Site of Stella's Cottage marked in Trim

Trim Tourism Network has unveiled an information plaque at the site of Stella's Cottage, the home of Esther Johnson, well known for her association with Dean Jonathan Swift during his period in Trim.

The information plaque was unveiled by Michael Hughes, chairperson of Trim Tourism Network, at the cottage hald way between Trim and Laracor. Mr Hughes gave a background to the story of Stella and described how she took on robbers at her house and sent them packing, killing one of them with a pistol shot.

Stella’s cottage stood at a bend on the side of the road until the road was straightened in the early 21st century. Nearby Laracor was the parish where Jonathan Swift, author of 'Gulliver’s Travels', was rector from 1700 until 1745. For 40 years Esther Johnson, Stella, was “the bright particular star” of Jonathan’s Swift’s life. Stella and her companion, Mrs Dingley, certainly lived in St Mary’s Abbey in Trim and her name is associated with this cottage for more than 200 years. It is possible that the cottage was the gate lodge for Knightsbrook House. 
The illustrations on the plaque of Stella’s cottage from the 1800s show a high stone gabled building quite unlike the cottage that was there in the first half of the twentieth century. The division of the house into two homes took place about 1865 and two doors were inserted in the front. In 1949 the cottage was abandoned and fell into dereliction. A local committee was formed in the 1960s to restore the building but failed to raise sufficient funding and the walls were demolished to the height of one metre. 
In 1991 the overgrown site was cleared by Upper Boyne Tourism volunteers and in 2018 the Trim Tourism Network carried out a similar clearing of the site.

Also present at the event were family members of the Murray family as Tommy Murray wrote a book on the cottage. Cllr Noel French recalled his memories of Tommy and his great contribution to Trim’s history and heritage. One of Tommy’s poems featured in the recent magazine by the Meath Writer’s Circle which Tommy had founded. Noel French also paid tribute to Trim Tourism Network for the cleaning up of the ruins of the building and erecting the plaque. He said: “Scurlogstown Olympiad group always kept the memory of Stella and Swift alive.” “It is an important site for Swift scholars and it is great that it is now visible again and has an information plaque” Cllr French stated. 
It was also the sixth anniversary of Tommy Murray's death on 3rd November 2012. The award-winning poet, who was 81, was also an avid collector of local history, publishing numerous works on subjects from around the county, and gathering photographs, memories and tales from people across Meath. He was also a tutor in adult and children's writing classes, and ran the Meath Writers Circle in his native Trim. He had a passion and love for his native town and county, its people and places.