* > "
 
 IRELAND 
 
 ITS SCENERY, CHARACTER 
 AND HISTORY 
 
 VOLUME OKE
 
 IRGLHRD 
 
 >o ^si/o vJso o
 
 CELTIC 
 
 which one thousand numbered 
 and registered copies have been 
 
 printed 
 
 'Printed ly 
 
 <EHE COLONIAL 'PRESS 
 C. H. Simon di & Co., Boston, U. S.A.
 
 TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS 
 
 THE PEINCE ALBEET 
 TEbfs 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE OF A COUNTRY WITH WHICH HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS IS SO CLOSELY 
 AND SO AUSPICIOUSLY CONNECTED, 
 
 IS. 
 BY GRACIOUS PERMISSION OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, 
 
 MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 BY HIS FAITHFUL AND DEVOTED SERVANTS. 
 
 THE AUTHORS 
 
 2066263
 
 PREFACE 
 
 IT is necessary to preface, briefly, the First 
 Volume of our Work on " Ireland; " chiefly, in 
 order to express our grateful sense of the patron- 
 age it has received. 
 
 We are justified in assuming that it has not 
 disappointed public expectation: for its sale has 
 far exceeded our most sanguine hopes, having 
 more than doubled the calculation of the Publish- 
 ers. By the Press of England and Scotland 
 we believe universally we have been greatly en- 
 couraged ; and also by that of Ireland, with very 
 few exceptions. 
 
 We have, therefore we hope and think in- 
 duced that confidence in our honesty of intention, 
 without which labour such as ours must be com- 
 paratively vain. 
 
 To have satisfied all parties, in Ireland, would 
 have been a triumph we did not, for a moment, 
 calculate on achieving. Although we have 
 studied to avoid topics upon which opinions, in 
 that country, are, unhappily, divided, it was im- 
 possible not to touch upon some of them : the rule 
 we have laid down for our guidance, and to which 
 we shall conscientiously adhere, is TO ENDEAVOUR 
 
 TO CONSIDER EVERY SUBJECT, WITHOUT TAKING 
 INTO ACCOUNT WHETHER IT IS SUPPORTED OR OP- 
 POSED BY A PARTY exercising our judgment only
 
 PREFACE 
 
 with a view to determine whether it is beneficial, 
 or prejudicial, to the United Kingdom. 
 
 Unequivocal proof has been supplied us that 
 we have, at least to some extent, succeeded in the 
 attainment of our leading object to direct pub- 
 lic attention to Ireland, and to induce visitors to 
 examine it for themselves. We repeat, there is 
 no country in the world so safe or so pleasant for 
 strangers; while so abundant is the recompense 
 of enjoyment it can supply, that for every new 
 visitor it receives, it will obtain a new friend. 
 
 We shall continue the Work with the same 
 anxiety to make Ireland more advantageously 
 known to England that the tie which unites 
 them may be more closely knit, and that the peo- 
 ple of both countries may think, feel, and act, as 
 ONE PEOPLE. Under no other circumstances can 
 the prosperity and happiness of either be essen- 
 tially, or extensively, advanced. 
 
 THE ROSEBT, OLD BROMPTON.
 
 EEPRINTED FROM THE AUTHORS PREFACE IN 
 ORIGINAL EDITION 
 
 THIS work is the result of an early acquaint- 
 ance with Ireland and its people ; and of five sev- 
 eral Tours made by the writers, together, subse- 
 quent to the year 1825. They did not, therefore, 
 consider it desirable to pursue any specified route, 
 but aimed, rather, to give their general views of 
 the condition and character of Ireland, as aris- 
 ing out of the various opportunities they had, 
 from time to time, for forming opinions. As 
 some attention to ORDER was, however, indispen- 
 sable, they decided to divide the work into Coun- 
 ties, describing the more peculiar characteristics 
 of each. 
 
 They undertook the task with a full conscious- 
 ness of the difficulties they had to encounter 
 difficulties that could be partially overcome only 
 by a fixed determination in no instance to consult 
 the wishes or intentions of any party ; and a firm 
 adherence to that honesty of purpose which can 
 alone create confidence and produce success. 
 Their great object was to promote the welfare of 
 Ireland but not by a sacrifice of truth; and 
 their earnest hope is, that they may give effect to 
 the care and consideration manifested, of late 
 years, by England towards Ireland, which can- 
 not fail to increase the prosperity and happiness
 
 AUTHORS' PREFACE 
 
 of both countries their interests being mutual 
 and inseparable. 
 
 It cannot be questioned that a decided im- 
 provement has taken place among all classes 
 throughout Ireland referable to causes upon 
 which it will be the authors' duty to comment. 
 Neither can it be doubted, that English capital- 
 ists consider Ireland a vast field in which judi- 
 cious labour may be assured a profitable harvest ; 
 the barriers, which have heretofore obstructed the 
 in-flow of their wealth, are giving way before the 
 advancing spirit of the age ; and it may be safely 
 predicted, that its great natural resources will be, 
 ere long, made more largely available to the com- 
 mercial, the agricultural, and the manufacturing 
 interests of the United Kingdom. 
 
 Many valuable and important works, descrip- 
 tive of Ireland, already exist, but they are, for 
 the most part, local histories, which present so 
 few attractions to the general reader, that they 
 contribute little to increase intimacy between Ire- 
 land and England, or to establish that good 
 understanding so essential to their well-being and 
 well-doing. The proprietors of this publication, 
 therefore, consider there was not only room for 
 it, but that it was required by the public. The 
 authors laboured with zeal and industry to obtain 
 such topographical and statistical information as 
 might be useful to those who visit Ireland, or who 
 desired the means of judging correctly as to its 
 capabilities and condition. But their especial 
 duty was to associate with more important de- 
 tails, such incidents, descriptions, legends, tradi-
 
 AUTHORS' PREFACE 
 
 tions, and personal sketches, as might serve to 
 excite interest in those who are deterred from the 
 perusal of mere facts, if communicated in a less 
 popular form. Independently of their own ac- 
 tual observation and experience, they had the aid 
 of many who have continually employed the pen 
 or pencil or both in collecting and preserving 
 records, that serve to throw light on the state of 
 the country, and the character of its people ; and 
 the co-operation of others who were interested, 
 with them, in making Ireland more advanta- 
 geously known to England, and who had confi- 
 dence in their competency for the due discharge 
 of their important task. 
 
 The Towers, the Castles, and the remains of 
 Monastic Edifices, are described, in the page that 
 relates the more remarkable events in their sev- 
 eral histories, and contrasts their present ruins 
 with their former greatness. The Manners and 
 Customs of the Irish also afforded ample scope 
 from which to draw both entertainment and 
 information; the Baalfire meetings on Mid- 
 summer Eve; the patrons; the courtships; the 
 weddings; the christenings; the wakes; the pil- 
 grimages to holy wells ; the sports on All-Hallow 
 Eve, and the observances on Christmas; the pe- 
 culiar dances and the music of the peasantry ; the 
 musical instruments, ancient and modern; the 
 faction fights (now, happily, but shadows of 
 what they were) ; and many other national points, 
 usages, and ceremonies, supplied material for the 
 pencil of the Artist, as well as the pen of the 
 Writer. The Legends and Traditions of Ire-
 
 AUTHORS' PREFACE 
 
 land are full of interest ; and its superstitions are 
 rich in romance. It is, indeed, rare to pass a 
 single mile, without encountering an object to 
 which some marvellous fiction is attached. 
 Every lake, mountain, ruin of church or castle, 
 rath and boreen, has its legendary tale ; the Fair- 
 ies people every wild spot; the Banshee is the 
 follower of every old family; Phookas and Cluri- 
 caunes are if not to be seen to be heard of in 
 every solitary glen. These stories the Authors 
 collected in their way; and not as gleaners 
 merely; for the harvest, notwithstanding that so 
 many labourers have been in the field, was but 
 partially gathered in. 
 
 THE ROSERY, OLD BHOMPTON.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CORK 1 
 
 CAKLOW , . 238
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 St. Patrick's Bridge (See page 29) . . Frontispiece 
 
 Map of Ireland 1 
 
 Queenstown and Cork Harbour 6 
 
 Cork 6 
 
 Plate Number One 31 
 
 Salmon Fishing, in Ireland 34 
 
 St. Mary's Cathedral, Cork City 44 
 
 Queen's College, Cork 54 
 
 Plate Number Two 67 
 
 Blarney Castle 76 
 
 Blackrock Castle 85 
 
 Wild Rhododendrons 96 
 
 Killery Bay 116 
 
 Plate Number Three 131 
 
 The River Lee 150 
 
 Macroom Castle 167 
 
 Lord Bantry's Lodge, Glengarriff 184 
 
 Plate Number Four 208 
 
 Bantry Bay 234 
 
 Meenaune Cliffs, Achill 260


 
 IRELAND, 
 
 ITS HISTORY, SCENERY 
 AND CHARACTER 
 
 CORK 
 
 A voyage to Ireland is, at present, very 
 different from what it was, within our memory, 
 before the application of steam had made its du- 
 ration a matter of certainty, and enabled the 
 traveller to calculate without reference to wind or 
 tide. " The sailing-packet " was a small trader 
 schooner, or sloop; the cabin, of very limited 
 extent, was lined with " berths; " a curtain por- 
 tioned off those that were appropriated to la- 
 dies. In the centre was a table seldom used, 
 the formality of a dinner being a rare event; 
 each passenger having laid in his own supply of 
 " sea store," to which he resorted when hun- 
 gered or athirst; finding, however, very often, 
 when his appetite returned, that his basket had 
 been impoverished by the visits of unscrupulous 
 voyagers who were proof against sea-sickness. 
 The steward was almost invariably an awkward 
 boy, whose only recommendation was the activ- 
 ity with which he answered the calls of unhappy 
 sufferers; and the voyage across was a kind of 
 purgatory for the time being, to be endured only 
 
 1
 
 2 IRELAND 
 
 in cases of absolute necessity. It was not alone 
 the miserable paucity of accommodation and 
 utter indifference to the comfort of the passen- 
 gers, that made the voyage an intolerable evil. 
 Though it usually occupied but three or four 
 days, frequently as many weeks were expended 
 in making it. It was once our lot to pass a 
 month between the ports of Bristol and Cork; 
 putting back, every now and then, to the 
 wretched village of Plil and not daring to leave 
 it even for an hour, lest the wind should change 
 and the packet weigh anchor. But with us it 
 was " holiday time," and our case was far less 
 dismal than that of an officer to whom we re- 
 cently related it; his two months' leave of ab- 
 sence had expired the very day he reached his 
 Irish home. 
 
 Under such circumstances, it is not surprising 
 that comparatively little intercourse existed be- 
 tween the two countries, or that England and 
 Ireland were almost as much strangers to each 
 other as if the channel that divided them had 
 been actually impassable. 
 
 The introduction of steam has made them, as 
 it were, one island; the voyage now, either from 
 Liverpool to Dublin, or from Bristol to Water- 
 ford or Cork, is far more comfortable and less 
 fatiguing than a journey to York; the natural 
 effect has been, that prejudices and popular er- 
 rors are passing away from both countries, that 
 a more just and rational estimate has been 
 formed by the one of the other, and that a union, 
 based on mutual interests, is rapidly cement-
 
 CORK 3 
 
 ing. The insane attempts to procure " Re- 
 peal " may retard, for a time, a consummation 
 for which every upright British subject must 
 devoutly wish; but a growing intelligence and 
 an increasing intimacy are barriers which the ad- 
 vocates of the measure will vainly endeavour to 
 break down. It is our intention to avoid, as far 
 as possible, all irritating and party topics; but 
 it will be our duty to consider England and Ire- 
 land as one country to draw more closely the 
 ties that unite them, and to condemn, as the most 
 mischievous of all projects, that which either 
 contemplates or leads to separation the inev- 
 itable consequence of a repeal of the Union. 
 Upon this subject, therefore, we may feel bound, 
 hereafter, to submit to our readers the results of 
 our observation and experience. 
 
 The steam-boats that ply between the two 
 countries have, in fact, facilitated intercourse 
 almost as much as a bridge across St. George's 
 Channel would have done. The elegance with 
 which they are fitted up, the moderate fares, and 
 the attention to comfort, in all respects, have 
 made the journey from England to Ireland an 
 excursion of pleasure, instead of a weary, dan- 
 gerous, prolonged, and expensive voyage. But 
 they have produced advantages of far greater 
 import; inasmuch as they have largely contrib- 
 uted to develop and increase the resources of the 
 country, and to improve the moral and social 
 condition of the people. Sixteen years ago, the 
 St. George Steam Company established packets 
 between the port of Cork and the ports of Dub-
 
 4 IRELAND 
 
 lin, Liverpool, and Bristol, and, more recently, 
 of London. The value of the poor man's prop- 
 erty immediately augmented; previously, he was 
 at the mercy of agents who purchased his pro- 
 duce at fairs, compelling him to sell at the prices 
 they dictated, or to return with it, in many in- 
 stances a distance of twenty miles. The old 
 saying that " the pig paid the rent " was literally 
 true; and the fair-day was always the rent-day. 
 Now, he is, himself, very frequently, the export 
 merchant, and accompanies to England his half 
 score of pigs, his crate of fowl, or his hamper of 
 eggs. Hence he obtains a knowledge of men 
 and manners: naturally shrewd and inquisitive, 
 he looks around him as he travels along; his 
 curiosity is excited; he inquires and examines, 
 and takes back with him notions of improvement 
 and of the profit to be derived therefrom, which 
 he not only turns to account, but disseminates 
 among his neighbours. 1 As will therefore be 
 expected, a material change for the better has 
 taken place throughout Ireland perceptible 
 even in the remotest districts, but very apparent 
 in the vicinity of sea-port towns. The peas- 
 antry are better clad than they formerly were, 
 their cottages much more decent, their habits far 
 less uncivilized. The very lowest class, perhaps, 
 has not yet felt the full benefit of this movement, 
 but every grade above that class has essentially 
 advanced; in all respects the people of Ireland 
 are gradually but certainly assimilating with the 
 people of England. 
 
 Undoubtedly this most beneficial change may
 
 CORK 5 
 
 be dated from the introduction of steam into com- 
 merce ; but it has been greatly promoted by other 
 circumstances upon which we shall have to com- 
 ment. In the year 1838 we made a tour in Ire- 
 land, and in 1840 another. The improvement, 
 within these two years, was so extraordinary as 
 almost to exceed belief: during our previous 
 visits, we noted comparatively little alteration in 
 the external aspect of the country or in the con- 
 dition of its people, from what we had known 
 them twenty years ago ; but, of late, the " move 
 forward " has been wonderful; and if the future 
 progress be in proportion, the serviceable results 
 to the country cannot be estimated at too high a 
 rate. 
 
 Hitherto, however, although steam has so 
 largely aided in inducing visits from Ireland to 
 England, visitors to Ireland from England have 
 not, in the same ratio, increased. Happily, 
 many of the causes that produced this evil exist 
 no longer, and others are rapidly disappearing. 
 It will be our leading object in this publication 
 to induce the English to see and judge for them- 
 selves, and not to incur the reproach of being 
 better acquainted with the Continent than they 
 are with a country in which they cannot fail to 
 be deeply interested, and which holds out to them 
 every temptation the traveller can need a peo- 
 ple rich in original character, scenery abundant 
 in the wild and beautiful, a cordial and hearty 
 welcome for the stranger, and a degree of safety 
 and security in his journeyings, such as he can 
 meet in no other portion of the globe. In all
 
 IRELAND 
 
 our tours, we not only never encountered the 
 slightest stay or insult, but never heard of a trav- 
 eller who had been subjected to either; and al- 
 though sufficiently heedless in the business of 
 locking up " boxes " at inns, in no instance did 
 we ever sustain a loss by our carelessness. We 
 may add, that travelling in Ireland and the 
 charges connected with it are so moderate, that 
 a month at Killarney shall cost less, the journey 
 from London included, than would be expended, 
 during the same time, at Ramsgate or Chelten- 
 ham. 
 
 The usual routes to Ireland are either from 
 Bristol to Cork or Waterford, or from Liverpool 
 to Dublin. The voyage across occupies, gener- 
 ally, to Cork twenty-four hours, to Waterford 
 twenty hours, and from Liverpool to Dublin 
 twelve hours; although it is frequently made in 
 much less time. The shortest sea-passage is be- 
 tween Holyhead and Dublin, which is usually 
 made in six hours. 
 
 Our work commences with Cork. 
 
 The distant appearance of Cork harbour, from 
 the seaward approach, is gloomy, rocky, and in- 
 hospitable; but as its entrance between two bold 
 headlands scarcely half a mile apart and 
 crowned by fortifications opens upon the view, 
 its character undergoes a complete change. The 
 town of Cove, with the island of Spike, forming 
 a sort of natural breakwater, and several smaller 
 islands, give variety and interest to a noble ex- 
 panse of sea, that spreads out, like a luxuriant 
 lake, to welcome and rejoice the visitor; its
 
 CORK 7 
 
 sparkling billows heaving and tumbling in sport- 
 ive mimicry of the wild and wide ocean without. 
 The harbour is one of the most secure, capacious, 
 and beautiful of the kingdom, and is said to be 
 large enough to contain the whole navy of Great 
 Britain. It is diversified by other islands be- 
 sides that of Spike; one of which, Haulbowlin, 
 is the depot for naval stores. 
 
 Another, " Rocky Island," is the government 
 depot for gunpowder ; the store-rooms are excava- 
 ted in the solid rock, and communicate with each 
 other by apertures in the sides. Passing Monks- 
 town and Passage, two pretty and picturesque 
 villages, which, together with the town of Cove, 
 we shall presently describe, the vessel proceeds 
 from the latter place, a distance of ten miles, to 
 the Quay of Cork. To do full justice to the 
 exceeding beauty of the river Lee is impossible. 
 On either side, immediately after passing the 
 harbour's mouth, numberless attractive objects, 
 in succession, greet the eye ; and the wild and the 
 cultivated are so happily mingled, that it would 
 seem as if the hand of taste had been every- 
 where employed, skilfully, to direct and improve 
 nature. Moore during one of his visits called it, 
 " the noble sea avenue to Cork; " and an East- 
 ern traveller, with whom we journeyed, observed 
 that " a few minarets placed in its hanging gar- 
 dens would realize the Bosphorus." As we pro- 
 ceed along, the land seems always around us ; and 
 from its mouth to the city quays, the river, in its 
 perpetual changes, appears a series of lakes, 
 from which there is no passage except over one
 
 8 IRELAND 
 
 of the surrounding hills. These hills are clad, 
 from the summit to the water's edge, with every 
 variety of foliage ; graceful villas and ornamental 
 cottages are scattered among them in profusion, 
 and here and there some ancient ruin recalls a 
 story of the past. A sail from Cork to Cove 
 is one of the rarest and richest treats the island 
 can supply, and might justify a description that 
 would seem akin to hyperbole. It is, therefore, 
 not surprising, considering also the cheapness 
 and rapidity of the passage to and fro, that a 
 vast proportion of the citizens have dwellings, 
 magnificent or moderate, according to their 
 means, along the banks of their glorious and 
 beautiful river ; although it is to be lamented that 
 its attractions too generally wile them from busi- 
 ness, and keep them at " the receipt of custom " 
 but for a few hours of the day. 
 
 The moment the voyager lands, he is im- 
 pressed with a conviction that the natural ad- 
 vantages of Cork have been turned to good ac- 
 count. There is bustle on the quays; carriages 
 and carts of all classes are waiting to convey 
 passengers or merchandize to their destination; 
 and an air of prosperity cheers him as he dis- 
 embarks. 
 
 Unhappily, however, the first peculiarity that 
 strikes a stranger on landing here, or, indeed, in 
 any part of Ireland, is the multiplicity of beg- 
 gars. Their wit and humour are as proverbial 
 as their rags and wretchedness; and both too 
 frequently excite a laugh, at the cost of serious 
 reflection upon their misery and the means by
 
 CORK 9 
 
 which it may be lessened. Every town is full of 
 objects, who parade their afflictions with osten- 
 tation, or exhibit their half -naked children, as so 
 many claims to alms as a right. Age, decrepi- 
 tude, imbecility, and disease, surround the car 
 the moment it stops, or block up the shop-doors, 
 so as, for a time, effectually to prevent either 
 entrance or exit. In the small town of Mac- 
 room, about which we walked one evening, desir- 
 ing to examine it undisturbed, we had refused, 
 in positive terms, to relieve any applicant ; prom- 
 ising, however, the next morning, to bestow a 
 halfpenny each upon all who might ask it. The 
 news spread, and no beggars intruded themselves 
 on our notice for that night. Next day, it cost 
 us exactly three shillings and tenpence to re- 
 deem the pledge we had given; no fewer than 
 ninty-two having assembled at the inn gate. 
 We encountered them, nearly in the same pro- 
 portion, in every town through which we passed. 
 It is vain to plead inability to relieve them; 
 if you have no halfpence the answer is ready, 
 " Ah, but well divide a little sixpence between 
 us ; " and then comes the squabble as to which 
 of the group shall be made agent for the rest. 
 Every imaginable mode of obtaining a gratuity 
 is resorted to; distorted limbs are exposed, rags 
 are studiously displayed, and, almost invariably, 
 a half idiot, with his frightful glare and para- 
 lysed voice, is foremost among them. The lan- 
 guage in which they frame their petitions is al- 
 ways pointed, forcible, and, generally, highly 
 poetic: " Good luck to your ladyship's happy
 
 10 IRELAND 
 
 face this morning sure ye'll lave the light heart 
 in my bussom before ye go? " " Oh, then, look 
 at the poor that can't look at you, my lady; the 
 dark man that can't see if yer beauty is like yer 
 sweet voice;" "Darling gintleman, the heav- 
 ens be yer bed, and give us something; " " Oh, 
 the blessing of the widdy and five small children, 
 that's waiting for yer honour's bounty, 'ill be 
 wid ye on the road; " " Oh, help the poor 
 craythur that's got no childer to show yer honour 
 they're down in the sickness, and the man that 
 owns them at sea ; " " Oh, then, won't yer lady- 
 ship buy a dying woman's prayers chape? " 
 "They're keeping me back from the penny you're 
 going to give me, lady dear, because I'm wake in 
 myself, and the heart's broke wid the hunger." 
 Such are a few of the sentences we gathered from 
 the groups; we might fill pages with similar ex- 
 amples of ingenious and eloquent appeals. 
 
 A beggar, on receiving a refusal from a Poor 
 Law commissioner, addressed him with " Ah, 
 then; it's little business you'd have only for the 
 likes of us ; " another, vainly soliciting charity 
 from a gentleman with red hair, thrust forward 
 her child, with " And won't ye give a ha'penny 
 to the little boy? sure he's foxy like yer honour." 
 " You've lost all your teeth," was said to one of 
 them. " Time for me to lose 'em when I'd noth- 
 ing for 'em to do," was the reply. Some time 
 ago, we were travelling in a stage-coach, and at 
 Naas, where it has been said " the native beggars 
 double the population of the town," a person 
 inside told a troublesome and persevering ap-
 
 CORK 11 
 
 plicant, very coarsely, to go to . The 
 
 woman turned up her eyes, and said, with in- 
 imitable humour, " Ah, then it's a long journey 
 yer honour's sending us; maybe yer honour'll 
 give us something to pay our expenses." We 
 saw, in Waterford, a gentleman angrily repulse 
 a beggar, with a call to his servant to shut the 
 door; and an odd soliloquy followed: the woman 
 Jialf murmured and half hissed, " Shut the door ; 
 and that's it, is it? Oh, then, that's what I'll be 
 saying to you when ye want to pass through the 
 gate of heaven. It's then I'll be saying to St. 
 Peter, Shut the door, St. Peter, says I, to a dirty 
 nagur, that 'ud disgrace the place intirely, says 
 I and ye'll be axing me to let ye in; the never 
 a fut, says I shut the door, says I; shut the 
 door! Ould go-by- the-ground (the person who 
 had excited her wrath was of diminutive stature ) , 
 what'll ye say then? " " May the spotted fever 
 split ye in four halves ! " was a curse uttered by 
 a beggar who had been rejected somewhat 
 roughly. " Foxy-head, foxy-head," was called 
 out by one as a reproach to another ; " That ye 
 may never see the dyer ! " was the instant answer. 
 Our purse having been exhausted, we had been 
 deaf to the prayer of one who was covered so 
 meagrely as scarcely to be described as clad : she 
 turned away with a shrug of the shoulders, mur- 
 muring, " Well, God be praised, it's fine sum- 
 mer clothing we have, any way." Once it was 
 at Macroom, of which we have particularly 
 spoken among a group we noted a fair-haired 
 girl. We have seen many such, along every road
 
 12 IRELAND 
 
 we travelled. Perfect in form as a Grecian 
 statue, and graceful as a young fawn. The hood 
 of her cloak shrouded each side of her face; and 
 the folds draped her slender figure as if the nicest 
 art had been exerted in aid of nature. There 
 was something so sad, so shy, and yet so earnest, 
 in her entreaty for " charity, for the love of God," 
 that we should have at once bestowed it, had not 
 a thin, pallid woman, whose manner was evi- 
 dently superior to those around her, and whose 
 " tatters " bore a character of " old decency," 
 made her way through the crowd, and, strug- 
 gling with excited feelings, forced the girl from 
 our side. Curious to ascertain the cause of this 
 interference, we followed them and learned it. 
 " My name's MacSweeny," said the woman 
 somewhat proudly, after a few preliminary 
 questions, " and I am a lone widow, with five of 
 these craythurs depending on my four bones. 
 God knows 'tis hard I work for the bit and the 
 sup to give them; and 'tis poor we are and al- 
 ways have been; but none of my family ever 
 took to the road or begged from any Christian 
 till this bad girleen disgraced them." The 
 mother was sobbing like a child, and so was her 
 " girleen." " Mother," said the girl, " sure little 
 Timsy was hungry, and the gentleman wouldn't 
 miss it." Our car was waiting; we had far to 
 go that day, and we were compelled to leave the 
 cabin without hearing what, we are sure, must 
 have been a touching story ; but we left the widow 
 less heart-broken than we found her. As a con- 
 trast to this, let us relate an incident that occurred
 
 CORK 13 
 
 in Cork, where, by the way, the beggars seldom 
 appear in public until nearly mid-day., We 
 were sitting at the window of our hotel ("the 
 Imperial," which for elegance and comfort may 
 vie with any hotel of the kingdom) ; our atten- 
 tion had been frequently called from the book 
 we were reading, by the querulous whine of a 
 beggar, who uttered at intervals, not far between, 
 the customary salutation of " Good luck to ye," 
 and the usual accompaniment of " Lave us a ha'- 
 penny for God's sake; for the lone widdy and 
 her five fatherless childer." As we had heard 
 but few blessings follow the appeal, we concluded 
 that her efforts were unsuccessful; the more 
 especially as at times her prayer ended with an 
 undefined growl that sounded very like its op- 
 posite. Still she kept her position, directly 
 beneath our window. We had seen her there in 
 the morning; her tattered grey cloak falling 
 back from her long lean throat; her dirty cap so 
 torn as to be insufficient to conceal her tangled 
 tresses; her right hand supported by her left, so 
 as to stand out in the most imploring posture; 
 while she lolled first on one side, then on the 
 other, sometimes balanced on her right, then on 
 her left, foot the sad picture of confirmed and 
 hardened beggary. As the evening was closing 
 in, we were calculating how much longer she 
 would remain in the same spot, when a very loud 
 double knock echoed from the opposite side of 
 the street, followed almost immediately by the 
 woman's strenuously repeated petition, with the 
 addition of " Do, dear, honourable, handsome
 
 14 IRELAND 
 
 young gintleman, bestow a halfpenny on a poop 
 lone widdy, with seven small starvin' little childer, 
 that haven't broke their fast this blessed day." 
 
 We looked out of the window and saw she had 
 crossed over, and was urging her request most 
 emphatically, while the young man thundered 
 again at the knocker. " Why thin, more power 
 to yer elbow, and it's yerself that's strong enough 
 in the wrist anyhow. God keep it to ye, sir, and 
 lave the little token of a halfpenny with the lone 
 widdy and her seven fatherless childer." " I 
 really have not any silver about me," drawled 
 out the young man. " Bedad," replied the beg- 
 gar, " I did not ax ye for silver nor goold, but 
 for one halfpenny for the broken-hearted widdy 
 and her poor little naked fatherless childer." 
 " I tell ye I've no halfpence," he replied, losing 
 what people should never lose in Ireland, seeing 
 that the loss is taken immediate advantage of 
 his temper. ' Why, thin, bad luck to ye," she 
 exclaimed, setting both her arms a-kimbo and 
 looking a fury while the impatient youth 
 knocked more loudly; "then what the dickens 
 did ye bring me from my comfortable sate across 
 the street, wid such a knock as that for, if ye 
 hadn't money in yer pocket ye poor, half- 
 starved, whey-faced gossoon? " 
 
 The beggars in the various towns have their 
 distinctive characters, and they differ essentially 
 from those who beg in the country. In the 
 towns it is usually a "profession;" the same 
 faces are always encountered in the same places; 
 and they are very jealous of interlopers, unless
 
 CORK 15 
 
 good cause be shown for additions to " the craft." 
 In Dublin they are exceedingly insolent and re- 
 pulsive ; in Cork, merry and good-humoured, but 
 most provokingly clamorous; in Waterford, 
 their petitions were preferred more by looks than 
 words, and a refusal was at once taken; in 
 Clonmel we were there during a season of 
 frightful want they appeared too thoroughly 
 depressed and heart-broken to utter even a sen- 
 tence of appeal ; 2 in Killarney they seemed 
 trusting to their utter wretchedness and filth of 
 apparel, as a contrast to the surpassing grace and 
 beauty of nature all around them, to extort 
 charity from the visitors ; and in Wicklow, where 
 we encountered far fewer than we expected (al- 
 ways excepting Glendalough), they laboured to 
 earn money by tendering something like advice 
 as to the route that should be taken by those who 
 were in search of the picturesque. One had fol- 
 lowed a friend of ours, to his great annoyance, 
 for upwards of a mile, and on bidding him good- 
 bye, had the modesty to ask for a little sixpence. 
 "For what?" inquired the gentleman; "what 
 have you done for me?" "Ah, then, sure 
 haven't I been keeping yer honour in discoorse? " 
 In the country, where passers-by are not nu- 
 merous, the aged or bed-ridden beggar is fre- 
 quently placed in a sort of handbarrow, and laid 
 at morning by the road-side, to excite compassion 
 and procure alms : not unf requently their business 
 is conducted on the backs of donkeys, and often 
 they are drawn about by some neighbour's child. 
 The reader will naturally inquire as to the in-
 
 16 IRELAND 
 
 fluence of the New Poor Law upon a state of 
 things certainly without parallel in any civilized 
 country; to such an inquiry, however, we are, at 
 present, unable to supply any answer. The act 
 is in operation only in Dublin and Cork; and al- 
 though architects are busy, in every district, 
 erecting " poor-houses," it would be premature 
 to offer an opinion as to its practical working. 
 Before our task is finished we shall have had 
 abundant opportunities for arriving at some 
 definite conclusion in reference to a matter of such 
 vital importance. It was unquestionably a mon- 
 strous evil that which left the aged, incompe- 
 tent, and diseased, altogether to private charity; 
 for, although charity is a fountain that, in Ire- 
 land, is never dry, the supply was insufficient and 
 unwholesome, taxing largely the generous and 
 humane, but levying no impost upon the selfish 
 or indifferent. 
 
