Ireland. Dublin, the Shannon, Limerick, Cork, and the Kilkenny races, the round towers, the lakes of Killarney, the county of Wicklow ... and the Giant's causeway

Each story keeps the passage it was read from. Open one to read the passage as the book has it, and, where the companion has written its own telling, that too.

1. Massacre of prisoners at Wexford Bridge during the 1798 rebellion

   Wexford Bridge · street · Wexford · 1798

   During the last great rebellion, rebels in possession of Wexford brought English and Protestant prisoners to a bridge over the bay and threw them into the water; according to Musgrave's Memoirs, prisoners were speared and thrown over the parapet on pikes.

   Read the passage

   Wexford, during the last great rebellion, was the scene of almost unexampled atrocity. There is a \>ridge built over a narrow part of the bay. To this bridge the rebels, then' in possession of .the town, brought their English and Protestant prisoners, and flung them into the water. Mul- ^ave, in his celebrated '' Memoirs of the Irish Rebellion,'* now rarely to be met with, says that the prisoners were speared at the same .moment from before and behind, and then lifted ■ up on the pikes and thrown over the parapet of ■the bridge. These are matters yet fresh in the memory of many living men, and when we ihink how rich in atrocities is the history of Irish iosurrections, a man scarcely ventures to xely much on the present tranquillity, or to feel much confidence that similar scenes may not .i>e acted again at no great distance of time.

   Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 44

   As the companion tells it

   Along here at Wexford Bridge, during the 1798 rebellion, this was the scene of what the source calls "almost unexampled atrocity." Rebels in possession of the town brought their English and Protestant prisoners to this bridge over the bay and flung them into the water. Musgrave, in his Memoirs of the Irish Rebellion, records that the prisoners were speared from before and behind at the same moment, then lifted up on the pikes and thrown over the parapet. These events were yet fresh in the memory of many living men when this was written, and the author reflects that a man scarcely ventures to rely much on the present tranquillity, given how rich in atrocities is the history of Irish insurrections.

2. Battle of Vinegar Hill, 1798 Rebellion

   near Vinegar Hill · hill or hills · Wexford · 1798

   Kohl ascends Vinegar Hill near Enniscorthy, site of a decisive 1798 battle between English troops and Irish rebels, after which many rebels were hanged in retaliation for the murders at Wexford bridge.

   Read the passage

   Having time in the evening, before sunset, my laughing companion and I ascended Vinegar Hil^ a place of some celebrity in Irish revolutionary history, and lying close to Enniscorthy. Here a decisive battle was fought in 1798 between the English troops and the Irish rebels, and of the latter many were hanged, by way of retaliation for the murders at Wexford bridge.

   All these incidents afforded matter of mirth to my companion, and as I thought he might have some recollection, from his younger days, of the details of the war, I beg^n to question 1dm about the origin and causes of the rebellion, but all I could gather from him was, that the people " began by burning houses," and " ended by knocking everything to pieces." These incidents of rebellion and civil war are full of significance even at the present day, for 0*ConnelI takes care to keep alive the echo of their din, and avails himself of the artillery of a former century in his wordy war: against the England of the present day.

   Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 45

   As the companion tells it

   Up ahead, Vinegar Hill rises near Enniscorthy. A decisive battle was fought here in 1798 between English troops and Irish rebels. After it, many of the rebels were hanged, in retaliation for the murders at Wexford bridge. A traveller named Kohl climbed this hill one evening before sunset, with a companion who laughed at every incident of the old war. Kohl thought the man might remember details from his younger days, so he asked him about the origin and causes of the rebellion. All the companion would say was that the people began by burning houses and ended by knocking everything to pieces. Kohl noted that these incidents of rebellion and civil war still carried significance, for O'Connell kept alive the echo of their din, availing himself of the artillery of a former century in his wordy war against the England of the present day.

3. Bianconi's Car Empire Begins in Clonmel

   Clonmel · town · Tipperary

   The Italian immigrant Bianconi began as a peddler with a donkey-cart, gradually building a transport business in Clonmel. He expanded to running long open cars to Cork, Kilkenny and beyond, eventually operating 600 cars and 1500 horses across Ireland.

   Read the passage

   The principal owner and hnprover of cars in Ireland is an Italian called Bianconi, whose extensive speculations have made his name so famous, that he well deserves mention, especially as he is one of the rare instances pf a foreigner whose speoolative ingenuity has beat the English within their own territory. This remftrkable man, whose horses and cars now occupy almost all the roads in Ireland, was originally tone of those little Italian hoys who abound in all the towns of the kingdom, and who wander about either with barrel-organs or with plaster images. As he was a IVugal and industrious boy, he soon prospercKl with his images, and was able to buy other kinds of merchandise. To carry about all his goods on his own back soon became too troublesome, and he bought a little donkey and donkey-cart. When the donkey became unequal to the increasing press of business, he bought a horse. This horse he did not, however, always use, and when he could spare it, he let it out on hire for money and civil words. He soon found that the hire of the horse brough him in more than the profit on his wares, and he therefore bought another horse, in order to let one out on hire, while he continued his business with the other. At the same time he improved his cart, so that he could transport a few passengers in it along with his goods. In this manner he gradually establish- ' ed himself as a car driver in the town of Clonmel, which lies northeast of Cork.

   Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 30

   As the companion tells it

   As you come through Clonmel, you are passing through the town where an Italian named Bianconi built Ireland's greatest car empire. He arrived as one of those little Italian boys who wandered the towns with plaster images, frugal and industrious. He prospered selling his images, then bought a donkey and donkey-cart to carry his goods. When the donkey became unequal to the increasing press of business, he bought a horse, and when he could spare it, he let it out on hire for money and, as the book says, "civil words." The hire brought him in more than the profit on his wares, so he bought another horse, improved his cart to carry a few passengers alongside his goods, and gradually established himself as a car driver in Clonmel. From there he expanded to running long open cars to Cork, Kilkenny and beyond, until his horses and cars occupied almost all the roads in Ireland. He eventually operated 600 cars and 1500 horses across the country, a foreigner whose speculative ingenuity beat the English within their own territory.

4. Guides at the Giant's Causeway touting famous past clients

   near Giant's Causeway · population centre · Antrim

   At the approach to the Giant's Causeway, a crowd of competing guides offered their services, citing famous past clients including Field Marshal Macdonald, the Duke of Wellington, the Marquis of Anglesey, and Professor Buckland of Oxford.

   Read the passage

   "Take me, yonr hononr." shouted another, ** I went with the Dnke of Wellington and show ed him everything, and he was very welt pleased with me.*' One had a certificate of merit from the Most Ntible the Marquis of Anglesey, and his lady and daughter, another from Professor Buckland of Oxford. I chose the one whose physiognomy recommended him most, and imaipned that in proclaiming my choice I should de Sver myself from the other candidates. Not at all. According to the nnfortnnate system of their country, they followed me the whole way step by step.

   I conjured them at first to refrain from their »eedlesB explanations, and leave me to the en-

   Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 84

5. Plot to massacre the Mac Donnells and flight to Rathlin

   near Rathlin Island · island or archipelago · Antrim

   The Galloglochs plotted to murder their Scottish comrades and Mac Donnell himself on a certain night, but Mac Quillan's daughter (Mac Donnell's wife) discovered and betrayed the plot to her husband, who fled by night with his people to the island of Rathlin, where they were reduced to eating horseflesh for want of provisions.

   Read the passage

   freat and dangerous infiueace in the Root« that ffreat (lisgraoe bad fallen on the whole eleiH firom tiie seduction of Mac QuiUan*s daughter, which was. it appeared, by no means a secret, and that, to avenge all these injuries, every Gailogl'igh should agree, on a certain night, to murder his Scottish comrade; the chiet Mac Di)nnell also to be included in the massacre. The daughter of Mac Quillan. and wile of Mac Bimnell, however, discovered the plot, and betrayed it to her husband, and since it was sushecled that Mac Quillan, who by this time was heartily weary of his guests, was not an entire stranger to it, Mac Donnell and bis people thought it advisable to f|y by night to the island of ilachery, of Rathlin, where lor want of provisions, they were obliged to subsist upon horseflesh. A war now began between the Mac Bonnells and the Mac Quillans, which continued during the whole reign of Queen Elizabeth, and which gave the territory of Dunluce and the Root alternately to one or the otfier, according to the varying fortunes of the parties, until in the beginning of the reign of King James, the government ihterfered to put an end to it, and an appeal was made to the crown.

   This monarch had, as is well known, a great partiality for his Scottish countrymen, and he bestowed on Mac Donnell no less than four great baronies in Ireland, among which w^ere included the lands of the unlucky Mac Quillan.

   Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 89

6. Slaughter-houses and starvation amid plenty in Cork

   Cork · city · Cork

   In the suburbs of Cork large slaughter-houses processed thousands of pigs, the 'rent-payers' of Irish cabins, for export while the poor Irish who raised them starved. The author laments that vast quantities of ham and provisions sailed away to feed soldiers abroad while Ireland's own people went hungry.

   Read the passage

   At the great provision merchants' warehous- •es enormous quantities of life stores are collected together. Huge and excellent hams are ranged in long rows, like the folios and octavos of a library. ' In the suburbs of Cork there are large slaughter-houses for pigs, in which thouaands of the inmates and reiit-payers of the Irish cabins annually expire. I should like to know with what thoughts and feelings poor hungry Paddy studies these vast libraries of bacon ! It is dreadful to think that the poor Irish should have to furnish other countries with such vast quantities of that which they themselves are starving for want pf. If Paddy, however, was but a little more industrious, be might keep many of these fine fat hams ia his own chimney, instead of seeing them sail away thousands of miles, to feed her Majesty's soldiers in thß Bast or West Indies.

   Some of the most interesting sights in this town are the establishments of those merchants veho deal in fresh provisions, which they preserve by various devices. Those men are known by the name of preserved fresh provision merchants. The preserved fresh provision

   Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 30

   As the companion tells it

   As you pass through Cork, the city holds a bitter memory from the time of the provision trade. In the suburbs stood large slaughter-houses for pigs, where thousands of what the author calls the "rent-payers" of the Irish cabins were killed each year. The pigs were raised by the poor, who then watched enormous quantities of ham sail away thousands of miles to feed her Majesty's soldiers in the East or West Indies, while they themselves starved for want of the very food they had produced. The author asks, "I should like to know with what thoughts and feelings poor hungry Paddy studies these vast libraries of bacon," the hams ranged in long rows like the folios and octavos of a library. The town also had establishments of merchants known as preserved fresh provision merchants, who dealt in fresh provisions preserved by various devices.

7. The Liszt-O'Connell Mistaken Identity Riot

   near Belfast · city · Antrim

   When the musician Liszt visited Belfast in a grand carriage, overzealous Protestants mistook him for O'Connell and formed a mob that stopped the carriage, cut the traces, and pulled him out to duck him in a pond, before realizing their error.

   Read the passage

   The Presbyterians of northern Ireland, rose "«llith the Catholics of the south, in the memora> ble Irish rebellion which took place at the end of the last century ; they fought no less zealously against the English troops, and watched with no less triumph the progress of the French revolution. The republican or democratic tendencies of the northern Protestants, are quite as strong as those of the southern Catholics ; yet the two parties are no friends, on the contrary, under particular circumstances, they are the bitr tnrest enemies. 0*Connell and his party are , less popular in Belfast than in any other Irish to«ii; and on all the agitation-tours and triumphal-progresses, which the great man so often makes through the cities, towns, and villages of the Emerald Isle, he takes good care never to eome near Belfast. Once indeed it is said that he gladdened with the light of his countenance the few feeble partisans he possessed at Belfast ; but he slunk in at night in a small unpretending ear, and made haste away again, early the next morning, befbre the opposite faction ccrald hear of his arrival. I heard an amusing anecdote at Belfast, how the great musician, Liszt, when he ▼isited the city, was unluckily mistaken for O'Connell, and was very near suffering in consequence. As Liszfapproached in a large postchaise drawn by four horses, some of the overzealous protestants of Belfast inquired respecting the traveller, and were told that he was some very great man, nobody exactly knew who ; they immediately took it into their heads that he was O'Conneil. A mob collected, stopped the carriage, cut the traces, and pulled out the astonished great man, in order to cool his aupp«isp^ patriotism in true Irish fashion, bv a go<Hl ducking in a neighbouring pond. Luckily? ^^'Ver, they discovered in time that they had

   got bokl of a young foreign artist, instead of tbebulky old agitator they were looking for.

   Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 71

8. Cork Harbour: Export of Pigs Amid Irish Hunger

   Cork · city · Cork

   The harbour of Cork was a spectacle for watching the embarkation of pigs, cows and oxen for export, with crowds gathering to watch poor Irish tenants bid farewell to their 'rent-payers,' the pigs, as ships also carried away butter and grain that the hungry Irish themselves would never taste.

   Read the passage

   ticulationv, and listen to the noi$y lamentatioQs of poor Paddy, when he bids farewell, for the last time, to his reot-payers, the pigs» ^nd see» them embark in the ship which is to bear them far away from the shores of old Erin. Then there are ships laden with buUer-firkios. What a weaJthy country poor Ireland mnat seem to those who» from her scarcityi shall enjoy this rich aba^daoce! Another ship exports grain, and the poor porters stagger under the weight of great sacks of com, alittle of which would, make a feast in th§ir hungry cabins« but not a g^ain of which they will eyer taste ! A third vessel is providing itself wiih stores of ship's biscuits, baked in the great steam-miU bakeries of Cork, and dried to keep for years. It seemis strange that poor hungry Ireland, nnmbers of whose children die annually of hunger and its consequences» and in. whose hospitals and bflla of mortality, "starvation" forms as regular. a heading as any other complaint, should yet have to feed fronoL her own scarcity the populatipn oX many a richer country I

   One of the most interesting and instructive places I visited at Cork, was the county-jail» whieh contains both debtors and criminals. The governors of the English prisons are certainly the most obliging and liberal in the world towards visiters, aä are so ready to assist and satisfy the inquisitive stranger, and' to afford him every information in their power, that I cannot think without gr^titi^daof the treatment, I have experienced at their hands. They seem to. have no prpfessiaqal secrets. They open toi the visiter their books and reports, nqt only al* lowing, but encojQraging and nrginji; him, to put all sorts of questions to the prtaoners; and they oilen even send him usefpl books, doeuT ments, and treatises, Ux his own house, to assist him in his investigations,

   Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog

   As the companion tells it

   As the road comes through Cork, the harbour tells its story in what leaves and what stays. Crowds would gather there to watch the embarkation of pigs, cows, and oxen, bound for export. Poor Irish tenants came down to bid farewell, for the last time, to what they called their "rent-payers," the pigs, and watch them embark in the ship that was to bear them far away from the shores of old Erin. Listen to the noisy lamentations of poor Paddy as he parts with the animal that pays his rent. Then there are ships laden with butter-firkins. What a wealthy country poor Ireland must seem to those who, from her scarcity, shall enjoy this rich abundance. Another ship exports grain, and the poor porters stagger under the weight of great sacks of corn, a little of which would make a feast in their hungry cabins, but not a grain of which they will ever taste. A third vessel is providing itself with stores of ship's biscuits, baked in the great steam-mill bakeries of Cork, and dried to keep for years. It seems strange that poor hungry Ireland, numbers of whose children die annually of hunger and its consequences, and in whose hospitals and bills of mortality "starvation" forms as regular a heading as any other complaint, should yet have to feed from her own scarcity the population of many a richer country.

