band’s sound.Īlthough mostly recorded in Berlin, and with a distinctly European feel full of dance beats and industrial guitars, the new direction was born in the wilds of Connemara. The band cleared out all the furniture and set up equipment in the dining and drawing rooms. Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen joined them at weekends, flying in from New York on the first Saturday for breakfast. Licking their wounds that winter, the band stole away to Connemara and the solitude of Gowla Lodge, a cut-stone fishing lodge in 149 acres of barren mountain grazing land near Cashel.īono and The Edge cut themselves off for two weeks, accompanied by four staff members. The accompanying film also received scathing reviews. After the release of the double album Rattle and Hum in October 1988, the music press - which had fawned over them throughout their career - branded the album “pretentious” and “excessive”. A cut-stone hideaway in Co Galway is renowned as the place where the band changed its fortunes, writes Niall Donald
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