 It will be readily believed that, if a large pro- 
 portion of the class consists of the idle, reckless, 
 or unprincipled, the number of those who really 
 want is by no means small : among a people very 
 improvident, and living " from hand to mouth,'* 
 a small deviation from the usual course of labour 
 brings absolute destitution, and suggests the 
 only mode, within reach, of continuing existence. 
 Whole families are frequently met who have 
 " taken to the road " a phrase which denotes 
 beggary as a business; the potato garden has 
 been bared; the man is seeking labour at a dis- 
 tance from his home perhaps in England; the 
 cabin door has been closed ; and the woman with
 
 CORK 17 
 
 her children are travelling from village to village, 
 asking, and invariably receiving, aid " for the 
 love of God " from the " good Christians." We 
 might relate scores of strongly characteristic and 
 not uninteresting anecdotes of parties who have 
 thus fallen in our way; but our readers will per- 
 mit us to tell one story, although in so doing we 
 may encroach somewhat too largely upon the 
 space we desire, as much as possible, to vary. 
 
 There is a beautiful terrace along the north 
 bank of the Cork river; the gardens are so steep 
 that the walks hang, as it were, one above the 
 other; the houses stand on a sort of platform, 
 and the hill at their back is beautifully planted 
 with trees and evergreens ; roses climb in the most 
 luxuriant profusion and clematis, honeysuckle, 
 and various creeping plants, mingle with their 
 branches. We had been spending the evening 
 with some friends whose exquisite taste had con- 
 verted their hanging garden into a little paradise ; 
 the air was so balmy, and the moonbeams fell 
 athwart the river in such long silvery lines, that 
 we preferred walking to driving to our hotel. 
 While lingering in the porch, bidding our friends 
 adieu, our attention was arrested by the tones of 
 a female voice; it was feeble, but very sweet: 
 the burden of the song was that of an old ballad 
 we had heard some fishermen sing on the Shan- 
 non two years ago. There was a wail at the 
 termination, that seemed in harmony with the 
 faint voice which gave it utterance ; it was 
 
 " And has left me all alone for to die."
 
 18 IRELAND 
 
 We paused to listen; but the strain was not re- 
 newed. It had made us sad; our adieus were 
 repeated in a quieter tone ; and as we proceeded, 
 in the calm moonlight, we spoke of the poor 
 singer. 
 
 Suddenly the melody was recommenced; not 
 in the same place, but nearer town, and we had 
 lost sight of the pretty river-terrace before we 
 overtook her. Our interest in the ballad was 
 now changed to an interest in the woman, for 
 her song was interrupted by heavy, yet sup- 
 pressed, sobs. She was leaning against the gate 
 of a small house, trying to continue it: at length 
 she sunk upon the steps, exclaiming, " I can't, 
 afther all, I can't." We placed a coin of trifling 
 value in her hand. 
 
 " God bless ye God bless ye " she said 
 faintly; " God bless ye, though it's little good 
 this or anything else can do me now; God bless 
 you for it anyhow! " It is never hard to open 
 an Irish heart. A few kind words, almost a kind 
 look, will do it. " And afther all," she said, in 
 reply to our inquiries, " and afther all, my lady, 
 sure I sung it all along the river for practice, 
 that I might have strength for it when I got here ; 
 and now there isn't power in me to say a word, 
 though I know there's one in that house whose 
 heart would answer me, though maybe her lips 
 wouldn't own they'd know me." 
 
 We desired the poor creature to call on us the 
 next day. " I can't," she replied, " lady honey, 
 I can't; I'm almost as bare of clothes as a new- 
 born babe. Oh that my soul was as bare of
 
 CORK 19 
 
 sin!" It was impossible for human words or 
 human voice to convey the idea of more acute 
 misery than was made manifest by this sentence ; 
 it sounded like the knell of a broken heart. We 
 managed, however, to see her again, and our in- 
 terest in Mary Nolan such was her name was 
 increased on finding that she was the daughter 
 of a person who had been known to one of us in 
 early childhood. 
 
 " I was once," said poor Mary, " not what I 
 am now: I had a bright eye and a mighty gay 
 heart, and I gave the light of the one and the 
 pulse of the other to a boy of this county; and 
 if I tell his name, you won't brathe it, for it would 
 harrum her who I thought might have heerd and 
 know the song I sung, if I'd the power to tune 
 it rightly ; but somehow music is like lead upon a 
 bosom like mine, it crushes it down instead of 
 lifting it up. I've not much to tell: we loved 
 each other well in those days, so well, that when 
 he was led astray by many things that war going 
 on through the counthry at that time, when he 
 used to be meetin' the boys by night in the Ruins 
 of Kilcrea, or maybe away in the county Limer- 
 ick, by the dancin' waters of the Shannon, why I 
 thought it right, and many a moonlight meetin' 
 I gave him, and many a gallon of whiskey I 
 brought him from the hills; and my husband (for 
 he was my husband, and many a one besides the 
 Priest knew he was) had a fine voice, and often 
 we sung together, and many a pleasant heart that 
 beat its last in a far country, shook the laves off 
 the trees with the strength of fine music. Oh!
 
 20 IRELAND 
 
 we thought to carry all before us. And at other 
 times the meetins would be silent as the ould 
 graves over which we trod, until the whiskey they 
 took would send them over the counthry with 
 hot breath and burning eyes; the end came, and 
 soon but not the end we looked for : my husband 
 (for he Was my husband) staid on his keepin' 
 many, many weeks, a starvin', wretched man, 
 wild among the mountains, set by the soldiers as 
 a dog sets a bird in a field of stubble. I have 
 watched with a dry potato and a grain of salt 
 for him the length of a summer day, shifting 
 about so as to keep under the shadow of a rock 
 to steal such as that to him, knowing he was dying 
 of hunger all the time, and seeing him fetch-like 
 before me, yet daren't stretch out my hand 
 to him with a bit to eat. Oh ! it was a wof ul time, 
 but worse woe was afther it. When men are set 
 on to hunt each other they have wonderful pa- 
 tience. 
 
 " He was took at last ; and three days I sate 
 at the gate of the ould jail, though they wouldn't 
 let me in; my throuble came upon me then, and 
 though my heart was broke, my child lived; my 
 husband ( for he was my husband) was sentenced 
 to die ; I was in the court-house and heard it, and 
 that I can never forget; they say I tore through 
 the crowd, that I fell at the judge's feet and laid 
 my child on his robe, that I asked him to kill us 
 all, that I told him the witnesses swore false, that 
 it was the whiskey I brought him stirred him up, 
 and that I had earned death most; that I was 
 mad and I do believe that God heated my Drain
 
 CORK 21 
 
 in his mercy, for I do not know what I did. 
 Many weeks after, I found my poor old mother 
 sitting by my side with my babby on her knee ; I 
 had been an undutiful daughter to her, yet when 
 she heard of my trouble, she left her comfortable 
 home in the west, and came to seek her child. 
 Oh! the love of that mother's heart beat all! 
 She gave me the babby to kiss; I would have 
 asked for its father, but the darkness came over 
 my eyes again, and no voice rose to my lips ; only 
 she knew what I meant, and * Praise God, Mary, 
 ma-vourneen,' she said, ' praise Him, a-vourneen, 
 in yer heart, Mary, for he's not dead, only trans- 
 ported.' I spoke no word, but the tears came 
 thick and fast; I felt my mother wiping them 
 off, and her breath on my cheek like a blessing! " 
 
 Poor Mary covered her face with her long 
 shadowy hands, and I saw that the memory of 
 her mother was thrilling at her heart. 
 
 " She was a good woman," she resumed after a 
 pause "the heavens be her bed! She was an 
 honest industrious good woman. Oh, if I could 
 but think she'd welcome me to glory, I'd die 
 happy; she brought me up well, as far as book- 
 reading went; but she let me grow wilful, and 
 suffered for it in the end; oh! it's hard to suffer 
 for love, and yet mine grew out of that. My 
 poor mother, when I recovered, wanted to take me 
 to her own place, but I could not content myself 
 without my husband. I went to every one who 
 had the knowledge and power of the counthry, 
 and I asked to be let go out to him ; they laughed, 
 and said none but criminals were sent there. I
 
 22 IRELAND 
 
 had never kept back my will for any of them ; I 
 would not do it now; I forgot all my duties but 
 the one ; I became a criminal ; I forced those who 
 had jeered to send me out; and when with my 
 babby still at my breast (for they didn't part us, 
 as they told me they might) I got to the end of 
 the voyage, I found he was almost as far away 
 from me as ever, up the counthry, while I was to 
 remain near the town. I thought I should have 
 gone mad. I wrote to him; weeks and months 
 passed and I had no answer. I gave so much 
 satisfaction to my master that I was left at lib- 
 erty. After long slavery, I used that liberty to 
 escape to him; I took my girl with me; I roved 
 like a wild animal through as wild a counthry, 
 but I found him my first love! the thought of 
 my life ; my heart's core, for whose sake I had be- 
 come a thief I found him, married to the daugh- 
 ter of one of the overseers ; a free man. 
 
 " At first he pretended not to know me, but I 
 had kept my marriage lines in my bosom, and 
 showed them to him; he came round, and prom- 
 ised if I would keep quiet a little he would 
 do me justice; he said how well he was off, took 
 his child in his arms, and kissed and blest it; I 
 saw him do that much anyhow; he brought us 
 food, and made us rest under a shade close to 
 where he lived; he came again that evening and 
 laid the child on his bosom, and excused himself, 
 as he always could, to me. And I forgot his 
 falsity when I heard his voice and saw his face 
 once more, though the sunshine of love had left 
 it : he asked to look at my marriage lines ; I gave
 
 CORK 23 
 
 them to him ; in an instant he tore the paper into 
 scraps ; I fell on my knees and would have cursed 
 him, but for my little Mary; she covered my 
 mouth with her sweet innocent face; I could not 
 curse then; the power left my limbs; I fell on 
 the floor, and he stood by and offered me money, 
 and threatened, if I did not go, to send me back 
 as a runaway convict. To this day I can hardly 
 believe it was himself was in it, with his fine 
 clothes and cowld way; he bid me good night, 
 said he would give me till the morning to consider 
 of it ; kissed the little girl, and left us. Weak as 
 I was I crawled after him, and saw his shadow on 
 the grass; I wished for God to direct me, and 
 prayed for that; my child and I cried together, 
 and before the day rightly broke, she said, 
 * Mother, let us go home,' and I got up, as well 
 as I was able, and followed my little girl back to 
 slavery. 
 
 " It was long before we reached where we had 
 left, and I was afeared at first they'd be hard on 
 me ; but they weren't ; and when my time was up 
 they would have kept me there, but I wanted to 
 set my foot upon the sod once more, and to see 
 my mother before she died ; they would have kept 
 the little girl, but she would not leave me. 
 
 ' When I got sight of ould Ireland, I felt as 
 if my troubles war over: for a little while that 
 lasted. I went to my old home ; my mother was 
 dead, though the grass wasn't grown on her 
 grave. All I could do was to kneel on it with my 
 child; what little property she had she had left me, 
 though I was anything but worthy of it ; it didn't
 
 24 IRELAND 
 
 thrive, and I feared that my poor girl would fall 
 under her mother's ban ; this thought was over me 
 day and night; I heard that her father's sister 
 was living near Cork (she knew that he was my 
 husband), and I laid a case before her that I'd 
 give up the child to her, for she had lost all her 
 own; she agreed, on one condition that I was 
 never to see her more. 
 
 " Oh lady, it was hard ; and I had to trap away 
 my own child; to invent a rason for laving her, 
 and then she was to hear that I was dead, which 
 I will be soon, plase God! they have changed 
 her name, and for the last four years I've been 
 begging over the poor counthry, going a round 3 
 betimes, and making my soul as I ought; but 
 now, God help me, my heart fails me ; I do want 
 to see the face of my own child once more; I 
 thought last night if she heard the song she'd 
 know the voice; I was that heart-sore to see her 
 that I think the last breath would lave me asy 
 if I could just listen to her one word; and yet," 
 she added, " I don't know why ; God help me I 
 don't know why ; it was good of the woman to take 
 her, she had no reason to think well of me or of 
 her father; God reward her! I heard from one 
 who knows, that my poor child would be happy 
 if she knew anything of her mother; and for all 
 that she wouldn't be happy to see me as I am ; I 
 oughtn't to break my promise; but sure the love 
 of a mother breaks through stone walls ! I mind 
 when I was a girl having taken a bird's nest and 
 put it in a cage, and I tended the young ones with 
 the best of food, but the old birds would come with
 
 CORK 25 
 
 the first and with the last light there they war 
 feedin' and cherishin' the young, and I used to 
 tell them their birds war better off than they could 
 make them; but still they'd come, they'd come, 
 and wail and murn and wail and murn," re- 
 peated poor Mary mournfully. Her reason and 
 affection were at variance; but I saw, as is gen- 
 erally the case with her countrywomen, that, if 
 she lived, the love of parent towards child must 
 triumph. 
 
 When we returned from Killarney, she had 
 been dead some days ; and although we knew the 
 house in which her daughter resided, we had no 
 means of ascertaining if she had seen her mother. 
 
 CORK holds rank as the second city of Ireland 
 in extent, population, and commercial impor- 
 tance. Its situation is low, having been origi- 
 nally built on marshy islands ; whence its name 
 " Corcagh," signifying, in Irish, land occasionally 
 overflowed by the tide; but the northern and 
 southern suburbs stand upon high ground. 
 Scarcely a century has passed since the river ran 
 through its principal streets, which are formed 
 by arching over the stream. The poet Spenser 
 has happily described 
 
 " The spreading Lee, that like an island fair 
 Encloseth Cork with his divided flood." 
 
 In a very rare tract, so rare indeed as to be 
 said to be unique, entitled " A relation of the 
 most lamentable burning of the city of Cork by 
 thunder and lightning," which was printed in 
 London in 1622, the following graphic account
 
 26 IRELAND 
 
 of old Cork occurs : " The cittie of Corke hath 
 his beginning upon the side of an hill, which de- 
 scendeth easily into one wide and long streete; 
 the onely principall and chiefe streete of the 
 cittie. At the first entrance there is a castle 
 called Shandon Castle, and almost over against 
 it a church built of stone, as the castle is a kinde 
 of marble, of which that country yeeldeth store. 
 The cittie hath many houses built of the same 
 stone, and covered with slate. But the greatest 
 number of houses are built of tymber or mudde 
 walls, and covered with thatch." About the year 
 1600, Camden described the city as enclosed 
 " within a circuit of walls in forme of an egge, 
 with the river flowing round about it and running 
 betweene, not passable through but by bridges, 
 lying out in length as it were in one broad street, 
 and the same having a bridge over it." The 
 foundation of Cork is generally attributed to 
 Danish adventurers in the ninth or tenth cen- 
 tury; it is contended, however, that its origin 
 was earlier, and that the founder was St. Finn 
 Bar, (the fair-haired or white-headed, for the 
 Irish name admits of both translations,) whose 
 ecclesiastical establishments contained, it is said, 
 no fewer than seven hundred priests, monks, and 
 students. For several centuries the annals of 
 Cork are little more than records of skirmishes 
 between English settlers and Irish clans. To- 
 wards the close of the sixteenth century, the 
 chronicler Holinshed pictures the city as so 
 " beset with rebels neighbouring upon it, that 
 they (the citizens) are fain to keep watch and
 
 CORK 27 
 
 ward, as if they had continual siege laid unto it." 
 During the reign of Henry VII. it was des- 
 tined to achieve a fatal notoriety: the mayor, 
 John Walters, having abetted the pretensions of 
 Perkin Warbeck to the throne, was hanged for 
 treason, and the city was, for a time, deprived of 
 its charter. While the contest continued be- 
 tween the Crown and the Parliament, Cork gen- 
 erally remained firm to the cause of Monarchy, 
 but succumbed to Oliver Cromwell; who, during 
 a brief visit, ordered the church-bells to be con- 
 verted to the purposes of his army, and is said 
 to have answered a remonstrance on the subject 
 by facetiously remarking, that " since gunpow- 
 der was invented by a priest, he thought the best 
 use for bells would be to promote them into 
 canons." The city was early in declaring for 
 the restoration of Charles II. ; and it is a singu- 
 lar fact, that the King was proclaimed there 
 eleven days before the proclamation was made 
 in London. In the Revolution of 1688, it sup- 
 ported the cause of James, and sustained a 
 siege of three days' duration; remarkable chiefly 
 as having laid the foundation of the future fame 
 and fortune of the hero of Blenheim. After an 
 unsuccessful effort to reduce Limerick, William 
 III. had returned to England, and Marlbor- 
 ough, anxious to distinguish himself, was ap- 
 pointed to the command of an expedition for 
 Ireland it is believed, through the influence of 
 the Princess Anne's party; by whom the neces- 
 sity was urged of securing Cork and Kinsale, 
 which were open to receive troops and supplies
 
 28 IRELAND 
 
 for the support of the army of James II. 
 William, although he could not well refuse his 
 sanction to the proposed expedition, is said to 
 have viewed it with a jealous eye, and to have 
 caused, what is asserted to be, the unnecessary 
 co-operation of the Duke of Wirtemberg at the 
 head of a body of foreign troops, which led to a 
 dispute between the two generals as to the com- 
 mand Wirtemberg claiming it as a Prince, and 
 Marlborough as the senior officer and which 
 dispute ended in an adjustment that they should 
 command on alternate days. 
 
 Marlborough, having commanded on the first 
 and third days of the siege, obtained the credit 
 of taking the city. As a military exploit it was 
 one of no great difficulty, but in a political view 
 was important, and the achievement at the time 
 was proportionably magnified for party pur- 
 poses. A few days after the capture of Cork, 
 Kinsale, from which an obstinate defence was 
 expected, surrendered, and the adherents of 
 James truly sung, in rhymes still current in Ire- 
 land 
 
 " There are no fortresses that we can call our own, 
 But Limerick stout, Galway, and brave Athlone. 
 Sing oh oh, hone." 
 
 With this event, the active military history of 
 Cork terminates: its political importance being 
 derived exclusively from its position as a sea- 
 port, and as the first commercial city of Ireland ; 
 its noble harbour having originated the motto 
 " Static bene fida carinis " so aptly and de-
 
 CORK 29 
 
 servedly applied to it. 4 ( See Plate No. 1 . ) The 
 city arms, there can be no doubt, were suggested 
 by the arms of Bristol, similar privileges to those 
 enjoyed by that city having been granted to Cork 
 by charter. 
 
 Cork has a cheerful and prosperous aspect; 
 the leading streets are wide; and though the 
 houses may be described as built with studied 
 irregularity, their character is by no means un- 
 graceful or unpleasing. The quays at either 
 side of the Lee here of course a river muddied 
 from traffic are constructed of lime-stone, and 
 may be said to merit the term so frequently ap- 
 plied to them, " grand and elegant." The city 
 is a mere mart for commerce; the whole of the 
 gentry, and indeed a large proportion of the 
 trading inhabitants, living in the picturesque and 
 beautiful outskirts. The public buildings of 
 Cork are neither numerous nor remarkable; the 
 court-house being almost the only good example 
 of modern architecture, if we except the offices 
 recently erected by the St. George Steam Packet 
 Company, on the quay, which their vessels have 
 made more bustling than that of the Custom- 
 house an ungainly structure, that stands on the 
 opposite side of the river. The bridges, as may 
 be supposed, are numerous. St. Patrick's 
 bridge, had formerly a drawbridge attached to 
 it; but being one of the most frequented thor- 
 oughfares to a new and populous district, and the 
 portcullis being of comparatively small value to 
 the navigation, it was removed in 1823. In 
 1830, Anglesey bridge, or, as it is more generally
 
 30 IRELAND 
 
 called, " the metal bridge," was constructed by 
 the eminent architect, Sir Thomas Deane, from 
 a design by Mr. Griffiths ; it consists of two ellip- 
 tic arches, forty-four feet in span, with a draw- 
 bridge to admit vessels to the quays on the south 
 branch of the Lee, which it crosses. 
 
 Antiquities are rare; the Cathedral, dedicated 
 to St. Finn Bar, is built on the site of the early 
 church, a few of the remains of which have been 
 introduced into the modern structure. The 
 tower of the steeple is, comparatively, an- 
 cient: the pointed doorway recessed, and richly 
 moulded. It consists of two distinct arches, the 
 inner being ornamented by bold and well-relieved 
 mouldings, and the outer by cluster columns and 
 a cinquefoiled head, all in low relief. It is cu- 
 rious that the inner portion of the archway should 
 have been executed in freestone, of which there is 
 none now to be had in Cork, and that the outer 
 should have been executed in a different mate- 
 rial, limestone. The building, taken as a whole, 
 has no pretensions to Cathedral grandeur. It 
 was erected in 1735, the expense having been de- 
 frayed by a tax of one shilling per ton on all 
 coals and culm consumed within the city. A 
 round tower formerly stood in the churchyard; 
 but, having been considerably injured by the fire 
 from the Fort on Barrack Hill, when Marlbor- 
 ough stormed Cork, this venerable remain was 
 taken down, and no trace of it at present exists. 
 In the churchyard there are few monuments that 
 call for notice ; one tablet, containing merely two 
 lines, however, hints at a touching story.
 
 CORK 31 
 
 " Here lies a branch of DESMOND'S race, 
 In Thomas Holland's burial-place." 
 
 Institutions, charitable, scientific, and literary, 
 abound in Cork ; it has been celebrated more than 
 any other city of Ireland for the production and 
 fosterage of genius, and is the birthplace of 
 many distinguished characters, as well as of per- 
 sons who have attained considerable eminence in 
 literature, science, and the arts. Among the 
 former who are at present living, or recently were 
 so, may be named General O'Leary, the South 
 American patriot ; Mr. Hastie, the tutor of King 
 Radamah, and to whose exertions the present 
 civilized state of Madagascar may be mainly at- 
 tributed; and Miss Thomson, the favourite wife 
 of Muli Mahomed, late Emperor of Morocco. 5 
 The most remarkable of the latter of whom we 
 could readily enumerate several is the painter 
 James Barry ; of the house in which he was born, 
 Mr. Crofton Croker has supplied us with a 
 sketch; which we copy (See Plate No. 1), not 
 merely because of its interest in association with 
 the memory of the eccentric artist, but as afford- 
 ing a correct idea of the peculiar character of the 
 suburb of an Irish town. The house is in Water- 
 lane, in the northern, or " Blackpool," suburb, 
 and is marked by two women at the door. 
 
 The jails of Cork the " city " and " county " 
 are models of good management, cleanliness, 
 and order. In the former, during our latest 
 visit, were confined the notorious culprits Casey 
 and Hartnett, who had been tried and found 
 guilty of the murder of a policeman on the Glan-
 
 32 IRELAND 
 
 mire road. The crime was deprived of much of 
 its atrocity by the fact that it was not premedi- 
 tated. They had robbed a gentleman, the po- 
 liceman pursued them, and in the struggle he 
 was killed. The characters of the men, how- 
 ever, were so bad, that they were sentenced to 
 die; their graves had actually been dug beneath 
 the wall of their prison, and the gallows erected 
 on which they were to suffer, when it was remem- 
 bered that the judge in passing sentence had for- 
 gotten to add the as it afterwards appeared 
 important words, " and be buried within the 
 precincts of the jail; " " The Court awards it, 
 and the law doth give it." A motion in arrest 
 of judgment was moved; the judges deliberated; 
 and the result was the acquittal of the prisoners. 
 They were, however, subsequently tried for the 
 robbery, and have been since transported. An- 
 other circumstance renders the case memorable: 
 Casey, whose horror of death was so excessive, 
 that one of the jailors assured us there would 
 have been no chance of bringing him to execu- 
 tion except in irons and by main force, had de- 
 termined on making an effort to escape. He 
 had nothing to assist him but a slight file, con- 
 veyed to him by his wife, it is conjectured in an 
 oaten cake, notwithstanding the vigilance of a 
 most scrupulous jailor, and particularly watch- 
 ful and adroit turnkeys. Before he was locked 
 up in his cell, he contrived to file the iron fasten- 
 ing nearly through, and had no difficulty in 
 forcing open the entrance. Hartnett was con- 
 fined in the cell next but one; his first object was
 
 CORK 33 
 
 to release his fellow-prisoner, and next to wrench 
 out one of the iron window-bars. In this he 
 succeeded, but the aperture was so small that it 
 is almost incredible how he could have forced 
 himself through it ; he did so, however, after two 
 or three hours of almost superhuman effort, 
 fainting thrice during the struggle. At length 
 he was in the first yard, comparatively free; he 
 had still three very high walls to climb, and as 
 Hartnett found it impossible to follow him, he 
 had to trust entirely to his own exertions. He 
 surmounted two of the prison-walls, and in 
 reaching the third actually stepped over the grave 
 that had been dug for him: the third wall was 
 topped by loose brickwork and a chevaux-de- 
 frise; on reaching the summit, part of this gave 
 way, and he fell to the ground. At the moment, 
 the jail clock struck five, and he knew that his es- 
 cape must be ascertained in a few minutes more, 
 as at that hour the turnkeys would open the 
 wards. He, therefore, concealed himself under 
 a heap of filth in the yard, where he was, after 
 about half an hour's search, discovered, and con- 
 veyed back to his cell. The turnkey who first 
 laid hands upon him assured us that no disap- 
 pointed fiend could have looked more ferocious; 
 and that he would certainly have killed any one 
 who approached him, if a weapon of any kind 
 had been within his reach. 
 
 The expression of his countenance, although 
 not that of a ruffian, was strongly characteristic 
 of energy and determination. His chest was re- 
 markably broad, and his arm so muscular as to 
 v s
 
 34 IRELAND 
 
 feel almost like iron; his neck was short and 
 thick, his head black and round, his eyes were 
 peculiarly bright and sparkling, and his air was 
 bold and fearless, while his less assured com- 
 panion, an ill-looking fellow, hung back. Casey 
 was of short stature; and on the governor re- 
 marking that he was a small man to have so much 
 strength, we whispered something to the effect, 
 that " all great men were small men." His ear 
 was, to our surprise, quick enough to catch the 
 words, and he laughed with as much evident en- 
 joyment as if he had been a player acting his 
 part before a satisfied audience. 
 
 As in nearly all the jails throughout Ireland, 
 there is, in those of Cork, otherwise so admirably 
 managed, a grievous want of classification; atro- 
 cious criminals and petty offenders are mixed to- 
 gether in a manner sadly prejudicial. At Clon- 
 mel, in particular, the evil is especially great; the 
 prisoners were placed before us in files; among 
 them we saw an elderly and respectable-looking 
 man striving to hide his face with his hat, and 
 stepping back to elude observation. We found 
 he had been confined for " drunkenness," and 
 that the person next to whom he stood was about 
 to take his trial for sheep-stealing, and had pre- 
 viously been in custody on suspicion of murder. 
 This most injurious system is, however, rapidly 
 giving way, and we must do the governors of the 
 several prisons we inspected the justice to say, 
 that they are making unceasing efforts for its 
 entire removal. 
 
 The most remarkable and, to a stranger, the
 
 CORK 35 
 
 most interesting of the public institutions of 
 Cork, is the lunatic asylum of the county and 
 city. The latest return dated March, 1840 
 gives the amount of patients at 406: 200 males, 
 and 206 females. Among the unhappy inmates 
 of this establishment, is one to whose delirium 
 seven fellow-creatures were sacrificed, and in a 
 manner so singular as to appear incredible. Cap- 
 tain Steward was master of the " Mary Rus- 
 sell," a merchant brig engaged in the West India 
 trade; and the frightful act, for which he was 
 subsequently tried and acquitted, on the ground 
 of insanity, was perpetrated during the home- 
 ward voyage, on the 22nd June, 1828. His 
 crew consisted of six men and three apprentice 
 boys, and on board there were three passengers ; 
 the three passengers and four of his seamen he 
 murdered, cruelly maiming the other two men; 
 the boys narrowly escaping with their lives. 
 Under the delusion that they were arranging a 
 mutiny, he induced them to allow themselves to 
 be tied ; to which they consented in order to allay 
 his imaginary fears; while in this helpless state, 
 he killed them with a crowbar. 
 