9. Founding of the Total Abstinence Society in Cork

   Cork · city · Cork · 1838–1843

   In 1838 Quakers in Cork, concerned about drunkenness among the poor, persuaded Father Mathew to lead a temperance movement. The first Total Abstinence Society was formed on 10 April 1838, growing from 500 members within three months to five million by 1843.

   Read the passage

   Although fifly-4bur years old, be is still in po»> session) of the fullest bodily and mental vijgour. Till about five years ago^e lived as a simple Franciscan mpnk, and was very little known beyond the circle of his friends. It happened» however, that, in 1838, some quakei^ in the city of Cork, deploring the wretchedness caused aoiong the poorer : classes by their habitual drunkenness, determined to establish a temperance association in that city, and ais the work did not proceed well in their hands, they suggested to Father Mathew (hat he might exercise his powers of eloquence most beneficially, if he would devote himself to the cause. He did sp, and on the 10th of April, 1838, the first Total Abstinence Society- waa formed. In p. few years his exertion and influence have been enabled to raise the cause to its present prosperous condition. In 1838, three months ader Uie esUblishmeat of the society, 500 membeis had enrolled themselves in the association ; in 1840 a million, and in 1843 five millions. , It may be questioned whether history can present a paraflei to this great moral revolution, or whether any man ever acquired so great and bright a name in so short a time. Political fat|rics and religious dogmas have often crumbled together, or been utterly extinguished, in a surprisingly short space of time; but where shall we find another example of a nation rising at the call of an individual, to shake off a vice to which it had long seemed to be peenliarly wedded 1 to struggle, not against privileged classes or priestly domination, but to root out its own evil habits, and devote itself to a strict system of abstinence 1 A whole nation is here doing what a few pious monks only had strength of mind to do in the middle age«*.

   In great reforms and revolutions, there have ever bpen large classes who derived an immediate temporal profit from the change. Many princes seconded Lutber*s attempts, to bring about a reformation in the chorcb, because there were wealthy convents, and large eqciesiastical estates to be confiscated. The Fr^ch levolution ledl to a division of the domains of the privil^^d few, among the insurgent many. The revolutionary heroes had, therefore, a powerful lover atcommaod, when they stirred up the multitoda with the pcospaet of enriching themselves at tum

   Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 17

   As the companion tells it

   Cork is the city ahead of you, and it was here, in 1838, that one of the most remarkable movements in Irish history began. Father Mathew was a Franciscan monk, about 50 years old, living a quiet life and known mainly to his friends. That year, some Quakers in the city were distressed by the misery that habitual drunkenness was causing among the poorer classes. They set up a temperance association, but the work did not go well in their hands. They asked Father Mathew if he would devote his powers of eloquence to the cause. He agreed. On the 10th of April 1838, the first Total Abstinence Society was formed. Three months later, 500 members had enrolled. By 1840 there were a million. By 1843, five million. The writer of this passage asks whether history can present a parallel to this great moral revolution, or whether any man ever acquired so great and bright a name in so short a time. He asks where we find another example of a nation rising at the call of one individual to shake off a vice to which it had long seemed peculiarly wedded. A whole nation, he says, doing what only a few pious monks had the strength of mind to do in the middle ages.

10. St Kevin's Bed and the legend of Kathleen

    Glendalough · electoral division · Wicklow

    St Kevin's Bed is a small cavern forty feet above the lake at Glendalough, reachable by a narrow path, where women believe lying down ensures fertility and easy childbirth. It is also the site of the legend in which St Kevin hurled Kathleen down the rock, and afterward prayed that no one would ever drown in that lake again.

    Read the passage

    pray or you may scold, but leave yon they will not. They run along by your side, and it is hard but they will find an opportunity, now and then, to put in a word, by way of lending a helping hand to your regular guide. These would-be attendants of ours were now on theur way to St. Kevin's bed, and seemed all desirous of entering it; but an old woman drove them all away, declaring It was her privilege to show strangers the position of a woman in the saint's bed. This is the bed whence poor Kathleen was hurled down the beetling rock by the pious Kevin. Irwin told me the legend somewhat more fully than Moore tells it, and added that the saint prayed to Heaven that no one might ever again be drowned in that lake. " And that's now 1300 years ago, your honour, and no man, woman, or child, has ever been drowned in the lake since. That's the reason people are so fond of bathing here ; but no naan would set foot in the other lake, the Lake of Serpents. • Now, what I tell your honour is true ; and if it stands otherwise in books, it's the books that are wrong. Sure, we've better authority tliaa books, for we have it all handed down from generation to generation." ' I lingered fondly about . the lovely scene I was about to quit. I passed all its details once more in review : the beautiful lakes, the gloomy rocks, the Druidicat isthmus, the crosses, the churches, the graves, and the rouncl tower. What abundance of interesting objects Was - here ! At length I passed out through the old» half ruined ivy-mantled gate, and by the side of a thorn-bush of extreme old age, which Irwin told me marked the boundary of the city that once stood here ; I mounted my car, and rolled away, for once blessing the Irish for their invention of the jaunting car, which allowed me, instead of keeping my looks fixed on the horse, to turn them towards Glendalough, as long as ' a glance could he caught of its beauties.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 49

11. Hedge school observed by the roadside in Kerry

    Listowel · town · Kerry

    Kohl describes visiting a genuine Irish hedge school in a windowless clay cabin roofed with sods, where ragged children sat crowded near the door for light while the teacher, seated on an inverted butter-cask, taught the English alphabet. Each child brought a piece of turf as tribute to the teacher.

    Read the passage

    I had an opportunity, by the road-side, of seeing a genuine Irish hedge school, and truly an interesting and affecting spectacle it was. The school-house was a clay cabin, roofed with sods, and without so much as a window. The smaller of the ragged scholars sat as close as they could to the entrance, towards which they turned their books to catch as much as possible of the light from without. Some were lying on the ground, behind these were a few seated on a board, and behind these were the taller bo3rs, leaning over those in front, likewise to catch the light. The teacher was seated in the middle of the group, and was clad in what I have already described as the national costume of the country. In a tiook of Irish sketches this picture would have been invaluable, and I was sorry I had not a daguerreotype apparatus with me, to perpetuate the impression. In front of the school-nouse lay as many pieces of turf as there were students within, each boy having brought one as a tribute to his teacher.

    As J entered through the narrow entrance, the dominie rose from an inverted butter-cask, on which he had sat enthroned. ''Indeed, I am very sorry, your honour,** said he, " that I have not the opportunity of offering you a chair.** He was teaching his pupils the English alphabet, and they all Tookea fresh and cheerful, notwithstanding their poverty, as indeed most Irish children do, in the country at least, despite of their ragged attire and their scanty food. C

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 20

12. Tale of the Swapped Assassins near Edgeworthtown

    Edgeworthstown · town · Longford

    Farmers near Edgeworthtown told the author a story of a hired assassin who, sheltered by his intended victim during a storm, could not bring himself to kill him and instead swapped victims with a fellow secret-society member.

    Read the passage

    Some strange stones of murders were told me by the farmers of the vicinity. An Irishman had, some years previously, by one of the many secret societies that have existed in Ireland, been engaged to murder a certain individual. The man was on his road in search of bis victim, and, being overtaken by a storm, was met by a gentleman, who took him to his country-house, and ordered dry clothes and refreshments to be ^' ven to him. On inquiring the name of his benevolent host, the man found that he was in the house of the very being he had undertaken to murder. He was returning without having executed his task, when he met one of his secret associates, to whom he told what had happened, declaring that it was now quite impossible for him to destroy one who had been so kind to him. The associate, who bad received a similar commission, proposed that they should change their two victims. The scrupulous assassin eagerly accepted a proposal which, he thought, relieved his conscience from the crime of ingratitude. The arrangement was made, and each slew his manl *

    I was astonished at the slowness with which corn ripens in Ireland. They sow their winter xorn there in November, and their summer corn In February, yet it is not till the middle of Sep-

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 9

    As the companion tells it

    As you pass through Edgeworthstown, farmers here once told a strange tale of murder and conscience. A man engaged by a secret society to kill a certain individual set out on the road in search of his victim. Caught in a storm, he was met by a gentleman who took him to his country-house and ordered dry clothes and refreshments for him. On asking his host's name, the man discovered he was in the house of the very person he had been sent to murder. He left without carrying out the task, but met a fellow member of the society and told him what had happened, saying it was now impossible for him to destroy one who had been so kind. The associate, who had received a similar commission, proposed they swap victims. The man eagerly agreed, believing it relieved his conscience from the crime of ingratitude. The arrangement was made, and each slew his man.

13. Traces of Cromwell's bombardment still shown in Waterford

    Waterford · city · Waterford

    The rock from which Cromwell cannonaded Waterford is still shown to visitors, and a ruined tower at the end of the quay still bears the marks of his cannon bullets, with no attempt made since to repair the damage.

    Read the passage

    coast whioh haa always been easiest of aceeaa to those coming from the east-^to the Danes, the Welsh, and the English. Waterford and Wexford were the first and the last' points occupied by the Danes. It was between Waterford and Wexford that the celebrated Strongbow landed. Henry the Second landed at Waterford, and thence effected his conquest of the island, and there too Cromwell landed, and, ad-> vancing into the heart of the country, conquered Ireland once more. The city is full of reminiscences of Cromwell. The rock whence he cannonaded Waterford is still shown to strangers, and a ruined tower at the end of the quay still bears marks of Cromwell's bullets ; nor is this the Only piece of Irish masqnry from which no attempt has since been made tb obliterate the traces or repair the breaches left by Cromwell's soldiers. In the political condition of Ireland also, he has left wounds which time has not yet been able to heal. Qromwell's tune coincided with our Thirty Years' War, and, in many respects, the two would admit of a close comparison ; but the wounds inflicted on Germany by that war are almost forgotten, the rains it left have disappeared. In Ireland, wounds neither heal nor are forgotten. The country bleeds from a thousand sores, many of them of old standing. Yet Ireland has too much tenacity of life to die away entirely, though she has never had energy enough to rouse herself to a healthy condition.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 41

14. Fear of the 'good people' at a ruined castle

    Shannon Harbour · electoral division · Offaly

    A young guide accompanying the author to a ruin near Shannon Harbour refused to cross a ditch to approach the castle out of fear of the fairies, even when threatened with losing his shilling. He fled back to his mother's fire, showing the deep local dread of supernatural spirits.

    Read the passage

    •ible to take a very lively interest in thiftde8cri|>- tioD ol* mercfaandiiie, I tu rued fi-om the present to the past, and examined some ruined castles, whicn were said to have once belonged to an Irish hero of the name of Mac Ogfalan, who possessed no less than six castles in ihe neigbboorhood. One of these castles 1 had observed as we came along. It had all the appearance of an old feadal castle, was quite as ratnous as its age warranted, and was almost covered with ivy; nevertheless, the owner seemed to have made himself a very comfortable dwelling among the ancient halls and the toppling ruins. 1 have met many similar instances in Ireland of ruined castles, in which the owners contrived stiH to live very much at their ease. Another of the mins lay about a mile and half from the place, and a young man accompanied me thither as guide. When we arrived it was getting dusk, and on my preparing to jump over a diicb, that I might go close up to the castle, which lay in the middle of a large potato-6e1d, my youth hung back, and told me he would wait in the road till I came back. I soon saw he was afraid of the "good people," of whom the Irish are certainly far more in dread than they are of the devil. I was curious to see how far my companion's fear wem, and threatened to withhold the promised shilling unless he went wtfh me. ** Oh, I donH care about that I" he murmured to himself, and remained obstinately behind. I had to explore the ruin bv myself, but it contained nothing very remarkable — nothing but a few loopholes, and a few vaults that had fallen in.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 13

15. Monasterboice High Crosses and Guide's Legends

    Monasterboice · townland · Louth

    Kohl examines the carved crosses at Monasterboice, describing spiral knotwork and a carved hand, and recounts his guide's folk explanation of the pancake legend and the belief that the crosses were carried over from Rome by angels.

    Read the passage

    " These crosses, your honour, were never set up by human hand," said my guide. '' They were brought over from Rome by angels ; and when they were laid in the churchyard, they got up of themselves, and put themselves upon the pedestal, just as your honour sees them. The angels hadn't even to put a hand to it, your honour. The crosses did it all of themselves. The cross <tf holy Golumb Kill is the only one put up by human hands."

    CoUimb Kill is a saint of very great reputation both in Ireland and Scotland. He is somelioies called Columba, which name was given him on account of the dovelike simplicity and innocence of his character. Kill is the old Irish word for church, so that his name, at full length, signifies, " the dove of ihe church." The cross erected to his honour among the ruins of Monasterboice has fallen down once, and has been put up again in a very broken state. It stands in a square bole on the pedestal, and this hole is partially filled with water. My guide assured me that this water never dried up, however long a drought there might he. Sick people come from/ar and wide to bathe their diseased limbs in *' ^ 9fßeat of Columba'a cross.*' The peasantry also scratch off the scanty moss growing on the surface of the cross, and mix it with the tea -they drink, *' for good luck." I do not know whether, in any other part of Cristendom, it has ever been the custom to erect fine large crosses in the open air in honour of particular

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 65

16. The Seven Churches and Round Tower of Glendalough

    Glendalough · electoral division · Wicklow

    The ruins of the Seven Churches lie scattered around the Round Tower, which stands in complete preservation amid the wilderness. Irwin describes Glendalough as having once been a flourishing town and theological university before Dublin existed, attracting students from France, Germany, and Italy.

