‘The Quiet Man' cart is located in Glengarriff

By Nick Bramhill

ONE of Maureen O’Hara’s final wishes has been honoured, after the iconic jaunting car which featured in The Quiet Man movie was donated to a museum dedicated to John Wayne.

The ancient cart had gone missing for decades after it was used in the 1952 John Ford-directed epic, in several memorable courting scenes between the two late actors.

But the treasured keepsake, dating back over 100 years, was discovered in storage in O’Hara’s former home in Glengarriff shortly before the actress moved to Boise, Idaho in the USA, in recent years.

Conor Fitzsimons, O’Hara’s grandson, said he was delighted the well-preserved sidecar has been relocated to the John Wayne Birthplace Museum – in The Duke’s hometown of Winterset, Iowa.

He said:  ‘After visiting the birthplace of her lifelong friend and co-star in 2013, my grandmother determined that this would be the ideal facility to exhibit this prized relic from her favourite film of all time. The sidecar, along with the Connemara Shawl O’Hara wore in The Quiet Man, will be one of the centrepiece attractions at this year’s annual birthday celebration for Wayne later this month, on May 27th and May 28th. O’Hara, who starred in 64 movies and who was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2014, was 95 when she passed away peacefully in her sleep in Idaho last October.