 Steward is a small and slight man, now appar- 
 ently under fifty years of age. He was dressed 
 in a sailor's garb, remarkably neat and clean. 
 He conversed with us freely upon ordinary 
 topics, and referred to the time when he was 
 in jail, without however alluding to the crime 
 for which he had been imprisoned. There 
 is, to our minds, no expression in his coun- 
 tenance that indicates insanity; and, certainly, it
 
 36 IRELAND 
 
 is by no means characteristic of ferocity. His 
 visage is thin, long, and pallid ; his hair sandy ; his 
 mouth narrow, close and inflexible; his eyes 
 small, grey, restless, and very acute, more like 
 the eyes of a rat than of a human being. We 
 understand that he frequently speaks of the mur- 
 ders he had committed, and always as necessary 
 for the preservation of his own life from the plots 
 of his mutinous crew. We confess that his ab- 
 sence was a relief; for it was impossible to avoid 
 recalling to remembrance the appalling deed 
 which had made so many parents childless, or to 
 look upon the wretched man without feelings 
 akin to loathing. 
 
 The national customs that prevail among the 
 people of Cork are common to other parts of 
 Ireland, with one exception; and although it is 
 partially found elsewhere in the Isle of Man 
 for instance it is certainly confined to the 
 southern districts of Ireland. 
 
 For some weeks preceding Christmas, crowds 
 of village boys may be seen peering into the 
 hedges, in search of the " tiny wren; " and when 
 one is discovered, the whole assemble and give 
 eager chase to, until they have killed, the little 
 bird. In the hunt the utmost excitement pre- 
 vails; shouting, screeching, and rushing; all sorts 
 of missiles are flung at the puny mark ; and, not 
 unfrequently, they light upon the head of some 
 less innocent being. From bush to bush, from 
 hedge to hedge, is the wren pursued until 
 bagged, with as much pride and pleasure as the 
 cock of the woods by the more ambitious sports-
 
 CORK 37 
 
 man. The stranger is utterly at a loss to con- 
 ceive the cause of this " hubbub," or the motive 
 for so much energy in pursuit of " such small 
 game." On the anniversary of St. Stephen (the 
 26th of December) the enigma is explained. 
 Attached to a huge holly-bush, elevated on a 
 pole, the bodies of several little wrens are borne 
 about. This bush is an object of admiration in 
 proportion to the number of dependent birds, 
 and is carried through the streets in procession, 
 by a troop of boys, among whom may be usually 
 found " children of a larger growth," shouting 
 and roaring as they proceed along, and every now 
 and then stopping before some popular house 
 such as that of Mr. Olden, the " distinguished 
 inventor " of EVKEROGENION (a liquid soap) and 
 half-a-dozen other delightful and useful things, 
 to which he has given similar classical names 
 and their singing " the wren boys' " song. 
 
 To the words we have listened a score of times, 
 and although we have found them often varied 
 according to the wit or poetical capabilities of a 
 leader of the party, and have frequently heard 
 them drawled out to an apparently interminable 
 length, the following specimen will probably sat- 
 isfy our readers as to the merit of the composi- 
 tion : 
 
 The wran, the wran, the king of all birds, 
 St. Stephen's day was cot in the furze; 
 Although he is little, his family's grate 
 Put yer hand in yer pocket and give us a trate. 
 Sing holly, sing ivy sing ivy, sing holly, 
 A drop j ust to drink it would drown melancholy.
 
 38 IRELAND 
 
 And if you dhraw it ov the best, 
 
 I hope in heaven yer sowl will rest; 
 
 But if you dhraw it ov the small, 
 
 It won't agree wid de wran boys at all. 
 
 Of course contributions are levied in many 
 quarters, and the evening is, or rather was, occu- 
 pied in drinking out the sum total of the day's 
 collection. 
 
 This is, we believe, the only Christmas gambol 
 remaining in Ireland of the many, that in the 
 middle ages were so numerous and so dangerous 
 as to call for the interposition of the law, and the 
 strong arm of magisterial authority. As to the 
 origin of the whimsical but absurd and cruel cus- 
 tom, we have no data. A legend, however, is 
 still current among the peasantry which may 
 serve in some degree to elucidate it. 
 
 In a grand assembly of all the birds of the air, 
 it was determined that the sovereignty of the 
 feathered tribe should be conferred upon the one 
 who would fly highest. The favourite in the 
 betting-book was, of course, the eagle, who at 
 once, and in full confidence of victory, com- 
 menced his flight towards the sun; when he had 
 vastly distanced all competitors, he proclaimed 
 with a mighty voice his monarchy over all things 
 that had wings. Suddenly, however, the wren, 
 who had secreted himself under the feathers of 
 the eagle's crest, popped from his hiding-place, 
 flew a few inches upwards, and chirped out as 
 loudly as he could, " Birds, look up and behold 
 your king." 
 
 There is also a tradition, that in " ould ancient
 
 CORK 39 
 
 times," when the native Irish were about to catch 
 their Danish enemies asleep, a wren perched upon 
 the drum, and woke the slumbering sentinels just 
 in time to save the whole army; in consequence 
 of which, the little bird was proclaimed a traitor, 
 outlawed, and his life declared forfeit wherever 
 he was thenceforward encountered. 
 
 Another old custom prevails also to some ex- 
 tent. May eve, the last day of April, is called 
 " Nettlemas night: " boys parade the streets with 
 large bunches of nettles, stinging their playmates, 
 and occasionally bestowing a sly touch upon 
 strangers who come in their way. Young and 
 merry maidens, too, not unfrequently avail them- 
 selves of the privilege to " sting " their lovers ; and 
 the laughter in the street is often echoed in the 
 drawing-room. These are the only customs pe- 
 culiar to Cork, if we except that of " the Christ- 
 mas candle." A tallow candle is formed, with- 
 out question to commemorate " the Trinity; " it 
 is lit at three ends on Christmas eve, and burned 
 until midnight. (See Plate No. 2.) It is then 
 extinguished, and carefully preserved during the 
 year as a protection against the visits of all evil 
 spirits except whiskey. 
 
 Promenades in the immediate neighbourhood 
 of Cork are few; the oldest is the Mardyke, a 
 walk between rows of aged but ungracefully 
 lopped trees, which shade a gravelled path, at the 
 side of a muddy and half -stagnant " canal." 
 The new cemetery, however, demands some no- 
 tice. It was formerly a botanic garden attached 
 to the Cork Institution; but in 1826 was sold to
 
 40 IRELAND 
 
 the very Rev. Theobald Mathew, who converted 
 it to its present use. It is, therefore, perhaps 
 unrivalled in the kingdom, being full of the rarest 
 trees from all parts of the world; its walls are 
 covered with climbing roses and other shrubs; 
 and from the nature of its soil and aspect, every- 
 thing is growing in luxuriant profusion. The 
 hand of science has laid out its gravelled paths, 
 and the art of the sculptor has been employed to 
 ornament it occasionally with remarkably good 
 taste and effect, but not unfrequently so as 
 greatly to mar its beauty. As a specimen of the 
 bad taste occasionally, though we must admit 
 rarely, to be found here, the clothing of an angel 
 in a fashionable cravat and coat is an instance, 
 copied from the " iron railing of a monument." 
 (See Plate No. 2.) We regret to add that the 
 cemetery is completely overgrown with weeds 
 gigantic nettles and docks have been permitted 
 absolutely to cover the graves, reminding the vis- 
 itor far too forcibly of the lines on " the slug- 
 gard," 
 
 " I went to his garden and saw the wild brier, 
 The thorn and the thistle grew higher and higher." 
 
 In such a situation, and under such circum- 
 stances, this is to be lamented; although Mr. 
 Mathew himself is unable to attend to the pro- 
 prieties of this naturally beautiful cemetery, the 
 care of it should be confided to some one whose 
 time and attention might be worthily employed 
 in improving it and keeping it in order. 
 
 The prosperity of Cork is maintained exclu-
 
 CORK 41 
 
 sively by its export trade ; this principally con- 
 sists of live stock, salted provisions, corn, whis- 
 key, tanned leather, and butter. For butter it 
 has long been celebrated: so early as 1744, the 
 export was 97,852 cwt.; in the year 1836, it ex- 
 ceeded 270,000 firkins. The population of the 
 city by the last census was 107,016; of the county 
 the largest and most populous of Ireland 
 703,716. 
 
 Cork is the great " outlet " for emigrants from 
 the south of Ireland, and the Australian Emi- 
 gration Society have an agent there. Their 
 plans appear to be conducted very judiciously; 
 and although it can never be aught but a melan- 
 choly sighjt to see the most useful and valuable 
 of its home produce exported to enrich distant 
 lands, when there are so many thousand acres, 
 unproductive, in all directions around them, the 
 evil is greatly lessened by prudent and sensible 
 arrangements, in transmitting them to the scene 
 of their future labours. We are not, at present, 
 about to consider the anomalies and contradic- 
 tions of Ireland her natural advantages and 
 destitute population her land wanting labour, 
 and her people wanting employment or, as it 
 was epigrammatically expressed by " a patriot " 
 at Bannow, " lands wanting hands, and hands 
 wanting lands ; " but there is no disputing the 
 fact, that, under existing circumstances, emigra- 
 tion to some extent is a necessary evil. 
 
 We stood, in the month of June, on the quay 
 of Cork to see some emigrants embark in one of 
 the steamers for Falmouth, on their way to Aus-
 
 42 IRELAND 
 
 tralia. The band of exiles amounted to two 
 hundred, and an immense crowd had assembled 
 to bid them a long and last adieu. The scene 
 was very touching; it was impossible to witness 
 it without heart-pain and tears. Mothers hung 
 upon the necks of their athletic sons ; young girls 
 clung to elder sisters ; fathers old white-headed 
 men fell upon their knees, with arms uplifted 
 to heaven, imploring the protecting care of the 
 Almighty on their departing children. " Och," 
 exclaimed one aged woman, " all's gone from me 
 in the wide world when you're gone! Sure you 
 was all I had left ! of seven sons but you! Oh 
 Dennis, Dennis, never forget your mother your 
 mother! don't, avourneen your poor ould 
 mother, Dennis ! " And Dennis, a young man 
 though the sun was shining on his grey hair 
 supported " his mother " in his arms until she 
 fainted; and then he lifted her into a small car 
 that had conveyed his baggage to the vessel, and 
 kissing a weeping young woman who leaned 
 against the horse, he said, " I'll send home for 
 you both, Peggy, in the rise of next year; and 
 ye'll be a child to her from this out, till then, and 
 then, avourneen, you'll be my own." When we 
 looked again the young man was gone, and 
 " Peggy " had wound her arms round the old 
 woman, while another girl held a broken cup of 
 water to her lips. Amid the din, the noise, the 
 turmoil, the people pressing and rolling in vast 
 masses towards the place of embarkation, like the 
 waves of the troubled sea, there were many such 
 sad episodes. Men, old men too, embracing each
 
 CORK 43 
 
 other and crying like children. Several passed 
 bearing most carefully little relics of their homes 
 the branch of a favourite hawthorn tree, whose 
 sweet blossoms and green leaves were already 
 withered, or a bunch of meadow-sweet. Many 
 had a long switch of the " witch hazel," to en- 
 circle the ground whereon they were to sleep in 
 a foreign land, so as, according to the universal 
 superstition, to prevent the approach of any 
 venomous reptile or poisonous insect. One girl 
 we saw with a gay little goldfinch in a cage she 
 and her sister were town-bred, and told us they 
 had learned " lace-work " from the good ladies 
 at the convent, " that look'd so beautiful on the 
 banks of the Cork river ; " and then they burst out 
 weeping again, and clung together as if to assure 
 each other that, sad as it was to leave their coun- 
 try, they would be together in exile. 
 
 On the deck of the steamer there was less con- 
 fusion than might have been expected. The 
 hour of departure was at hand the police had 
 torn asunder several who at the last would not be 
 separated and as many as could find room 
 were leaning over the side speechless, yet eloquent 
 in gesture, expressing their adieus to their friends 
 and relatives on shore. In the midst of the agi- 
 tation, a fair-haired boy and girl were sitting 
 tranquilly, yet sadly, watching over a very fine 
 white Angora cat that was carefully packed in a 
 basket. ' We are going out to papa and mamma 
 with nurse," they said, in an unmitigated brogue ; 
 " but we are very sorry to leave dear Ireland for 
 all that." Their father had, we imagine, been a
 
 44 IRELAND 
 
 prosperous settler. " Oh, Ireland, mavourneen 
 oh, my own dear counthry and is it myself 
 that's for laving you afther giving ye the sweat 
 of my brow and the love of my heart for forty 
 years ! " said a strong man, whose features were 
 convulsed with emotion, while he grasped his 
 children tightly to his bosom. " And remember 
 your promise, Mogue, remember your promise; 
 not to let my bones rest in the strange counthry, 
 Mogue," said his wife; "but to send me home 
 when I'm dead to my own people in Kilcrea 
 that's my consolation." 
 
 It is impossible to describe the final parting. 
 Shrieks and prayers, blessings and lamentations, 
 mingled in " one great cry " from those on the 
 quay and those on shipboard, until a band sta- 
 tioned in the forecastle struck up " Patrick's day." 
 " Bate the brains out of the big drum, or ye '11 not 
 stifle the women's cries," said one of the sailors to 
 the drummer. We left the vessel and her crowd 
 of clean, well-dressed, and perfectly sober emi- 
 grants with deep regret, that, while there are in 
 Ireland so many miles of unreclaimed land, such 
 a freight should be conveyed from her shores. 
 The communicating plank was withdrawn; the 
 steamer moved forward majestically on its way. 
 Some, overcome with emotion, fell down on the 
 deck; others waved hats, handkerchiefs, and 
 hands to their friends; the band played louder; 
 and the crowds on shore rushed forward simul- 
 taneously, determined to see the last of those 
 they loved. We heard a feeble voice exclaim,
 
 CORK 45 
 
 " Dennis, Dennis, don't forget your mother 
 your poor ould mother ! " 
 
 The evening that succeeded this agitating 
 morning was calm and balmy. We desired to 
 examine the scene of the morning's turmoil, and 
 drove along the quay ; it was lonely and deserted 
 save by a few stragglers. We continued our 
 drive until the signs of immediate traffic were 
 widely scattered. We passed through the village 
 of Douglas, once famous for its sail-cloth manu- 
 factory, and proceeded onward until the Cork 
 river widened into a mimic sea, called Lough 
 Mahon. We drove slowly, enjoying the rare 
 and exquisitely varied landscape, until our at- 
 tention was attracted by a woman standing by 
 the water's brink, whose eyes were looking to- 
 wards the sea-path where it leads to the broad 
 Atlantic. There was something firm and statue- 
 like in her figure, and her face had an earnest, 
 intense expression, that accorded with her high 
 Spanish features and dark hair; a large shawl 
 enveloped her head and draped her shoulders; 
 her legs and feet were bare. We drove on about 
 half a mile further, and when we returned she 
 was there still on the same spot, with the same 
 fixed and earnest gaze over the waters. This 
 excited our curiosity, and the information we re- 
 ceived was a very striking and gratifying illus- 
 tration of the devotedness of woman's love. 
 
 " I have known her," said an old fisherman, 
 " for four-and-twenty years almost ever since 
 she was born, and I must say 'Ay! there ye
 
 46 IRELAND 
 
 stand, Grace Connell, and a better woman never 
 looked with a tearful eye, or a batin heart, along 
 the waters.' And what do you think her dis- 
 tress is now? an 'troth like all tender people 
 the throuble is seldom altogether away from her ; 
 the could only look to themselves, the kind have 
 a pulse for all the world. Grace Connell doesn't 
 to say belong to Cork, but her father came here 
 soon after she was born, a widow-man with only 
 her ; he settled down in Cove, and it wasn't long 
 till he married again. And Grace's stepmother 
 was kinder, I believe, than most of her like ; any- 
 how when she died which she did after being 
 a wife about two years Grace, and she little 
 more than a slip of a child, took wonderfully to 
 the baby the stepmother left, and every one 
 wondered how one so young could manage an 
 infant so well. Grace would mend her father's 
 nets and things, keep all clean and comfortable, 
 and yet find time to be with her little sister in 
 summer shade and winter sunshine; finding out 
 what best she'd like, what best would do her 
 good, and learning her all she knew not much, 
 to be sure but her all. Nell grew up the con- 
 thrary to Grace in all things, a giddy goose of 
 a puss of a girl, yet the purtiest ever seen in 
 Cove ; and the hand of God was heavy over them, 
 for while they were both young the father died. 
 But Grace Connell kept herself and her sister 
 well, for she's wonderful handy and industrious; 
 and as was natural, in Ireland anyhow, Grace 
 got a sweetheart, a fine handsome steady boy as 
 you'd meet in a day's walk, and a clever hand at
 
 CORK 47 
 
 his trade. Now if Grace was steady, John 
 Casey was steadier ten times over, and every one 
 said they were just made for each other. And 
 they took on at the * courting ' different to most, 
 because they agreed to wait till John was out of 
 his time before they got married. Weeks and 
 months passed, and Nell grew up beautiful, a 
 wild half -sailor sort of a girl, who could furl a 
 sail or scull a boat, and sing say songs, and, all 
 the while, was as shy and as proud as Barry Oge 
 himself. Grace sometimes had a misgiving in 
 her own mind that John was not as fond of her 
 as he used to be; but then he had a quiet Eng- 
 lish sort of dry way with him, that led her off 
 the notion again. One Sunday evening in par- 
 ticular, they, that is Grace and Nelly and John, 
 were down nearly opposite where you saw Grace 
 standing. Grace was sitting on the strand, and 
 John by her side. While Nell was amusing her- 
 self climbing among the cliffs, and singing like 
 a wild bird, two or three times they warned her 
 not to be so venturesome, but she'd only laugh 
 at them and be the more fearless ; and soon Grace 
 saw that John was watching Nell instead of 
 listening to her, and a heavy cloud came over her, 
 and both remained silent. 
 
 " All of a sudden, as Nell was reaching over 
 the edge to pull some sea-pinks, she fell in: the 
 rocks were sharp just there, and the water deep 
 and when Grace got to the spot, Nell was 
 floating out with the tide, and the water red with 
 her blood. John was a fine swimmer, and with 
 a word, which even then Grace felt, he jumped
 
 48 IRELAND 
 
 in and brought her to shore in his arms in a few 
 minutes; but before the sun set that had shone 
 upon those three, Grace saw by him, in his mad- 
 ness as he hung over her still senseless sister, 
 that it was Nell he loved now as he once said 
 he had loved Grace. ' I didn't wonder at it,' said 
 Grace Connell to my wife, who was her mother's 
 own first cousin * I didn't wonder at his chang- 
 ing, for that night, when I caught sight of my- 
 self in the glass afther looking at that fair young 
 creature as she lay like a bruised water-lily on 
 our little bed, I thought how much there was in 
 the differ; and sure I couldn't be angry that she 
 twined round poor John's heart, when I knew 
 how she had twined round mine. Didn't we 
 both help to rear her, as I may say ? and the only 
 dread in life I shall have, I know, when I get 
 over the disappointment, will be, that she won't 
 love John as long and as steadily as I have done.' 
 My wife," added the old man, " is anything but 
 tender-hearted, yet she cried like a child to hear 
 Grace talk that way ; so steady in herself, and all 
 the time a breaking heart painted in every fea- 
 ture of her face. The next day she gave back 
 all promises to John; and what made her 
 stronger in her resolution than anything else, was 
 finding that Nelly had a childish fancy for him 
 unbenownst to herself. It was no wonder that 
 she should, for John certainly was as handsome 
 a boy as ever crossed a chapel-green ; but he must 
 have been as blind as a star-fish to prefer her to 
 Grace. It was a quare thing I always think 
 it as wonderful a thing as ever I heerd tell of
 
 CORK 49 
 
 that creature watching and tending the restless, 
 tiresome girl, nursing her, and improving her 
 as well as she knew how and for what? to make 
 her a fit wife for the man she had looked upon 
 as her husband for more than five years, and 
 loving him all the time. My wife spoke to her 
 once about it : ' Let me alone,' she says, ' every 
 one knows what's right if they ask their own 
 heart; and loving them both, sure I've nothing 
 left me in the world to seek for or pray for, but 
 just the happiness of them two. Well, after a 
 good deal of talking about it, it was laid out a 
 year and a half ago that John was to go off to 
 Australia, and when he had got settled a bit, 
 send home for Nelly, and that she was to go out 
 with his own sister; and they were to be married 
 there. It was a wonderful thing to see how 
 Grace bore it, and how she slaved to keep up 
 everything for Nelly; and when the letter came 
 at last from John, for Nell and his sister to go 
 out in the next ship, I never shall forget the face 
 of poor Grace, all flushed as it was, coming to my 
 wife and the letter open in her hand and she 
 read every word of it ; how everything had pros- 
 pered that he took in hand, and how John prayed 
 her to go out with Nell, and called her ' sister,' 
 and how Grace almost choked at the word, and 
 ' No,' says she, ' never! I will do all I can to 
 make them happy to the end of my days, as I 
 have done; but to stay there with them God 
 forgive me,' she says, ' I could not do that.' 
 Now," continued the old man, " what I look to 
 
 is this : from the time Grace got that letter, until 
 
 v i
 
 50 IRELAND 
 
 this blessed morning, all her thought was what 
 she could make out to send that sister away in 
 the best manner. I am sure, as I am of the light 
 of heaven, that since she was born she never did 
 think of herself no; you saw her; every bit of 
 finery, every stitch that could serve her sister, 
 has she deprived herself of for what? to make 
 that sister better in the eyes of him who ought to 
 have been her husband. To see them two girls 
 as I saw them this morning, Nelly dressed like 
 any lady, and those that had time whispering of 
 her beauty and poor Grace as she is now, 
 with nothing but the downright love of every 
 heart that knows her to keep her from being alone 
 in the world; to see her with her fine spirit and 
 high-up thoughts that are as pure as God's breath 
 in the heavens to see her dressed like a beggar, 
 without even shoes on her feet, stripped, as one 
 may say, for the sake of them that wracked her 
 happiness. And then the parting how she kept 
 up her own sister's and his sister's hearts to the 
 last minute; and how she followed the steamer 
 farther than any of the people; and stood, when 
 it left her sight, in that spot, looking out for 
 hours, as if to see, poor girl, what she will never 
 see again. ' Let me alone/ she says to me, and 
 I rasoning with her, * let me alone ; af ther to-day 
 I'll be as I always was.' Ah, then, it would be 
 a heavy lead and a long line that would get to 
 the bottom of her heart's love,'* added the old 
 fisherman; "and if any of us could have the 
 satisfaction of hearing her complain but no, not 
 she, not a murmur only all cheerful, patient,
 
 CORK 51 
 
 loving, sweetness; yet I'm afraid that all this 
 time there's a canker in her own heart. And 
 there's my son, who would Mss the print of her 
 bare foot in a dirty road she won't look at him," 
 said the old man pettishly ; " but I don't care 
 whether she does or not, Grace Connell shall 
 never want a FATHER." 
 
 To the city of Cork belongs the honour of 
 forwarding and establishing if it did not orig- 
 inate one of the most extraordinary moral rev- 
 olutions which the history of the world records; 
 we speak of the " Temperance Movement," at 
 the head of which is the Very Rev. Theobald 
 Mathew, a Capuchin friar, and superior of the 
 order. The subject is one of such vital impor- 
 tance, and such immense results have already 
 arisen from it, that we shall offer no apology for 
 entering into it at some length. 
 
 For centuries past, drunkenness was the shame 
 and the bane of Ireland; an Irishman had be- 
 come proverbial for intoxication, and that with- 
 out reference to his rank in society; from the 
 highest to the lowest from 
 
 " The peer 
 Who killed himself for love with wine last year," 
 
 to the peasant who " goes to a tent," where 
 
 " He spends half-a-crown, 
 Then meets with a friend, and for love knocks him down," 
 
 the portraiture was invariably the same; and to 
 picture an Irishman truly, either by words or 
 on canvas, or to represent him accurately on the
 
 52 IHELAND 
 
 stage, it was considered indispensable that he 
 should be drunk. 
 
 A manifest improvement had of late years 
 taken place among the higher classes ; we are our- 
 selves old enough to recollect when a host would 
 have been scouted as mean and inhospitable, who 
 had suffered one of his guests to leave his table 
 sober. Ingenious devices were invented for com- 
 pelling intoxication ; glasses and bottles so formed 
 that they could not stand, and must be emptied 
 before they could be laid upon the table the ob- 
 ject being to pass the wine rapidly round were 
 in frequent use. We dined once with a large 
 party where the tea-kettle from which the 
 tumblers were supplied had been filled with 
 heated whiskey; the partakers of the "cheer" 
 being too " far gone " to perceive they were 
 strengthening their punch instead of making it 
 weaker. If a guest were able to mount his horse 
 without assistance, in the " good old times," he 
 was presented with a " deoch an durrass " 6 glass, 
 which he was forced, seldom against his will, to 
 " drink at the door." This glass usually held a 
 quart : it was terminated by a globe, which of it- 
 self contained a " drop " sufficient to complete 
 the business of the night. The degradation was 
 looked upon as a distinction ; an Irishman drunk 
 was an Irishman " all in his glory; " and a 
 " strong head " was considered an enviable pos- 
 session. Many years ago we were acquainted 
 with a gentleman at Ross-Carbery, whose daily 
 " stint " was five-and-twenty tumblers of whiskey 
 punch, of the ordinary strength; and we knew
 
 CORK 53 
 
 another, whose frequent boast it was, that in a 
 long life he had drunk enough to float a seventy- 
 four gun ship. 
 
 Among the gentry, however, this most perni- 
 cious practice has been latterly not only in dis- 
 use, but treated as disreputable and disgraceful; 
 and gentlemen after dinner have ceased to be 
 disgusting in the drawing-room. Yet the mid- 
 dling and humbler classes had undergone little 
 or no change. The vigilance of the excise, and 
 a large reduction of the tax on spirits, had indeed 
 destroyed the illicit trade in whiskey, and made 
 the private still a rarity ; but it was so cheap that 
 any man, comparatively unpractised, might drink 
 himself into a state of insanity for fourpence. 
 The extent of the evil almost exceeds belief; in 
 the towns and villages every other house was 
 " licensed to sell spirits," or sold them without a 
 license. Fairs, wakes, and funerals, were scenes 
 of frightful excess: in the former, men seldom 
 met without a " fight," and the ensuing assizes 
 always furnished a terrible illustration of the 
 consequences; at the latter, the "merriment" 
 excited by drink was unnatural and revolting; 
 and very often a year's produce of the small 
 farmer was consumed in a night. These degrad- 
 ing characteristics of " old Ireland " we shall 
 have to describe hereafter. In brief, wherever 
 twenty persons assembled within reach of spirits, 
 nineteen of them were certain to be drunk. It 
 is unnecessary to add, that nearly all the outrages 
 that were committed were the results of intoxi- 
 cation ; or rather, that drink was the preparation
 
 54 IRELAND 
 
 for every atrocity. We are prepared with 
 abundant proofs (the various authorities we con- 
 sulted were agreed upon the fact), that in every 
 instance in which murder was either perpetrated 
 or attempted, the murderer had previously fitted 
 himself, or been fitted, for the work, by draughts 
 of whiskey; leaving him just sense and strength 
 enough to execute the act contemplated. We do 
 not go too far in saying, that all the mischievous 
 tendencies of the lower Irish may be traced to 
 their habitual intoxication ; while it originated and 
 kept up their poverty and wretchedness wither- 
 ing and destroying all it could reach. 
 
 As with the aristocracy, so with the people; 
 drunkenness was inculcated as a merit, and al- 
 most as a duty. A large proportion of the songs 
 popular among the peasantry were in praise of 
 whiskey, and very few of them were without 
 some reference to it. One of them blesses the 
 Pope and the Council of Trent, who 
 
 " Laid fast upon mate, and not upon drink." 
 
 It was " mate, drink, and clothing; " " father and 
 mother, and sister and brother ; " " my outside 
 coat I'll have no other; " " mavourneen, my joy 
 and my jewel; " " vein of my heart; " " life-en- 
 dearing, humour-lending, mirth-increasing; " "a 
 cordial for all ages, that each evil assuages : " 
 in short, whiskey was the panacea recommended 
 in song for aH the ills that flesh is heir to. 
 
 While, therefore, the rich had their incitements 
 to drink supplied to them in delicately-turned 
 rhymes
 
 CORK 55 
 
 " To wreathe the bowl with flowers of soul ; " 
 
 the humble were lured to intoxication by the rude 
 lays of their village poets 
 
 " A glass of whiskey to make us frisky." 
 
 We cannot soon forget the figure of a fine stal- 
 wart fellow we once saw staggering homeward 
 from Limerick, whirling his shillelah, and every 
 now and then sending a shout a " whoop hurra " 
 over the mountains, as he finished his song of a 
 single verse, and so described the class to which 
 he belonged: 
 
 " The never a day have I for drink 
 But Saturday, Sunday, Monday, 
 Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 
 Och ! the dickens a day have I for drink 
 But Saturday, Sunday, Monday 
 
 Whoop hurra 
 Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday ! " 
 
 All attempts to check the progress of intem- 
 perance were fruitless; it had long been custom- 
 ary, indeed, to take oaths to abstain from drink 
 for a season but, if kept, they produced no 
 permanent good; and the tricks and shifts 
 to evade them were generally successful. We 
 recollect a man swearing he would not drink 
 for a month he soaked bread in spirits and 
 ate it; another, who swore he would not touch 
 liquor while he stood " on earth," got drunk amid 
 the branches of a tree; another who vowed not 
 to touch a drop " in doors or out," strode across 
 his threshold, placing one leg inside and the other
 
 56 IRELAND 
 
 outside and so, persuading himself he did not 
 break his oath, drank until he fell; another who 
 bound himself not to " touch liquor in the parish," 
 brought a sod of turf from a distance, and 
 placed his foot upon it when he resolved to drink. 
 We knew one who was kept sober thus: he was 
 always willing to take an oath against whiskey 
 for six weeks, but no longer; his master invari- 
 ably watched the day on which " his time " ex- 
 pired, and compelled him to repeat his oath; 
 which he would readily do after swallowing two 
 glasses. To make the Irish abstain, even to a 
 moderate extent, was, therefore, considered a 
 hopeless task ; and he would have been a visionary 
 indeed, who foretold a time when a drunken 
 Irishman would be a far greater rarity than a 
 sober one. 
 