    Read the passage

    '*Its a melancholy condition in which your honour sees it now," began Irwin again ; ** bat when Dublin itself was only a tun-bog, there stood here a flourishing town, and a great theological university, to which students came fron^ France and Germany, ay and from Italy too. This was in the first ages of Christianity. There was a college here, a convent, buildings for the students and professors, and no less than seyen churches. The number seven, as your honour knows, has^ always been a holy number» in the east as m the west. There were the seven wise men of Greece, the seven wonderr of the world, the seven councils of the bishope of Asia Minor, and in our blessed religion Wehave seven sacraments and seven deadly sins. Therefore it was that our Irish ancestors alwayer built seven churches together, upon some of the most glorious spots in Erin. Most of these seven churches lie on our beautiful Shannon, the king of all British rivers. There are four sets of them there. First on Inchclorin, ai^ island of Lons^h Ree ; then there are the seven- ' churches (»fClanmacnoise, nearAthk>ne; then: there are those of Inniscaltra in Lough Derg». and those at Scattery Island, at the mouth of the Shannon. The most westerly seven churches are those at Arranmore, where the people think they can see Paradise in clear weather. •Oh, Arranni'>>e, loved Arranmore, How oft I dream of thee !*

    Oh, I've been there, your honour, and could tell

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 48

17. The three high crosses of Monasterboice

    Monasterboice · townland · Louth

    Three elaborately decorated stone high crosses dedicated to St Patrick, Boetius, and Columb Kill stand at Monasterboice, built of massive stone blocks between twenty and thirty feet high, carved with biblical scenes including Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Paradise, Hell, and the Crucifixion.

    Read the passage

    We at length arrived at the ruins themselves ; and, at the same time, there arrived one of those stormy and picturesque clouds v^hich we had admired so much as they passed over the landscape. The hail rattied down among the stones of the old ruins, and for shelter we were obliged to creep into the round tower, whose door was luckily near enough to the ground to allow df our entrance. This tower has the uaual height of ITO ffeet, and the usual circumference of fity feet ; and though there is something interesting in visiting one of these curious and remarkable buildings, however familiar one may have become with them, the tower of Monasterboic© has certainly nothing to distinguish it from oth* ers of the same kind. The ruined churches, also, are remarkable only for their picturesque beauty. What renders this spot most interesting, however, are three remarkable crosses erected in honour of three Irish saints, St. Patrick, Boetius, and Columb Kill. These crosMs belong to the most interesting Christian antiquities of Ireland, for tliey are better preserved than most of the remains of a similar character, and very elaborately decorated. They are built of great blocks of stone, placed one upon another, and are between twenty and thirty feet in height. Their shape is very peculiar. Upon a brosKl stone pedestal stands a block of stone, about fonrteen feet high, to the top of which is fastened a cross, formed of fbur arms of equd length, narrowing towards the centre and widening at the ends, like those used by tbe Maltese knights. The arms of the cross are bonnd by a large stone ring or cfrde, whose segments pass round from arm tb arm, and stone cross and stone ring seem united into one figure. Pedestals, crosses, and rings are all covered with curious sculptures, which offer mterestmg subjects of investigation to Irish antiquaries. They prove the existence of a quite peculiar style of Christian art in the early Irish church, and re* nrind us, by the manner of their lines and drawings, of the paintings and decorations in some old illuminated Irish manuscripts which we hhd seen at a library in Dublin.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 64

18. Tipperary as the most disturbed county in Ireland

    Tipperary · town · Tipperary

    Tipperary is described as the most disturbed county of all Ireland, with a police station every three or four miles, reflecting endemic riots, party fights, and murders from revenge as ongoing conditions rather than active rebellion.

    Read the passage

    The taost distorl)ed eounty of al 1 Ireland, a$ is W9II IcaovB, is Tipperary, where there is a •ipölice station at e^f^ry three or four milesv These men, Wfto are very well paid, are as oAen i«ish as Efiglish,* or indeed, as far as I have 4ieeD, nlbie ^equently the former. There are also ifeis&y Irishmen amockgst the police of hon* *«loB, far the Bng^lish are often somewhat averse 4o this service.

    Wiien one h^ra in Ireland of disturbed coun-

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 24

19. Carrickfergus Castle and William III's landing before the Boyne

    Carrickfergus · townland · Antrim · 1690

    Near Carrickfergus stands a large old fortified castle garrisoned by two companies of soldiers, where William III landed before he fought the Battle of the Boyne; the French later attempted to land there to assist the Irish rebels, but arrived too late.

    Read the passage

    Near Carrickfergus, close to the brink of the ocean, stands a large old castle, which is stilt kept fortified, and is garrisoned by two companies of soldiers. The situation is very picturesque, and the view over the coa.<«t, the town of Bangor, the Bellhst Lough, and the dreary waste - of wafers beyond, must be most beamiful, in^ weather permitting Its enjoyment. The waHs^ of the castle are at the same time clothed in^. fresh green ivy, and washed by the white foav of the waves, as they break at Its feet. At this ca.stle William HI. landed, before he fought the battle of the Boyne. Here the French endeavoured to land to lend assistance to the Irish labels, when It was too late. Belfast Lough is Iftdeed the principal landing-place for the whhlenorth of Ireland.

    The Belfast stase-coaeh only goes as far as Carrickfrrgus. From that town to the little village of Larne we availed ourselves of the convenience of a two-horsed car. From that place the traveller either provides himself with farther conveyance, or joins her majesty's mail-bags, which drive farthernoitbward upon a one-horsed car. Lough Lame, a little bay, protected bgr hills on the landside, and having only a veny narrow opening towards the sea, was coverad

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 77

20. Columba's Cross and the Sacred Water at Monasterboice

    Monasterboice · townland · Louth

    The cross of Columb Kill at Monasterboice stands in a hole that reputedly never dries up, and sick people travel from afar to bathe their diseased limbs in the water, while locals scrape moss from the cross for luck.

    Read the passage

    CoUimb Kill is a saint of very great reputation both in Ireland and Scotland. He is somelioies called Columba, which name was given him on account of the dovelike simplicity and innocence of his character. Kill is the old Irish word for church, so that his name, at full length, signifies, " the dove of ihe church." The cross erected to his honour among the ruins of Monasterboice has fallen down once, and has been put up again in a very broken state. It stands in a square bole on the pedestal, and this hole is partially filled with water. My guide assured me that this water never dried up, however long a drought there might he. Sick people come from/ar and wide to bathe their diseased limbs in *' ^ 9fßeat of Columba'a cross.*' The peasantry also scratch off the scanty moss growing on the surface of the cross, and mix it with the tea -they drink, *' for good luck." I do not know whether, in any other part of Cristendom, it has ever been the custom to erect fine large crosses in the open air in honour of particular

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 65

21. Encounter with a suspicious Tipperary man at Cahir

    Caher · town · Tipperary

    In the streets of Cahir the narrator meets a ragged, haggard Tipperary man leading a donkey cart of turf, who reacts with fierce suspicion and anger to a simple question about his destination. A travelling companion explains this reflects the poor's fraught relations with landlords rather than general hostility to strangers.

    Read the passage

    I met a Tipperary-mah in one of the streets of Cahir; he was leading his little donkey, which was harnessed to a small cart filled MPith turf. His clothes^ hanging upon lum in miserable tatters, gave him the appearance of having been beaten and bnfibted about all bis life; naay of his rags hmig but hy a single thread. He was wretchedly thin and haggard looking, and every bone in bis face was plainly dlstin-^ guiahable through his skin. This miserable asd degraded exterior did not lead me to expect the fiery and quarrelsorae impetoesity which it concealed. I approached the man, aad» IB order to enter into some oenversatioft with him, I bade him gfM)d morning, and naked him in which direction his jqumey hiy. '* Whati whati" " I asked whither you were going,'' I said. "Whati whati Where Pm goittg.V' " Yes.'» " What the deyil does it concern you^ I should like to know V '* Well, dp not be aoiff^iit does nut much concern me, certainly. I am travelling to Clonmelt and asked yon where you were going, in order to kn^w whether you '^ere going ;f»y way." Ho suddenly stofH^ed iua donkey, and stood aa if rooted to the ground, staring fixedly at me, and shaking bis shilelagh- "The devil take ye, go where ye win What do I care 1 Why d» you Mk me where I am gningl What'« my road to the likes e*youf Whati whaitl Whei^Jamgov , iaK.! It's enough to dHve a map mad to: be; a^ked' such qneatlon* i D'ye täte mer for ; a< faighwayfluni fSlil ehl** He fthentook-upF/a very' tbBi»(eniog poelwe» aUhoagh i remained TPVrka^^qmei an<l paaoeabte, hm stamped hia foot and brandished hia«h!l«lBglLandBci»amed. 0^ io^qeh a peyfeoi toriesiiof pateton, >' Whei-e aml^oii^l £h1 WherOamigoingl^tbaili «qrlravelling c<Mn|MtfiioeB heand the noise asd appi«adled«Sk aaktng me td^eause of the.diBr tiiübanoe. I rapeated to themi the inuootint qoetfMin by 9!hioh lAiadidcawfei doiwikapoiijiqfi. sdi* thiis lonrent «if wrath, >itad^ a» I walked^ v$9(^ I eawtheTipperatfy^vMi'WiaBrMrith'^mr diflhxdty rQairaia«d^4reni(fQMMiogiiiK).and idan kfaig. dte pay I fiüT imy tomflrü}!. Ewrr li»^ «^ his ihoiid stanMl iwi MMlrJpd «venr^ag ab ha body «sj^o^fL w'l^ ,t(he. iatciiBity^0f>hi8 iMasioa.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 37

    As the companion tells it

    Coming through Caher in Tipperary now. Back in the streets of this town, a traveller once met a Tipperary man leading a little donkey harnessed to a small cart filled with turf. His clothes hung in miserable tatters, many of his rags held by a single thread. He was wretchedly thin and haggard, every bone in his face plainly distinguishable through his skin. That miserable exterior concealed a fiery and quarrelsome impetuosity. The traveller bade him good morning and asked in which direction his journey lay. "What! what!" the man said. The traveller asked again. "What the devil does it concern you, I should like to know?" The traveller said it did not much concern him, that he was travelling to Clonmel and asked only to know whether the man was going his way. The man stopped his donkey and stood rooted to the ground, staring fixedly, shaking his shillelagh. "The devil take ye, go where ye will! What do I care! Why do you ask me where I am going? What's my road to the likes of you? It's enough to drive a man mad to be asked such questions! D'ye take me for a highwayman?" He stamped his foot and brandished his shillelagh and screamed, "Where am I going! Where am I going!" A travelling companion heard the noise and approached, asking the cause. The traveller repeated the innocent question that had provoked this torrent of wrath. His companion explained that this fury reflected the poor's fraught dealings with landlords, not any general hatred of strangers.

22. Ennis and the 1828 O'Connell Election

    Ennis · town · Clare · 1828

    Ennis, the more prosperous county town of Clare, was celebrated in Irish history for the extraordinary excitement surrounding O'Connell's election for County Clare in 1828, a key event leading to Catholic Emancipation.

    Read the passage

    Clare is a poor and ruinous place, that re- , minded me of the Polish and Lithuanian cities. Though it bear^ the name of the county, it is no( the chief town, that honour being enjoyed by Ennis, a much more orderly and prosperouslookin? place, and celebrated in the history of Ireland, on account of the extraordinary excitement that accompanied the election of O'Connell for the county of Clare, in 1828->an election that immediately preceded, and in a great measure contributed to bring about, Catholle Emancipation.

    Clare is also famed as the tiative county of the great Irish family of the O'Bfieus, of whoit representatives are, indeed, scattered over evenr part of Ireland, bot ia Clar? it i» that (be^ »

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 16

23. Galway as a stronghold of Irish language and scholarship

    Galway · city · Galway

    Kohl notes that around Galway, even the gentry understood Irish and priests were obliged to preach in the native language, making it a centre of Irish scholarship. The Archbishop of Tuam, Dr. M'Hale, and his Vicar-General Dr. Loftus were noted Irish scholars, with M'Hale translating the Iliad and Thomas Moore's poems into Irish.

    Read the passage

    The gentry and nobility in tfasi» mrt pf Ireliand understand nothing of Irish; ina^ there. are but, tew districts in the. country where, the la^- owners ai« able to converse with theijr peasaxita in the native dtalecjL : In the neighbpurlioq4 ot Gaiway, a thoroughly Irish city, even ihtgmtry are said to understand Irish, and there the jpnqsta are obliged to preach in that language, ' Tigere, too, the best insh scholars aj^'met wi^, among whom Dr. M^Hale, the Archbishop of Tnam, and his Vicar^General, Dr. Loftus, are. pa^rticularly distinguished. The former is engaged ia the publioatioft <3i an Irish version of tpe Iliad, and lately^ published a translation of Thomas Moore's poems.

    Lange parties of Irish labourers passed thnmgk Edgeworthtown during my stay there, aiid excited my compassion by their miclancholy appe^^ ance. I had seen several swarms of them o»

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 6

    As the companion tells it

    This is Galway, a thoroughly Irish city where even the gentry were said to understand the native tongue, and priests were obliged to preach in Irish. The best Irish scholars were found here, among them Dr. M'Hale, the Archbishop of Tuam, and his Vicar-General Dr. Loftus. M'Hale was engaged in publishing an Irish version of the Iliad, and had lately published a translation of Thomas Moore's poems into Irish.

24. George IV's footsteps carved at Kingstown pier

    Kingstown · townland · Dublin · 1821

    Two footsteps were hewn out of the rock on the quay at Kingstown to commemorate the landing of George IV in 1821, with a monument erected nearby. The author reflects on how remarkable it was for Ireland that a royal visit merited such commemoration.

