And "real" she was, our Mary Kate Danaher, when she first laid eyes on young Sean Thornton in that picturesque meadow in Ireland.  The cult followers of "The Quiet Man" would challenge any scene in cinema history to be quite as glorious as the sight of Mary Kate, herding her sheep in a breathtaking panorama of shades green with shafts of sunlight flowing through the trees.  Add to this the musical score of Victor Young and the scene takes you at once to Ireland and the romance about to unfold.

John Ford had a way of making a scene into an almost surreal painting. The lighting, the color, less dialogue and placing more emphasis on the camera capturing the facial expression/emotion of the actor.  How could you look at the scene capture above and not feel the electricity generated by these actors.  Many a movie critic, fellow actor, director, et al. were very puzzled that Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne did not win Oscars for their performances as well as the film being named as best picture. For the record, the winners in 1952 were "The Greatest Show On Earth" (long since faded into oblivion) for best picture - Gary Cooper won  best actor for "High Noon" Shirley Booth won best actress for "Come Back Little Sheba. An odd combination of winners and after 46 years it is "The Quiet Man" that remains the winner. And maybe, after all is said and done, that is what is really important.
The famous "Whisper" scene.  The fact is that the lines whispered by Maureen were
assigned by the "boss" - John Ford.   Duke, Maureen and Ford made a secret pact that they would
never reveals those words.  There are those who "think" they know, but sadly they are mistaken.
Because Ford is famous for his purposely lying to prying reporters, journalists, and co-workers,  you can rest assured that he delighted in making-up lines to share with people who asked.  Then
the curious minds also have to consider that maybe Maureen even improvised a few words of her own.  Trust me on this one - even her immediate family doesn't know.  Some say it is a much used
director's trick to gain the expression or element of surprise he/she is looking for in his character...
however in this case it's a very sacred secret that will remain with Maureen forever.   It's
probably the one thing about "The Quiet Man" that remains truly her own.

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Back on the set - A handsomer group you'll never find!

 A family affair - Maureen's brother James (Father Paul) - Maureen, Duke,
and her brother Charles on the TQM set.
Photo compliments of Paddy McCormick. (Paddy journeyed to London to the British
Film Institute to obtain copies of many wonderful black and white stills such as this).

1951- Maureen relaxes between scenes of TQM
(photo courtesy Des McHale)

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TQM Publicity stills of Mary Kate and Sean Thornton -
The "hug" picture is my favorite because I think this pose embodies their
long and durable friendship, their energy, their chemistry and their love for one another.
As Maureen herself has said,  their kind of brother-sister relationship was very special.

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A Few Facts About Filming of TQM

All of the  interiors of TQM were filmed in Hollywood and all of the exterior shots were done in Ireland. There were exceptions, of course, like some of the scenes shot at the cottage after the wedding. Likewise, the kissing/storm sequence in the cemetery was done in Hollywood.   The visit of Rev. and Mrs. Playfair was done in front of the  actual cottage.  A family by the name of "Joyce" was living in the cottage at the time.  Likewise, Will Danaher's home was occupied and the family had to accommodate the film company by staying away from the windows, etc., during times they were shooting.

The wonderful scene where an angry Sean Thornton is walking home after an argument with Mary Kate and and all these seagulls fly into the air about him as he crosses a meadow was actually instigated by Maureen. They were between scenes and she noticed the gulls and suggested to Ford that if Duke walked through them they would take flight and it would make a good shot.  Ford hurridly set it up and  sure enough, the flurry of gulls took flight with grace and beauty that added tremendously to the panoramic scene.

To me,  that the very final scene of Sean and Mary Kate running to the cottage in the distance is truly one of the film's most romantic scenes.  The movie "The Quiet Man" begins and ends with almost perfect beauty and artistry. In between you have romance, action and the beauty of Ireland and one of its greatest gifts to America, Maureen FitzSimons Blair (O'Hara).

About the Real 'White O'Morn cottage
Sadly, this is all that remains of  the real "White O'Mornin" Cottage Today

Photo compliments of Patty McCormick

 Paddy McCormick
Tells His story

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(Note:  This was Paddy's dream and he worked tirelessly to make it come true.  The letter below was written to us in 2000 and although he has never given up totally, his efforts dwindled considerably/  This is understandabe when, despite his tenacity, he could not gain the proper support he needed.  Paddy McCormick is the sweetest, most sincere young man I have ever met and I still jope that someday we will see that original cottage become a monument of nostalgia to one of the world's greatest love stories. God Bless you always Paddy.

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Whilst trying to find words to describe my love of John Ford¹s classic film "The Quiet Man" I have realized that the opening verse of this beautiful song sums up my feelings more than any words that I can articulate myself.

The words are also are particularly appropriate when I go on to describe what has become my passionate ambition to restore part of the heritage of  "The Quiet Man."

I am now 37 years of age, married with a 6 year old son.  I run a design and printing company in Belfast and teach Classical Music at the City of Belfast School of Music.

I have been an admirer of  "The Quiet Man" for as many years as I can remember and I count myself very lucky that the nature of my professional life has further enhanced the pleasure I get from watching the film.  As a
designer I love the visual beauty and splendour of the film, and as a music teacher I often lose myself in Victor Young¹s wonderful score.

A couple of years ago, I decided to visit the locations of the film as a sort of pilgrimage and booked into Ashford Castle to "do it in style."