 The frightful nature and extent of the evil 
 had long been fully understood, and exertions had 
 been made to lessen it. On the 20th of August, 
 1829, the Rev. George Carr, a clergyman of the 
 Established Church, a near and dear connexion 
 of our own, established the first Temperance 
 Society of Ireland in the town of New Ross. 
 He had read some American newspapers which 
 contained encouraging accounts of the progress 
 the principle was making in the New World 
 we quote his own words and saw at once " that 
 there was no country where it was so much needed 
 as Ireland; not only as removing the national 
 stain of drunkenness, but, by its operations, rais- 
 ing a platform on which all parties could meet 
 without compromise of, or interference with, their
 
 CORK 57 
 
 respective principles, either political or religious." 
 Having been called upon to attend a meeting 
 of the Bible Society, at a Quakers' meeting-house, 
 he took occasion to request that his auditors 
 would remain in order to hear what he had to say 
 on the subject of temperance. They heard him, 
 were satisfied with his arguments, adopted his 
 plans, and the work was at once commenced. 7 
 For several years, however, but little way was 
 made : the advocates of temperance were exposed 
 to contempt and laughter as idle dreamers; a 
 coffee tent, which they erected at fairs, was an 
 object of ridicule; and although they had not 
 abandoned hope, their efforts were comparatively 
 fruitless, and the most sanguine among them in- 
 dulged in no idea of large success. 
 
 Shortly afterwards a temperance society was 
 formed in Cork; the example of New Ross hav- 
 ing, by the way, been followed in many other 
 towns. Among its leading members were the 
 Rev. Nicholas Dunscombe, Mr. William Martin, 
 a Quaker, and two tradesmen, Mr. Olden, a 
 slater, and Mr. Connell, a tailor; they conceived 
 the idea of consigning the important task into 
 the hands of the Rev. Mr. Mathew, then highly 
 popular in the city, and so liberal in his opinions 
 as to be respected by all classes. He met these 
 gentlemen, seriously pondered over their plans 
 and the probabilities of succeeding, and ulti- 
 mately, though not immediately, joined them 
 " hand and heart." The road had thus been to 
 some extent opened for him ; and it is unquestion- 
 able that the gradual although limited improve-
 
 58 IRELAND 
 
 ment which had taken place in the character of 
 the peasantry had greatly facilitated his progress. 
 Notions of thrift, an appreciation of comforts 
 easy of attainment, and a conviction that a skilful 
 application of industry might double the produce 
 of the poor man's " bit of land," had been taught 
 them by causes to which we have already referred, 
 and had made them willing rather than averse 
 listeners. The comparative dearth of topics for 
 agitation, too, had left their minds at leisure to 
 receive lessons, to which, a few years ago, they 
 would have paid no attention. 
 
 On the 10th of April, 1838, " the Cork Total 
 Abstinence Society " was formed. It is cer- 
 tain that Mr. Mathew never for a moment an- 
 ticipated the wonderful results that were to fol- 
 low its establishment, and probably was as much 
 astonished as any person in the kingdom, when 
 he found not only thousands but millions enter- 
 ing into a compact with him " to abstain from the 
 use of all intoxicating drinks " and keeping it. 
 His Cork society was joined by members from 
 very distant parts from the mountains of Kerry, 
 from the wild sea-cliffs of Clare, from the banks 
 of the Shannon, and from places still further off ; 
 until at length he formed the resolution of dedi- 
 cating his whole time, and devoting his entire 
 energies, to attain the great object he now knew 
 to be within his reach. He has travelled through 
 nearly every district of Ireland; held meetings 
 in nearly every town; and on the 10th October, 
 1840, his list of members contained upwards of
 
 CORK 59 
 
 two millions five hundred and thirty thousand 
 names. 
 
 Previously to our latest visit to Ireland, we 
 had entertained, in common with many others, 
 strong doubts first, as to the actual extent of 
 the reformation; next, as to the likelihood of its 
 durability; and next, as to whether some latent 
 danger might not lurk under a change so sudden, 
 so unaccountable by any ordinary rules, and so 
 opposed to the character and constitution of the 
 Irish people. As in our case these doubts have 
 been entirely dispelled, it is our duty to labour 
 to remove them from the minds of those of our 
 readers by whom they may still be entertained. 
 
 In reference to the extent to which sobriety 
 has spread, it will be almost sufficient to state, 
 that during our recent stay in Ireland, from the 
 10th of June to the 6th of September, 1840, we 
 saw but six persons intoxicated; and that for the 
 first thirty days we had not encountered one. 
 In the course of that month we had travelled 
 from Cork to Killarney round the coast; re- 
 turning by the inland route ; not along mail-coach 
 roads, but on a " jaunting car," through byways 
 as well as highways; visiting small villages and 
 populous towns ; driving through fairs ; attending 
 wakes and funerals (returning from one of 
 which, between Glengariff and Kenmare, at 
 nightfall, we met at least a hundred substantial 
 farmers, mounted) ; in short, wherever crowds 
 were assembled, and we considered it likely we 
 might gather information as to the state of the
 
 60 IRELAND 
 
 country and the character of its people. We re- 
 peat, we did not meet a single individual who 
 appeared to have tasted spirits; and we do not 
 hesitate to express our conviction, that two years 
 ago, in the same places and during the same time, 
 we should have encountered many thousand 
 drunken men. From first to last, we employed, 
 perhaps, fifty car-drivers: we never found one 
 to accept a drink; the boatmen at Killarney, 
 proverbial for drunkenness, insubordination, and 
 recklessness of life, declined the whiskey we had 
 taken with us for the bugle-player, who was not 
 " pledged," and after hours of hard labour, 
 dipped a can into the lake and refreshed them- 
 selves from its waters. It was amusing as well as 
 gratifying to hear their new reading of the ad- 
 dress to the famous echo : " Paddy Blake, plase 
 yer honour, the gintleman promises ye some 
 coffee whin ye get home ; " and on the Black- 
 water, a muddy river, as its name denotes, our 
 boat's crew put into shore, midway between 
 Youghal and Lismore, to visit a clear spring, 
 with the whereabouts of which they were familiar. 
 The whiskey-shops are closed or converted into 
 coffee-houses; the distilleries have, for the most 
 part, ceased to work ; and the breweries are barely 
 able to maintain a trade sufficient to prevent en- 
 tire stoppage. 8 Of the extent of the change, 
 therefore, we have had ample experience; and it 
 is borne out by the assurances of so many who 
 live in towns as well as in the country, that we 
 can have no hesitation in describing sobriety to 
 be almost universal throughout Ireland.
 
 CORK 61 
 
 For its continuance we look, not only with 
 earnest hope, but with entire confidence. We 
 are not sanguine enough to expect that the whole 
 of the millions will endure to the end; but that 
 a very large proportion of them will persevere 
 there cannot be a rational doubt. Intoxication 
 now-a-days, instead of being a glory, is a re- 
 proach; the people look upon a drunken man, 
 not with sympathy or even tolerance, but with 
 absolute disgust, and point him out to their chil- 
 dren as the Spartans did their helots as a les- 
 son, not to be forgotten, against vice. This, 
 alone, affords a certain degree of security against 
 any large return to evil habits. 9 But we trust, 
 mainly, to the comforts, small luxuries, and 
 guarantees against periodical visitations of want, 
 that will be obtained by the people, whose earn- 
 ings were formerly squandered at " shebeen 
 shops." One or two facts out of the many at our 
 command may illustrate this view of the case 
 better than argument. In 1838, while on a visit 
 to a relative in Limerick, for the purpose of fish- 
 ing on the all-glorious Shannon, our friend had 
 engaged the services of a boatman ; and, in order 
 that he might make a decent appearance before 
 the " strangers," sent him, the night previous to 
 our first excursion, a suit of clothes. The next 
 morning he was, as usual, in rags. " Come, 
 Terence," said our friend, " make haste and dress 
 yourself, or we shall lose our tide." " Be dad, 
 sir, the woman's gone out and tuck the key o' 
 the small box wid her; never mind de clothes to- 
 day, Master John." Master John threw the
 
 62 IRELAND 
 
 man a shilling, and saying, " That will pay for 
 a new lock," took up a boat rowel, and was about 
 to enter the cottage shrewdly guessing at the 
 truth however to break open the box. An ex- 
 planation took place; the man had pawned the 
 gift, and on inquiry we learned had spent in whis- 
 key every farthing of the sum obtained. We en- 
 tered his cabin; his wife was stretched, still in- 
 sensible, on the wet floor; his children were cry- 
 ing on a mass of damp straw in a corner ; nothing 
 like food was to be seen; the man, naturally one 
 of the finest-looking fellows we had ever met, 
 at least six feet high, and with remarkably hand- 
 some features, was half-stupefied from the effects 
 of the night's debauch; a more deplorable illus- 
 tration of the effects of drunkenness we could 
 not have obtained in Ireland. He was earning 
 sufficient to procure every comfort; his skill as 
 an angler was so great and so generally esti- 
 mated, that he was always sure of employment; 
 yet his cottage was a picture of entire wretched- 
 ness, and gave evidence only of utter depravity. 
 On our entreating our friend to procure another 
 boatman, his answer was, that they were all alike, 
 this one having the merit of being, drunk or 
 sober, a degree more civil, safe, and skilful than 
 the rest. A few days afterwards, on going as 
 usual to our boat, we found him absent; he was 
 in jail, having in a fit of drunkenness cruelly 
 beaten his wife, who, drunk also, had bitten his 
 hand so as terribly to maim it. After much hesi- 
 tation we procured his release, having first seen 
 him take, in the prison-yard, a solemn oath not
 
 CORK 63 
 
 to touch whiskey for three months. Next morn- 
 ing, the fellow was so drunk that we could not 
 take him with us. A more hopeless case it was 
 scarcely possible to imagine. We have not seen 
 him since. But we learn that, twelve months 
 ago, he " took the pledge," that he is altogether 
 reformed, and his wife with him; that they and 
 their children are well clad, amply fed, and their 
 cottage clean, comfortable, and sufficiently fur- 
 nished; that the man visits the savings bank 
 as often as he used to do the pawn-office; and 
 that a finer or more healthy looking fellow 
 never steered a " cot " among the perilous 
 breakers of the rapid Shannon. Of their relapse 
 into want, misery, and degradation, there cannot 
 be much danger. 
 
 We entered one day a cottage in a suburb of 
 Cork: a woman was knitting stockings at the 
 door; it was as neat and comfortable as any in 
 the most prosperous district of England. We 
 tell her brief story in her own words, as nearly 
 as we can recall them: " My husband is a wheel- 
 wright, and always earned his guinea a week; he 
 was a good workman, and neither a bad man nor 
 a bad husband, but the love for the drink was 
 strong in him; and it wasn't often he brought 
 me home more than five shillings out of his one- 
 pound-one on a Saturday night; and it broke 
 my heart to see the poor childer too ragged to 
 send to school, to say nothing of the starved look 
 they had out of the little I could give them. 
 Well, God be praised! he took the pledge; and 
 the next Saturday he laid twenty-one shillings
 
 64 IRELAND 
 
 upon the chair you sit upon. Oh! didn't I give 
 thanks on my bended knees that night! Still, 
 I was fearful it wouldn't last, and I spent no 
 more than the five shillings I was used to, saying 
 to myself, maybe the money will be more wanted 
 than it is now. Well, the next week he brought 
 me the same, and the next, and the next, until 
 eight weeks passed; and, glory be to God! there 
 was no change for the bad in my husband; and 
 all the while he never asked me why there was 
 nothing better for him out of his hard earnings: 
 so I felt there was no fear of him ; and the ninth 
 week when he came home to me, I had this table 
 bought and these six chairs ; one for myself, four 
 for the children, and one for himself. And I 
 was dressed in a new gown, and the children all 
 had new clothes, and shoes and stockings, and 
 upon his own chair I put a bran-new suit; and 
 upon his plate I put the bill and resate for them 
 all just the eight sixteen shillings they cost, 
 that I'd saved out of his wages, not knowing 
 what might happen, and that always before went 
 for drink. And he cried, good lady and good 
 gentleman, he cried like a baby but 'twas with 
 thanks to God; and now where's the healthier 
 man than my husband in the County Cork; or 
 a happier wife than myself ; or dacenter or better 
 fed children than our own four? " It is most 
 unlikely that such a family will again sink into 
 poverty and wretchedness. We might add 
 largely to these cases, not only from what we 
 have heard, but what we have seen. 10 
 
 But there are some there may be many
 
 CORK 65 
 
 who, while they offer willing evidence to the great 
 good achieved by the Temperance movement, 
 alarm themselves and others by " the baseless 
 fabric of a vision," and imagine that danger to 
 the State lurks under the shadow of the great 
 tree that has grown so rapidly out of the small 
 seed. Few apprehensions can be more opposed 
 to reason, and none to fact. Thoughtless or un- 
 principled agitators may create prejudice against 
 the system by assuming, that out of its materi- 
 als its " three millions " sedition may be 
 wrought ; but the comparative failure of all their 
 recent projects supplies the best answer to as- 
 sertions they know to be utterly groundless. 11 
 The easy in circumstances, and the compara- 
 tively independent, are not the tools that wrong- 
 minded men work with; the leaders in sedition, 
 the prompters and counsellors to outrage, never 
 contemplated proceeding to action until they had 
 made their followers unconscious of what they 
 were doing. It is, as we have stated, incon- 
 trovertible that nine-tenths of the crimes com- 
 mitted in Ireland have been traced to drunken- 
 ness it has thronged the prisons, filled the 
 lunatic asylums, and was the great source of the 
 revenue of the coroner. Our readers may be as- 
 sured that the Temperance movement has not 
 only no connection with any secret or disaffected 
 societies, but that it strikes at the root of all il- 
 legal combinations, and is the strongest and safest 
 supporter of law and justice. In reference to 
 no other country of the world, indeed, would the 
 
 suspicion arise, that what is so good in itself was 
 v s
 
 66 IRELAND 
 
 projected for a bad purpose, and tended to evil; 
 it is equally unwise, unjust, and cruel, to sup- 
 pose that the Irish are the only exceptions to so 
 universal a rule; and have become sober that 
 they may be more dangerous to society, and more 
 fatal enemies to its established institutions. 12 
 
 We hope our testimony may be accepted 
 for our opinions, both religious and political, are 
 certainly not of a nature to bias us unduly 
 when we state that we never knew Ireland so 
 contented, so tranquil, or so likely to become 
 prosperous, as we found it during the autumn of 
 the year 1840. 
 
 During our stay in Cork, we were naturally 
 anxious to meet Mr. Mathew: for immediately 
 after our arrival in that city, we had noted the 
 wonderful and merciful changes his exertions, 
 chiefly, had wrought. He resides in a bye-street, 
 running off from one of the old quays. Here 
 we saw him administer " the pledge." The neo- 
 phyte receives it kneeling, and repeats, after the 
 priest, the following words : 
 
 " I promise to abstain from all intoxicating 
 drinks, except used medicinally, and by order 
 of a medical man, and to discountenance the cause 
 and practice of intemperance." 
 
 Mr. Mathew then marks on his forehead the 
 sign of the cross, and says, " God give you 
 strength to keep your resolution." 
 
 Nothing can be more primitive or simple. A 
 medal and a card are then delivered to the mem- 
 ber. 13 It would puzzle the most prejudiced or 
 suspicious to point out a single word or object
 
 L. A 
 
 T
 
 CORK 67 
 
 engraved on either, against which objection might 
 be taken. As the safest mode of satisfying our 
 readers on this head, we have thought it desirable 
 to procure an engraving of the medal. (See 
 Plate No. 2. ) The card is a copy of the medal, 
 with the addition of two prints, one of " Temper- 
 ance," picturing a happy cottage home, sur- 
 mounted by a bee-hive ; the other, of " Intemper- 
 ance," describing a wretched hovel and its 
 miserable inmates; above it is a lighted candle, 
 into the flame of which a poor moth rushes, and a 
 bottle, round which a serpent coils. It contains 
 also a passage from the Acts, " He reasoned of 
 righteousness, temperance, and judgment to 
 come." 
 
 There is, consequently, nothing of " supersti- 
 tion " associated with the perpetual reminder of 
 the " pledge ; " although, beyond doubt, super- 
 stitious ideas are mixed up with it a large pro- 
 portion of those who have taken it conceiving that 
 a breach of their promise would entail some fear- 
 ful visitation. They go farther than this : many 
 of the pledged believe that Mr. Mathew pos- 
 sesses the power to heal diseases, and preserve his 
 followers from all spiritual and physical dangers 
 an error which Mr. Mathew does not labour to 
 remove, although he is, certainly, not charged 
 with having striven to introduce or extend it. 14 
 We cannot but lament the existence of this evil; 
 yet all who know the Irish peasantry know that 
 an attempt to direct or control them by mere 
 appeals to reason must be utterly vain. It 
 should also be borne in mind, that it is by no-
 
 68 IRELAND 
 
 means a new thing with them to connect super- 
 stitious notions with their clergy. 
 
 We may, perhaps, interest our readers by giv- 
 ing them some details of our visit to Mr. Mathew. 
 The room in which members are received is large, 
 and furnished with a desk and wooden benches. 
 When we entered it, " the President " was not 
 there, but there were men and women of all ages, 
 waiting to take the pledge: among them was a 
 sturdy mountaineer from Kerry a fine athletic 
 fellow who had led his " faction " for a quarter 
 of a century, whose head was scarred in at least 
 a dozen places, and who had been renowned 
 throughout the country for his prowess at every 
 fair within twenty miles of his home. He had 
 long been a member of this society, and had 
 brought a few of his " friends " to follow his ex- 
 ample. He described to us, with natural and 
 forcible eloquence, the effect of temperance in 
 producing peace between man and man in his 
 own immediate neighbourhood in terminating 
 the brutal fights between two notorious and nu- 
 merous factions, the Cooleens and the Lawlors, 
 whose names had figured in every criminal cal- 
 endar for a century back. " No matter what 
 was doing, it was left undone," he said, " if any 
 one of either party chose to call up the rest. 
 They'd leave the hay half -cut, or the oats to be 
 shelled by the four winds of heaven ; and, taking 
 the hay-fork, the reaping-hook, and the scythe 
 in their hands, they'd rush out to massacre each 
 other. Tubs of potheen would be drunk hot 
 from the mountain stills; and then, whooping
 
 CORK 69 
 
 and hallooing like wild Indians, they'd mingle in 
 the unnatural war of Irishman against Irishman. 
 I've known them fight so on the sea-shore, that 
 the sea has come in and drowned those that had 
 fallen drunk in the fray. How is it now? At 
 the last fair at Tralee, there wasn't a stick lifted. 
 There was peace between the factions, and the, 
 Cooleens and the Lawlors met, for the first time 
 in the memory of man, without laving a dead boy 
 to be carried home to the widow's cabin." 
 
 We must detain our readers while we relate 
 another incident which touched us deeply. A 
 lean, pale, haggard-looking man so striking a 
 contrast to the Kerry farmer as to be absolutely 
 startling advanced to the table at which sate 
 the patient and good-tempered secretary to the 
 society, and asked him if his Reverence would be 
 in shortly. A pretty, delicate-looking young 
 woman, very scantily clad, but perfectly clean, 
 was looking over his shoulder as he asked the 
 question. " I think I have seen you before, my 
 good man," said the secretary, " and it's not many 
 weeks ago." 
 
 " It was more his brother than he, sir it was 
 indeed," answered the haggard man's wife, curt- 
 seying, and advancing a little before her husband. 
 
 He interrupted her " Don't try to screen me, 
 Nelly, good girl, don't God knows, Nelly, I 
 don't deserve it from you. See the way I beat 
 her last night, gentlemen, on both arms, like a 
 brute as I was " 
 
 " It wasn't you, dear," said the young woman, 
 drawing her thin shawl more closely over her
 
 70 IRELAND 
 
 bruised limbs : "It was the strength of the spirits 
 did it, and not himself he's as quiet a man as 
 there's in the city o' Cork when he's sober and 
 as fine a workman and he wouldn't hurt a hair 
 of my head barring he was in liquor " 
 
 The poor creature's affectionate appeal on be- 
 half of her erring husband was interrupted by 
 the secretary again demanding if he had not 
 taken the pledge before. 
 
 " I did, sir Stand back, Nelly, and don't try 
 to screen me! I came here and took it from 
 Father Mac Leod and, God forgive me, I 
 broke it too. I broke it last night, or rather all 
 day yesterday, and " 
 
 " Never heed telling any more about it, James 
 dear," said his wife, eagerly; "never heed tell- 
 ing any more about it. A man may be overtaken 
 once, and yet make a fine Christian afther all. 
 You wouldn't be sending him from the priest's 
 knee, sir, because he broke it once, when, as I 
 said before, it was his brother was in it, and not 
 he, only for company." 
 
 " I had no heart to come this morning only 
 for her," said the husband; " she remembered his 
 Reverence preaching about there being more joy 
 in heaven over one like me, than over ninety and 
 nine good men. Oh! if she would only let me 
 tell the wickedness of my past life, and the sin 
 and shame that has followed me " 
 
 " It was the drink, James, it was the drink," 
 reiterated the wife earnestly; " don't be distress- 
 ing yourself, for it was nothing but the drink. 
 Sure, when sober, there isn't a more loving bus-
 
 CORK 71 
 
 band or a tenderer father on Ireland's ground 
 and now you'll be true to the pledge, and it's 
 happy we'll be and prosperous for the masther 
 told me this blessed morning, that if he could de- 
 pend on you for soberness, you'd earn your 
 twenty-five shillings a week, and have the credit 
 to be a Monday man; and ye will, James ye 
 will for my sake and for the sake of the chil- 
 dren at home." 
 
 " Ay," he interrupted, " and for the sake of 
 the broken-hearted mother that bore me, and 
 for the sake of little Mary that I crippled, in 
 the drink. Oh, when the sweet look of that 
 baby is on me her sweet, patient look I think 
 the gates of heaven can never open for such a 
 sinner ! " 
 
 While he made this confession, his arms hung 
 powerless by his sides ; and his pallid face length- 
 ened into an expression of helpless, hopeless, ir- 
 reclaimable misery. The wife turned away and 
 burst into tears. Several evinced the quick 
 sympathies of Irish natures, for they shuddered, 
 and murmured, " The Lord be betwixt us and 
 harm, and look down upon them both ! " The 
 woman was the first to recover consciousness; 
 impelled by a sudden burst of feeling, she threw 
 her bruised arms round her husband's neck, re- 
 calling him to himself by all the tender phrases 
 of Irish affection. We can never forget the 
 agonized earnestness with which the unhappy 
 man took the pledge; the beautiful picture of 
 his gentle and endearing wife as she stood beside 
 him ; or the solemn response that followed from a
 
 72 IRELAND 
 
 score of voices, " Oh, then, God strengthen ye 
 to keep it! " 
 
 No one who sees the Rev. Mr. Mathew will 
 hesitate to believe that he has been stimulated by 
 pure benevolence to the work he has undertaken. 
 The expression of his countenance is peculiarly 
 mild and gracious: his manner is persuasive, 
 gentle, simple and easy, and humble without a 
 shadow of affectation, and his voice is low and 
 musical, " such as moves men." A man more 
 naturally fitted to obtain influence over a people 
 easily led and proverbially swayed by the affec- 
 tions, we have never encountered. No man has 
 borne his honours more meekly ; encountered op- 
 position with greater gentleness and forbearance ; 
 or disarmed hostility by weapons better suited to 
 a Christian. His age is somewhat above fifty, 
 but he looks younger: his frame is strong, evi- 
 dently calculated to endure great fatigue, and 
 his aspect is that of established health a service- 
 able illustration of the practical value of his sys- 
 tem. He is somewhat above the middle size ; his 
 features are handsome as well as expressive. 
 Our brief interview with him confirmed the fa- 
 vourable impression of his character we had 
 obtained from a knowledge of the benefits derived 
 from his labours; and we left him with fervent 
 thanks to God that a man so qualified to sway a 
 multitude, had so wisely, so nobly, and so vir- 
 tuously applied his power and directed the en- 
 ergies of his marvellously active mind feeling 
 how dangerous he might have proved if they had 
 been exerted for evil, and not for good.
 
 CORK 73 
 
 We have thus discharged our duty in submit- 
 ting to our readers the opinions we have formed 
 of the Temperance movement in Ireland. They 
 are the result of careful inquiry and close ex- 
 amination. Our object is to exert our judg- 
 ment, unbiassed by prejudice, so as to discover 
 truth and report truly. We can have no design 
 to answer but that of encouraging those who are 
 striving to benefit Ireland, in the safest and most 
 effectual way; and of obtaining for its people 
 that confidence to which they are daily becoming 
 more and more entitled. We are very far from 
 purposing to forward the interest of a party; 
 and shall deeply lament if we offend any other 
 party by the earnestness with which we have advo- 
 cated the cause. Alas! that the Evil Genius of 
 Ireland has not been stayed from entering even 
 this sacred ground! We have witnessed the 
 prodigious effects of temperance in improving the 
 character and bettering the condition of the Irish 
 peasantry; but we see, in the prospect, advan- 
 tages to which those already obtained are but as 
 dust in the balance, and which those who have 
 recently visited Ireland, to examine it unprej- 
 udiced, will not consider as over-sanguine in an- 
 ticipating : bigotry losing its hold ; the undue or 
 baneful influence of one mind over another mind 
 ceasing; habits of thrift and forethought becom- 
 ing constitutional; industry receiving its full 
 recompense; cultivation passing over the bogs 
 and up the mountains; the law recognised as a 
 guardian and protector; the rights of property 
 fully understood and acknowledged; the rich
 
 74 IRELAND 
 
 trusting the poor, and the poor confiding in the 
 rich; absenteeism no longer a weighty evil; and 
 capital circulating freely and securely, so as to 
 render the great natural resources of Ireland 
 available to the commercial, the agricultural, and 
 the manufacturing interests of the United King- 
 dom. 
 
 i * 
 
 The immediate outlets of Cork possess consid- 
 erable interest, and their natural beauties are, 
 perhaps, not exceeded by those of any city of the 
 kingdom. The river Lee, above and below the 
 bridges, the alternate hill and dale, the high state 
 of cultivation, the number of fine seats and pretty 
 cottages, and an abundance of trees and ever- 
 greens are objects that meet the eye in every 
 direction around Cork, and seem to justify the 
 appellation bestowed upon it by the natives, and 
 assented to by all visitors, of " The beautiful 
 City!" On one side is Sunday's Well, a steep 
 ascent from the height of which there is a mag- 
 nificent view of the river and of the landscape for 
 many miles around it. " Sunday's Well " de- 
 rives its name from one of those sacred fountains 
 which abound in every part of Ireland, and 
 which we shall have to describe hereafter where 
 devotees assemble, at particular periods, under 
 the belief that the water is blessed and cures all 
 disorders. On the same side of the river are the 
 Upper and Lower Glanmire Roads not long 
 since solitary walks, but now a busy and populous 
 district. The " Lower " conducts to the wharfs 
 and timber-yards, and skirts the river; the " Up-
 
 CORK 75 
 
 per," to the barracks, an extensive and commo- 
 dious structure; and both roads terminate in 
 scenery of great beauty. But the most attrac- 
 tive of the outlets from Cork is that which leads 
 to Passage, and which it will be our business to 
 describe when we conduct the reader to Cove; 
 we give precedence, however, to one in reference 
 to which the first inquiry of the English traveller 
 is usually directed. 
 
 Few places in Ireland are more familiar to 
 English ears than Blarney; the notoriety is at- 
 tributable, first, to the marvellous qualities of its 
 famous " stone," and next, to the extensive popu- 
 larity of the song, 
 
 " The groves of Blarney, they are so charming." 
 
 When or how the stone obtained its singular rep- 
 utation, it is difficult to determine ; the exact po- 
 sition among the ruins of the castle is also a mat- 
 ter of doubt; the peasant-guides humour the 
 visitor according to his capacity for climbing, and 
 direct, either to the summit or the base, the at- 
 tention of him who desires to " greet it with a 
 holy kiss." He who has been dipped in the Shan- 
 non is presumed to have obtained, in abundance, 
 the gift of that " civil courage " which makes an 
 Irishman at ease and unconstrained in all places 
 and under all circumstances; and he who has 
 kissed the Blarney stone is assumed to be endowed 
 with a fluent and persuasive tongue, although it 
 may be associated with insincerity; the term 
 " Blarney " being generally used to characterize 
 words that are meant neither to be " honest nor
 
 76 IRELAND 
 
 true." It is conjectured that the comparatively 
 modern application of the term " Blarney " first 
 had existence when the possessor, Lord Clancarty, 
 was a prisoner to Sir George Carew, by whom he 
 was subjected to several examinations touching 
 his loyalty, which he was required to prove by sur- 
 rendering his strong castle to the soldiers of the 
 Queen; this act he always endeavoured to evade 
 by some plausible excuse, but as invariably pro- 
 fessing his willingness to do so. The particulars 
 are fully detailed in the " Pacata Hibernia." 
 