    Read the passage

    We (that 18, my only fel]ow-2assenger in the steamer, and myself) landed at Kingstown, cloee to two very illnstHons footsteps hewn out of the rock on the qua v. They are the steps of Geoi^ IV., who landed here when be* visited Ireland in 1821, and to whose honour a monument haar been erected close to the "two said steps, tf scarcely thöt^ht flattery Had been so well understood in Great Britain. To hew ont the steps of the sovereign on his visit to one of his principal cities, and erect monuments in commemoration of the event ! One would soppoefr Ireland a little out-of-the-way place somewhere beyond the Orkneys when one finds the visit of its sovereign treated äs so memorable an occurrence ; and, in fact, when we eoosMer that Ireland, near as it is to London, was never visited by George III., nor by Gteorge II., nor by George» I., and that during the century that preceded them, the country never saw its sovereign except in arms, for the suppression of foreign or domeistic enemies, it may not be unfair to speak of Ireland, bjy the side of the great man-of-war, England, as a lirtle' captured bark uken contemptuously in tow. Our kings of Prnssia frequently gladden their several provinces with a vi^it, except Lithuania perhaps, to which one dc^s hot often hear of their going; the emperors of Russia are almost always on the move, and show themlselv«s now in Moseow, now in St Petersburg, now in Odessa, now in Warsaw— in short, in aK patts of their domioions except in Siberia ; the emperors of Austria, on their accession, go to reeeive the homage of all but their Waiacbian subjeetä; It«land, the important thiittof themifhty imperial trinity of Great Britaiih has been left to the toft, like the Lithuania of Prussia and the Siberia of Russia, and on every new aecaMfon of a British sovereign, ait that Ireland has had to do has been to waft* her applause across the Channel, as well as she haa been «Me to d» ao with her boand and Ibttsred hands.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog

25. Ruins of Bruce Castle on Rathlin

    near Rathlin Island · island or archipelago · Antrim

    The ruins of Bruce Castle, an ancient castle given to Robert Bruce by the islanders, still stand on a lofty perpendicular rock on the eastern side of Rathlin, with a view to Scotland. Only fragments of walls remain.

    Read the passage

    When Brace landed the island was, as it is now, inhabited by a simple race that sul aisted by fishing, tending a few sheep, and by cultivating a few patches of oats. At first they fled from the sight of the raail*clad knight and his fuUoweis; but when they i'ound that he treated them with kindness and gentleness, tiiey daily brouffht food to their guests— fish, motion, and oatcakes — and ended by choosing him &>r their chief, and delivering up to him for a dwelling, a. castle that had stood since the most ancient times upon the island, and the ruins of which, bearing: the name of Bruce Castle, are still to be seen on a lofty perpendicular rock rising from the water on its eastern side, whence there is a view into* Scotland. The ruins at present consist of littlemore than some fragments of walls.

    The present successor of Robert Brace in the dominion of the island fs a Mr. Gage, who being also rector and chief magistrate, is at the same time temporal and spiritual head of Rathlin, besides being the ground landlord, and rules it by more titles than many a king does his kingdom^ although the external splendour of a crown may be wanting to him. This gentleman is a vassal of the Antrim family, holding the i>land by a lease for ever, granted in 1740^ and pays a trifliDg ' tribute to Lord Antrim, who, though Mr. Gage is the proprietor, bears the title of Chief of Rathlin, but never attempts to interfere in the aflTaiis of the island. The tenanU of the rector are aH what are called tenants ** at vrill,'* that is, they can. at his pleasure he deprived of their land and driven from the island. Mr. Gage; if he were so inclined, might fix his residence at Dnblin, or any other place, and farm out its revenues to a middleman, who might again divide and distribute the island to other middlemen, and so there might be an ascending ladder, up to the sovereign herself (to whom, under certain circumstances, the island may revert), the whole weight of whichwould press on the neck of the wretched tenant, as it really happens in many cases in Ireland.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 80

26. Seaweed harvesting as food and manure along the Antrim coast

    near Ballycastle · town · Antrim

    After storms, the population gathered seaweed along the coast at Glenarm, Ballycastle and Belfast for eating, manuring potato fields, and other uses; seaweed was eaten fresh, sold as a vegetable in Belfast markets, and sea-wrack was prized as potato manure with a local Antrim saying about its effectiveness.

    Read the passage

    AU Ihsifvet ixttsaes afHasaltio and limestone Tock, which roll about on the coast, were cover- •ed with a crowd of men, women, and children« .busied in gcitting in this singular harvest, and carrying away in their arms heaps of the lung trailing shmy plants, which the Irish turn to ^ftccoont in many ways. In the first place they «k eonsiderahte qoantities ; severfdofmytioop of attendants to the Giants Causeway amused themselves as they went along, by picking up and nuinching aea-weed fre^b (roox the turf- In Ballycastle Jf saw people eat it upon bread and butter, as one might ea^t WiH^r-^^^eaees. In; Belfast i^ is regularly brought to market as a -vegetable, as peas and beans are with ns. Soaa»- ' times the sea- weed is salted and pickled, and then has much the appearance of the [dumb ^am so much nsed jn QermaoD^. Besides these «ses, I have already mentioned that great quan- 9lities< of, H are inside imp keik>, and wh#t j# not 'employed for any of these purposes serves for laiwH^ 4tluMigh it is % aaore valuable for this on the sandy shores of the Baltic, .thah in %he damp marshy lands of Ireland, where sea-' aand and shell^,^e ippre Mranied- Of the letter article whole mountains are collected near

    All the coastj^ of Ireland are rich in various finds of aea-weed> so that it seems the abundant vegetation of the Emerald Isle is continued even under the sea. The coast of Antrim is the richest of all, as these plants prefer ükß. Umestope and baaaltio rock to the granite. Among the sorts of sea- weed considered edible by the Irish the most approved are the followfng: First, the .^Jiodonunia palmaia; then the itfimimariß s^e^arinß, and lastiy, the CJumdnu crisjws. The Ijätter kinds are dried in the sun, «ailed Irish moss, and used as a substitute for the Iceland moss. The first- named is sold at Belfast, and' on the sea-coast, for a penny a DO^nd; whjlst.in the interior it costs three or four times as much. I heard a great deal about the fine flavour of some sorts, and the inferiority of others ; but it certainly appear^ to me, that to oi2e unaccustomed to these delicacies all are equally naul^eohs. -The. people in some of the. «ooast districts, however, both of Scotland and

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 89

27. Temperance pledge-keeping and Father Mathew anecdote at Listowel inn

    Listowel · town · Kerry

    At an inn near Listowel, the host described local men as strict temperance followers, few of whom had broken their pledge, and recounted an anecdote that Father Mathew himself had once been expelled from college for habitual drunkenness.

    Read the passage

    Our diligence car was not to cany us farther than Listowel, and I was obliged to look out for some other conveyance to Tralee, where I proposed to sleep. Some gentlemen who had been my fellow-passengers thiis far, and who, like myself, were on a pilgrimage to the far-famed beauties of Kiliaroey, joined me in the hire of a one-horse car. We were standing at the door of our inn, in expectation of oqr equipage. Some of «$ had been smoking and threw toe ends into the street. Two of the poor that were loitering about, rushed forward to fight and seramble for the prize, and each carried away a portion of the booty, carefully concealed among his rags. " These are all temperance men,** said our host, '^and very strict ones too. Indeed they're all very strict in this part of the country, and there are very few here who have broken their pledge.'* My host went on to speak of Father Mathew as an old acquaintanee, and told us many anecdotes about him. Among other things, he told us that the apostle of temperance, when young, had been expelled fVom his college, on the ground of ba^ bitual drunkenness, the whiskey bottle having several times been found concealed about his bed. The arecdote, if true, is not, in my opinion, at all to Father Mathew's discredit.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 20

28. The hut of the Sullivans on Bantry Bay

    near Bantry Bay · bay · Cork

    The author visited the hut of beggar Mary Sullivan's sister on the rocky shore of Bantry Bay, finding a family living in poverty with a severely disabled adult son cared for devotedly by his mother despite their destitution.

    Read the passage

    yowr honour,'' wa« tbe i^oply, ** he'» a« .idto»^ thank the great God— -attd be'oftea moans «o the whole Bay 4oeg.'*' By the feeble iglimmer of the lamp I novir recognised a poor creature, who seemed U> me more tniserable and helpless than almost any I bad «ver h^eld. It was a yottngman about twenty years of age^ lyii^in a sort of box, representing a bed^ and which xras indeed the best bed the hut cotttsined. He had under him straw and rags^ and a pillow for hi8bead,.but he lay sobbing and. trembling all over. His mother ahowed me some parts of his miserable frame. His arms and legs were like those of a skeleton, and several of bis fin- (Cers had grown together. 4b we tocmhod ihim he lifted ap his head, aaid ijazed aft ■• with a vacant kwk.

    "He has been so from hi» Inrth, your honour/' said the mother. ** For twenty years we •have been obligcid to feed him so^ wtthotit his ibeing able to do (he least thing fbr as,"

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 28

29. The Ruins of Cashel, 'One of the Holy Spots of Ireland'

    near Rock of Cashel · rock or rocks · Tipperary

    The hill of Cashel, visible from a distance, was covered with the ruins of its old churches and crowned by a round tower in perfect preservation. These ruins were considered the most beautiful in all of Ireland.

    Read the passage

    As Fermoy looks up with tender veneration to its interesting neighbour, the ancient city of Lismore, so Cahir regards with affectionate reverence the old and famous ruins of Cashel, one of the holy spots of Ireland. We saw the hiU of Cashel rising out of the fdain at a distanoe, covered with the ruins of its old churches, and crowned with its round tower in a perfect state* of preservation. These rams are considered the most beautiful in Ireland.

    Lord Glengall is the man upon whom, under Heaven, the turf and the potatoes, the happiness and prosperity of the entire district round Cahir depend. He has a beaotiful castle dose to the town, and, at present, resides there, in fulfilment of an old promise to his tenantry. On eveiry estate the 'great question is that o^ residence and non^residence. Where the landlord resides upon his own estates the tenants« are well treated, the land well cultivated^ and: the whole country prosperous and happy. Whe»; he does not reside, the peasants havd !}o T9dress from the tyranny of his subordinates ; ejcecutions for non-payment of rent are frequent and cruel, and the money of the district is sent . out of the country, without returning in any shape to those who lose it.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 36

    As the companion tells it

    Near here, somewhere about Rock of Cashel, are ruins the old book calls one of the holy spots of Ireland. Cahir looks up to them with affectionate reverence, the way Fermoy looks to the ancient city of Lismore. The hill of Cashel rises out of the plain at a distance, covered with the ruins of its old churches, and crowned by its round tower in a perfect state of preservation. These ruins are considered the most beautiful in Ireland. The entire district round Cahir depends, under Heaven, on Lord Glengall, for its turf and its potatoes, its happiness and prosperity. He has a beautiful castle close to the town, and at present resides there, in fulfilment of an old promise to his tenantry. On every estate the great question is that of residence and non-residence. Where the landlord resides upon his own estates, the tenants are well treated, the land well cultivated, and the whole country prosperous and happy. Where he does not, the peasants have no redress from the tyranny of his subordinates. Executions for non-payment of rent are frequent and cruel, and the money of the district is sent out of the country, without returning in any shape to those who lose it.

30. Fear of being counted during 1758 tax census on Rathlin

    near Rathlin Island · island or archipelago · Antrim · 1758

    In 1758 the ruler of Rathlin levied a tax of a shilling a head to build a new Catholic mass-house, but the islanders resisted being counted, believing that a family member would die if the heads of the family were numbered.

    Read the passage

    The number of inhabitants in Rathlin amoaat» to about eleven hundred— or rather did so in 1758, when the ruler of the island laid on thenk a tax of a shilling a head, in order to build a new mass-house, as they csll here what would be elsewhere termed a Catholic church. The sum was not obtained without diflSculty, for the islanders resisted the attempt to number them, nieder the belief that some one was sure to die out of every family whose heads were counted.

    Even in this island the relation between tb» Catholics who are ruled, and the Protestant» who rule, is the same as over all Ireland. The rector and proprietor, who resides here with his family the whole year, and is possessed of aH imaginable comforts and enjoyments, is a Protestant; but his poor tenants and vassals, from whom be derives bis income, and who, in order to pay ft, have to fish in these storm v seas, t» raise «ats, and gather sea- weed, are poor Catholics, with theeoteeptioik of about seventy or eightf ;

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 80

31. Bantry Bay's storied landings

    near Bantry Bay · bay · Cork · 1796–1798

    Bantry Bay, vast and sheltered, was the site of a French landing attempt near the close of the eighteenth century, and tradition holds that Spanish colonists landed there over a thousand years earlier, with Phoenicians possibly landing there too.

    Read the passage

    This is the renowned Bantry Bay, so spacious, so deep, so tranquil, and so well sheltered on all sides, that it is said all the fleets in the world might safelv anchor in it. It was in this bay that, towards the close of the last century, the French attempted a landing; here that, according to Thomas Moore, the colonists from Spain landed above a thousand years ago; and here, too, in all probability, the Phosoiciaas first set foot in Ireland, at some miknown period.

    The prospect from the mountains over these waters is truly charming, and just as much so die road running round the bay, into which several little rivers pour their waters, while several inlets of the sea run far into the land. We croesed them by bridges overgrown by rich drap^ies of ivy, and several small islands were connected with the main land in a similar way. The steep headlands running out into the sea were ofien covered with potatoes to their farthest points, and sometimes with turf. In one of the little creeks we found a boat laden with oysters, generally very abundant on. the western coasts of Ireland. For sixpence we bought such a

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 26

32. Bog Body Discovered in Galway

    Galway · city · Galway

    A remarkably preserved human body, with dried and tanned skin and distinct features, was found in a bog in County Galway. Based on the costume in which the man was found, it was concluded he had lain in the bog for at least 600 years.

    Read the passage

    All these collections of Irish antiquities, the >care taken to preserve them, and the studious examination of them, are of very recent date. The xeal that at present prevails for draining the bogs lead» daily to the- discovery of new specaneos of antiquity, and much will no doubt ^soDtioue to be found, and will contribute to make these coHections yet more interesting than they are. Among the objects hitherto ^obtained from the bogs, are, in the first place, complete human bodies, of which a specimen is to be seen at Dublin, with the skin dried anid tanned brown indeed, but with all the features diatinctly to be traced. From the costume in which this man was found arrayed, it is con- «Ittded that be must have lain at least ÖOOjrears in the bog in Galway, where he was discovered. iFor the' preservation of animal matter, the ilrish bogs, »it would appear« might compare with t^e great icy masses of Sib^ia ; but the latter, it must be allowed, possess yet greater powersy since they preserve, not only the bones and skin, but the Aesh also.

    Different parts of the buffalo, that formerly «xisted in Ireland, have also been discovered. According to a treatise published in the Pro- -ceedi^gs of the Irish Academy, this Irish buf« £ilo dilfers from all the oMsemena fossiUs described by Cuvier, and i» remarkable on account of the great convexity of the forehead, the length of the body, and the shortness of the borns, which are bent downward.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 54

    As the companion tells it

    As you pass through Galway, you are in the county where one of the most striking discoveries from the Irish bogs came to light. The collecting and study of Irish antiquities is of very recent date. The zeal now prevailing for draining the bogs leads daily to new discoveries, and much will no doubt continue to be found. Among the objects obtained from the bogs are complete human bodies. One specimen can be seen in Dublin, the skin dried and tanned brown, but with all the features distinctly traced. From the costume in which this man was found arrayed, it was concluded that he must have lain at least 600 years in the bog in Galway, where he was discovered. For the preservation of animal matter, the Irish bogs might compare with the icy masses of Siberia, but the latter possess greater powers, since they preserve not only the bones and skin, but the flesh also. Different parts of the buffalo that formerly existed in Ireland have also been discovered. A treatise in the Proceedings of the Irish Academy describes this Irish buffalo as differing from all the ossements fossiles described by Cuvier, remarkable for the great convexity of the forehead, the length of the body, and the shortness of the horns, which are bent downward.