I left Belfast full of excitement and anticipation with my mind full of the memorable images, wonderful performances and beautiful music that all contribute to make "The Quiet Man" such a magical film. I always
particularly loved the "White a Mornin" cottage scenes, especially the beautifully upbeat end sequence as Mary Kate and Sean run back up to the cottage.

I arrived in Ashford Castle and quickly decided that I had to visit all the known locations including Cong, Lettergesh Beach, Clifden, Ballyglunin Station, Thor Ballylee, The Stone Bridge, as well as those locations within
the grounds of Ashford Castle itself (The Danaher House, Fight Scene, Church and of course the fields where we see Mary Kate for the first time - perhaps one of the most beautiful scenes ever filmed).

I visited all these places in turn and as I did the film became almost a living thing as so many of the locations where almost exactly as they were in the 1950's - it was almost like stepping into the film itself which for
someone like myself who is quite a "romantic" by nature only further added to my excitement at the prospect of seeing the home of Mr. and Mrs. Thornton.

The next day I did finally get to see the cottage of my dreams. However, what I discovered left me almost numb with sadness.  The cottage no longer really exists except as two gable walls and a pile of stones.  Indeed the
words of the song could not be more appropriate ... a body's bound to be a dreamer, when all the things he loves are far away - here I was standing in the very spot and White a Mornin was so near and yet so far away.

After I recovered from my initial disappointment, I decided that something had to be done to restore the cottage to its former glory, if for no other reason, as a mark of respect to the joy and beauty John Ford has given to so
many of us in the Quiet Man - this is really where my story begins so at the risk of sounding contrived I'll begin at the beginning....

After I returned home to Belfast I began to formulate an embryonic concept to restore the cottage.

My two priorities were to:

        1. Make it EXACTLY  as it was at the time of filming
        2. Create a mechanism whereby it would not be exploited for purely
                commercial purposes.

Over the next few months I developed the idea of creating a Charitable Trust which would buy the site, restore the cottage and make sure that any money generated from visitors to the site (of which there are so many) would be given to charitable causes.

This all sounds very noble and simplistic but I am also a businessman and I realised there would be (and are) considerable logistical difficulties in making the dream a reality.  Whilst I genuinely wanted no personal profit
from what was essentially a labour of love I knew that to a certain extent I would be dependent on the support, goodwill and input of others whose motivations I might only be able to guess at.

As it happens I have been incredibly lucky with the people I have met (to such an extent I wonder if someone is watching over me) and to bring you quickly up- to- date I will quickly summarise what had happened in the two
years I have been pursuing my dream (it will be 2 years exactly on the eleventh of November 1998).

My first priority was to track down the current owners of the property which actually took me the best part of nine months to do - after exhaustive searches it turns out that they live in Santa Ana.  I am currently in
negotiations with them to sell the property to the Trust.

Two key people I have managed to make contact with an Irish Government Minister and an American Embassy Official in Dublin .  I have had several meetings with them and also some in Galway and some in the Ministers office in the Dail (at his invitation).  They have both taken my project on board in a personal and professional capacity and have been a great source of encouragement and support.

One supporter of my project also has close personal contacts with the Motion Picture Association of America and Allied Irish Banks which is largely American owned, and is in a position to help put financial support for the project in place.

Now that the project is beginning to gain some momentum one Irish Government Minister will be working with me to prepare a more formal proposal to drive the project forward. He has suggested a dinner party in the Ambassadors residence in Dublin to bring together what he considers key people who could provide support for the project.

I met one Government Minister at a business function in Belfast and with some hesitation decided to introduce myself and my proposal to him fully expecting to be "passed over."  As it turned out the opposite was the case,
in fact by what I consider to be an uncanny coincidence not only was the Minister's imagination gripped by my plan it turned out that he was Minister for the very area where the cottage is situated and he lives literally three
minutes from the site. The Minister als wishes to sit on the Board of the Trust.

After several meetings with him, he has stated that he will bring his good offices to bear to help make the cottage restoration a reality - that if I can successfully convince the current owners to sell the site, he will work
to ensure that "everything else falls into place" - I believe he feels some sort of personal attachment to the project and I receive faxes from his office fortnightly asking for a progress update.

For several months there has been little progress to report.  However, within the last two weeks I have been talking to the owners of the property (who up until now have refused to consider selling the site) and there is
some sign of movement."

In parallel with my ongoing negotiations with the owners it is my intention to again soon meet with my contacts in the Irish Government to review progress and to develop a more "formalised business plan as well as considering further the composition of the Trust Committee.

The parties I have contacted with the Irish Government feel that the cottage restoration not only has merit as a tribute to a great film but in the process it will create something worthwhile and beneficial to others which inn the end is as much as I could ever have hoped for.Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter.

Yours sincerely

Paddy McCormick
 

15 Knockbreda Park
Belfast, County Antrim
Northern Ireland
BT6 OHB
 

Tel: 644396 (home)
Paddy McCormick Tel/Fax: 311541 (office)
Mobile: 07801 631233
E-mail: pmc@btinternet.com

Have a visit to my pages composed after my trip to Ireland  in 1999 where I met with Paddy McCormick and Prof. Des McHale , They took me on a grand first class tour of the sites where "The Quiet Man" was filmed.  It is an experience I shan't soon forget.  Their kindness was overwhelming and in a million years I could never thank them enough. Ireland Trip
Ireland Journal