 It is certain that to no particular stone of the 
 ancient structure is the marvellous quality exclu- 
 sively attributed ; but in order to make it as diffi- 
 cult as possible to attain the enviable gift, it had 
 long been the custom to point out a stone, a few 
 feet below the battlements, which the very daring 
 only would run the hazard of touching with their 
 lips. The attempt to do so was, indeed, so dan- 
 gerous, that a few years ago Mr. Jeffreys had it 
 removed from the wall and placed on the highest 
 point of the building; where the visitor may now 
 greet it with little risk. It is about two feet 
 square, and contains the date 1703, with a portion 
 of the arms of the Jeffreys family, but the date, 
 at once, negatives its claim to be considered the 
 true marvel of Blarney. 15 A few days before 
 our visit a madman made his way to the top of 
 the castle, and after dancing round it for some 
 hours, his escape from death being almost mirac- 
 ulous, he flung this stone from the tower; it was 
 broken in the fall, and now, as the guide stated to
 
 CORK 77 
 
 us, the " three halves " must receive three distinct 
 kisses to be in any degree effective. 
 
 The age of the song, however, has been satis- 
 factorily ascertained; it was written in the year 
 1798 or 1799, by Richard Alfred Millikin, an 
 attorney of Cork. The author little anticipated 
 the celebrity his lines were destined to acquire; 
 they were composed to ridicule the nonsense verses 
 of the village poets, who, with a limited knowl- 
 edge of the English language, and a smattering 
 of classical names, were in the .habit of indulging 
 their still more ignorant auditors, by stringing 
 together sounds that had no sense, but conveyed 
 a notion of the prodigious learning of the singer. 
 
 The ancient melody, to which Millikin wrote 
 " The Groves of Blarney," differs from the air to 
 which Moore's song of " The Last Rose of Sum- 
 mer," with which so many are familiar, is adapted. 
 
 Millikin's song has been injurious to Ireland; 
 it has raised many a laugh at Ireland's expense, 
 and contributed largely to aid the artist and the 
 actor, of gone-by times, in exhibiting the Irish- 
 man as little better than a buffoon very amus- 
 ing, no doubt, but exciting any feeling rather than 
 that of respect. 
 
 It is impossible to contemplate the romantic 
 ruins of Blarney Castle without a feeling more 
 akin to melancholy than to pleasure; they bear, 
 so perfectly, the aspect of strength utterly sub- 
 dued, and remind one, so forcibly, that the 
 " glory " of Ireland belongs to days departed. 
 The castle stands
 
 78 IRELAND 
 
 " as stands a lofty mind, 
 Worn, but unstooping to the baser crowd, 
 All tenantless, save to the crannying wind." 
 
 The stronghold of Blarney was erected about 
 the middle of the fifteenth century by Cormac 
 Mac Carthy, surnamed " Laider," or the Strong; 
 whose ancestors had been chieftains in Munster 
 from a period long antecedent to the English in- 
 vasion, and whose descendants, as Lords of Mus- 
 kerry and Clancarty, retained no inconsiderable 
 portion of their power and estates until the year 
 1689, when their immense possessions were con- 
 fiscated, and the last earl became an exile, like the 
 monarch whose cause he had supported. The 
 castle, village, mills, fairs, and customs of Blar- 
 ney, with the land and park thereunto belonging, 
 containing 1,400 acres, were " set up by cant " in 
 the year 1702, purchased by Sir Richard Pyne, 
 Lord Chief Justice, for 3,000, and by him dis- 
 posed of, the following year, to General Sir James 
 Jeffreys, in whose family the property continues. 
 Although the walls of this castle are still strong, 
 many of the outworks have long since been lev- 
 elled with the earth; the plough has passed over 
 their foundations, and " the stones of which they 
 were built have been used in repairing the turn- 
 pike-roads." 
 
 The fate of the once formidable clan of the 
 Mac Carthy is similar to that of nearly all the 
 ancient families of Ireland: the descendants, in 
 the direct line, may be often found working, as 
 day-labourers, around the ruins of castles where 
 their forefathers had ruled; and as, in many in-
 
 CORK 79 
 
 stances, a period of little more than a century and 
 a half has passed between their grandeur and 
 their degradation, it can excite no marvel if, at 
 times, they indulge the idea, that what was swept 
 from them by the strong tide of conquest, the 
 eddy of events may bring back to them again. 
 We have ourselves seen the legitimate heir of one 
 of the ancient rulers and owners of West Car- 
 bery pause, as he delved the soil, lean on his 
 spade, and point to the mountains and the valleys, 
 stretching far as the eye could reach, and speak, 
 as if they were still his own, of the wide district 
 of which his great-grandsire was the chief. The 
 touching story which Mr. Crofton Croker tells of 
 the representative of the Mac Carthy (Mus- 
 kerry) may find its parallel in nearly every bar- 
 ony of Ireland. The existing proprietor of a 
 portion of these forfeited estates observed, one 
 evening, in his demesne, an aged man stretched 
 at the foot of an old tree, " sobbing as though 
 his heart would break." On expressing sympa- 
 thy, and inquiring the cause of such excessive 
 sorrow, he received this answer " I am a Mac 
 Carthy, once the possessor of that castle and of 
 these broad lands ; this tree I planted, and I have 
 returned to water it with my tears. To-morrow 
 I sail for Spain, where I have been an exile and 
 an outlaw since the revolution. To-night, for the 
 last time, I bid farewell to the place of my birth 
 and the home of my ancestors." 
 
 " Forfeited estates " in Ireland are to be en- 
 countered as frequently as old Irish names; in 
 some instances they were transferred wholesale
 
 80 IRELAND 
 
 to the followers of the triumphant Cromwell or 
 the victorious William; in other cases they 
 were partitioned and scattered among them. 
 The county histories are full of such expres- 
 sive sentences as this: "he joined the Irish 
 and forfeited this estate." The knights of 
 Queen Elizabeth : " successful soldiers of the 
 Commonwealth ; " or the partisans, English 
 and Dutch, of William III., divided the prop- 
 erties of the ancient or " mere Irish; " and, per- 
 haps, in the whole country, there are scarcely a 
 dozen of the descendants of families, antecedent 
 to the Anglo-Norman invasion, who hold an acre 
 of the land that once belonged to their ancestors. 
 We shall be often called upon to illustrate Irish 
 history and Irish character, by tracing the circum- 
 stances which led to such changes. Time has, no 
 doubt, contributed largely to reconcile the suffer- 
 ers to their fate; the memory of it is, every day, 
 becoming more and more faint; but enough still 
 exists to be wrought upon, for evil, by those who 
 would misdirect the energies of the Irish peas- 
 antry. 16 
 
 The last Lord Clancarty raised a troop for 
 James II., and " with them committed many 
 ravages." A poor butcher of Mallow, who had 
 refused his men a horse, without payment, was se- 
 verely ill-treated by them ; and making complaint 
 to the judges of assize, obtained satisfaction. 
 As soon as the judges were gone, however, the 
 earl marched with a party of his troopers to the 
 butcher's house, and telling him they were come 
 to pay him for his horse as ordered tossed the
 
 CORK 81 
 
 unfortunate man in a blanket and bruised him 
 till he died. His family were presented by King 
 William, by way of atonement, with a grant of 
 part of the earl's estate; which the descendants 
 of the butcher continue to enjoy, we believe, to 
 the present day ; the property being styled " the 
 lands of the Butcher of Conscience." After the 
 confiscation of Lord Clancarty's vast estates, he 
 was exiled, but a pension of 300 a year was 
 granted to him during his life. He subsequently 
 purchased a little island at the mouth of the Elbe, 
 where " he made considerable profits by ship- 
 wrecks," but without any stain upon his charac- 
 ter, as he gave up all waifs and strays to their 
 owners, if demanded within a year, and continued 
 to render the distressed all the assistance in his 
 power saving the lives of many. 
 
 His son Robert, " commonly called Lord Mus- 
 kerry," who was a captain in the British navy, 
 having laid claim to his patrimony, it was found 
 to be " divided into so many hands that the suit 
 seemed of too dangerous a nature to be suffered 
 to go on." Parliament interfered, and put a 
 stop to the proceedings. There is a family tradi- 
 tion, that when Lord Clancarty went into exile, 
 pending measures to regain his estates, which he 
 was subsequently compelled to abandon for lack 
 of means, Sarah Duchess of Marlborough lent 
 him a Bible, saying he would therein find matter 
 to console him for all his troubles. The book, 
 however, remained unopened until his return to 
 England ; when the duchess reclaimed the volume, 
 
 and showed her astonished and mortified relative 
 v 6
 
 82 IRELAND 
 
 that she had placed among the leaves notes more 
 than sufficient to have met the expenses necessary 
 for carrying on the proceedings for the recovery 
 of his property, then placed far beyond his reach. 
 
 The small village of Blarney is about four miles 
 north- west of Cork; a few years ago it was re- 
 markably clean, neat, and thriving ; its prosperity 
 having resulted from the establishment of sev- 
 eral linen and cotton factories, the whole of which 
 have been swept away, and the hamlet is now, like 
 the castle, an assemblage of ruins. In the vicin- 
 ity, however, there is yet a woollen-manufactory 
 and a paper-mill, both in full work. The scenery 
 in the neighbourhood is agreeable, but the 
 grounds that immediately surround the castle 
 are of exceeding beauty. Nature has done much 
 more for them than art; although there is evi- 
 dence that the hand of taste had busied itself in 
 the duty of improvement. ' The sweet Rock- 
 close " is a small dell, in which evergreens grow 
 luxuriantly, completely shaded with magnifi- 
 cent trees. At its termination, are the " Witches' 
 Stairs; " a series of rugged stone steps which 
 lead down through a passage in the rock to a de- 
 licious spot of green sward forming the bank of 
 a clear rivulet and where some singular masses 
 appear to have been " the work of Druid hands 
 of old." 
 
 We visited " The sweet Rock-close " it well 
 deserves the epithet during a sunny day in 
 June; and never can we forget the fragrant 
 shade afforded by the luxuriant evergreens which 
 seem rooted in the limestone rock ; the little river
 
 CORK 83 
 
 Comane is guarded by a natural terrace, fringed 
 by noble trees ; several of the spaces between are 
 grottos natural also; some with seats, where 
 many a love tale has been told, and will be, doubt- 
 less, as long as Cork lads and lasses indulge in 
 pic-nic fetes, while the blackbird whistles, and 
 the wood-pigeon cooes in the twisted foliage above 
 their heads : it is indeed a spot of exceeding wild- 
 ness and singular beauty; at some particular 
 points you catch a glimpse of the castle, the 
 river, and the mysterious entrance to the 
 " Witches' Stairs." Still, notwithstanding the 
 variety of these objects, and a cave, moreover, 
 where some beautiful princess of old went 
 through like the lady in Comus a long en- 
 chantment, the character of the Rock-close is one 
 of deep shadow; occasionally, a sunbeam strug- 
 gles through the gloom, and points out a bed of 
 the richest moss, or a " grey stone " winged with 
 waving fern ; and it is a place wherein to meditate 
 upon the mystery that such a scene should ever 
 have been abandoned by its possessor, who now 
 takes little more interest in his beautiful domain 
 than to crowd its rich meadows with as fine cattle 
 as we ever remember to have seen in any country. 
 We wandered from the shades of the Rock-close 
 across the green and richly-wooded pastures 
 which lead to the lake a fine expanse of water 
 about a quarter of a mile from the castle. The 
 scenery here is rather English than Irish, but 
 every step is hallowed by a legend : it is implicitly 
 believed that the last Earl of Clancarty who in- 
 habited the castle, committed the keeping of his
 
 84 IRELAND 
 
 plate to the deepest waters, and that it will never 
 be recovered until a Mac Carthy be again lord 
 of Blarney. Enchanted cows on midsummer 
 nights dispute the pasture with those of the pres- 
 ent possessor, and many an earthly bull has been 
 worsted in the contest. As to fairies their rings 
 are upon the grass from early summer to the last 
 week in harvest. 
 
 We confess our attention was somewhat with- 
 drawn from the varied and interesting conversa- 
 tion of our urbane and considerate companion, 
 by the multitudes of lilies that floated on the wa- 
 ters of the lake, rendering it near the shore a mass 
 of living gold. We never saw the flower in such 
 abundance or perfection ; one, which we gathered, 
 contained within its calyx a small green lizard, 
 that came creeping forth, its fixed and jet-like 
 eyes staring us out of countenance, until we trans- 
 ferred it to another home, which it quietly en- 
 tered. A most delightful day did we spend 
 amongst those ruins of art and beauties of nature. 
 We sat beneath the shadow of the old ward-tower 
 to partake of some refreshment, and the children 
 of a dairy farm, close to the castle, brought us a 
 plate, piled with potatoes and enveloped in a 
 warm white cloth. 
 
 Those who visit Blarney castle would be re- 
 paid for their trouble, by extending their drive 
 through a sequestered glen, in which the Awmar- 
 tin descends into the valley; the road wanders 
 through this beautiful pass almost as wildly as 
 the river, and at its extremity the Rev. Matthew 
 Horgan, with true antiquarian gusto, is erecting
 
 CORK 85 
 
 a round-tower close to his chapel, with a view to 
 be even with his ancestors, and puzzle posterity. 
 The neighbourhood has many circular paths, and 
 some square entrenchments, with the usual sub- 
 terranean cells. 
 
 To the beauty and numerous attractions of the 
 Cork river, we have already called the attention 
 of our readers. From the quay on which the 
 St. George Company have their office 1T the 
 whole distance to the harbour's mouth, the scene 
 is one of continual variety and interest ; the shores 
 on both sides are richly wooded, and crowded with 
 fine or pretty villas. Proceeding from Cork, the 
 object that first strikes the tourist, is the castle 
 of Black Rock a modern structure, but which, 
 from its position, standing on the extremity of a 
 small peninsula, commands especial notice. 
 Some assert that William Penn embarked from 
 this spot for the New World, while others point 
 out, as the place, the old mansion of Dundanion 
 (now a ruin in the grounds of Sir Thomas 
 Deane) . Passing through Lough Mahon part 
 of the river, but because of its peculiar character 
 styled a " lough " or lake the village of Pas- 
 sage, distant five miles from Cork, is reached. 
 Here all large vessels discharge their cargoes, the 
 channel not being of sufficient depth to allow of 
 their approach nearer to the city. An excellent 
 quay has recently been built to facilitate the em- 
 barkation and disembarkation of passengers. In 
 excavating for its foundation, an iron cannon, or 
 part of one, was discovered, which certainly be- 
 longs to an early period in the history of English
 
 86 IRELAND 
 
 artillery if it be of English manufacture. ( See 
 Plate No. 2.) If of Irish make, it is far more 
 difficult to conjecture the age, for we know that 
 leathern cannon hooped with iron were used by 
 the Anglo-Irish, so late as the reign of Charles I. ; 
 and we have seen a whimsical record of one of 
 these engines, which, instead of shooting its ball 
 forward, exploded at the breech, leaving the ball 
 unmoved. In our opinion, the piece of ord- 
 nance found is only the chamber of the gun, to 
 which an iron tube was attached for the passage 
 of the ball; and judging by comparison with one 
 in the curious and interesting collection of can- 
 non at Quex Park, the seat of Mr. Powell, in the 
 Isle of Thanet, which had been dug up at Til- 
 bury Fort, the one discovered at Passage may be 
 referred to the time of Henry VII. ; and the war- 
 like demonstrations then made by the citizens of 
 Cork in favour of Perkin Warbeck, may be 
 brought forward to support the conjecture, and 
 account for the locality in which it was found. 
 
 About a mile farther on is the village of Monks- 
 town; it was formerly confined in the gorge of a 
 deep and richly-wooded glen, but has gradually 
 extended along the shore, where a row of excel- 
 lent houses sprung up; and a handsome church, 
 an hotel with baths, and some pretty villas, have 
 been more recently built. The castle of Monks- 
 town, though now a complete ruin, was in re- 
 pair, and used as a barrack, during the last war. 
 It was built in the year 1636, and, according to 
 popular tradition, at the cost of a groat. To ex- 
 plain the enigma, the following story is told:
 
 CORK 87 
 
 Anastatia Goold, who had become the wife of 
 John Archdeken, determined while her husband 
 was abroad, serving in the army of Philip of 
 Spain, to give him evidence of her thrift on his 
 return, by surprising him with a noble residence 
 which he might call his own. Her plan was, to 
 supply the workmen with provisions and other 
 articles they required, for which she charged the 
 ordinary price; but as she had made her pur- 
 chases wholesale, upon balancing her accounts it 
 appeared that the retail profit had paid all the 
 expenses of the structure, except four-pence! 
 This model of domestic economy reposes with her 
 husband in the neighbouring burial-ground of 
 the ruined church of Temple-en-Bryn. He died 
 in 1660, and a long inscription in Latin upon the 
 family vault records his piety, hospitality, and 
 other good qualities. 18 
 
 Between the two villages, Passage and Monks- 
 town, a delightful road along the shore has been 
 lately formed, a little above high-water mark, by 
 cutting away the rock which descended abruptly 
 to the river. The depth of water here is very 
 great; and it is pointed out to the stranger's no- 
 tice as a place where several ships have foun- 
 dered, particularly one commanded by Captain 
 Cole, in 1758. The formation of this road has, 
 however, much injured a singular freak of nature 
 called the " Giant's Stairs," some of which it has 
 entirely displaced. Fifteen or sixteen huge 
 knobs of rock, each many tons in weight, rose 
 from the water's edge one above the other up the 
 face of a very steep rocky ascent, with nearly the
 
 88 IRELAND 
 
 regularity of a flight of steps ; and it required no 
 effort of fancy to perceive the resemblance, es- 
 pecially when this extraordinary cliff chanced to 
 be viewed in profile. Sufficient still remains to 
 satisfy a stranger's curiosity, notwithstanding the 
 dismemberment; but they can be no longer ap- 
 pealed to by the credulous boatmen as the un- 
 doubted stairs which the Giant O'Mahony made 
 for himself, and used every night at twelve 
 o'clock when he descended to his bathing-place. 
 
 Before reaching Cove, the steamer passes 
 Haulbowlin Island; and between the town of 
 Cove and the harbour's mouth are Rocky and 
 Spike Islands to which we have already made 
 reference. Nearer the harbour's mouth, on the 
 west side, is a creek called Crosshaven, remark- 
 able from the tradition that it once sheltered the 
 gallant admiral, Sir Francis Drake, when pur- 
 sued into the harbour by a Spanish squadron. 
 The spot where he anchored is still called 
 " Drake's Pool." The Spaniards, after remain- 
 ing some days in the " bay of Cork " (as its har- 
 bour was then, and for some years subsequently, 
 called), sending boats up the Cork river in vain 
 pursuit, and exploring in other directions, stood 
 out to sea again, completely unable to account 
 for the mysterious disappearance of the vessels 
 they had chased so closely and so keenly, and 
 which they, after due consideration of all the cir- 
 cumstances, gravely concluded, could only have 
 been snatched from their grasp and have disap- 
 peared in so astonishing a manner by the power 
 of magic.
 
 CORK 89 
 
 To Spike Island considerable national im- 
 portance was, and some literary interest is, at- 
 tached, from the circumstance that the engineer 
 officer who superintended the formation of the 
 unfinished fortification upon it, called Fort 
 Westmoreland, which was commenced in 1791, 
 was General then Colonel Vallancey. Here 
 it was that the learned and philosophic soldier 
 commenced the study of the Irish language, in- 
 structed by one of the stone-masons under his 
 orders; and it is certainly remarkable that any 
 Englishman should have so completely identi- 
 fied his name with Irish literary and antiquarian 
 research. However fanciful and visionary the 
 theories of Vallancey may be considered, no one 
 can deny that his inquiries and learning have 
 brought to light many very many, verbal and 
 other coincidences too extraordinary not to af- 
 ford subjects for deep reflection to an inquiring 
 mind. 
 
 The town of Cove, as we have stated, faces the 
 entrance to Cork harbour, from which, however, 
 it is distant about five miles. It is built on the 
 side of a steep hill, and rises from the water's 
 edge, terrace above terrace; the more elevated 
 parts commanding a magnificent bird's-eye view 
 of the extensive anchorage. The town has there- 
 fore natural advantages of a rare order, so man- 
 ifest are they, indeed, as almost to justify the 
 prophecy of an English traveller, that in time it 
 would supplant the prosperous city; " for here," 
 he adds, " the merchant may discharge his cargo 
 in the sight of his own storehouses." Cove has
 
 90 IRELAND 
 
 a southern aspect, and the climate is consequently 
 mild during all seasons; from the nature of the 
 site on which it stands, Cove is almost always 
 clean a fall of rain carrying its impurities into 
 the Atlantic. On all sides the shore is covered 
 with villas the trees, usually stunted on the 
 coast, grow gracefully and majestically: the is- 
 lands, and fortified headlands, are so many im- 
 posing objects within view; and the gay yachts, 
 which a tourist described a century ago as " little 
 vessels, that for painting and gilding exceed those 
 of the king at Greenwich," give animation and 
 variety to the exciting scene. 
 
 " The Yacht Club " of Cork is said to be the 
 oldest association of the kind in the United King- 
 dom, and it probably is so. With its " rules and 
 orders," printed in 1765, under the name of those 
 of the " Cork Water Club," is given a list of the 
 old members of 1720; and reference is made to 
 its " ancient rules and constitution; " one of the 
 early regulations provided that no long-tailed 
 wigs, large sleeves or ruffles, should be worn by 
 any member. In 1830 it received the prefix of 
 " Royal," and in 1831 the French government 
 conceded to it the privilege of free access to all 
 the ports of France. The club has of late years 
 successfully laboured to improve the construc- 
 tion, appointments, and management of vessels 
 of all descriptions, and the commonest craft of 
 the harbour may now vie with those belonging to 
 any English port ; the skill and hardihood of the 
 Cove boatmen and mariners are proverbial; and 
 if the kingdom shall again require sailors to main-
 
 CORK 91 
 
 tain the supremacy of the British flag, and give 
 emphasis to the almost forgotten line " Britannia 
 rules the waves," the Cove of Cork will supply, 
 at least, its quota. 
 
 Previous to the war between England and her 
 American colonies, Cove consisted of little more 
 than the mud cabins of a few fishermen. Dr. 
 Smith, whose county history was published in 
 1750, describes it as " a village built under a 
 steep hill, inhabited by seamen and revenue offi- 
 cers." And in 1752 John Wesley records that 
 " there was nothing to be bought there nei- 
 ther flesh, nor fish, nor butter, nor cheese," 
 and adds that he was obliged to be " well con- 
 tented " with some eggs and bread. The pres- 
 ent population of Cove exceeds 7,000, and its 
 character is that of a thriving and improving 
 town. 
 
 During the early part of the last century, 
 numerous are the anecdotes related of the daring 
 exploits of hostile privateers and pirates, per- 
 formed actually within Cork harbour, and in full 
 view of the town of Cove if town it could then 
 be called and its population. In one instance 
 the Custom-house officers were made prisoners 
 and carried off " to larn them to spake French," 
 as was jocularly remarked. In another, after 
 the enemy had taken on board supplies of water 
 and fresh provisions, they cut out such merchant- 
 vessels as they considered to be worth the trouble 
 of carrying off. Soon after this occurrence in- 
 sulting notices were posted in the city of Cork 
 boasting of the achievement, and inviting the cit-
 
 92 IRELAND 
 
 izens generally, some of them by name, to an en- 
 tertainment, on a particular day, which was ap- 
 pointed, as an acknowledgment of the ready sale 
 their goods had met with ; and, strange as it may 
 seem, the entertainment took place. These and 
 similar outrages, conceived in the most wanton 
 spirit, and executed in the most reckless manner, 
 were, almost without exception, the acts of Irish- 
 men intimately acquainted with the localities, who 
 had entered into foreign services. Some of such 
 enterprises were executed under letters of 
 marque (of which we have seen one) from the 
 Pretender; and many very romantic stories are 
 told of the semi-warlike, semi-friendly inter- 
 course, carried on between the residents upon the 
 southern coast of Ireland and " the wild geese," 
 as the Irish metaphorically termed their expa- 
 triated relatives and friends. 
 
 So late as 1780, Cove had scarcely advanced 
 beyond the dignity of a fishing hamlet. Soon 
 afterwards, however, the value of Cork harbour 
 having been appreciated, its Cove gradually rose 
 into importance; houses were built, fortifications 
 for defence constructed, government stores es- 
 tablished, and it became the naval station of an 
 Admiral's flag. Bustle, activity, and a thriving 
 trade, followed. It was no unusual sight to be- 
 hold from " Spy-hill," as the highest point of 
 Cove was called, three hundred sail of merchant 
 vessels assembled, waiting for convoy; nor was 
 it a rare occurrence to hear the booming of dis- 
 tant cannon from some daring privateer that like 
 a shark had watched the harbour's mouth, until
 
 CORK 93 
 
 it was brought an honourable prize into port. 
 Cove was then all gaiety: the steady officers, the 
 light-hearted and thoughtless " middies," and the 
 " jolly Jack tars," paraded up and down at all 
 hours. The pennant floated in the breeze, redo- 
 lent with dust, pitch, whiskey, and music; the 
 fiddle and bagpipes resounded in a district 
 named, for what reason we know not, " the holy 
 ground," unless that it was sacred to every spe- 
 cies of marine frolic and dissipation a spot, by 
 the way, from just above which Mr. Creswick's 
 view is taken. Many are the odd stories told in 
 illustration of the proverbial recklessness of the 
 sailor; and if the traditions of " the holy ground " 
 could be collected, rich indeed would be the ex- 
 hibition of mingled nautical humour and Irish 
 wit. With " dove-like Peace," the glory of Cove 
 departed. Notwithstanding the arguments and 
 remonstrances of its inhabitants, Cove was re- 
 duced from an admiral's command to a mere 
 naval station for the supply of water and pro- 
 visions. Now-a-days, the appearance of a ship- 
 of-war is an event of rare occurrence, and the ar- 
 rival of a cruiser squadron an era of so much 
 importance as to be celebrated in song. 19 But 
 the natural beauty of the situation of Cove, the 
 salubrity of its sea-breezes, its vicinity to Cork 
 (the distance being about ten miles), and the 
 facility of the communication by means of steam- 
 boats, have averted the anticipated ruin of the 
 place: and now instead of the gallant seamen 
 or giddy seaboy full of health and animal spir- 
 its, we too often encounter the poor maiden upon
 
 94 IRELAND 
 
 whose cheek a hectic flush speaks of an early 
 tomb; or some youth, whose feeble step and 
 emaciated person are evidences too strong to be 
 doubted that consumption will triumph, and that 
 his removal to a genial climate had been too long 
 deferred. The mild air and warm southern 
 aspect of Cove, added to the advantages of sea- 
 bathing, strongly recommend it to invalids, by 
 whom, from all parts of Ireland, it is now vis- 
 ited. 20 Among those whose deaths give a mel- 
 ancholy interest to the place, may be mentioned 
 Tobin, the author of the " Honey-Moon," who 
 died, within sight of land, on his passage to the 
 West Indies, where he was proceeding for the 
 recovery of his health. The Rev. Charles Wolfe, 
 the author of the well-known lines upon the death 
 of Sir John Moore, also died at Cove, of con- 
 sumption, in the spring of 1823. 
 
 It is singular that the literary fame of both 
 Tobin and Wolfe was posthumous; the world 
 knew nothing of them, or of their genius until 
 their hearts were indifferent to praise, and their 
 ears deaf to the voice of the charmer. How 
 beautifully, and in what an affecting manner, did 
 Sir Humphrey Davy picture the melancholy 
 glory of posthumous fame in the prologue which 
 he wrote for poor Tobin's comedy of the Honey- 
 Moon! The ashes of Tobin and Wolfe rest in 
 the burial-ground of the old and ruined church 
 of Clonmel, about a mile to the rear of Cove. 
 
 On the east side of Cork harbour, and about 
 three miles from the shore, is the small town of 
 Cloyne a bishop's see, founded in the sixth cen-
 
 CORK 95 
 
 tury, by St. Colman. The cathedral is a low 
 cruciform structure. The last bishop of Cloyne 
 was Brinkley, the profound mathematician and 
 eminent astronomer, who was consecrated in 
 1826, and died in 1835, when the see merged into 
 that of Cork and Ross. This distinguished prel- 
 ate rose from a pauper school in Suffolk to the 
 highest scientific rank of his age, and his memory 
 will long be cherished at Cloyne as one of the 
 many eminent men of which that city-village can 
 boast. Among others, may be mentioned Bishop 
 Woodward remembered as the controversial op- 
 ponent of the facetious Father O'Leary who 
 closed an argument respecting purgatory by ob- 
 serving, that his lordship might " go farther and 
 fare worse." Cloyne was also the residence of 
 the illustrious Bishop Berkeley, to whom Pope 
 ascribes 
 
 " Every virtue under heaven ; " 
 
 and to see whom, it is said, the poet contemplated 
 a visit to Ireland. At Cloyne there is one of 
 those singular round towers, which for so long 
 a period have excited the curiosity of antiquaries 
 whose various theories we shall have to describe 
 and comment upon in the course of our work. 
 Its conical stone roof was destroyed by light- 
 ning in the year 1749. The neighbourhood of 
 Cloyne abounds with natural caves in the lime- 
 stone rock; one of which, in the episcopal 
 grounds, is described by Bishop Bennett, in a 
 letter to Dr. Parr, 21 as of " unknown length and 
 depth, branching to a great distance under the
 
 96 IRELAND 
 
 earth, and sanctified by a thousand wild tradi- 
 tions." At Castle Mary, a fine seat, not far 
 from Cloyne, may be seen one of those ponderous 
 masses of stone supported by smaller stones, 
 which are popularly termed Druids' altars, or 
 " cromleachs; " and close to it is a smaller one. 
 The incumbent or altar-stone of the great crom- 
 leach measures fifteen feet in length, and is about 
 eight feet wide and three and a half thick. The 
 position of both is inclined ; from which it is con- 
 jectured the name " Cromleach," the bending 
 stone, is derived ; although many antiquaries con- 
 tend for the derivation from Crom, the Jupiter 
 Tonans of the ancient Irish. Similar rude mon- 
 uments are found in all parts of Ireland, and 
 necessarily lead to an inquiry as to their origin 
 and purpose. We shall avail ourselves of a 
 future opportunity for considering the matter at 
 some length. The most remarkable seat in the 
 vicinity of Cloyne is Rostellan, the mansion of 
 the Marquis of Thomond ; it is modern, but occu- 
 pies the site of an ancient castle of the Fitzger- 
 alds, seneschals of Imokilly. In 1648, the no- 
 torious Lord Inchiquin famous or infamous, 
 according to the party views of the historian 
 obtained a grant of the estate; which grant was 
 farther confirmed to him in the eighteenth year 
 of Charles II. 
 