33. Corbelled vault construction technique at Newgrange

    Newgrange · townland · Meath

    Kohl describes how the central chapel's vault at Newgrange was built using progressively overlapping flat stones resting on the roofs of the three lateral chapels and the entrance gateway, closed at the top by one large capstone.

    Read the passage

    The main difficulty with the old Cyclopean architects was to construct the vault of the central chapel. This difficulty has been solved thus : On the four firm bases presented by tlie roofs of the three lateral chapels, and by the colossal gateway to the narrow entrance-passage, large flat pieces of rock were laid, but projecting a little inward. On these, again, were placed similar masses of stone^ projectmg a little more inward, and this operation was repeated three or four times, the flat stones being let into each either something like the fingers of a folded hand. The small hole that, at the end, remained at the top of the chapel, was closed by one gigantic stone, as a crown to the whole work. The wei</ht of the enormous mass of flints by which the chapel was in time covered, only increased the solidity of the atones overlaid in the way I have described, and the whole stands indestructibly there, a pile to which eternity alone can assign a limit. The flints were probably, not heaped together all at once. In Arabia, in some parts of Africa, as well as in Ireland and Scotland, it is frequently customary to raise a heap of stones on a sacred place, or over a grave. In Esthonia a similar custom is often observed. Every passer-by is expected to throw a stone upon the hallowed spot, accompanying the act by a pious wish or a short prayer. In this Way large heaps of stones have been formed in all these countries. Perhaps when the holy place was consecrated, a number of stones were in the first instance thrown upon it by the assembled multitude ; succeeding visiters and pilgrims may have done the same, till, in the course of centuries, the cairn rose to its present altitude.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 62

34. Cork County Jail: Debtors, Criminals, and Prison Reform

    Cork · city · Cork

    The author visited the county jail of Cork, a large handsome building housing both debtors and criminals, where a naval captain serving as governor had introduced reforms including hammocks instead of bedsteads and dining tables that folded up into the ceiling to save space.

    Read the passage

    A captain- in the navy, who -was governor hero foit some yeara, hae introduced into this priooB many improvements which might be copied with advantage in other places. Firstly, he has, at least in parts of the prison, substitn. ted haaunocka Ibr bedsteads, a gre^t improvement both as regards cleanliness and the savhig aif.iroom« He has also invented dining- tables without föet, which are let down from the ceiling by a very siu^te mechanism when want ed, and drawn np a^in when done with, so as to leave the floor fr^. H(»unä blocks of wood, neatly ont, and prettily varnished, serve as seatSv and besides lookifng very well, last long-; er' than any other kind of benches or stools, and can be stowed away in a comer, one upon an-, oti^r, when not wanted, so a9 to take up very little room.

    The whole prtsoa is hoilt of stone and iron, and since Paddy*» own cabin is generally of nrad or clay, it may be said, without exaggeration, that a crime transports the poor Irish peasant from a den into a palace. His diet also is far better in prison than oat of it. It would, indeed, puzzle a government to make poor Paddy worse off in prison than he is at home. Yet so precious is freedom, even to the hungry and naked, that in general there is no fear that, even to the poorest, the physical comforts of a prison life will piovc an incentive to crime. There is,

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog

    As the companion tells it

    As you pass through Cork, you are near the county jail, a large and handsome building of stone and iron that housed both debtors and criminals. A captain in the navy served as governor here for some years and introduced many improvements that might be copied with advantage elsewhere. He substituted hammocks for bedsteads in parts of the prison, a great improvement both for cleanliness and for saving room. He also invented dining tables without feet, let down from the ceiling by a simple mechanism when wanted and drawn up again when done with, so as to leave the floor free. Round blocks of wood, neatly cut and prettily varnished, served as seats, lasting longer than any other benches or stools and stowed away in a corner when not needed. The author observed that since the poor Irish peasant's own cabin was generally of mud or clay, crime transports him, without exaggeration, from a den into a palace. His diet also was far better in prison than out of it. Yet so precious is freedom, even to the hungry and naked, that the physical comforts of prison life did not prove an incentive to crime.

35. Custom of breaking up the hearse after burial near Drogheda

    Drogheda · town · Louth

    On returning to Drogheda the author witnessed a funeral with a crudely made hearse, and learned it was customary in the north of Ireland to break up the hearse immediately after burial and throw the pieces into the grave, rather than reuse it.

    Read the passage

    At every turp, however, in Ireland, you mesi with things of which the like is nowhere to be found in any other part of Europe. On our retm'n to Drogheda« we met a funeral, and I observed that the hearse was very rude^ maäß. Upon my inquiring the reason of this, I was .told that very little trouble was wasted here upsn the hearse, because it was the custom never to use it again, but immediately after the burial to break it up and throw the pieces into the grave. I aflerwards found that this custom was smeral all over the north of Ireland.

    I had scarcely rsrentered Drogheda by ^m» gate, before I drove out of it by aaoU)er,.ii^, pursuance of the resolution taken by some xeslous antiquarians, with wboip I had the good fortune to become acquainted at Drogheda, and vho refused to let me continue my journey, until I bad enjoyed with them an exf^n^Dfttion af the farfam^ '* Mana^Urhfiiety

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 63

    As the companion tells it

    As you come through Drogheda, there is an old funeral custom worth hearing about. The author here was returning to the town and met a funeral on the road. The hearse struck him as very roughly made. When he asked the reason, he was told that little trouble was spent on the hearse because it was never used again. The custom was to break it up immediately after the burial and throw the pieces into the grave. He later found this practice general all over the north of Ireland. He had scarcely entered Drogheda by one gate before he drove out by another, in pursuance of a resolution taken by some zealous antiquarians with whom he had the good fortune to become acquainted at Drogheda. They refused to let him continue his journey until he had enjoyed with them an examination of the far-famed Monasterboice.

36. Decline of Dublin's Jewish Community

    Dublin · city · Dublin · 1746–1844

    The author notes the near-total absence of Jews in Ireland, remarking that Dublin once had forty Jewish families with a synagogue and cemetery after Cromwell's time, but this had dwindled to nine individuals by his visit.

    Read the passage

    While I was in the vicinity of Edgeworthtown, a little fair was held there, and afforded m«^ an opportunity of observing the manners of the Irish matket-peuple in the disposal of theiz wares. Some of them — those who deal in fruit, and various kinds of eatables— did as they would have done in most countries, that is to say, they sat by the;$ide of their wares, and waited till customers presented themselves ,• but tboee who dealt in knives, scissors, and an endless variety of small articles, were more noisy and numnteiankisk than I had ever before seen them out of Great Britain. Some of them had arranged their goods on a moveable booth that went upon wheels. One side of this iravellfng repository formed a kind of stage on which the merchant made his appearance, and presented various article^to the public, tu whom, in the style of an Italian vendor of medicines, ne recommended his goods with surprising volubility, accompanied by jokes that were not always without wit. He would name the price of an article. The spectators laughed, and offered hita. perhaps a few pence. Others offered perhaps a trifle more, and so went on, till the merchant was satisfied, or till, despairing of an acceptable offer, be put the article by and produced another. SKnilar scenes are ccmstandy seen at the English fiurs likewise, and even ia London there are shops in which perpetual auctions are going on, a crowd of spectators being kept all day long around the place, which maybe considered half in the light of a shop, and half In that of a, playhouse. 1 saw no gipsies at the fair, and was assured there were none in Ireland. In all the books on Ireland that have come into my hands, I have in vain sought a confirmation of this assertion, vet books ought to tell us what we must not look for in a country as well as what we may expect to see there. It would he strange if the gipsy race, which has found its way into every country of Europe, had avoided Ireland, and ^et several Irishmen have assured me the fact is so; and as Ireland boasts of so many peculiarities, has neither toads nor snakes, nor many other animals that are niet with everywhere else, one is disposed d priori to believe the assertion. It may be that parties of gipsies crossed over to Ireland at times, bnx finding there a race almost as barbarous and wretched as themselves, they returned and did not multiply in the land. The Romans also never went over into Ireland, even when they held possession of almost eveiT other country in the known world. Another fact almost equally remarkable, is the total absence of Jews from Ireland. At least, there does not now exist a Jewish synagogue ia the whole island; not ^even in Dublin, a city of 270,000 inhabitants. Some Jews, it is true, came over- with Cromwell, and in 1746 there were forty families of that nation in Dublin, where

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 9

    As the companion tells it

    Dublin is the city the road passes through, and it holds a story about a community that almost vanished. The author calls attention to what he describes as the total absence of Jews from Ireland. There does not now exist a Jewish synagogue in the whole island, not even in Dublin, a city of 270,000 inhabitants. Some Jews came over with Cromwell, and by 1746 there were forty families of that nation in Dublin, where they had a synagogue and a cemetery. But by the time of the author's visit, that number had fallen to nine individuals. He arrives at this observation through another. While near Edgeworthstown he attended a fair and saw no gypsies. He was assured there were none in Ireland. He notes that in all the books on Ireland that came into his hands he sought in vain for a confirmation of this, yet several Irishmen assured him it was so. The gypsy race found its way into every country of Europe, he says, and it would be strange if it had avoided Ireland. Ireland boasts many peculiarities, having neither toads nor snakes nor many other animals met with everywhere else, so one is disposed to believe the claim. He adds that the Romans also never went over into Ireland, even when they held possession of almost every other country in the known world. The Jewish absence, he says, is another fact almost equally remarkable.

37. Decline of the Irish language near Edgeworthtown

    Edgeworthstown · town · Longford · 1790–1843

    Kohl records meeting an old woman near Edgeworthtown who recalled that fifty years earlier most people in the district spoke Irish, but the language had since been largely forgotten and children were taught only English. She also gave him the old Irish name for Edgeworthtown, which he later forgot.

    Read the passage

    In my excursions to the farmers of Suima, t . met with an old woman who spoke Mah apid very little Englfsh. In her youth, s$e said, meaning fiAy ^ears a«p, few people here^.in the^ centre of Ireland,. «poke or understood. anything'^ but Irish ; but.mnAy of them had since forcotteo it, and to the children notiung but English was ta nght. There are few, she added, that cai^ evea bless themselves in Uish.noiv I 3he told ooe tJ^ auciem Irish name for Edgeworthtown, but I have forgotten it.

    It is strange that throughout Ireland, ev^ ii^ those parts that have longest been Anglicized or Saxonized, the original names have been retained for the. pdliticai divisions of ^^e country. Thn» in the vicinity of ^^wprthtoiifn f met with, the townships, of Camliskbey, Ag^donäg]^, BaUinloughtagh,. names thtat mfi^ have hä4 ^ odd sound to ^Lon ears. ,$te vera) pf th^s^ towivfihip are sometimes united tq form 4 papsk^ and by a union of several parishes a barony lis constituted. jSome of these baronies nfive Eiiglish names, bqt in ,tbe west.tl^ey are Iri^ vi^ithout an exception. Six or eiight baroniea. niälce a conmy. .Of the counües many b^ve;£i|gli^s)i names, as Waterford, Longford, Down, '^t^ee^'a County and King's Coonty ; others ag^ip Jiave retained genuiiie Irish denominations^ as Mpnajghaii, Fermandgh, X)0negal,dcc, Seyeri^l ^p^- tite together form a province, of Which there are four. ,

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 6

    As the companion tells it

    As you pass through Edgeworthstown, you are in a place where the Irish language faded within living memory. Kohl met an old woman here who spoke very little English. She told him that fifty years before, few people in this part of central Ireland spoke or understood anything but Irish. Since then many had forgotten it, and the children were taught nothing but English. She said there were few who could even bless themselves in Irish now. She gave him the ancient Irish name for Edgeworthstown, but he later wrote that he had forgotten it. He noted that even in parts of Ireland long Anglicized, the original Irish names were kept for the political divisions of the country. Near Edgeworthstown itself he came across the townships of Camliskbey, Agdonag, and Ballinloughtagh, names that would have had an odd sound to English ears. Townships formed a parish, parishes formed a barony, and baronies formed a county. In the west the baronies were Irish without exception.

38. Father Mathew's reception at Galway

    Galway · city · Galway

    At his first appearance in Galway, two hundred thousand people gathered to see and hear Father Mathew, most enrolling in the temperance pledge, illustrating the extraordinary scale of the movement.

    Read the passage

    Advantages were indeed neld out to those who would associate themselves to the cause, but the advantages were of so unearthly a nature, as, under ordinary circumstances, would have had but few charms in the eyes of sinful men. Or- ^er, industry. Virtue, domestic hapmness, and the cessation of broils— these, said tae apostles of temperance, were the fruits to be gathered |h>m sobriety and abstinence. The landlords were promised that sober tenants would be more y^gular in the payment of their rents, and the govemffleitt was told that general habits of temperance would make the population more orderly and loyal. These were all remote and/contingent advantages — ^at the outset, all were called ' on to submit to sacrifices; Nevertheless, the people poured in by thousands and hundreds of thousands, and readily made the sacrifices required of them. From four to eight thousand persons oAen toS6k the pledge on the same day, and on one day the number amounted even to thirteen thousand. Never did the cause of any apostle triumph so gloriously in so short a time. At his first appearance in Galway, two hundred thousand persons collected together to see him, 10 hear him, and most of them to be enrolled in the list of ieetotalism. As the Irish temperance association has existed only five years, and has during that time (according to Father Mathew's ^wn account) been joined by five millions of members, three thousand new temperance men must, on an average, have been enrolled every day.

