I then stopped at Pearse Cultural Centre, home to a new interpretation centre that offers insights into the local landscape, as well as the restored cottage of Patrick Pearse. The Irish nationalist wrote with passion and nostalgia for rural Galway and was leader of the 1916 Rising of Irish Republicans against British rule. After Pearse and other leaders were executed following the rebellion, support for Irish independence grew, and in 1922 the Irish Free State – now Republic of Ireland – left the United Kingdom.