 Before we proceed further upon our journey, 
 and describe the northern division of the county 
 nearly the whole of which is bounded by the 
 county of Limerick it will be well to picture 
 the vehicles, in one or other of which the tourist
 
 CORK 97 
 
 will have to travel. We shall first, however, ad- 
 vise him to lay in a stock of good-humour, for 
 petty annoyances will frequently occur, and it 
 is a coin that passes current everywhere, but is 
 of especial value in Ireland ; and a plentiful sup- 
 ply of water-proof clothing, for sunny June is 
 no more to be trusted than showery April. Some 
 one has said that the only day on which you can 
 be certain to escape a wetting is the 30th of Feb- 
 ruary a day that never comes ; and it is recorded 
 of Mr. Fox, we believe, that whenever he re- 
 ceived a visitor from Ireland, after his own 
 brief tour in the country, his invariable question 
 was, " By the way, is that shower over yet? " 
 This is, undoubtedly, a sad drawback upon 
 pleasure; the humidity of the atmosphere is a 
 continual affliction to those who are not used to it ; 
 and is very insufficiently compensated for by the 
 fact that the grass in Ireland is ever green. Yet 
 the evil is one that can be always guarded against. 
 Machines for travelling in Ireland are, some 
 of them at least, peculiar to the country. The 
 stage-coaches are precisely similar to those in 
 England, and travel at as rapid a rate. They, 
 of course, run upon all the great roads, and are 
 constructed with due regard to safety and con- 
 venience. The public cars of M. Bianconi have, 
 however, to a large extent, displaced the regular 
 coaches, and are to be encountered in every dis- 
 trict in the south of Ireland. In form they re- 
 semble the common outside jaunting-car, but are 
 calculated to hold twelve, fourteen, or sixteen 
 persons; they are well horsed, have cautious and 
 
 V 7
 
 98 IRELAND 
 
 experienced drivers, are generally driven with 
 three horses, and usually travel at the rate of 
 seven Irish miles an hour; the fares averaging 
 about twopence per mile. They are open cars; 
 but a huge apron of leather affords considerable 
 protection against rain; and they may be de- 
 scribed as, in all respects, very comfortable and 
 convenient vehicles. It would be difficult for a 
 stranger to conceive the immense influence which 
 this establishment has had upon the character 
 and condition of the country; its introduction, 
 indeed, has been only second to that of steam in 
 promoting the improvement of Ireland, by facili- 
 tating intercourse between remote districts, and 
 enabling the farmer to transact his own business 
 at a small expense and with little sacrifice of 
 time. 22 We shall describe the establishment of 
 this enterprising gentleman when we visit Clon- 
 mel its headquarters. Some idea of its extent 
 may be gathered from the fact, that his stud 
 consists of 1,300 horses a larger number than 
 her Majesty possesses in Ireland that his cars 
 travel, daily, 3,500 miles, and visit no fewer than 
 128 cities and towns. 23 
 
 Post-chaises are now very seldom used: they 
 are to be had in the larger towns, and are gen- 
 erally cleanly and well arranged; very different 
 from what they were when the caricature pictured 
 them as thatched with straw, from the bottom of 
 which the traveller's legs protruded. Yet this 
 was scarcely an exaggeration. An elderly gen- 
 tleman informed us that he once made a journey 
 in one of them ; it came on to rain ; the driver drew
 
 CORK . 99 
 
 up suddenly and addressed his fare " Ah then, 
 sir, hadn't ye better get out and stand behind 
 the carriage? it'll be only a shower." The plan 
 was adopted, for the wet was pouring through 
 the broken windows and down the dilapidated 
 roof ; and the device was the only mode of escap- 
 ing a thorough drenching. 
 
 The cars are of three kinds; "the covered 
 car" (see Plate No. 2), "the inside jaunting- 
 car," and the " outside jaunting-car; " the latter 
 being the one most generally in use, and the only 
 one employed in posting. The two former, in- 
 deed, can seldom be procured except in large 
 towns. The covered car is a comparatively re- 
 cent introduction, its sole recommendation being 
 that it is weather-proof, for it effectually pre- 
 vents a view of the country, except through the 
 two little peep-hole windows in front, or by tying 
 back the oil-skin curtains behind. Our longer 
 journeys were, notwithstanding, made in this 
 machine; it preserved us from many a wetting, 
 and we endeavoured to remedy the evil of con- 
 finement by stopping at every promising spot, 
 and either getting out or making the driver turn 
 his vehicle round, so that, from the back, we 
 might command the prospect we desired. 24 This 
 class of cars has of late multiplied greatly in all 
 the large towns; they are, in Ireland, what the 
 hackney-coaches and cabriolets are in England. 
 
 The inside jaunting-car is not often to be hired ; 
 it is usually private property, and is, perhaps, the 
 most comfortable, as well as elegant, of the ve- 
 hicles of the country.
 
 100 IRELAND 
 
 The outside jaunting-car is that to which es- 
 pecial reference is made when speaking of the 
 " Irish " car. It is exceedingly light, presses 
 very little upon the horse, and is safe as well as 
 convenient; so easy is it to get on and off, that 
 both are frequently done while the machine is in 
 motion. It is always driven with a single horse ; 
 the driver occupies a small seat in front, and the 
 travellers sit back to back, 25 the space between 
 them being occupied by " the well " a sort of 
 boot for luggage ; but when there is only one pas- 
 senger the driver usually places himself on the 
 opposite seat " to balance the car," the motion of 
 which would be awkward if one side was much 
 heavier than the other. The foot-" board " is 
 generally of iron, and is made to move on hinges, 
 so it may be turned up to protect the cushions 
 during rain. This foot-board projects consid- 
 erably beyond the wheels, and would seem to be 
 dangerous; but in cases of collision with other 
 vehicles, a matter of no very rare occurrence, the 
 feet are raised, and injury is sustained only by 
 the machine. The private cars of this description 
 are, of course, neatly and carefully made, and 
 have a character of much elegance; but those 
 which are hired are, in general, badly built, dirty, 
 and uncomfortable; yet in nine places out of 
 ten the traveller has no chance of obtaining a 
 vehicle of any other description, and will often 
 find, even in a populous town, that if " the car " 
 be out, he must wait until its return. He will 
 never have any difficulty in procuring a horse, 
 and as to drivers, any " boy " will answer for the
 
 CORK 101 
 
 nonce; but cars are seldom more numerous than 
 " head inns," that is to say, one generally suffices 
 for a town. In New Ross, we were detained 
 two hours before we could proceed on our road to 
 Wexford. A car, therefore, is usually hired for 
 a journey, changing horses on the route. The 
 charge for posting is sixpence a mile for two 
 persons, and eightpence a mile if the travellers 
 exceed two. This is a rule all over the country, 
 except in the county of Wicklow, where the rate 
 is eightpence a mile the consequence has been, 
 that the greater number of tourists hire a ma- 
 chine in Dublin, and are not customers at the 
 inns on the road. The injurious change has been 
 introduced by the keeper of the hotel at Bray, 
 who, we understood, has compelled the other post- 
 masters to act with him, much against their in- 
 clinations; for the demand is not a just one; the 
 prices being equal to those in England, where the 
 tax upon hired vehicles is large, and where all 
 the other articles connected with it will cost at 
 least double. 
 
 The car, or rather cars, used by the peasantry, 
 requires some notice. Flat boards are placed 
 across it, and upon these straw is laid, and often 
 a feather-bed. These vehicles are now, however, 
 nearly obsolete; we met but few of them during 
 our latest journey; their unfitness having been 
 understood, they have given way before modern 
 improvement. 
 
 In Ireland there are few turnpikes, the repairs 
 of the roads usually falling upon the county, 
 money for the purpose being annually voted by
 
 102 IRELAND 
 
 the grand juries. The roads are for the most 
 part good; and, of late years, a better system 
 of surveying, so largely introduced into the coun- 
 try, has led to the formation of " new lines " to 
 nearly every place of importance. The old plan, 
 therefore, of carrying a road " as the bird flies," 
 up and down the steepest hills, through morasses, 
 and along the brinks of frightful precipices, has 
 been entirely abandoned; and at present, the 
 carriage will, generally, require springs no 
 stronger than those which are used in England. 26 
 The lover of the picturesque, indeed, will not un- 
 frequently prefer the rugged pathway of former 
 times, and think himself amply repaid for greater 
 toil and fatigue by the prospect opened to him 
 from the mountain tops, or the refreshment he 
 derives from following the course of the river 
 that rushes through the valley. He will, how- 
 ever, sometimes have to leave the car, and walk 
 through a morass, over a broken bridge, or along 
 dangerous ravines, which time has deprived of 
 the wall that once guarded it. 
 
 The miles are now generally measured as Eng- 
 lish miles, and, in posting, charged for accord- 
 ingly. At present this causes some confusion; 
 the natives being as yet unable to comprehend 
 how it is that familiar places have removed far- 
 ther from each other. We asked of one of them 
 the distance from Cork to Kinsale: " Troth, sir," 
 he answered, "it's hard to say; not long ago 
 'twas twelve miles; but they've been flinging 
 stones at each other (fixing milestones), and 
 Kinsale is druv a good step farther from Cork;
 
 CORK 103 
 
 it's English roads they've made of them; wisha 
 bad luck to them it's everything Irish they're 
 taking from us except the poverty and the sod." 
 Persons who have never travelled in Ireland 
 can have but a very inadequate idea of the wit 
 and humour of the Irish car-drivers. They are 
 for the most part a thoughtless and reckless set 
 of men, living upon chances, always " taking the 
 world aisy " that is to say, having no care for 
 the morrow, and seldom being owners of a more 
 extensive wardrobe than the nondescript mixture 
 they carry about their persons. They are the 
 opposites in all respects of the English postilions 
 the latter do their duty, but seldom familiarize 
 their " fares " to the sound of their voices; in nine 
 cases out of ten the traveller never exchanges a 
 word with his post-boy; a touch of the hat ac- 
 knowledges the gratuity when " the stage " is 
 ended, and the driver, having consigned his 
 charge to his successor, departs usually in igno- 
 rance whether his chaise has contained man, 
 woman, or child. He neither knows, nor cares 
 for, aught of their concerns, except that he is to 
 advance so many miles upon such a road, accord- 
 ing to the instructions of his employer. The 
 Irish driver, on the contrary, will ascertain, dur- 
 ing your progress, where you come from, where 
 you are going, and, very often, what you are 
 going about. He has a hundred ways of wiling 
 himself into your confidence, and is sure to put 
 in a word or two upon every available oppor- 
 tunity; yet in such a manner as to render it im- 
 possible for you to subject him to the charge
 
 104 IRELAND 
 
 of impertinence. Indeed it is a striking pecul- 
 iarity of the lower classes of the Irish that they 
 can be familiar without being presuming ; tender 
 advice without appearing intrusive; and even 
 command your movements without seeming to 
 interfere, in the least, with your own free-will. 
 This quality the car-driver enjoys to perfection. 
 We engaged one at Clogheen. " Ah then is it 
 to Cahir ye're going, sir? and it's from Lismore 
 ye're coming, I'll go bail." " You've made a 
 good guess." " Maybe it's to my lord's I'll be 
 driving ye? " " Not so lucky this time." " To 
 Mr. Grubb's did ye say, sir? " " No." " Well 
 then it's to Mr. FenneU's yer honour'll be telling 
 me to drive ye? " " Yes." " Is it to Mr. Joe 
 Fennell's, or Mr. Jonas Fennell's, or Mr. Fen- 
 neU's of the cottage?" And then came a long 
 history of all of the name who dwell in or near 
 one of the prettiest and cleanest towns of Ire- 
 land; "the quakers, yer honour, all owing to 
 the quakers," quoth our driver, as he gave his 
 steed the whip to "go in style " up the long 
 avenue. 
 
 A few characteristic anecdotes of the genus 
 may amuse our readers. Some one tells a story 
 of a fellow who, on grumbling at the shilling 
 gratuity at his journey's end, said in a sly under 
 tone, " Faith it's not putting me off with this 
 ye'd be, if ye knew but all." The traveller's 
 curiosity was excited. "What do you mean? " 
 " Oh faix! that 'ud be telling." Another shilling 
 was tendered. " And now," asked the gentle- 
 man, " what do you mean by saying if you knew
 
 CORK 105 
 
 but all?" "That I druv yer honour the last 
 three miles widout a linch-pin!" We had our- 
 selves once a touching application for the string 
 of our cloak " to tie up a small bit of the harness 
 that was broke into smithereens from the weight 
 of the hill." " Will I pay the pike or drive at 
 it, plase yer honour? " was the exclamation of a 
 driver to his passenger, as he suddenly drew up 
 a few yards from the turnpike-gate. One of the 
 richest characters of the class, we encountered 
 on the road from Ross to Wexford; he told us 
 how he got his first situation. " The masther had 
 two beautiful English horses, and he wanted a 
 careful man to drive them; he was a mighty 
 pleasant gintleman, and loved a joke. Well, 
 there was as many as fifteen af ther the place, and 
 the first that wint up to him, ' Now, my man,' 
 says he, ' tell me,' says he, ' how near the edge of 
 a precipice would you undertake to drive my 
 carriage? ' So the boy considered, and he says, 
 says he, ' Within a foot, plaze yer honour, and 
 no harm.' ' Very well,' says he, ' go down, and 
 I'll give ye yer answer by-and-by.' So the next 
 came up, and said he'd be bound to carry 'em 
 within half a foot ; and the next said five inches ; 
 and another a dandyfied chap intirely was so 
 mighty nice, that he would drive it within ' three 
 inches and a half, he'd go bail.' Well, at last my 
 turn came, and when his honour axed me how 
 nigh I would drive his carriage to a precipice, I 
 said, says I, ' Plaze yer honour, I'd keep as far 
 off it as I could/ ' Very well, Misther Byrne,' 
 says he, ' you're my coachman,' says he. Och,
 
 106 IRELAND 
 
 the roar there was in the kitchen whin I wint 
 
 down and tould the joke I " When Mr. V , 
 
 the assistant Poor Law Commissioner, first vis- 
 ited Cork, the coach by which he arrived set him 
 down next door to the Imperial Hotel his place 
 of destination. Not being aware of this fact, 
 he ordered a car, and gave his direction to the 
 driver. The fellow conducted him round the 
 town, and through various streets and lanes, and 
 after an hour's driving placed him at the hotel 
 entrance, demanding and receiving a sum of five 
 shillings, which his victim considered a reasonable 
 charge. A few minutes afterwards he discovered 
 the trick that had been played upon him. 
 
 The car-drivers who ply in the streets look as 
 if they duly regarded their own ease, and that 
 business was, with them, a secondary consider- 
 ation. You sometimes find them standing on 
 the pavement, their handkerchiefs floating negli- 
 gently around their necks, and their long loose 
 coats flapping about their legs or lounging on 
 the bar or box of their car or jingle, touching 
 their hats with a leering civility or elevating 
 what serves for a whip if they think a fare is ap- 
 proaching. To see them thus you would im- 
 agine them heedless of their interests; but ask 
 a question of one touching time or distance, and 
 the whole body start immediately into life and 
 activity. " Ah thin sure it isn't he that can tell 
 yer honour the distance; but I'll tell ye what he 
 can do double it." " I'm first on the stand, 
 and see what a beautiful baste I have." 
 " Thin! " " Oh bedad she's not thin f aix it was
 
 CORK 107 
 
 myself was obligated to put her on a regiment to 
 get her into racing order; she was so over and 
 above fat." " Ah sure it isn't going to trust 
 yerself on an outside car ye are, and the rain 
 gothering itself in oceans above yer head; just 
 come a piece of the way in this, yer honour. 
 Sure it's easy enough to get out if ye don't like 
 it." " Don't be beguiling the strange lady and 
 gentleman wid yer gosther, Micky ; sure ye know 
 that garron won't lave the stand, barrin ye give 
 him yer oath, before a witness, it's home to the 
 stable he's going." " Bedad! I'd scorn to ax the 
 likes of ye into my beautiful jingle barrin it 
 was the best in Cork, which it is. Sure it's only 
 my fare I'll ax laving any other little thrifle to 
 yer honour on account of the wife and chil- 
 dren." This " leaving to your honour," is, by 
 the way, always a most expensive mode of pay- 
 ment. 
 
 The car-drivers in Cork and Dublin seem also 
 to have an especial eye on the goings and comings 
 of the inhabitants. We stopped one morning to 
 knock at a gentleman's door; a lazy-looking 
 " jingle boy " was lounging against the area rails. 
 " Oh bedad ! " he said, shifting his position, " if 
 it is Mr. so and so ye'r wantin', he's off these 
 two hours to Cove, and a fine shaking he'll get on 
 Lary Clooney's car, if he gets no worse; sorra a 
 spring on these twelve months barring a tow- 
 rope." 
 
 In England and in France the postilions bully 
 you out of your money in Ireland they coax 
 or laugh it out of your pockets. " Well, I'm
 
 108 IRELAND 
 
 not going to deny but it's all I have a right to, 
 but I'd like another little shilling, to show the 
 people that yer honour was satisfied, and had a 
 regard for the counthry." " I've waited yer 
 honour's leisure this ever so long," said one fel- 
 low, " till ye'd have time to make me the little 
 present ye war thinking of" We took a short 
 excursion one morning, somewhat early, and the 
 horse on descending a hill commenced kicking in 
 such an extraordinary manner, that instead of 
 becoming alarmed we laughed heartily at the 
 oddity and obstinacy of the animal, which, aided 
 by the apologies and explanations of the driver, 
 were inconceivably ludicrous : " Look now, 
 ma'am, it's the quietest baste in Ireland," [kick, 
 kick,] " but it's a small taste frolicsome, out of 
 play," [kick, kick, kick] [Aside to the horse.] 
 "I'll give it ye, ye baste, whin I get ye home, 
 to be exposing me this way." [Aloud.] " It's 
 the blood ye see, sir, the rale quality blood that's 
 in it, sure his mother won the plate at the Cur- 
 ragh o' Kildare, and it's only too quiet this cray- 
 thure is," [kick.] [Aside.] " Ah, ye venom- 
 ous sarpint, ye'r at it again." " Except when it 
 goes out too early of a mornin' it understands 
 the fashions, and I never get much good of him 
 before tin or half-past tin any way." The poor 
 animal who " understood the fashions," looked as 
 if he had not tasted oats for a month, and yet he 
 was the most determined kicker on a hill's side 
 we ever encountered. In the end, to get home 
 the descendant of noble blood, the driver was 
 actually obliged to turn the car round, and back
 
 CORK 109 
 
 it for nearly half a mile, to the bottom of the hill. 
 On our return the man was amply paid; he 
 turned over and over the money in his hand, 
 glancing his eye up and around with an expres- 
 sion of cunning we cannot easily forget. " Are 
 you not satisfied? " was our natural inquiry. 
 " Oh yes, quite satisfied, and I'm sure yer hon- 
 ours war satisfied too only the lady laughed so 
 hard at the haste's tricks, that I thought yer hon- 
 our would give me another little sixpence." 
 
 Such are the fellows who drive, according to 
 their own showing, " for the convaynience of the 
 quality." Sly, inquisitive, good-natured, ready- 
 witted, noisy; and, when whiskey was in the as- 
 cendant, sometimes insolent, yet mingling their 
 very insolence with a ripe humour that usually 
 disarmed anger the Irish car-driver is alto- 
 gether different from a " jarvy " of any other 
 country. It is impossible for us to forget our 
 landing at Kingstown: the tribe which congre- 
 gate outside the rail-road wall, offering to take 
 you and your luggage for " next to nothing, or 
 nothing at all, if it be plazing to you ; " endeavour- 
 ing to divert attention from the fizzing train, by 
 every possible and impossible means; waving 
 their whips in the air clinging to the outer walls 
 like so many cats chattering, swearing, shout- 
 ing, lying without the smallest visitings of 
 conscience. 
 
 " Faith, sir, it isn't because the coach road is 
 shorter and pleasanter, and gone in half the time 
 of the train yer honour, that I spake only be- 
 cause of the lady and yerself , sir. Oh, then it'll
 
 110 IRELAND 
 
 be a woeful thing afther escaping the dangers of 
 the say, to see that sweet lady blown up sky high, 
 or crushed into smithereens under that baste of a 
 dirty ingine. Sure it is the lady's life, and the 
 honour of ould Ireland I'm thinkin' of, sir. I'd 
 be sorry to see her mangled the way you know, 
 Tim, the poor woman an' her dear innocent 
 babby was kilt intirely yesterday morning ! " 
 This was said to ourselves two years ago; while 
 the speaker, having drawn his car as close as 
 possible to the barrier, stood on his driving seat 
 leaning one hand on the wall that very properly 
 protects the rail-road, and flourishing his whip 
 in the air. " Paytronise the counthry, sir," ex- 
 claimed another. " Paythriotism for ever, and 
 no rail-roads! to the dickens with them." " And 
 those who go by them," added an ill-looking fel- 
 low, twisting his shoulders, and casting a most 
 malicious scowl from a countenance set in a black 
 frame of dingy whiskers. " Hould your tongue, 
 ye sinner!" exclaimed another, with an ironical, 
 half -serious expression of face ; " it's down upon 
 your hard-hearted knees you ought to go, to 
 pray for the poor deluded strangers in a furrin 
 land, as this is to them, that don't know better 
 than to trust their innocent limbs into ould Nick's 
 punch-powl. Ye'll never see Dublin my dar- 
 lints and more's the pity for it's a beautiful 
 city. Ye'll be spilt like a drop of skim milk, and 
 smashed like a mealy potato! before ye reach 
 the station the only station in the country I 
 never cared to spind much time at." " Here's 
 a beautiful car a handsome car an illigant
 
 CORK 111 
 
 car; room for four, and two in the well," bawled 
 forth another. " And nothin' to pay nothin' 
 to pay Jack Dawson only wants them for the 
 pleasure of their company." And the last hu- 
 man sound we distinguished while the train was 
 in the act of starting, was a yell of execration at 
 the engine. 
 
 The driver of the common cart, the " Paddys " 
 met with in every public road and by-lane, are 
 altogether of an opposite nature. Some (the 
 juveniles) in broad-leaved straw hats and loose 21 
 flannel jackets, seldom encumbered with shoes, 
 lounging or rolicking, or mounted on the lean 
 backs of their horses; others, old roadsters, in 
 long heavy grey or blue frieze coats; hats worn 
 into every hue and shape by long service, either 
 dangling their legs from the off shaft of the car ; 
 or stretched along it, if it be empty, in a state 
 closely approximating to sleep. 
 
 If you are in a particular hurry, and want to 
 pass a fellow of this description on the road, 
 there are ten chances to one he will let you go by, 
 at last, without allowing you to ascertain whether 
 his keeping so perseveringly on the right, when 
 he ought to have been on the left or on the left, 
 when he ought to have been on the right was the 
 effect of ignorance, or a determination not so 
 much to annoy as to be amused at your expense. 
 The probability is, that when you are fairly out 
 of sight he laughs merrily, and exclaims, " Well, 
 I got a good rize out of 'em, any how; how par- 
 ticular they war about the side, as if it mattered 
 a traneen which was right, or which was wrong,
 
 112 IRELAND 
 
 so they got on." " Here's a brother," exclaims 
 the driver of your city jingle, perceiving a string 
 of cars in the midst of the road ; he shouts to them 
 to get out of the way; two or three on the line, 
 catching hold of their horses' heads, turn ab- 
 ruptly to the left; one or two others twist off to 
 the right while the advance guard, apparently, 
 neither see nor hear the admonition of the per- 
 plexed charioteer. ;< To the dickens with you! " 
 he exclaims; "we thought you wanted us out 
 of your way," is the ready reply. " Will ye go 
 on? " " Bedad, we've never stopt all day." 
 "Will you draw to the left?" "Why didn't 
 ye tell us that before? Which is the left?" 
 asks a ragged wag, keeping his horse and car 
 positively across the road, and making the in- 
 quiry in a humble voice, while his eyes dance with 
 mischief " Will ye be plazed to tell us the dif- 
 fer, sir? how do poor ignorant boys like us 
 know? " 
 
 We overtook a line of this nature one morning 
 near Cork; cheerful, lazy-looking fellows, re- 
 turning to the country with empty cars, and 
 lolling in them with evident delight. They were 
 bent on tormenting; for no sooner did one get 
 out of the way than another got into it. Our 
 machine was covered, so that they could not see 
 who was inside. The driver managed to pass 
 two, and one of the men immediately hallooed 
 to his companions " Boys, boys, I say, show 
 yer manners there's a lady in the car." This 
 was enough; they proved in a moment that they 
 did know right from wrong, and touched their
 
 CORK 113 
 
 hats as we passed their native politeness con- 
 quering their desire for fun. 
 
 Nothing can be more distinct than the air and 
 manner, not only of the men, but of the very 
 horses employed in agricultural labour in Eng- 
 land, and in Ireland. The English peasant is 
 well-clad, erect, and intent on his business ; there 
 is nothing particularly cheerful or intelligent in 
 his appearance, though there is much of good 
 nature about him; and his warm jacket, his 
 worsted stockings, his strong shoes, his substan- 
 tial whip, which he rather supports than holds, 
 tell of his comforts; he walks firmly and at a 
 good pace by the side of his charge, and keeps, 
 cautiously, on the right side of the road. The 
 very horse has an attempt at an aristocratic curve 
 in his muscular neck, and is perfectly aware that 
 the sooner his journey is performed, so much the 
 sooner will his cold nose dip into its bag of warm 
 oats. 
 
 The Englishman pauses as he passes along, 
 and after " who-aing " to his horse, looks over 
 the hedge to ascertain the state of the crops, be 
 it oat, wheat, or barley he has an interest in all, 
 because he partakes of all. The Irishman casts 
 many a look at the potato fields, but at no other, 
 and he breathes a deep and earnest prayer " that 
 the Lord will stand the poor man's friend, and 
 not send them another hard summer." We used 
 to blame them severely for their loiterings, and 
 we still deeply lament that they are not taught 
 the value of time by being paid in proportion to 
 its employment. About eight years ago, driv- 
 
 V 8
 
 114 IRELAND 
 
 ing through one of the poorest districts in Ire- 
 land, we overtook a man who was literally creep- 
 ing along by the side of his little car, which was 
 filled with sea ore. ' You do not seem in haste 
 with your work," we observed, in a somewhat re- 
 proachful tone. 
 
 " In haste with my work ! " he answered. 
 " God bless you! it's little you or the likes of you 
 knows the sort of encouragement I get to be in 
 * haste with my work.' You pass us by with 
 warm blood in yer veins, and the strength of the 
 counihry in yer bones; and God keep it to ye. 
 Ye pass us by on yer easy cars, drawn by well- 
 fed horses, and drov' by light hearts, and ye see 
 a poor man like myself by the road side, whose 
 steps are heavy with throuble, and who knows 
 that whether he makes haste or not, all he can earn 
 will hardly keep him an' his from black starvation. 
 We have no encouragement in these parts to be 
 in ' haste with our work.' This load is not for 
 my own garden I have none now. What good 
 is it for a poor man to work quick? sure he only 
 doubles his labour, and gets no more pay; or 
 what good is it for him," he added bitterly, 
 " what good is it for him to be put slavin' on 
 the world at all, at all! except," he continued, 
 and he raised his hat as he uttered the words, 
 " that it's the will of the Almighty and that's 
 enough praise be to His name ! " 
 
 We would entreat the traveller to pause and 
 inquire why the contrast is so great between the 
 activity of a naturally slow people and the tardi- 
 ness of a naturally quick people and reflect a
 
 CORK 115 
 
 little before he adds the brand of indolence to 
 the many brands that have been inflicted on the 
 Irish character. An Irishman wants neither 
 energy nor activity when cause is shown him why 
 he should be energetic and active ; his great want 
 is perseverance. We have often thought that 
 good landlords could conquer even the semblance 
 of loitering amongst their labourers, if they paid 
 by the work done rather than the day, apportion- 
 ing it so that the peasant, without, overtaxing 
 his strength, by being industrious could earn a 
 penny or twopence more daily, by steady endur- 
 ance: but upon this topic we shall have to dilate 
 hereafter. 
 