    These are circumstances well calculated to awaken our wonder; and, I repeat it, we shall scarcely find in history any parallel to them. The thing seetns to me tobe niore honourable to the Irish nation than all'that has hitherto been told of them:' At the same-time, it trrastnot be supposed that the great reform is effected wholly by spiritual appeals to public virtue, or that all ^who hare associated themselves to the eauae «f I

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 17

    As the companion tells it

    As you pass through Galway, you are travelling where Father Mathew made his first appearance in the city, and 200,000 people collected together to see him, to hear him, and most of them to be enrolled in the list of teetotalism. The temperance association had existed only five years, yet by Father Mathew's own account some 5 million members had already joined. Three thousand new temperance men were enrolled on average every day. Often 4,000 to 8,000 persons took the pledge on the same day, and on one day the number reached 13,000. The apostles of temperance promised that the fruits of sobriety were order, industry, virtue, domestic happiness, and the cessation of broils. Landlords were told that sober tenants would pay their rents more regularly. The government was told that general habits of temperance would make the population more orderly and loyal. These were remote and contingent advantages, and at the outset all were called on to submit to sacrifices. Nevertheless the people poured in by thousands and hundreds of thousands, and readily made the sacrifices required. The writer says we shall scarcely find in history any parallel to these circumstances, and calls the thing more honourable to the Irish nation than all that had hitherto been told of them.

39. Father Mathew's Temperance Meeting at Kilrush

    Kilrush · town · Clare · 1843

    Father Mathew, the famed apostle of temperance, addressed a large gathering at Kilrush, administering the pledge and speaking of the movement's rapid growth. The author describes the enthusiastic crowd, temperance band, and speeches at this meeting.

    Read the passage

    ' 1b the first place the thainoali addressed a apeeisäi 10 the meeting. He congratulated ail preaent, and the whole town of Kilra»b, on the Tiait which the great apostle of teinperande had 'c<Hideseended to pay them. As often as Father Mathew was mentioned, ihe orator bowed respeetlally to him, and spoke of him only as the *• great apoaile of temperance," the "great man gifted by Grod," or made uae of expressions e^ialfy strong. It struck me (bat FaUier Mathew Msoght not to allow these exaggerated flatteries to be addressed to him, and that it would be more becoming in him to discourage Ihem, in 'She sanse way that he repudiates the miraculous flowers attributed to him by the people ; but the Irish seem to delight in a pomp or words, and exaggerations of the kind alluded to may be necessary to the maintenance of his influence.

    I forgot to say that when he entered the room the band struck up the £nglish hymn of triumph, *^ See the conquering hero comes T' How is, it (possible for any men to be guilty of so absurd and misplaced a compliment!

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 17

    As the companion tells it

    Up ahead is Kilrush, a town in Clare. In 1843, Father Mathew, the apostle of temperance, came here and addressed a large gathering. A speaker at the meeting congratulated all present, and the whole town of Kilrush, on the visit Father Mathew had paid them. Whenever Father Mathew was mentioned, the orator bowed respectfully and spoke of him only as the "great apostle of temperance" or the "great man gifted by God," using expressions only too strong. The author of the account thought Father Mathew ought not to allow such exaggerated flatteries, and that it would be more becoming to discourage them, in the same way he repudiates the miraculous powers attributed to him by the people. But the Irish, the author noted, seem to delight in a pomp of words, and such exaggerations may be necessary to the maintenance of his influence. When Father Mathew entered the room, the band struck up the English hymn of triumph, "See the conquering hero comes." The author found this an absurd and misplaced compliment.

40. Genealogy of the O'Neills of Lough Neagh traced to Adam

    near Lough Neagh · lake or lakes · Antrim

    The O'Neill family, still residing near Lough Neagh as great earls and lords of the soil, possess manuscript genealogies tracing their line back through legendary Irish and biblical kings all the way to Adam, with reign lengths given in minute detail.

    Read the passage

    These old Irish families sometimes carry their claims to antiquity v«ry far. Thus at the bead of the genealogical tree of the O'Neills, stands Adam; a very igiioble progenitor one would think, seeing tnat all the base as well as noble Wood in the world dates from him. The O'Neills are, however, more modest than some Scotch and Irish families, who proiess to trace their ancestojns even beyond Adam. Heremon, tbe first king of Erin, was also one of tbe ancestors of tbe O'Neills, nor is Adam's the only biblical mame that occurs in their genealogical tree. A fterward come Feninsa, Kmgof Scytbia, founder of tbe universal schools of the Plain Magh Sea- 'nair, and Heber Gierosiony, Lord of Oothia. Then follow some unimportant names, which bring us down to Dea, 1400 years before the Christian era, who carried a colony of Scythians into Gnlicia in Spain.. Dea is iTollowed by a long list of Spanish kings, till we arrive at Heremon, the first monarch of Erin, who, in his turn, is succeeded by other Irish kings down to Feidtroth, in the third year of whose reign the Saviour was born ; for the period of the reign of each king is stated with great minuteness. At length we come to the O'Neills thems#»lves, who, if not as kings, yet as great earls and lords of the soil, still reside in the neighbourhood of Lonerh Neah in the north of Ireland. Tbe genealo^, like most of those I had seen, was in manuscript, and many copies of it were in the hands (^ those who claimed kindred with tbe chief of the family. These things arc scarcely ever printed, for if they were, the imaginations of their compilers could hardly be allowed so bold a range concerning the early historv erf Ireland. Even the regular Irish historians, however, find it difficult to give up these family manuscripts as mere fables, and such as have never ventured into the broad daylight of the press, would stake their existence on the veracity of these stories.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 78

41. Giant's Well, Organ, and Honeycomb named formations

    near Giant's Causeway · population centre · Antrim

    Various rock formations near the Causeway are fancifully named after the giant, including the Giant's Well (a spring on the western side), the Giant's Organ (tall pillars resembling harp strings that ring metallically when struck), and the Giant's Honeycomb (a cluster of pillars).

    Read the passage

    The people have not been content with as^ eribing these wonderfol flyrmations generafly totheir favourite hero. Besides the Caoseway,. and Fingal> Cave in the island of Statfh, tb^ have discovered aH kinds of Amcied resemblances ; and weiiave, besides the Qmnt'aGatewiiy and the Oiwit^ Chair, the Giant's Loom», the 6iam*a Theatre, the 6iant^a Organ, tli& €ltant*8 Honeycomb, dte. These whiaks have» at all events, the eonvenienee of distingoishing^ varioos points with a partieuhir name. The Giant*s Well is a little spring gualifng out between the crevices fvf some {nllars on the western side of the Causeway, and ronning dowi» into the sea. Of the rest of the giants oteaaüa^ the most remartcahle ^ the Honeycomb and the Organ. The latter makes no part of the Causeway, bat is placed apart in the mountain» and consists of a nomberof large pHlars declining on either side t6 shorter and shorter ones, like the strings of a harp ; and one might really Imagine a grant organist sitting jMayfng at it, especially as the basaltic pillars, when struck, giva fiirtb a metallic ring. The Honeycomb is a duster of pHlars projecting from the middle of the colonnade. The great caoaeway tons oot seven hundred feet mto ^» sea befbr^ it is covered by the waves, except in stormy weather. As the water was very rough when I visited it» I eoitld not disttngoisb the entire length of Che dike, except at momentary intervals.

    In addition to the many existing memorials of the giant's housekeeping, his present successor, Tiord Antrim, the giant of the present day» who is the oMmer of more of these gigantic marvels than «ne coold well ooont, has had a sort of saloon arranged, which the people call <* My Lord*s Parlour," and where benches have heen constructed by breaking away rows of^soimmis, and leaving their stumps «tending. At buntings, and on other occasions. Lord Antrim has given entertainments there ; but tlie gmnd festival, whi(^ is repeated every year, and which brings together a great eoncoorae of people, and occasions much merriment, is a fair h^ld here on the 13th of August. The hooihs stretch the whole way fnmi the inn I liave mentioned, to the coast, and even, in calm weather, out over

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 86

42. Illicit whiskey stills hidden in the rocky clefts

    near Gap of Dunloe · pass · Kerry

    Turf stacks in the rocky clefts near the Gap of Dunloe often conceal illicit stills producing whiskey known as 'mountain dew', for which Kerry was renowned throughout Ireland.

    Read the passage

    In Tßany of the rocky clefts we noticed heaps of turf made up ready for the winter, and they ^ are often repositories lor the illicit stills used for making the whiskey, known by the name of "mountain dew," for which Kerry is renowned throughout Ireland. The name would have been better suited to the fine rich goats* milk that we sot in a little hut in the neighbourhood of the fiikes, at the foot of the rocky ridge that crosses «the middle of the pass. The snow lies on these mountains^ till the end of April, and sometimes even as late as the middle of May, but neither the great lakes of Killamey, nor the spnall lakes ip the Gap of Dunloe, ever freeze.

    Prom the rocky ridfife above mentioned we looked into another valley, still more romantic, wild, and desolate, than the one we had passed. It also contained lakes of black water, and far and wide nothing was to be seen bui huge craggy * rocks and bogs. Here and there lay lonely little huts distinguishable by the blue smoke rising from them ; but, alas, no fields, trees, or gardens lay round them. In all these wild glens the people speak only the Irish or Erse language.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 23

43. Irish Musical Soirée at Drogheda with Portraits of O'Connell and Father Mathew

    Drogheda · town · Louth

    Kohl attends a musical evening hosted by a Catholic priest in Drogheda, whose room displayed portraits of O'Connell in mayoral robes and Father Mathew preaching to a crowd, reflecting the political and temperance devotion of the town.

    Read the passage

    During, my stay at Drogheda J had an opportunity of hearing the far-famed Irish harp, the ancient national instrument of the island. A catholic priest gave us an Irish musical soirist which was so interesting to me, that I consider it as one of the most agreeable soiries at which I ever was present. The room of this catholic priest, like that of most Irish patriots, was decorated with the portraits of O'Connell, Father Mathew, and Thomas Moore. I scarcely knew O'Connell again, for he was* represented in .a stately robe edged with fur, and wore his lord mayor's chain round his neck, which gave him a most royal appearance. Father Mathew was represented standing on a grassy mound in the open air. Behind him, in the dark background, rose the cross, and the clouds being parted just over his head, a stream of light surrounded it like a glory. Around him Iineeled and stood a crowd of persons, to whom he was preaching. This picture was interesting, as significant of the kind of adoration which Father Mathew receives in Ireland.

    Drogheda is the last genuine Irish town. Farther north, every thing becomes more Scotch. than Irish. In Dn)gheda the population is 6til l

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 65

    As the companion tells it

    Coming up now is Drogheda, the last genuine Irish town, as one traveller called it. He said everything farther north becomes more Scotch than Irish. During his stay here he was invited to an Irish musical evening by a Catholic priest, where he heard the far-famed Irish harp, the ancient national instrument of the island, and called it one of the most agreeable evenings he ever attended. The priest's room was decorated with portraits of O'Connell, Father Mathew, and Thomas Moore, as was common in the homes of Irish patriots. O'Connell was painted in a stately robe edged with fur, wearing his lord mayor's chain, which gave him a most royal appearance. Father Mathew stood on a grassy mound in the open air, with the cross rising behind him and the clouds parting over his head so that a stream of light surrounded it like a glory. A crowd knelt and stood around him, listening to him preach. The traveller found the picture interesting, as it showed the kind of adoration Father Mathew receives in Ireland.

44. New Grange chapel carvings and stone basins

    Newgrange · townland · Meath

    The author describes the interior chapels of New Grange, noting water-filled stone basins, spiral and zigzag carvings, star-like radiuses, and an unknown inscription that Irish antiquarians say belongs to neither the Feadha nor Ogham alphabets. He also notes a stone doorpost with mysterious parallel furrows.

    Read the passage

    se-^med tn bave trickled together from the sides of ihe cavern. My guide told me that be had always found water there whenever he visited thn chapel. Excepting these basins, very few traces of human industry are discoverable in the chapels. Here and there rude ornaments are carved on some of the stones. One stone, for instance, is mariced with several zigzag lines, running parallel to each other. On the surface of another are but spiral lines, running round in six or seven diminishing circles, and ending in a point Others are marked with little radiuses, or stars, which may perhaps have been intend«?d, by the star-worshipping Druids, to represert the objects of their adoration. A few of f he stones are marked with' rude drawings, app^iently intended to represent flowers and fruit All these marks are, however, very rudely CJil. The most abundant are the sftjral lines. At the foot of one of the sidestones, in one of ihe chapels, an inscription is also shown, consisting of various characters entirely unknown, which, according to Irish antiquarians, belong neither to the ** Feadha," the common old Irish aiphabet, nor to the *' Ogham,*' the old Irish hieniglyphic or cipher. A stone, which forms the inner doorpost of the chapel, is cut with small parallel furrows from top to bottom, which look as if they had been caused' by the pulling backwards and forwards for some time of a nunrber of ropes. When we consider the «ize of this stone, it can have cost no trifling labour to make these marks, the purpose of irbich it seems quite impossible to discover.

    These nMmuments, whether considered in de- Uiil or as a whole, are among the most interesting I have ever beheld. It is a great pity that they are so concealed from general inspection, and that their inconvenient entrance renders them inaccessible to one half— namely, the feminine half of mankind. As we went out, I observed a numberless host of small gnats clustered together upon one of the stones ofthe inner entrance. These little animals are now the solitary as well as the most ancient inhal>- itants of these colossal chambers. They withdraw here every autumn to spend the winter, and fty out again in spring.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 63

45. Proclamations for murder and mill-burning near Kilrush

    Kilrush · town · Clare

    At a mean inn on the road to Kilrush, the walls were covered with proclamations offering rewards for apprehending those who had murdered a farmer and for information on those who had burned a mill and fatally injured its occupants.

    Read the passage

    At times we stopped at a' mean inn to change * horsey The walls were generally tapestried with proclamations offering rewards for the apprehension of crimifials. Fiily |>ounds were promised for the apprehension of those who'- had murdered Farmer So-and-so; thirty pounds for information that would lead to. the convic* tion of those who had burned a mill, and illtreated the inmates to such a degree, that two of them had since died; and many others of lhe> same kind. I had not time to read ftll theseplacards, instructive as they were reapeeting thecondition of the country.

    In passing one field, I noticed a £gnre that bore a striking resemblance to one of those dressed-up mannikins which in Germany weare accustomed to stick up in a cornfield of a kitcbeo-garden to IMgfaten away the birds. A congregation of rags and tatteis weee flapping in the wind, the remains of a hat bung where the head ought to have been, and two sticks, for legSj projected from his garments. Suddenly this figure, which had deceived me while it stood still, moved up towaids me to ask ihr alms, and I now saw before me the complete picture of a well-known spectral apparition that was shown in England some years agounderthe title of the Living Skeleton. The said Livin^g Skeleton, by-tbe-by, came IWm Ireland« Dee» the habitual famine of so larepe a portion of the population tend to the multipHcatian of sad$, morbid specimens of humanity 1

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 17

    As the companion tells it

    As you pass through Kilrush, the roads around here once had inn walls covered in proclamations offering rewards. Fifty pounds were promised for apprehending those who had murdered a farmer. Thirty pounds were offered for information leading to the conviction of those who had burned a mill and ill-treated the inmates so badly that two of them had since died. There were many others of the same kind. The traveller who recorded this did not have time to read all the placards, instructive as they were, he wrote, respecting the condition of the country. Nearby in one field, he noticed a figure like a scarecrow, a congregation of rags and tatters flapping in the wind, the remains of a hat hung where the head ought to have been, two sticks for legs projecting from the garments. Suddenly this figure moved towards him to ask for alms, and he saw before him what resembled the Living Skeleton, a spectral apparition shown in England some years before, which had come from Ireland.

