After the Great Famine, a soup kitchen was established by the local priest, Father Peter Daly, at the gates of Marino Cottage. In 1892, the then owner, the Earl of Westmeath, sold the house to a local National School teacher, locally known as An Droineann (Micheal O’Droghneain – Michael Thornton) who was an avid promoter of Irish culture, arts and language. An acknowledged authority ‘An Droineann’ encouraged people with similar interests to visit Marino Cottage, many of whom were accomplished musicians, actors, writers and artists of the time. Most notable amongst them, was John Ford the acclaimed Irish-American film director whose family originally hailed from Spiddal, a small town to the west of Furbo. During the course of his stay John Ford is said to have proclaimed that the views over Galway Bay from Marino Cottage were as fine as he had ever witnessed in his life and someday he hoped he would have the opportunity to use it as a backdrop to a film scene. Sadly he died before this dream could be realised.
In 1968 the property was bought and extensively re-developed into a 34 bedroom hotel by Mr. Bill Fuller, an impresario involved in the Irish entertainment business. He renamed it Teach Furbo (Furbo House) and for a number of years it was famous as an entertainment venue incorporating a cabaret lounge with seating for up to 800 guests plus a restaurant and two bars. Its reputation at this time, as a top class entertainment venue, was recognised not alone in Ireland but also in the United Kingdom, and parts of the USA, in particular New York, Las Vegas and Nashville, Tennessee. In fact many of the great Irish artists who went on to achieve fame and fortune overseas, started their careers in Teach Furbo and for a number of years the Irish national broadcasting station, RTE Radio 1 featured a half hour programme dedicated to the performances at Teach Furbo.