 In country towns there are no public stands 
 for cars of any kind: they can be hired, as we 
 have intimated, at the principal inn, or, as it is 
 generally called, the " first hotel." Sometimes 
 individuals manage to " start a car," or " set up 
 a jingle," and in such cases drive it themselves; 
 those persons are usually well-informed in leg- 
 ends and localities, and always well pleased to 
 obtain a listener. The most amusing of the class 
 we ever knew, was a tall, lanky fellow, whose 
 real name was Mogue Furlong, but who was 
 better known in his own particular district as 
 " Mogue the Rattler." Mogue was in the con- 
 fidence of many a youth and maiden, for, as he 
 said, the jaunting-car was the most convanient 
 thing for " coortin' " that ever was invinted. 
 ' Ye see," said the Rattler, " I know at once 
 when people are married or single; if they're 
 keeping company, they tell me to balance the car
 
 116 IRELAND 
 
 by sitting on the other side for the sake of the 
 horse, to be sure! if they're married, bedad! 
 they let me keep my own sate, and balance it 
 themselves! " 
 
 A proud man was Mogue when the liberality 
 of a gentleman whose hand, while he had life, 
 never closed upon his purse enabled him to set 
 up a car for, as he said, " the convanience of the 
 neighbours, and his own profit." Mogue was a 
 patriot, and had his car painted a bright green; 
 and as he desired the country at large to be in- 
 formed of his wealth, he had an inscription on 
 the back of his vehicle, " Mogue Furlong his car 
 for the public and his friends laves home twice 
 a week wind and weather permitting. P.S. let 
 on hire when not goin'." Mogue sported a very 
 loose, ill-fitting coat, a huge whip, with a lash 
 long enough, as he said, " to keep the childre and 
 the pigs from under the horse's feet," and his 
 " new " beaver was an " ould " hat belonging to 
 the coachman at the big house, a tributary offer- 
 ing to the Rattler's new " vocation; " as, however, 
 the coachman's head was large and Mogue's 
 small, he was obliged to stuff it with a wisp of 
 hay or straw, or some such material, to render 
 it " a beautiful fit," and he generally managed 
 by such means to keep it off his eyes; he was a 
 very tall, powerful man, but gentle and good- 
 tempered, as powerful men usually are. Dur- 
 ing the summer he had abundant occupation in 
 driving " the Bathers" (he lived in a sea-side 
 village) to the sea. No matter how many 
 crowded into his car; "the more the merrier"
 
 CORK 117 
 
 was Mogue's constant observation, ( " three of a 
 side and two in the well,") and he aided not a 
 little to make them merry, for he was the very 
 soul of sly and quiet humour. In those days 
 the " Flirting Cushions," that well-stuffed and 
 most lounging appendage to a modern outside 
 car, was not known; and we have seen three or 
 four children laughing in " the well," while mam- 
 mas, grown-up sisters, and nurses crowded the 
 sides. Twice a-week Mogue repaired, " wind 
 and weather permitting," to the county town, 
 and certainly no one envied his occupation: 
 every thing that the inventive faculties of a whole 
 parish in which were ten or a dozen rustic 
 beauties every thing from a pennyworth of 
 mixed hair-pins up to a bonnet, from a " quarten 
 of tea " to a side of pork, was Mogue expected 
 to convey for next to nothing or pure love. 
 " Ah thin, Mogue honey, don't forget the crooked 
 comb; what '11 I do if you do, and the dance to 
 be to-morrow evening? here's the money.'* 
 '" And for the carriage, Nelly? " " Oh, I'll owe 
 ye for that." " Ah, thin, Misther Mogue, don't 
 forget the bit of a slate for the boy, this time, 
 anyhow. Sure he's losing the figures for want 
 of it intirely." " Mr. Mogue, sir," whispers a 
 tall gawky lad, looking fitter to go to school than 
 think of " such things " " here's the size of her 
 finger, ye see; try it on yer own little one, will 
 ye, for fear ye'd lose the measure? " " Ah thin, 
 don't bother us with such nonsense, ye grate 
 bosthoon," was Mogue's reply. " Sure the kay 
 of the door served your father's turn, and it
 
 118 IRELAND 
 
 may yours's." " The dickens a kay to the door 
 at all, at all," answered the youth ; " but the 
 priest is grown particular about a ring, and ye 
 need't dread the money, for here's the half of it; 
 and don't be hinderin' us, Mogue, like a darlin' 
 man, and it so nigh Lent. I'll pay ye honest, 
 and if ye don't take my word, the little girl her- 
 self s outside and will go bail and you never 
 misdoubted the word of one belonging to her." 
 
 Christmas, however, was Mogue's time of im- 
 portance ; he had to please all the ladies then, and 
 not a few of the rich farmers' wives in the choice 
 of pudding plums, jar raisins, sweet and bitter 
 almonds, beef suet, Christmas candles, kitchen 
 candles, citrons, with a host of et ceteras. He 
 had to convey presents of turkeys and eggs from 
 the dwellers in the country to those in the town; 
 and presents of town cheer from those in town 
 to friends in the country. 
 
 The fifth Christmas after Mogue became a 
 man of substance had come round. It was a 
 fine clear evening when he repaired to the dwel- 
 ling of his friend, the old gentleman, who had 
 set him up in the first instance as a car-driver; 
 in three days more this old gentleman would 
 have spent sixty Christmas days in the house 
 where five generations had preceded him; and 
 Mogue Furlong came, once again, to take orders 
 for the Christmas fare. He had heard rumours 
 that the 'squire's circumstances were changed for 
 the worse, and in accordance with that beautiful 
 Irish feeling which renders the Irish doubly re- 
 spectful to the relics of good old times, when
 
 CORK 119 
 
 " in trouble," Mogue on being sent for to the 
 parlour bowed much lower, and much more civil 
 than usual; but his heart smote him when the 
 gentleman's daughter placed in his hands a far 
 shorter list than heretofore of the fare that was 
 required. 
 
 " There's only Mary and I now," observed 
 the 'squire ; " The boys are all away, and we do 
 not want much, do we, Mary?" Mary smiled 
 and turned away; Mogue saw she did so to hide 
 her tears. 
 
 " Well," exclaimed the grocer's wife, " I must 
 say, Mogue Furlong, yer the hardest to plaze 
 of any man I ever see. Why, they're the same 
 currants you let me put up for Mrs. Horragan." 
 ' They'll do very well for Mrs. Horragan; but 
 there's a dale in the differ between buying for 
 her and Miss Mary of the big house." " And 
 is this all they've ordered? " said the woman, 
 snatching the list out of the car-driver's hand. 
 " Well, if ever I see such a mane, poor order 
 from a gentleman's house." " Ye may keep 
 yer currants, Mrs. White, ma'am," he said, hav- 
 ing repossessed himself of the order. ' Ye may 
 keep yer currants as change for yer impedence, 
 in daring to look at my papers; and see what 
 ye'll do without my custom. See that now, 
 Mrs. White, that's the price of your curiosity, 
 ma'am ! " and Mogue walked off in fierce anger 
 to another grocer's, despite the efforts of Mrs. 
 White to obtain a reconciliation. 
 
 ' Well," she exclaimed, " who would ever 
 drame of his firing up that way; and indeed it's
 
 120 IRELAND 
 
 myself is sorry to hear what I heard about the 
 family, they war good people " 
 
 " And good customers," added one of the shop 
 loungers. 
 
 " I'm not going to deny that'' replied Mrs. 
 White ; " but they always had the worth of their 
 money." 
 
 " Small blame to them; ye did not ax them to 
 have more, Mrs. White; " observed a caustic 
 blacksmith. 
 
 " I shall let them know Mogue's impudence, 
 and get him broke," she said, tossing one scale 
 into another as they swung from the beam, and 
 wiping the remnants of the " soft sugar " into 
 the drawer with her hand. " I shall certainly 
 let them know Mogue's impudence." 
 
 Mogue Furlong heard that day much, which 
 made his heart ache; meeting the servant of his 
 patron's attorney strolling down the street, he 
 asked him " if his master had said any thing 
 about he knew who ? " 
 
 " No; " the only thing he had heard was, that 
 if the old gentleman could be kept out of the 
 way and free from arrest for a few months, 
 there was no doubt his affairs would come round ; 
 " but," added the man, " I did hear my master 
 say to Mr. Lacey, just when I stopt to poke the 
 fire, ' that he was too fond of staying in the old 
 walls.' " 
 
 This troubled the honest car-driver a good 
 deal; but he had much to think of, and though 
 he made excellent haste that is, excellent haste 
 when the delays of Irish shopping are taken into
 
 CORK 121 
 
 consideration the Dublin mail had arrived, and 
 the evening closed into night before he was ready 
 to depart. 
 
 Mogue had packed his commissions on the car 
 with exceeding care, and had just admonished 
 the mare, for the fifth time, that it was his desire 
 she should forthwith proceed on her way, when 
 two men advanced, and signified their design to 
 travel to his own sea-side village that very night. 
 Mogue immediately set about re-arranging his 
 packages, and balanced his passengers accord- 
 ing to the usual mode, one at each side ; they were 
 evidently strangers to the neighbourhood, and, 
 as Mogue opined, any thing but " the rale 
 gentry, for they never left a farthing with the 
 beggars." Before they had proceeded half a 
 mile, they commenced questioning the car-driver ; 
 and he was nothing loth to reply to their inter- 
 rogatories according to the most approved Irish 
 fashion by himself becoming a questioner. He 
 observed, however, that they were remarkably 
 guarded in their replies; but suddenly, contrary 
 to his usual practice, Mogue himself became com- 
 municative, and found that his information was 
 received with avidity. They asked a few lead- 
 ing questions touching the habits of his patron, 
 the old 'squire, of whom the car-driver spoke in 
 any thing but a kind or respectful manner; and 
 so they jogged on together until they came to 
 a certain cross-road, where Mogue's mare wanted 
 to get the reins between her teeth and go one 
 way, while her master was even more obstinate 
 in his resolve that she should go another. At
 
 122 IRELAND 
 
 last, by the dint of blows and abuse, he suc- 
 ceeded in compelling her to take the mountain 
 road; though she every moment signified her 
 determination to have her own way, if possible, 
 by backing into the ditch, or turning her head 
 towards the place she had left. 
 
 " One would think your horse ought to know 
 the road home," said one of the men. 
 
 " Know it ! " repeated Mogue, " why it's she 
 that does; only, poor thing, it's her nature ye 
 see (go on, do, or I'll make ye, ye baste) her 
 foal that's at my brother's, a piece down that 
 boreen I brought her from it this morning, 
 leaving my other horse there, just for a change 
 of grass, which is very wholesome this time of 
 year." 
 
 In this little account Mogue Furlong perpe- 
 trated three falsehoods; "the mare" never had 
 a foal, he, himself, never had a brother, and as 
 to his having a second horse 1 
 
 Leaving Mogue to pursue his journey, we 
 must relate what occurred at the 'squire's. 
 
 " I wonder," said Mary to her father, " what 
 can possibly have delayed Mogue Furlong; it 
 is now half -past ten; they say in the kitchen 
 Ihey never remember him to have been so late 
 since the last heavy fall of snow." 
 
 The old gentleman, who had been walking up 
 and down the room, with a restless step, paused. 
 " I wish he was come, my dear I wish he was ; " 
 and then he sighed heavily, and resumed his walk. 
 
 " If you plaze, Miss," said the cook, poking 
 in her head, while she held the knob of the door
 
 CORK 123 
 
 in the folds of her apron, " we've no kitchen 
 candles, and the groom says he darn't go to the 
 stable 'till Mogue comes home, on account of 
 the lanthorn that he took to get mended; and 
 it's what I wanted to know, what is to be done 
 about the suet, for 'till Mogue comes " 
 
 " Let me hear no more of Mogue," interrupted 
 the 'squire in anger the quick, sudden anger, 
 not of an evil temper, but of a mind ill at ease 
 " let me hear no more of him I suppose the 
 fellow is drunk. I shall have no letters to-night. 
 Come, Mary, it is time to go to bed." 
 
 Mary could not rest; but if the gentle girl 
 had been inclined to retire to her own room, 
 the heavy tramp of her father's footstep over- 
 head would have banished repose; the apartment 
 had once been handsomely furnished; now all 
 looked chill and lonely, and the snuff of a candle 
 that was dying in the socket only rendered more 
 intense the darkness that cloaked the distant 
 parts. Suddenly the bough of an aged oak, 
 which grew almost against the window, became 
 violently agitated, and at the same instant she 
 saw a man look into the room. Her first impulse 
 was to scream, but she checked herself and rushed 
 to the door. " Miss Mary Miss Mary stop 
 stop sure it's Mogue, avourneen, Miss, 
 machree." And the voice was very distinctly 
 heard through the crack in a board which had 
 replaced a broken pane. Mary opened the win- 
 dow. ' There's a dim light in the masther's 
 room, and that's his step all the world over," 
 said Mogue, after shaking the sleet of a De-
 
 124 IRELAND 
 
 cember night off his rugged coat; "I've had a 
 troublesome time of it, but it's all safe now ! " 
 he continued, " at least for the present. Bedad, 
 I've netted 'em as nate as ever a rabbit was 
 netted in its own burrow; and yet I'd rather the 
 master would quit for a while, for there's more 
 of the same varmint where them came from 
 and if you'll only trust me, I'd get the gig ready 
 in a jiffy, and drive his honour to London, or 
 the world's end and it's a long lane that has 
 no turning. I came on the sly, for there's no 
 knowing who's who. Do, Miss Mary, just show 
 the masther the rights of it, and tell him that 
 Mogue Furlong the car-driver has a grateful 
 heart in his bosom. Sure what would I be now 
 only a spalpeen like the rest of the boys 
 only for him. Tell him I'll go to Death's door 
 for him on the jaunting-car and bring him back. 
 Sure it's his own car; and the mare, bad cess to 
 her, had almost sould the pass on me but for 
 the management. Go, alana, for every minute 
 is goold to us now." 
 
 Mary would not go until she knew what she 
 had to tell; which simply was that Mogue had 
 ascertained his fellow-travellers to be sheriff's 
 officers armed with the law either to take the old 
 'squire or put execution into the house, as he 
 said, to " blow it up ; " that being certain of this 
 by their offering him a bribe to let them " step 
 in with him " when discharging his cargo, and 
 also finding that they were ignorant of the road, 
 he took them " fair and aisy " to a cousin of his 
 own where he persuaded them to alight the
 
 CORK 125 
 
 night was so cold, just to get a drop to keep the 
 life in them. Having succeeded so far, there 
 was little difficulty, when their object and occu- 
 pation was known, in prevailing on " the boys," 
 then in the shebeen house, to forcibly bind them 
 hand and foot and keep them there for as many 
 hours as Mogue should command them so to do. 
 
 ;< The never such divarshion was in my cousin's 
 house," said the car-man, " since as good as five 
 years ago, when the same boys made James 
 Logan the gauger dance the sailor's hornpipe on 
 a hot griddle. They war making 'em drink the 
 downfal of the law on the flat of their backs, 
 when I left 'em, and feeding 'em with a spoon 
 like fighting cocks. Faix, I was glad to see the 
 poor fellows so full of innocent mirth of a 
 Christemas eye ! " 
 
 The 'squire took the hint, and left for a time 
 the old walls; but only to return to them for 
 the rest of his days with a small real, instead of 
 a large nominal income. The sheriff's officers 
 talked of actions for false imprisonment, but 
 they did not put the threat into execution; and 
 the grateful car-man has now really two horses, 
 and is the most welcome of all guests in the old 
 'squire's hall. 
 
 We have described the principal objects of at- 
 traction on the southern bank of the river; those 
 to the north are, however, of equal interest and 
 beauty, and among the most conspicuous is the 
 pretty village of Glanmire, with its small but 
 clear and graceful river thickly wooded one
 
 126 IRELAND 
 
 of the latest tributaries which the Lee receives. 
 On the north side of the great island on which 
 Cove stands, and on the direct road from Cork 
 to Youghall, are the small towns of Middleton 
 and Castlemartyr; the former from its facilities 
 for water-carriage enjoys considerable trade; the 
 latter has the advantage of a resident proprietor 
 the Earl of Shannon, whose seat is in the im- 
 mediate neighbourhood. Youghall has long oc- 
 cupied a prominent station in Irish history. 28 
 It is situated at the mouth of the romantic river 
 Blackwater; but the fine and picturesque har- 
 bour has the disadvantage of a bar, by which it 
 is rendered often dangerous, and which effectu- 
 ally prevents competition with its safer neigh- 
 bour of Cork. The town is at the base of a steep 
 hill ; and, as with most of the smaller Irish towns, 
 consists principally of one long street. The 
 tower stands near the entrance to the harbour; 
 tradition states it to have been a light-house in 
 ancient times; and it is more than probable that 
 to this object M. Boullaye le Gouz (whose tour 
 in Ireland, in 1644, has been lately republished) 
 refers as " formerly part of a convent of nuns 
 of which there remains a tower called the Nun- 
 nery, upon which they used to light torches to 
 enable vessels to come into harbour during the 
 night." About the same period Sir William 
 Penn mentions his having received a letter from 
 the governor of Youghall, desiring him to take 
 notice that when the town wanted to communi- 
 cate with his squadron, " the signal should be 
 a fire on the top of the abbey tower, near the
 
 CORK 127 
 
 point on the west side of the harbour's mouth." 
 Close to this tower is a piece of land in which it 
 is said Sir Walter Raleigh planted the first po- 
 tatoes that were grown in Ireland; the honour, 
 however, is disputed by the garden which ad- 
 joins the college house in which he lived. 
 
 There is little doubt that the first potatoes 
 grown in the British empire were planted at 
 Youghall probably in 1586 by Sir Walter 
 Raleigh, who was closely connected with the 
 town, of which he was mayor in 1588. 29 It is 
 stated by Dr. Smith, upon the authority of a 
 tradition not unlikely to be well founded, that 
 " the person who planted them, imagining that 
 the apple which grows on the stalk was the part to 
 be used, gathered them ; but not liking their taste, 
 neglected their roots, till the ground being dug 
 afterwards to sow some other grain, the potatoes 
 were discovered therein, and, to the great sur- 
 prise of the planter, vastly increased. From 
 these few," adds the doctor, " this country was 
 furnished with seed." For a long period, how- 
 ever, the potato was cultivated in gardens as a 
 rarity, and did not become general food. Ben 
 Jonson, in his play of " Every Man out of his 
 Humour," refers to them as a luxury, 30 " larks, 
 sparrows, and potato pies," and during the 
 reign of James I., they were sold at 2s. a pound. 
 Falstaff, in the " Merry Wives of Windsor," is 
 made to say, " Let the sky rain potatoes, and hail 
 kissing comfits ; " the " kissing comfits " being 
 made principally of potatoes ; and in Troilus and 
 Cressida, the poet speaks of " Luxury with her
 
 128 IRELAND 
 
 potato finger." In many other of the older 
 dramatists allusions to the potato may be found. 31 
 
 It is uncertain when the potato became an 
 article of general food in Ireland; and it is more 
 than probable that, as in England, they had long 
 been considered " conserves, toothsome and 
 daintie," before they were in common use. Mr. 
 Me Skimin, the author of a valuable " History 
 of Carrickfergus," is the possessor of a manu- 
 script written between 1670 and 1679, in which 
 potatoes are stated to have been sold so high as 
 Is. Sd. a bushel; and he states " very old people 
 had informed him that in their district (the north 
 of Ireland) few potatoes were formerly used 
 after harvest, except a small quantity preserved 
 as a treat for their Halloween supper, which 
 were eaten with butter." But Mr. Crofton 
 Croker has produced, in his " Popular Songs of 
 Ireland," abundant proofs that, in the south, 
 potatoes were ordinary food before the period 
 to which Mr. Me Skimin refers ; and that pre- 
 vious to the Revolution of 1688 they were ex- 
 tensively cultivated and commonly eaten. 
 
 It is unnecessary to state, that for above a cen- 
 tury and a half, the potato has been almost the 
 only food of the peasantry of Ireland. They raise 
 corn, indeed wheat, barley, and oats, in abun- 
 dance but it is for export; and although the 
 assertion may startle many, we have no hesita- 
 tion in saying there are hundreds in the less civi- 
 lized districts of the country who have never 
 tasted bread. Whether the Irish have to bless 
 or ban the name of Sir Walter Raleigh is a mat-
 
 CORK 129 
 
 ter still in dispute some siding with Cobbett 
 in execrating " the lazy root," " the accursed 
 root," as, if not the originator, the sustainer of 
 Irish poverty and wretchedness ; others contend- 
 ing that the introduction of the potato is an 
 ample set-off against the wars and confiscations 
 of Elizabeth, her counsellors, and her armies. 
 It is universally admitted that a finer or hardier 
 race of peasantry cannot be found in the world; 
 and although it is considered that their strength 
 fails them at a comparatively early age, it is 
 impossible to deny the nutritive qualities of a 
 food upon which so many millions have thriven 
 and increased. But there can be as little doubt 
 that the ease with which the means of existence 
 are procured has been the cause of evil. A very 
 limited portion of land, a few days of labour, 
 and a small amount of manure, will create a 
 stock upon which a family may exist for twelve 
 months: too generally, indeed, the periods be- 
 tween exhausting the old stock and digging the 
 new are seasons of great want, if not of absolute 
 famine; but if the season is propitious the peas- 
 ant digs day after day the produce of his plot 
 of ground, and, before the winter sets in, places 
 the residue in a pit to which he has access when 
 his wants demand a supply. Nearly every soil 
 will produce potatoes ; they may be seen growing 
 almost from a barren rock, on the side of a 
 mountain, and in the bog where the foot would 
 sink many inches in the soil. Every cottage has 
 its garden its acre or half acre of land, at- 
 tached; and as the culture requires but a very 
 v 9
 
 130 IRELAND 
 
 small portion of the peasant's time and still less 
 of his attention, his labour is to be disposed of, 
 or his time may be squandered in idleness. He 
 can live, at all events if his crop do not fail; 
 and he can pay his rent if his pig, fed like him- 
 self out of his garden, do not die. To decency 
 of clothing, and to any of the luxuries that make 
 life something more than mere animal existence, 
 he is too often a stranger. Contentment may 
 be the " parent of delight," but it is not the 
 nurse of civilization; and he who has no wants 
 beyond those of the appetites he shares in com- 
 mon with the " brutes that perish," is not likely 
 to advance his social and moral condition. On 
 the whole, it is perhaps to be lamented that the 
 use of " Ireland's root " has been so universal in 
 the country, and that the people have been so 
 well contented with it that they have made no 
 exertion to mix the potato with varied food. 
 
 But matters are, as we have stated, improving 
 in Ireland; already, in a large proportion of 
 the cabins, the potato has the accompaniment of 
 meat and bread; the butcher and the baker are 
 receiving the custom that was, not long since, 
 given exclusively to the whiskey shops. We 
 refer, in a great degree, to our recollections, when 
 we describe the lower classes of the Irish as ex- 
 isting, almost universally, on the potato : we have 
 known many families who very rarely tasted 
 flesh or fish, and whose only luxury was " a grain 
 of salt " with their daily meals; we do not speak 
 of families in poverty, but of those who laboured 
 hard and continually the produce of whose la-
 
 LAT
 
 CORK 131 
 
 hour barely sufficed to preserve them from utter 
 want. Generally, however, they contrived to have 
 a salt herring with their dinners ; this was placed 
 in a bowl or dish, water was poured upon it, and 
 the potato, dipped into it, obtained a relish. We 
 shall have other occasions for describing the econ- 
 omy of the Irish cottage; at present, we confine 
 ourselves to illustrate this branch of it. The 
 peasant usually has three meals one at eight in 
 the morning; at noon; and at seven or eight in 
 the evening, when his work is done. The pota- 
 toes are boiled in an iron pot such as that rep- 
 resented in the print they are strained in " the 
 basket " pictured also (See Plate No. 3) ; from 
 which they are thrown upon the table, seldom 
 without a cloth, and around it the family sit on 
 stools and bosses (the boss is a low seat made of 
 straw) ; the usual drink is buttermilk, when it can 
 be had: which drink goes round in a small 
 " pigg m " a sor t f miniature of the English pail. 
 This, the three-legged stool and the " borrane,'* 
 are delineated in the engraving. ( See Plate No. 
 3.) The borrane is formed of a scraped sheep- 
 skin, drawn round a hoop ; and is used instead of 
 a sieve for winnowing corn, filling sacks with 
 grain, holding wool when carded and ready for 
 the spinning-wheel, or the feathers plucked 
 three times in the year from an unfortunate gan- 
 der and his wives, and sometimes as a lordly dish 
 though of inexpensive workmanship to hold 
 the potatoes which constitute the family fare. 
 
 The spade used by the labourers in Leinster is 
 a kind of hybrid between the broad English spade
 
 132 IRELAND 
 
 and the "loy" used in Connaught, and well 
 suited to the purpose of digging soils which are 
 not encumbered with stones; it is sufficiently 
 broad to turn over a considerable portion of 
 earth, and yet long enough to penetrate twelve 
 inches; and being contracted to the breadth of 
 about six inches at bottom, it has enough of the 
 wedge principle in its construction to enter into 
 the land without difficulty. The long, narrow 
 spade, originally designed for digging land full 
 of obstructions, is the favourite implement in 
 Connaught; and also, but somewhat wider in its 
 formation, in the southern portions of Munster. 
 Much improvement, however, has been effected 
 in its construction almost everywhere. A long 
 handle to the spade and the shovel is universally 
 used in field labours; a native workman, from 
 want of early familiarity with the peculiar sleight 
 required in the use of the short-handled spade, 
 which implement the Englishman finds so much 
 more effective, fails very soon when he tries to 
 labour with it; his back becomes intolerably af- 
 fected by the necessary stooping; he throws it 
 away as soon as he can, resumes his naturally 
 upright position, and is ready to back the long 
 lever against the short one without understand- 
 ing the mathematical principle very distinctly 
 for a day's wages. Experience shows us that 
 the practised Englishman with his spade will dig 
 up a larger area of land in any given time than 
 an Irishman, or fill a cart with earth or coals, by 
 means of his short-handled shovel, in a much less 
 period; yet the Irish labourer unless he comes
 
 CORK 133 
 
 to work in England cannot be prevailed upon 
 to make any continued effort in the use of the 
 latter implement. 
 
 Sir Walter Raleigh's connexion with Ireland, 
 and more especially with Youghall, may be stated 
 briefly. He went over to Ireland as a mere sol- 
 dier of fortune, in 1579, the captain of a levy of 
 troops sent from England to support the Lord 
 Deputy, Grey de Wilton, in subduing the rebel- 
 lious Earl of Desmond. 32 Raleigh's skill and 
 intrepidity attracted notice, and his promotion 
 was rapid : he was rewarded with a grant of land, 
 part of the forfeited estates of the earl in the 
 counties of Cork and Waterford; the grant be- 
 ing confirmed to him by letters patent, dated the 
 16th Oct. 1586. About this period, and for some 
 years afterwards, he resided at Youghall, and oc- 
 casionally at Lismore, where he founded a free- 
 school ; and frequently visited the poet Spenser 
 at Kilcoleman Castle whose friendship with the 
 " shepherd of the ocean " Spenser commemorated 
 in immortal lines. 33 A quiet life was, however, 
 unsuited to the temperament of Raleigh; and in 
 1602 he disposed of his Irish property to the 
 famous Sir Richard Boyle, afterwards Earl of 
 Cork the deed of sale is dated the 7th December, 
 1602. But there is more than suspicion that Sir 
 Richard took advantage of circumstances, to in- 
 duce Raleigh to part with his estate, which now 
 forms the bulk of the Duke of Devonshire's prop- 
 erty in Ireland, for a sum very far below its 
 value, even at the period about <l,500 ; although 
 it seems that Sir Walter subsequently received
 
 134 IRELAND 
 
 other sums from Lord Cork upon what ground 
 does not satisfactorily appear. In a letter writ- 
 ten by the Earl of Cork to Mr. Carew Raleigh, 
 Sir Walter's son, dated January 16, 1631, his 
 lordship defends himself against the charge of 
 having overreached in the bargain; alleging that 
 he had paid Sir Walter the full value of what he 
 owed him for his estate, which he purchased at 
 a time when it was utterly waste and yielded him 
 no profit ; and affirming that Sir Walter had ex- 
 pressed himself satisfied in the presence of many 
 witnesses, saying, "If he (Sir Richard Boyle) 
 had not bought my Irish land it would have fallen 
 to the crown, and then one Scot or other would 
 have begged it." Sir Walter Raleigh sailed 
 from Cork harbour on his last and fatal voyage, 
 on the 6th of August, 1617. The descendants 
 of the Earl of Cork still enjoy the greater por- 
 tion of the estates that once belonged to " the re- 
 nowned knight." 34 The history of the earl, if 
 his " True Remembrances " can be credited, is 
 one of the most singular upon record : he was bred 
 to the law ; but rinding that " his employment 
 would not raise a fortune," he became an adven- 
 turer in Ireland, during the confusion incident to 
 the Desmond rebellion, landing in Dublin, ac- 
 cording to his own statement, on the 23d of June, 
 1583, " with .27 3s. in money, and two tokens 
 which his mother had given him," a limited supply 
 of clothes, and " a rapier and a dagger." He ob- 
 tained a large share of the spoil divided among all 
 who thought it worth the asking, and lived to see 
 three of his sons ennobled the Lords Dungarvan
 
 CORK 135 
 
 (afterwards Earl of Burlington), Broghill (af- 
 terwards Earl of Orrery), and Kinalmeaky. 
 After his father's death, Francis Boyle was en- 
 nobled by Charles II. as Viscount Shannon; and 
 Robert Boyle, the philosopher, now distinguished 
 by the epithet " illustrious," refused a peerage. 
 The sisters of these noblemen married the Earl 
 of B anymore, Lord Digby, Lord Goring, Vis- 
 count Ranelagh, Sir Adam Loftus, and the Earl 
 of Warwick : all distinguished characters in their 
 time. 
 
 The house in which Raleigh lived is still stand- 
 ing close to the church and the ancient wall of the 
 town. It is, at present, in the occupation of 
 Colonel Fount, who carefully preserves from in- 
 jury all the objects that are associated with the 
 memory of the accomplished and unfortunate 
 knight. 35 It has, however, undergone modern 
 " improvements " the character of which was 
 happily described by an aged gardener with whom 
 we conversed : " Ah, sir ! this was an ould ancient 
 place once." The house is said to have been 
 originally the residence of the wardens of the col- 
 legiate church; but was probably altered to its 
 present character which closely appertains to 
 that of the ordinary English manor-house of the 
 sixteenth century either by Sir George Carew 
 or by Sir Richard Boyle, both of whom resided 
 there. The walls are of considerable thickness, 
 and the whole of the interior is wainscotted with 
 Irish oak; the panels in the principal room are 
 black as ebony; and it contains a chimney-piece, 
 of oak also, reaching from the floor to the ceiling,
 
 136 IRELAND 
 
 of very elaborate workmanship ; but the bad taste 
 of former proprietors has defaced the other cham- 
 bers of the suite by a coating of green paint. In 
 the garden there is a group of four aged yew- 
 trees, which tradition states to have been planted 
 by Raleigh; and where it requires no stretch of 
 fancy, at least, to believe that he has many a time 
 sat, read, and talked, or lolled in the summer time, 
 dreaming of that El Dorado, in the vain search 
 for which he sacrificed his fortune and ultimately 
 his life. Their tops are closely matted. 
 