46. Richard I builds Dublin Castle, seat of English rule

    Dublin · city · Dublin · 1204

    Richard I built a castle in Dublin in 1204, making it the seat of the principal courts of law and the residence of the English viceroy. From this point Dublin became the centre of English administration and influence over Ireland.

    Read the passage

    The ancient capiul of Ireland, if such an ezuression will here apply, was Tara. Dublin is (be capital of English making. Richard I. built aoastle here in 1204, and made it the seat of the ^incipal courts of law, and the residence of his vice-gi»veroor. Since then» marks of favour, and titles of magistracy, and charters, and corporations, and public buildings, and Wellington IQonuments, have been poured forth upon the eity, till it has grown to be great and mpre beauful than even London and Edinbuiigh; ^nd on the other hand, the loyal citizens of Dublin under their provosts and lord mayors, atid the English armies under their lords deputies and their lords lieutenant, and episcopal excommunications, apd royal letters of menace, have since then kept pouring forth from the city upon the rest of the country, which, through the agency ji' Dublin, has continued to become more and inore dependent and more and more English.»

    Th« hituaj of ihe •nbjeciiun, colooization, and org».

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog

    As the companion tells it

    As the road takes you through Dublin, you are passing through what the old book calls the capital of English making. The ancient seat of Ireland was Tara. Dublin was something else. Richard I built a castle here in 1204, and made it the seat of the principal courts of law, and the residence of his viceroy. Since then, marks of favour, titles of magistracy, charters, corporations, public buildings, and Wellington monuments have been poured forth upon the city, till it grew great and more beautiful than even London and Edinburgh. But from the city, the loyal citizens under their provosts and lord mayors, the English armies under their lords deputies and lords lieutenant, episcopal excommunications, and royal letters of menace have kept pouring forth upon the rest of the country. Through the agency of Dublin, that country continued to become more and more dependent, and more and more English.

47. The Bishop of Cork's Vast Private Library

    Cork · city · Cork

    The Bishop of Cork turned his entire house into a library, filling sitting-rooms, dining-rooms, bedrooms, staircases and corridors with books, even the servants' quarters. It was said to be the largest private book collection in Ireland.

    Read the passage

    ed hia whole höasd into a Übraiy. Not only hiJB sitting-rooms and dining-rooms aretook-rooms, bat even in his bedrooms eyery spafe place is filled with boqks. His attendants, and even his xnatdoservants, sleep in little libraries. The walls of his stsircases and the corridors of his rooms, are filled with books, np to the very garrets. His house contains the largest private coUectitm of books in Ireland, and is rich in costly and interesting works. I nliention this, because I believe' it is not generally known, that among the catholic clergy of Ireland there are still men to be found so devoted to learned pursuits. There was a time, indeed, when 'Ireland was looked upon by all Europe as the seat of learning and the isle of saints. While Germany yet lay buried in the night of heathen ism, the clear light of the gospel shone bright over Erin . Foreigners flooked from far änd near to study at her seminaries of learning, and she sent forth continually new and zealous missionaries of Christianity, to publish the glad tidings of revelation to the heathen. St. Columb, and his disciple St. Galius, whose name is still borne by one of the Swiss cantons, St. Livin the Belgian nkissionary, St. Kilian the apostle of the Franks, St. Wiro the confessor of Pepin, and innumerable other saints of note, were born Irishmen, and played a most important part in the history of Christianity. ** Gaude, felix Hibernia, de qua proles alma progreditor !'' (Rejoice, happy Ireland, from whom such sons proceed !) were the words inscril^ on the tombstone of the famous Irishman, Caialdus, who died at Tarentum in Italy.

    The times have changed since then for Ireland. '' FeHx Hibernia !" has become a phrase too inappropriate even for the poet's pen. All Irish poems have something melancholy in them, and Haydn, on hearing a national Irish melody for the first time, without knowing whence it came, exclaimed that such music could, only bekuig to an oppressed and unfortunataraoe.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 35

    As the companion tells it

    As you pass through Cork, there is something here worth knowing about. The Bishop of Cork turned his entire house into a library. Not only his sitting-rooms and dining-rooms became book-rooms, but every bedroom had books in every spare place. Even the servants slept in little libraries. The walls of his staircases and corridors were filled with books, right up to the very garrets. His house contained the largest private collection of books in Ireland, rich in costly and interesting works. The writer noted this because he believed it was not generally known that among the Catholic clergy of Ireland there are still men devoted to learned pursuits. There was a time when Ireland was looked upon by all Europe as the seat of learning and the isle of saints. While Germany lay buried in the night of heathenism, the light of the gospel shone bright over Erin. Foreigners flocked from far and near to study at her seminaries, and she sent forth zealous missionaries to publish the glad tidings of revelation to the heathen. St. Columb and his disciple St. Galius, whose name is still borne by a Swiss canton, St. Livin the Belgian missionary, St. Kilian the apostle of the Franks, St. Wiro the confessor of Pepin, and innumerable other saints were born Irishmen and played an important part in the history of Christianity. The words inscribed on the tombstone of the famous Irishman Cataldus, who died at Tarentum in Italy, were, "Rejoice, happy Ireland, from whom such sons proceed." The times have changed since then for Ireland. All Irish poems have something melancholy in them, and Haydn, on hearing a national Irish melody for the first time without knowing whence it came, said such music could only belong to an oppressed and unfortunate nation.

48. The North Dublin Union Workhouse (House of Industry)

    Dublin · city · Dublin · 1840–1843

    The House of Industry in Dublin, the only state-maintained charity in the city, was converted into the workhouse for the North Union and housed as many as 2000 paupers, beggars, cripples, orphans, and lunatics. The author visited this institution and described its diet, discipline, and clothing systems in detail.

    Read the passage

    It bad long been the wish of the British government to introduce the English system of poor-laws Into Ireland, and a few years ago this design was really carried into execotion. A poor-rate has been imposed upon all Ireland, and with the proceeds of this rate, and of some large parliamentary grants, workhouses have been . erected all over Ireland. The number to be erected is 150. Of these, 100 had been finished in the autumn of last year. When the remaining 50 are finished, and put into activity, it is in contemplation to pass a vagrancy act for the prevention of mendicancy. Hitherto it has been impossible to do this in Ireland, because there did not exist a suflScient number of charitable institutions supported by the state. I was even told that there existed till lately only six such institutions in all Ireland. There are, indeed, innumerable institutions of the kind supported by voluntary gifts, and in Dublin alone, including asylums, hospitals, charity-schools. 6lc., there are 50 such. Of all these establishments, in Dublin, only one, the House of Industry, was maintained by the state. It was the largest of all, for it afforded lodging and fof)d to no less than 2000 paupers, beggars, cripples, orphans, lunatics, &c. This was the only house of charity that I was aWe to visit during my stay in Dublin. « Since the adoption of the English poor-laws, ^ Iceland, like England, has been divided into a certain number of districts, called unions.

    J^very house in such a district is estimated at ». certain annual value, and the poor-rate imposed' upon each householder is a certain per centage on the supposed value. The tax thus raised is then applied to the maintenance of the work*- house. Dublin and its environs are divided inta two unions—the North Union and the South Union. The houses in the former are estimate^" at £394,000 a year, and in thq latter at £561,000. The poor-rate collected in the North Union somewhat exceeds £8000, and in the South» Union is somewhat 1ps$ than £12,000.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 53

    As the companion tells it

    As you pass through Dublin, the road comes near the old House of Industry, the only charitable institution in the city maintained by the state. Before the English poor-laws were extended to Ireland, there were said to be just six such state-supported institutions in the entire country. Dublin alone had some 50 charities, asylums, hospitals, and charity-schools, but all of them relied on voluntary gifts. The House of Industry stood apart. It was the largest of them all, lodging and feeding no fewer than 2000 paupers, beggars, cripples, orphans, and lunatics. The author of the source visited it during a stay in Dublin, and it was the only house of charity he was able to see. Once the English system took hold, Ireland was divided into unions, each rated to fund a workhouse. A total of 150 workhouses were planned, and 100 had been finished by the autumn of the previous year. Dublin and its environs were split into two unions, North and South. The House of Industry became the workhouse for the North Union. Houses in the North Union were valued at 394,000 pounds a year, and the poor-rate collected there exceeded 8000 pounds. The South Union, valued higher at 561,000 pounds, raised nearly 12,000. When the remaining 50 workhouses were completed, the government contemplated passing a vagrancy act to suppress mendicancy, something that had been impossible before, for lack of state-supported charitable institutions.

49. The stone with the fertility cross at Glendalough

    Glendalough · electoral division · Wicklow

    Among the ancient stones at Glendalough, a stone cross is embraced by women who long for children, alongside another stone with a hole for kneeling where prayers are believed to have special efficacy.

    Read the passage

    Here <also |)opiilar tradition points to certain gravee a» those of ancient Irish king^. The . entrance to the enclosure is throtigh an old half- ^iaous Saxon. gate« now. thickly clothed in ivy. Among the stones that lie scattered about, are. many; of which . extraordinary tales are tbtd. Thus, one haa a hole to kneel, in, and prayers said on this stone are supposed to have a more than ordinary efficacy.. There is also a, stone cross which women eii^brace who long tot the joy^. of maternity. Yet to .sp;eak truth, this cross must be a vwy superfluous pieice of furniture in a country where families seem to be, everywhere blessed, with such an abundance of ' oflTspring.

    Next to the ruins lies the smaller of the two lakes, *' It is also called t!he ta^ of Serpents, ybif r honour, or Lough Kapeas^a ; for into this lake it wa»,. your honour» that St. Patrick banished all the snffkes of Irblan4* 1*^^ sqakes, naturi^y enough, <were little pleased with such damp lodglp^ and one big,.q,ne» in particular: ^ usedioflen to. put upiit^; head and pray the saint' to grant it a Itttle more liberty,' So'St, Patrick . in b^. 1^ wfitwe^ '^XP'V, ^ circle on tte |;röund^ ari^tol^ the. serpent to cf^ns^der .that as, its own groimd^ Now^ when they" h^h to build the,. Seven.Churche^Uie' serpent was very ahgi^at v^hit: it- consider^ a^ aSf) invasion of its own territory.; anfl ^ night it used tp cjomp out (^/ the waterr epd, defeti-p^ what the; workpeople' had buiii during the daye At last St. Patrick prai^d,toßoii,to diii^eiis^l^m.fröm the promise he had li^e to the. anake^ an^ God: allowed ' the s^V^i to. b^njsh thjB reptUe.into the lake, again, and then the s/i^orkihfen gpt OQ fast ehoöi^ . with thei hi^l^ing^*'

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 48

50. Tipperary's Reputation for Violence and the Shillelagh

    Tipperary · town · Tipperary

    The county of Tipperary was described as notorious for more murders and assaults committed in a year than in the whole kingdom of Saxony in five, with the Tipperary men noted for wielding the heavy club known as the shillelagh.

    Read the passage

    We had now entered the notorious county of Tipperary, in which more murders and assaults are committed in one year than in the whole kingdom of Saxony in five. As the Italians have their stilettoes, so the Irish, and particularly the Tipperarymen, have their formidable sluielaghs, a kind of hard, thick, heavy elub.

    b^

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 36

51. Beggar women besiege travellers at dawn outside Waterford

    Waterford · city · Waterford

    At six in the morning, as the diligence cars set out, a group of poor women driven from their beds by hunger surrounded the carriage, pleading for even a sixpence to divide among themselves, and brought forward a blind old woman to move the travellers to pity.

    Read the passage

    At six in the morniAg we mounted our diligence cars. It was still somewhat dark, yet light enough to recognise a group of gloomy ifigures ttiat had gathered round the carriage. They were poor women, whom hunger had driven thus early from their beds. Their plaintive chorus was truly heartrending. They begged us, if we would not each give something, to make up a sixpence between us, and they would divide it among themselves in halfpennies. When they saw that eur hearts continued unmoved, they led forward a blind old woman, and brought her so close to the side of ihe car that we could see the hollow cavities of lier eyes. " There, your honours, there's mis- «ery for you. Give her a trifle, your honours, if it's only a penny, that you may prosper on your jourdey; that God may guard your precious

    /eyesight, and bring you back safe to your

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 39

52. Comparison of Prison Conditions and Paddy's Cabin

    Cork · city · Cork

    The author observed that Cork's jail, built of stone and iron, was materially superior to the poor Irish peasant's mud or clay cabin, noting that imprisonment often meant better diet and shelter than freedom for the impoverished Irish.

    Read the passage

    The whole prtsoa is hoilt of stone and iron, and since Paddy*» own cabin is generally of nrad or clay, it may be said, without exaggeration, that a crime transports the poor Irish peasant from a den into a palace. His diet also is far better in prison than oat of it. It would, indeed, puzzle a government to make poor Paddy worse off in prison than he is at home. Yet so precious is freedom, even to the hungry and naked, that in general there is no fear that, even to the poorest, the physical comforts of a prison life will piovc an incentive to crime. There is,

    hAwever, a certain degraded class of crimin^«^ who, finding themselves better off; in a, physical point of view, in prison than out of it, make a. regular habit of committing some trifling crime^ th.e moment they are set free, in order to get into prison again. There are many of tbi» class in England who spend their livea in. prison, with short occasional in^rvals of freedom^ and crime.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog

    As the companion tells it

    As you travel through Cork, there is a stark comparison one writer drew here between the city's jail and the cabins of the poor. The jail was built of stone and iron, while the Irish peasant's cabin was generally made of mud or clay. The writer said that a crime transports the poor Irish peasant from a den into a palace, and that his diet was far better in prison than out of it. It would puzzle a government, he wrote, to make poor Paddy worse off in prison than at home. Yet freedom was so precious, even to the hungry and naked, that physical comforts of prison life would not generally drive people to crime. There was, however, a degraded class of criminals who found themselves better off physically inside than outside, and made a regular habit of committing some trifling crime the moment they were set free, to get back in again. Many of that class spent their lives in prison, with short intervals of freedom and crime.

53. Modern burials continue among ancient ruins at Scattery

    Scattery Island · townland · Clare

    Despite its ancient character, Scattery's cemetery continues to receive new burials, with bodies rowed over from the mainland by boat and mourners following in other boats. Kohl observed many recent tombstones, including those of ship captains, amid the old ruins.

    Read the passage

    In general, where there are seven churches, in Ireland, some ancient saint is named aS having lived and died there, and as having belonged to the first preachers of Christinnity iii the country. \t Scattery It is Saint Senanus, whose grave is still shown amid one of the rains, and whose fame has been extended far beyond his native isle by one of Moore's melodies. These ancient ruins, however, have many graves of a more modem date ; for bodies are still brought over from the mainland to be interred at Scattery. On the occasion of such a fbneral, one boat serves generally as a hearse, and the mourners follow in other boats. I saw many tombstones onlv a few years old, With new iiiseriptions, from which the d^'^lng had scarcely begun to fade, and «heir eflect upon the solitary and remote island had a pecnliar and by no means unpleasing eflect. Among them were the tombs of several captains of ships, and it would have b«»en diflicuU to snge:est a more ap^ propriate place oi Interment for such men than this little island cemetery at the month of a great river, with the wide ocean rolling in front. Indeed, there is no other country in Europe where there are such interesting cemeteries, or

    IBKIiANDi

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 18

54. O'Connell's Avoidance of Belfast

    near Belfast · city · Antrim

    Despite touring nearly every Irish city and town on his political campaigns, O'Connell notably avoided Belfast, once slipping in quietly at night to see his few supporters and leaving before the opposing faction could learn of his arrival.

    Read the passage

    The Presbyterians of northern Ireland, rose "«llith the Catholics of the south, in the memora> ble Irish rebellion which took place at the end of the last century ; they fought no less zealously against the English troops, and watched with no less triumph the progress of the French revolution. The republican or democratic tendencies of the northern Protestants, are quite as strong as those of the southern Catholics ; yet the two parties are no friends, on the contrary, under particular circumstances, they are the bitr tnrest enemies. 0*Connell and his party are , less popular in Belfast than in any other Irish to«ii; and on all the agitation-tours and triumphal-progresses, which the great man so often makes through the cities, towns, and villages of the Emerald Isle, he takes good care never to eome near Belfast. Once indeed it is said that he gladdened with the light of his countenance the few feeble partisans he possessed at Belfast ; but he slunk in at night in a small unpretending ear, and made haste away again, early the next morning, befbre the opposite faction ccrald hear of his arrival. I heard an amusing anecdote at Belfast, how the great musician, Liszt, when he ▼isited the city, was unluckily mistaken for O'Connell, and was very near suffering in consequence. As Liszfapproached in a large postchaise drawn by four horses, some of the overzealous protestants of Belfast inquired respecting the traveller, and were told that he was some very great man, nobody exactly knew who ; they immediately took it into their heads that he was O'Conneil. A mob collected, stopped the carriage, cut the traces, and pulled out the astonished great man, in order to cool his aupp«isp^ patriotism in true Irish fashion, bv a go<Hl ducking in a neighbouring pond. Luckily? ^^'Ver, they discovered in time that they had

    got bokl of a young foreign artist, instead of tbebulky old agitator they were looking for.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 71

55. Policeman's account of poverty and religion in the Glens near Ballycastle

    near Ballycastle · town · Antrim

    A policeman travelling with Kohl toward Ballycastle remarked that the Glens required more policing than Derry, that people there were poorer and kept in check chiefly by fear of the law, and that Catholics were always poorer than Protestants.

    Read the passage

    Beyond the bridge it was said no one even n^ derstood Irish. For th^ last few miles towards Ballycastle, a polieeman took his seat on the car beside me, and I inquired if he had much to do in the G4ens. " Oh yes," he answered, *^ we have a great deal more to do here than our comrades down in Derrv (LondK^derry), and the people would be much wocse if they wasn't so much in fear of the law. They're poorer too here than in Derry ; but, as you have travelled so much, you must lOK^w (hat Catholics are alway poorer thaa: Protestants." I give the man's own wordsi because there is some truth ia his remark^ though I cannot exactly determine how much.

    A pleasant little inn at Ballycastle opened to us at length its hospitable doors, and in its <^ttiet room« we Ibund a shelter from the raging wio4*

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 79

56. The prophetess Consideen at Edenvale

    Edenvale · townland · Clare

    An old octogenarian woman named Consideen, living in a cabin near Edenvale, was believed by locals to have supernatural powers and claimed to see Death appear before family members died.

    Read the passage

    A.1 Eden vale I heard of another old womaa '.o whom popular belief ascribed supernatural powers. Her name was Consideen, and I met with her in a neighbouring cabin, into which I entered in the course of one of my excursions. Leaning on a stick, the okl octogenarian propheU ess sat by the turf fire of her tiriend. She loM me sh« had often seen Death, leaning on tw* crotches, and standing at the end of the meadow, when any of her family was about to die. Old as she was, she said, she knew she shouk) not die yet awhile, for Death would be isnre to come and give her warning when her time drew near.

    Almost every oki woman among the (risk peasantry has her visions, and believes in them. firmly. "Oh, your honour," said mv compaaion, who had shown me to the hut, <** if you conkl but hear those two old women talk together, vou'd be astonished at the hundreds of beantifai histories they know how to tell. But you'll strange to them, and that makes them backward in their speaking." *

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 17

57. Absentee landlords' silent mansions near Edenvale

    Edenvale · townland · Clare

    Near Edenvale the author visited stately mansions of the host's neighbours, mostly empty because their Protestant owners were absentees spending their Irish revenues in England or on the continent, fearing violence from Catholic tenants.

    Read the passage

    Daring that same walk I visited the stately mansions .of some of my host's neighbours. These houses looked to me mach more suited for spectral risitation than the fairy meadow 1 had ittst leß. Scarcely a soul dwelt m them, and tne rooms were silent like so many graves. The owiiers were absentees, who spent their Irish revenues in Englanu or on the continent« These spectral palacei^ 1 am SQrry tp say, are almost as abunclant iu Ireland, as fairy grounds and ruined castles. The rich Protestant landowners, feel themselves uncomibriable on many accounts among their Catholic tenanjts. The wildness of the country is not easily remedied,., (he barbarism of the people leads tliem often, to muiderous acts of vengeance against their landloids; greater attractions are unquestionably to be foiind in English socie^ ; the peasantry are often divided into hostile »ctions, and perhaps many a Protestant may not b^ insensible to the injustice of which the wealthier class are guilty towards their poorer countrymen. ^All these causes, cbmbini^ to keep, so many wealthy Irish proprietors out of their country, may have given rise to the universally lamented evil ot' absenteeism. There are families, also, that have estates in England as well as in Ireland, and who naturally prefer leskling in the former country. Those glentlemen, however, are all the more deserving of our esteem,, wbo remain at home, wheve it is hardly possible that they ahottld not ia some measure ameliorate the lot of their poor tenants. There are, after all, many 'of these voluntary martyrs, and my .hospitable boat of Edenvalef being one of them, t relumed imm my walk with feelings of increased esteem for him, nor ^as it without some regret that I look leave of bim on the Ibäo wing niormiig.

    KILRÜ9H AND FATHER ifilATHBW.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 17

58. Athlone's Central Position and Military Garrison

    Athlone · town · Westmeath

    Athlone, situated centrally in Ireland, was once considered as a possible seat of government and remained the location of the strongest military force ready to march on any part of the island in case of disturbance.

    Read the passage

    Passing along a number of crossways and byways, I arrived i^ Atblone. AW the principal loWDS of Ireland, all those of first and second rank, lie along the coast, or, at all events, UrUh' ineary reach of the sea; in the inland pans of the island one sees none but towns of inferior importance. One of these is Athlone, which, on account of its central position, appears well situated to be the capital of the country. It is said, indeed, to have once been in contemplation to make it the seat of government ; and it Is even nl>w the spot where the strongest military force is kept, readv to march upon any pert of the island wfiere di-stDrbances may break ont. The

    DnbUfi; for though in some wealthy houses & the seacoast towns, coals are buined, yet the majority of the population everywhere bum nothing but turf, which may be obtained more easily from the siuface of the ground than can the coa» from their deep and laborious piines. When their supply of turf has been exhausted, the Irish wiil pay more attention to their coal-fields, the real extent of which is still unknown to them. Before that time comes some centuries must pass away, but there are parts of Ireland where turf is b^mning to grow scarce. In the north of Germany, wbere we have also many turf bogs, the people provide for the reproduction of the turf. ' They leave square holes, in which the water collects. The marsh-plants accumulate in those reservoirs, and at the end of thirty or forty years turf ma jr again be cut Irom th^ same place, and thus a piece of turf-land is n\ade to afford an inexhaustible supply of fuel to its owners. In Ireland nothing of the kind is thought of. The turf is cut away wherever Nature haadeposited the trea^sore,ana none seems to trouble himself abom the renewal of the supply. I'he oonseouenee is that many villages are mourning over their dwindling stock of turf, and can aK most calculate the day on which they will have consumed their last sod.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 12

    As the companion tells it

    You are coming through Athlone, a town that sits in the middle of Ireland. Most of Ireland's principal towns, those of first and second rank, lie along the coast or within easy reach of the sea. In the inland parts of the island one sees none but towns of lesser importance. Athlone is one of these. Yet on account of its central position, it appears well situated to be the capital of the country. It is said indeed to have once been in contemplation to make it the seat of government. It is even now the spot where the strongest military force is kept, ready to march upon any part of the island where disturbances may break out. The passage also speaks of fuel. Though in some wealthy houses in the seacoast towns coals are burned, the majority of the population everywhere burn nothing but turf, which may be obtained more easily from the surface of the ground than coal from deep and laborious mines. When their supply of turf has been exhausted, the Irish will pay more attention to their coal-fields, the real extent of which is still unknown to them. Before that time comes, some centuries must pass away. There are parts of Ireland where turf is beginning to grow scarce. In the north of Germany, where there are also many turf bogs, the people provide for the reproduction of the turf. They leave square holes in which the water collects. Marsh-plants accumulate in those reservoirs, and at the end of thirty or forty years turf may again be cut from the same place. In Ireland nothing of the kind is thought of. The consequence is that many villages are mourning over their dwindling stock of turf, and can almost calculate the day on which they will have consumed their last sod.

59. Beggars and a running courier near Tarbert

    Tarbert · town · Kerry

    As Kohl's car left Tarbert, a crowd of beggars surrounded the vehicle and some ran alongside for a distance; one man ran ahead of the car for nearly two miles like a courier before receiving a few pence as reward.

    Read the passage

    When the horses got into motion, the crowd of beggars by whom we had been surrounded divided in front, and those who were niml le of foot ran along by tbe side of us for some dis^ tance. One ran off in front of us like an acani eowrieTf and^continued to do so for nearly two miles. When he saw that all the others had dropped off be came to the side of the car, and received a lew pence as a reward for his perseverance.

    Though our view was confined to one side of the road, I saw enough to amuse and instroet me. In one village we saw the national process of house-building. A house of some length had fallen in, probably without any volcanic ageneyj but simply by the effect of its own weight, and the proprietor was repairing the injury sustained by his mansion ; but being either too poor or too indolent to re-establish the tenement in its former extent, he bad contented himself with cutting away as much of tbe broken wall as was neces* sary to make it smooth, and was running up a new wall at the place where the old one remained. In this way, he was abandoning one half of his old house, and was about to reduce his family, his pigs, his dogs, and his poultry, to one half of their previous accommodation. The manner of building the wall, too, was characteristic. Tbe father broi:^ht the mould to the spot in a wheelbarrow, the eldest son with a shovel fashioned the material into the shape pf a waU, and a younger boy stood upon the top to stamp it into something like consistency. A pair of swallows would have expended niore care and skill upon the construction of their nest.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 19

    As the companion tells it

    Coming through Tarbert in Kerry, there is a story from the road about what happened when a traveller's horses got into motion to leave the town. A crowd of beggars had surrounded the car. As it moved forward, the crowd divided in front, and those who were nimble of foot ran along by the side for some distance. One man ran off in front like a courier and kept it up for nearly two miles. When he saw that all the others had dropped off, he came to the side of the car and received a few pence as a reward for his perseverance. The same traveller's view from the road took in a village where the national process of house-building was under way. A house of some length had fallen in, not by any volcanic agency but simply by the effect of its own weight. The proprietor was repairing the damage, but being too poor or too indolent to rebuild the whole place, he cut away the broken wall to make it smooth and ran up a new wall where the old one still stood. He was abandoning half his old house and reducing his family, his pigs, his dogs, and his poultry to half their previous accommodation. The manner of building was characteristic. The father brought the mould in a wheelbarrow, the eldest son with a shovel fashioned the material into the shape of a wall, and a younger boy stood on top to stamp it into something like consistency. The traveller wrote that a pair of swallows would have expended more care and skill upon the construction of their nest.

60. Beggars swarm the coach stop at Balbriggan

    Balbriggan · town · Dublin

    At a horse-changing stop in Balbriggan, the travellers were surrounded by a crowd of destitute people pleading for halfpennies for their starving children as the coach prepared to leave.

    Read the passage

    We held a short siesta at Balbriggan, where we changed horses, and on reascending our car, "were immediately surrounded by the customary «warm of wretched- looking creatures, praying us, for Heaven's sake, to give them a halfpenny. ** There's still time, good gentlemen ! the car % be off directly," they exclaimed in chorus, as the driver raised his whip. ** There's still time, your honours ! Oh, sure, your honours won't drive away without leaving a trifle for us and ^Nir poor families! I don't beg for my own sake, but for my poor dying children ! Oh ! Oh ! there the car goes, and not a halfpenny your honours leave for us !"

    Night had, meanwhile, come on. This is anything but agreeable on an Irish car, if the night, as was now the case, come on unaocom« panied by moon or stars. To sleep is scarcely possible without exposing oneself to the almost «ertain contingency of being pitched off. A portly dame, who sat on the other side of me, began to sing, and told me she did so to keep herself awake. Her song and our silence cx>ntinned nearly all the way to Orogheda,, and so did the downfal of the meteorological compound, ■already described under the name of sleet, and, thus accompanied, we made our entry into the •ancient town watered by the Boyne.

    Internet Archive irelanddublinsh00kohlgoog, Chapter 60