 In this spot, beyond question, has been often 
 read portions of the Fairy Queen, long before the 
 world became familiar with the divine concep- 
 tion 
 
 " At whose approach the soul of Petrarch wept." 
 
 For here, certainly, the immortal bard held com- 
 mune with his " deare friend " and brother poet, 
 whom he described as " the summer nightin- 
 gale "- 
 
 " Himselfe as skilful in that art as any." 
 
 Here, too, doubtless, were composed some of 
 those exquisite works which must have been the 
 produce of ease and quiet, and have preserved 
 the name of Raleigh for the honour of posterity. 
 He is conspicuous in history as " the noble and 
 valourous knight " a man of astonishing en- 
 ergy, who combined almost every variety of tal- 
 ent; whose acquirements in science were marvel- 
 lous; whose heroic courage and indomitable per- 
 severance are almost without parallel; whose
 
 CORK 137 
 
 enterprise was unchecked by difficulties and un- 
 chilled by failure; and who, while excelling in 
 feats of arms and strength of council, surpassed 
 also in those arts which are the more exclusive 
 produce of retirement and peace history, ora- 
 tory, philosophy, politics, and poetry. It is 
 impossible to visit this spot, in which his compara- 
 tively few days of tranquillity were spent, with- 
 out a sigh for his unhappy fate. Historians have 
 recorded some striking anecdotes of his bravery 
 and gallantry while in Ireland. 36 
 
 The Collegiate Church of Youghall is one of 
 the most interesting churches in the kingdom. 
 Part of it is still used for service ; but a large por- 
 tion is a ruin; and, we fear, one of those which 
 neglect is consigning to utter destruction. 37 The 
 east window is considered especially beautiful ; al- 
 though its effect is considerably impaired by be- 
 ing partially built up. It is divided into two 
 distinct compartments, each consisting of two 
 slight mullions, surmounted by open circular 
 tracery, and terminating in a trefoil ornament. 
 These compartments become one window by the 
 outside line of their arches uniting in a common 
 point over the double massive mulHon, thus made 
 the centre, and the intervening space is filled up 
 by a Catherine wheel. The nave is now used as 
 the parish church ; it has six pointed arches, sup- 
 ported by pilasters, with two transepts and two 
 side aisles. In the south transept " the great 
 Earl " of Cork is buried, beneath a monument 
 that was erected by him during his lifetime; he 
 is represented in armour in a recumbent posture ;
 
 138 IRELAND 
 
 on each side is a female figure kneeling (his two 
 wives), and underneath are figures of his nine 
 children, with the dates of their several births. 
 The church is full of curious and remarkable 
 monuments; among which those of the Boyles 
 and the Fitzgeralds are the most conspicuous. 
 We have copied one (See Plate No. 3) a sepul- 
 chral niche in the north wall, carved, and richly 
 adorned with trefoil ornaments, and containing 
 the following inscription : 
 
 ttfc Jacet 
 
 abomas 
 
 if leminfl. 
 
 Adjoining the church, and indeed forming a part 
 of the structure, is a large square tower, now 
 used as a belfry, but evidently a work originally 
 built for defence. It is scarcely necessary to ob- 
 serve that Youghall, having been one of the 
 strongholds of the Geraldines, was the scene of 
 many struggles for power; from time to time it 
 was attacked, defended, and taken, the inhabi- 
 tants being driven out, in accordance with the 
 policy of the victors. On the 29th of May, 
 1650, Oliver Cromwell embarked at Youghall 
 for England, after his extraordinary conquest of 
 Ireland. 
 
 Notwithstanding its proximity to Cork, Youg- 
 hall enjoys a flourishing trade: a narrow bridge 
 of great length crosses the Blackwater, and unites 
 the town with the county of Waterf ord. 
 
 Having detained our readers so long at Youg- 
 hall, we must conduct them somewhat more rap-
 
 CORK 139 
 
 idly through the various towns in the north of 
 the county of Cork. These are Fermoy and 
 Mallow, on the river Blackwater the exceeding 
 beauty of this river we shall endeavour to describe 
 in treating of the county of Waterford Castle- 
 town-Roche, Buttevant, Doneraile, Kilworth, 
 Glanworth, Newmarket, and Kanturk; still fur- 
 ther north Mitchelstown, on the borders of the 
 county of Tipperary, and Charleville, on the 
 borders of the county of Limerick. 38 Fermoy, 
 an obscure and insignificant village when Smith 
 wrote his history of Cork, nearly a hundred years 
 since, became an important town early in the 
 present century in consequence of the exertions 
 of Mr. Anderson, who had extensive barrack and 
 mail-coach contracts with Government: his spec- 
 ulations were ultimately unsuccessful; and with 
 the prosperity of its founder that of Fermoy in 
 some measure declined. Its extensive barracks, 
 however, and its vicinity to the Cove of Cork, 
 make Fermoy an important military station. 
 Mallow has been styled the Bath of Ireland; it 
 is a pretty and agreeable town; its Spa has long 
 been celebrated; and it is much frequented by 
 invalid visitors. On the banks of the Black- 
 water, and midway between the towns of Mallow 
 and Fermoy, is the ruin of the ancient abbey of 
 Bridgetown, which contains several monuments 
 of the once powerful family of Roche. About a 
 mile distant from the abbey is Castletown- 
 Roche. The Roches were barons of parliament 
 so early as the reign of Edward II.; and, 
 though " fallen upon evil days," the name is
 
 140 IRELAND 
 
 still honourably conspicuous in the counties of 
 Cork and Limerick. 
 
 By the Commonwealth supremacy, Maurice, 
 Viscount Roche and Fermoy, was attainted and 
 outlawed; his estates, being of course forfeited, 
 were parcelled among the soldiery of Oliver 
 Cromwell, whose offer of " a composition " the 
 loyal exile had refused. Subsequently, he ob- 
 tained a regiment in Flanders, and suffered pov- 
 erty in order that he might be enabled to share 
 his pay with his king, Charles II. Eventually, 
 Lord Roche was obliged to dispose of his com- 
 mission on account of his debts ; and, at the Res- 
 toration, was naturally cheered by the prospect 
 of regaining, with his honours, the property of 
 which he had been deprived. Charles did not 
 find it convenient, however, to recollect the lib- 
 eral friend of his adversity; and Lord Roche 
 would have perished of want but for the charity 
 of the Duke of Ormond. The ingratitude of 
 Charles II. to his Irish adherents, and the de- 
 scendants of those who had died fighting against 
 the usurper, is among the darkest blots of his 
 reign. Many of them had as in the case of 
 Lord Roche endured not only privations but 
 want, to support his cause ; and when he had the 
 means of rewarding them and of restoring to 
 them their forfeited lands he treated them with 
 indifference or levity. 39 The melancholy con- 
 clusion of the history of Lord Roche's forfeiture 
 we may illustrate by two anecdotes, for the truth 
 of which we can vouch. A Lady Roche was per- 
 fectly remembered by two or three old persons,
 
 CORK 141 
 
 who have described her to us as begging charity 
 through the streets of Cork in a tattered and 
 faded court-dress. She was then upwards of 
 seventy; and was probably the lady whom Arch- 
 bishop Boulter recommended, by his letter of the 
 22d June, 1731, to the Duke of Dorset, as de- 
 serving a pension. Of the degraded state of the 
 last Lord Roche, we have been told that a gentle- 
 man travelling on horseback, in the early part of 
 the present century, in the county of Tipperary, 
 fell into the company of another gentleman, with 
 whom he trotted for some miles along the road. 
 Upon reaching the end of an avenue, the latter (a 
 Mr. Croker) invited his fellow-traveller to his 
 house, as it appeared probable that a storm, which 
 had been gathering on the mountains, would burst 
 in the course of a few minutes. The invitation 
 was accepted; they rode up the avenue together, 
 and to save time went direct to the stables. A 
 tall, awkward fellow, half menial half sportsman 
 in appearance, took their horses when they dis- 
 mounted, and was addressed, more than once, by 
 Mr. Croker, as " my Lord." On reaching the 
 house Mr. Croker's guest inquired the reason, 
 and was told that the stable-boy was an actual 
 lord Lord Roche, who hung about the place, 
 where he made himself very useful among the 
 dogs and horses, and that he lived with the serv- 
 ants in the kitchen, but that his pride of birth 
 would not allow him to receive any wages. 
 
 Castletown-Roche is associated with the early 
 history of Edmund Burke. At this place he 
 spent a considerable time; so much, it is said, as
 
 142 IRELAND 
 
 five years, " acquiring all that the village school- 
 master could teach." 
 
 Buttevant, described by Borlace, " an old nest 
 of abbots, priests, and friars," though formerly 
 a place of note, dwindled into a mere village with 
 the decay of its noble abbey. The name is said 
 to have been derived from the war-cry Boutez- 
 en-avant used by David de Barry, one of the 
 early English invaders, in his battles with the 
 Irish: Buttevant was anciently called Botham;, 
 and by the Irish a name which Spenser has re- 
 corded Kilnemullagh : it was surrounded by a 
 stone wall with gateways, and was governed by 
 a corporation. And, scattered among wretched 
 hovels, may be detected many traces of its former 
 consequence. 
 
 Buttevant Abbey must have been a pile of 
 considerable magnitude and grandeur. Close to 
 the entrance is a large heap of skulls and bones, 
 said to be the relics of those who fell at the battle 
 of Knockninoss, in 1647, between the army of 
 the Parliament commanded by Lord Inchiquin, 
 and the Irish forces under Lord Taafe. In this 
 encounter was slain the famous Sir Alexander 
 McDonnell, whose sobriquet of " Colkitto " has 
 been embalmed in the verse of Milton 
 
 " Why it is harder, sirs, than Gordon, 
 
 Colkitto or Macdonnell, or Galasp ! " 
 
 He commanded the forces sent by the Marquis of 
 Antrim to assist Montrose in Scotland, and after 
 his return from that service was made lieutenant- 
 general of the province of Munster, and glo-
 
 CORK 143 
 
 riously fell with nearly all his gallant regiment 
 of Scots Highlanders, who maintained their 
 ground with the most desperate resolution against 
 the Parliamentary troops. 40 
 
 Buttevant and its neighbourhood its hills, its 
 valleys, and its rivers have been rendered classic 
 by the pen of the immortal poet ; for Spenser not 
 only resided at Kilcoleman but here he com- 
 posed his " Fairy Queen," and made the sur- 
 rounding objects themes of his undying song. 
 Spenser first visited Ireland in the year 1580, as 
 secretary to the Lord Deputy, Lord Grey de 
 Wilton ; and discharged the duties of the office 
 obtained for him by the interest of his noble and 
 gentle patron Sir Philip Sidney with ability and 
 integrity. In 1582, he returned to England. 
 And in 1586, he obtained a grant dated the 27th 
 June of that year of 3,028 acres of the forfeited 
 estates of the Earl of Desmond, at the rent of 
 17 13s. 6d. He received it on the same condi- 
 tions as the other " undertakers " conditions 
 which implied a residence on the property thus 
 acquired, the policy of the Queen being to people 
 the province of Munster with English families. 
 Spenser took up his residence at the castle of 
 Kilcoleman. Four years of happy tranquillity 
 here passed away, bearing for the world the glo- 
 rious fruit of the first three books of the Fairy 
 Queen. These he conveyed to London, in com- 
 pany with his friend Sir Walter Raleigh, and 
 there published them. On his return to Ireland 
 he married, as he tells us, a country lass of mean 
 birth, whose name was Elizabeth. During the
 
 144 IRELAND 
 
 six years that succeeded he wrote the fourth, 
 fifth, and sixth books of the Fairy Queen, and 
 printed an able and statesman-like view of the 
 condition of Ireland. A dreadful calamity now 
 awaited him the fatal corroboration of his opin- 
 ions respecting the country. The Tyrone re- 
 bellion broke out (in 1598), his estate was plun- 
 dered; Kilcoleman was burned by the Irish; in 
 the flames his youngest child perished; and he 
 was driven into England with his wife and re- 
 maining children a poor and wretched exile. 
 This affliction he never recovered! dying a year 
 after, in an obscure lodging in London, in ex- 
 treme indigence, if not in want. 
 
 Of Spenser's domestic life at Kilcoleman we 
 know little more than what he has recorded. 
 The fire that destroyed his child no doubt con- 
 sumed many valuable papers, and possibly the 
 concluding books of the Fairy Queen; 41 al- 
 though more than mere rumour exists for 
 believing that the " lost books " have been pre- 
 served, and that the manuscript was in the pos- 
 session of a Captain Garrett Nagle within the 
 last forty years. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of Kilcoleman there are 
 several objects to which Spenser has especially 
 referred; and we are justified in concluding that 
 the country around him excited his imagination, 
 influenced his muse, and gave being to many of 
 his most sublime or beautiful descriptions of 
 scenery. " Mole that mountain hore," 
 
 " And Mulla mine, whose waves I whilome taught to weep ; " 
 
 the river and the mountain still endure, but
 
 CORK 145 
 
 the poet's estate has long since passed into the 
 hands of those who have neither his name nor 
 lineage. The Awbeg or Mulla joins the Black- 
 water or Awmore, at Bridgetown; into the 
 Blackwater also runs the rapid Funcheon or 
 Faunchin; and a brook called Brachbawn, by 
 Spenser styled the Molanna, which in the sev- 
 enth book of the Fairy Queen he thus beautifully 
 pictures : 
 
 " For first she springs out of two marble rocks, 
 
 On which a grove of oaks high mounted grows ; 
 That as a girlond seems to deck the locks 
 
 Of some fair bride, brought forth with pompous 
 
 shows, 
 Out of her bower that many flowers strows ; 
 
 So, through the flowery dales she tumbles down, 
 Through many woods and shady coverts flows 
 
 (That on each side her silver channel crown), 
 Till to the plain she come, whose valleys she doth 
 drown." 
 
 To the river Faunchin, also, the poet makes ref- 
 erence in the same canto : 
 
 " So now her waves pass through a pleasant plain 
 Till with the Faunchin she herself do wed, 
 And both combined themselves in one fair river spread." 
 
 To the Mulla, his own river, he often refers. 
 We are compelled to acknowledge, however, that 
 the poet looked upon his residence at Kilcoleman 
 as little better than an irksome banishment: the 
 troubled and unsettled state of Ireland during 
 the reign of Elizabeth was unfavourable to the 
 ease and repose which he ardently desired; and 
 
 it is not surprising that he should have handed 
 v 10
 
 146 IRELAND 
 
 down to us unequivocal proofs of his distaste of 
 the people among whom he lived, by whom he 
 was regarded as the receiver of property robbed 
 from its true owners, with whom he had no senti- 
 ments in common, and whom he no doubt consid- 
 ered enemies eager for his destruction. 
 
 Charleville is a poor town. It was so named 
 by the Earl of Orrery, the Lord President of 
 Munster, as a compliment to Charles II., being 
 before called, to use his Lordship's expression, 
 " by the heathenish name of Rathgogan." Here 
 Lord Orrery resided and held his court, and 
 many curious traditions are current respecting 
 him, especially that which relates to the prophecy 
 of Exham, the quaker associate of William Perm, 
 who, it is asserted, foretold the destruction of the 
 Earl's residence by the Duke of Berwick in 1690. 
 
 The small town of Newmarket is remarkable 
 as the birthplace of Curran, in 1750. We have 
 been told that the Rev. Nathaniel Boyse, to whom 
 he was subsequently indebted for means to for- 
 ward him in life, detected the embryo genius in 
 some smart replies made by him, when lectured 
 by the clergyman for playing at marbles in the 
 churchyard. 
 
 Mitchelstown is the property of the Earl of 
 Kingston, whose magnificent seat, a modern cas- 
 tellated mansion, is in the immediate neighbour- 
 hood. It was erected by Mr. Pain, an architect 
 of Cork, recently deceased; to whose skill, judg- 
 ment, and experience, the city, and indeed the 
 country at large, is very considerably indebted. 42 
 
 In the Barony of Duhallow, and in the imme-
 
 CORK 147 
 
 diate neighbourhood of Kanturk, there lived, 
 some years ago, a man whose power to subdue 
 and control the vices of the horse was so extraor- 
 dinary, that the account of it would be incredible, 
 if the facts were not borne out by the testimony 
 of many living witnesses. His name was Sul- 
 livan. His business was that of a farrier. The 
 Rev. Horatio Townsend, the author of " A Sta- 
 tistical Survey of the County of Cork," describes 
 him as " an awkward, ignorant rustic of the low- 
 est class." He was known throughout the county 
 by the sobriquet of " the Whisperer " the vul- 
 gar notion being that he whispered his commands 
 into the ear of the animal he tamed. When sent 
 for to exercise his skill, he usually ordered the 
 horse to be taken into the stable, and after care- 
 fully closing the door, remained with the animal 
 about ten minutes. At the end of that time he 
 led it forth, generally placed his child upon its 
 back, and made him ride it about the stable-yard. 
 No matter how untractable had been the animal 
 committed to his charge, its spirit was completely 
 broken; horses which the boldest riders were un- 
 able to mount, the bravest smiths would not at- 
 tempt to shoe, and which had been rendered com- 
 pletely valueless by vice, were restored to their 
 owners as gentle and tractable as lambs. The 
 effect was almost always lasting; but if the ani- 
 mal returned to its evil habits, a word, or a look 
 from its controller, were alone necessary; it knew 
 and recognized the mysterious influence that had 
 been exercised over it ; and trembled, as the horse 
 is said to do when it encounters some preter-
 
 148 IRELAND 
 
 natural object. Mr. Townsend relates an in- 
 stance of an experiment upon a " troop-horse," 
 so vicious as to be altogether worthless, and in 
 reference to which regimental discipline had to- 
 tally failed; and the writer bears evidence to 
 " the complete success of the art," from actual 
 observation. " I noted," he adds, " that the an- 
 imal appeared terrified whenever Sullivan either 
 spoke to or looked at him." We have heard sim- 
 ilar facts related by several gentlemen of un- 
 questionable veracity; one, R. O'Callaghan 
 Newenham, Esq., of Cork, who has delineated 
 and published the picturesque Antiquities of 
 Ireland, informed us he had once a horse so 
 vicious and untameable, that, although an ex- 
 ceedingly fine and handsome animal, he had of- 
 fered it for sale for four or five pounds. It had 
 never been broke in ; no groom was able to mount 
 it, and to get it shod was impossible ; having acci- 
 dentally heard of Sullivan's skill, he sent for 
 him, and having agreed to pay him his usual fee 
 of two guineas, in the event of success, the " man 
 and beast " were locked up in a stable. At the 
 expiration of a quarter of an hour the latter was 
 led out by the former; the nature of the animal 
 was completely changed. Sullivan not only 
 placed his little boy on its back, but actually 
 under its feet; made the horse lie down and rise 
 up at command; enter the stable and come forth 
 at his bidding ; and made it manifest that for the 
 future it might be consigned, without danger, to 
 the care of the most timid lad of his manege. 
 Mr. Newenham kept the horse in use for a year,
 
 CORK 149 
 
 rode it constantly himself, never found it in the 
 least degree unruly, and eventually disposed of it 
 for fifty pounds. He stated to us, that when 
 the animal was led out of the stable it was in a 
 high state of perspiration as if it had been 
 driven rapidly for an hour that it was quiver- 
 ing in every muscle, and seemed to have under- 
 gone some intense agony. Yet, neither in this 
 instance nor in any other was there detected the 
 slightest evidence that the animal had been sub- 
 jected to corporeal pain; although the minutest 
 scrutiny was of course frequently instituted. 
 The means by which Sullivan obtained this ex- 
 traordinary power is still a secret, and likely to 
 continue so; for he died without divulging it: his 
 son, indeed, pursued his father's profession, but 
 with little or no success; he was either ignorant 
 of the mode of proceeding, or unable to adopt it; 
 and he is now, we believe, also dead. Sullivan 
 might have made a fortune if he could have been 
 induced to exercise his art elsewhere ; but nothing 
 could tempt him to quit the miserable hovel in 
 which he resided, to abandon the low society in 
 which was his enjoyment, or to give up whiskey, 
 the use of which abridged his life. 
 
 Passing through the small and unimportant 
 town of Millstreet, we return to Cork for the 
 purpose of conducting the tourist to the county 
 of Kerry first, by the inland road, which runs 
 through Macroom; and next, by the longer, but 
 more interesting route, along the coast, to Bantry 
 and Glengariff.
 
 150 IRELAND 
 
 The river Lee, the Luvius of Ptolemy, from 
 the mouth to its source, in the romantic lake of 
 Gougane Barra a distance of fifty-five miles 
 from the city of Cork is exceedingly pictur- 
 esque and beautiful. It is less rapid than most 
 of the Irish rivers, and its banks are frequently 
 wooded. The Lee is interesting, however, not 
 alone from its natural advantages; it has associ- 
 ations with the history of the past numerous 
 castles, now in ruins, look down upon it, and 
 many monasteries and abbeys skirt its sides. 
 Among the most striking are the castle of Carrig- 
 a-droid and the abbey of Kilcrea. Carrig-a- 
 droid Castle is built on a rock in the Lee. Al- 
 though this pass of the river must have been one 
 of importance, the building is comparatively 
 modern. In 1641, however, it was a strong for- 
 tress, and had the credit of baffling the arms of 
 Oliver Cromwell. The Roman Catholic Bishop 
 of Ross had garrisoned it with an army for 
 Charles I.; Cromwell dispatched Lord Broghill 
 with orders to attack and scatter the Irish in this 
 quarter; and in the rout that followed upon 
 which the muse of Davenant has complimented 
 his lordship the bishop was taken prisoner. A 
 free pardon was offered to him if he would pro- 
 cure the surrender of the castle, which he ap- 
 peared willing to do ; he was conducted, to the 
 walls, where, instead of calling upon the Irish to 
 admit their enemies, he boldly adjured them to 
 hold out while one stone remained upon another ; 
 then, turning to his astonished guard, he yielded 
 to his fate, " whereupon he was immediately
 
 CORK 151 
 
 hanged." Yet the castle was soon afterwards 
 taken by a very weak stratagem. The English 
 drew towards it the trunks of trees, by yoking 
 oxen to them, which the garrison perceiving, mis- 
 took for cannon, and " presently began to parley, 
 and surrendered upon articles." 
 
 Tradition states the castle to have been erected 
 by a Mac Carthy, " to please the Lady O'Car- 
 roll," who desired a residence on this singularly 
 wild and beautiful spot. A legend, however, at- 
 tributes its origin to a circumstance still more ro- 
 mantic. A poor peasant, lame and hump- 
 backed, fell in love with the fair daughter of his 
 chieftain, and pined in despair at the hopeless 
 nature of his attachment. Wandering by the 
 river-side, he suddenly heard the click click of the 
 Leprehawn's hammer, 43 seized the tiny brogue- 
 maker, and compelled him to reveal the secret of 
 the whereabouts of his treasure store. The little 
 being not only endowed him with riches, but 
 changed his awkward and ungainly form to one 
 of manly grace ; and the lovely Maiga was readily 
 wooed, and easily won, by a stranger rich enough 
 to build for her a noble mansion, and to place the 
 wealth of earth at her feet. 
 
 The friary and castle of Kilcrea, both built by 
 Cormac, Lord of Muskerry, the one for the pro- 
 tection of the other, stand on the banks of the 
 small river Bride, a mile to the south of the mail- 
 coach road between Cork and Macroom, and 
 about twelve miles west of Cork. They are 
 highly interesting and picturesque. The ap- 
 proach to both is over a long and narrow bridge,
 
 152 IRELAND 
 
 which appears to be as old as the venerable struc- 
 tures to which it leads. The castle is described 
 by Smith as " a strong building, having an excel- 
 lent staircase of a dark marble from bottom to 
 top, about seventy feet high. The barbicans, 
 platforms, and ditch, still remain. On the east 
 side is a large field called the Bawn, the only 
 appendage formerly to great men's castles, 
 which places were used for dancing, goaling, 
 and such diversions; and where they also kept 
 their cattle by night, to prevent their being car- 
 ried off by wolves or their more rapacious neigh- 
 bours." Much of this character it still retains, 
 and the hand of time has been less busy with it 
 than with others of its class. We rejoiced to 
 find that its present owner keeps the gate care- 
 fully closed, to prevent the entrance of unscrup- 
 ulous intruders, who, in defiance of the Pooka 
 by whom it is haunted, were in the habit of delv- 
 ing under the foundations in search of " crocks 
 of gould " said to have been buried there in 
 " ould times." The floor of the upper chamber, 
 once the state room of the chieftain, is now over- 
 grown with grass; and a pic-nic party were re- 
 galing there when we visited this relic of feudal 
 strength and grandeur. 
 
 In the friary, or, as it is usually, but errone- 
 ously called, " the abbey," are interred the 
 bodies of a host of the Mac Carthys, and among 
 them that of its founder, who died of wounds re- 
 ceived in battle, in 1494. A considerable portion 
 of the edifice still remains. It is divided into 
 two principal parts the convent and the church
 
 CORK 153 
 
 and retains the character of considerable 
 magnificence as well as of great extent. As in 
 all the ancient churches, human bones are piled 
 in every nook and cranny, thrust into corners, or 
 gathered in heaps directly at the entrance a 
 sight far more revolting than affecting. The 
 tower of the church is still in a good state of 
 preservation, and may be ascended, to the top, 
 with a little difficulty. Rows of ancient elm- 
 trees lead to the venerable ruin. The guide a 
 respectable elderly woman, whose shed (for, out- 
 side, it looked nothing more) was nestled down 
 by the road-side, close to the entrance gate 
 was, as usual, very anxious to ascertain the mo- 
 tive of our visit to Kilcrea: had we come to 
 make drawings? a great many ladies and gen- 
 tlemen came to " make drawins." She would 
 get us " a chair, and a table too, for the matter 
 of that, if we wanted them." We told her we 
 only desired to look about us; and entering a 
 little gate, proceeded down the fine avenue. The 
 wall of " mortal remains " we have noticed, we 
 said, ought to be buried; she shook her coifed 
 head very gravely, and answered, " It would be 
 no use they wouldn't remain under ground! " 
 ' Had she ever tried the experiment? ' " No 
 not she indeed she knew better than that." 
 The poor woman's demeanour was kind and 
 good-natured; keeping a little in the rear, ready 
 with a reply, and sometimes an apt and striking 
 observation when it was least expected. The 
 south, or altar end of the transept is lit by a large 
 pointed window, the mullions of which, like those
 
 154 IRELAND 
 
 of every other window of this building, have been 
 destroyed or taken away. It is most painful to 
 those who venerate architectural remains, to see 
 them trodden under foot as they were here; and 
 as they invariably are in all such places ; 44 we ex- 
 pressed this sentiment so warmly to each other 
 as to win, at once, the heart, and, consequently, 
 the confidence of our guide. 
 
 ' Why thin, good luck to you, sir, for that ; 
 and it's that way of thinking Pat Sweeny's mare 
 was, when she refused to carry the load of stones 
 the villain rooted out of the arch, ma'am, to build 
 a pig-sty, the irreverent nagre! " * And the mare 
 would not draw the stones? ' " Bad cess to the 
 step only as fast as he filled the car, up with her 
 heels and canted them every one out on the same 
 spot; there they are to this day." * Did you see 
 her do it ? ' " Is it see her do it ? and I care-taker 
 here ! Oh no ! Pat would have been long sorry 
 to let me catch him in it let alone at such mur- 
 derin* work as that any way, it was before I 
 was born." If we had shown symptoms of dis- 
 believing the sagacity of " Pat Sweeny's mare," 
 we should have sealed, at once, the old lady's 
 lips; which we had no inclination to do. The 
 Irish, in general, have very high veneration for 
 whatever they consider holy; and a sneer or a 
 smile of unbelief at a favourite legend is a sore 
 check to their enthusiasm. We are always care- 
 ful not to hurt their feelings by coldness or inat- 
 tention to their communications; it is, after all, 
 but a very small courtesy which is amply repaid 
 by the gift of all their information, and the warm
 
 CORK 155 
 
 blessings of their kind hearts. ' You may think 
 that wonderful," she said; "but I know what's 
 more so. A carpenter, who lived at a place called 
 Ballincollig, got so hard a heart, through being 
 always with the soldiers, that at last he thought 
 there'd be no harm in cutting down one of the 
 ' ancient ould ' elm-trees in the avenue to make 
 deal boords of ; and ye see when a man sets about 
 what's not right, he does it in the night time. So 
 he comes here with his sharp hatchet and a bottle 
 of whiskey in his pocket, to take his pick out of 
 the trees. It was a fine moonlight night, and the 
 stars dancin' double in the waters of ' the Bride/ 
 when he walked leisurely round and round the 
 trees, and then at last fixed on one the finest in 
 it, which is ever and always the rogue's choice. 
 Well, without more ado, he pulled off his jacket 
 and set to work." 
 
 " But you must have heard him ; you live so 
 close to the avenue? " was our natural remark. 
 
 " It wasn't me that was care-taker then," she 
 answered ; " but we never mind the noises of the 
 place at night. Why there's no end to the treas- 
 ure-seekers' digging about the ould walls ; and we 
 have no call to them ; for if they're warned off one 
 place, they go to another. Well, he began; but 
 as thrue as that the sun in heaven is shining down 
 its bames upon this blessed spot, so thrue it is 
 that where he struck the tree it spouted blood 
 pure blood up in his heathenish face." 
 
 ' Well I hope that was a warning to him? " 
 
 " Bedad it was! The mark of the blood was 
 on his face for many a day, and the pure waters
 
 156 IRELAND 
 
 of the Bride wouldn't take it out. I heer'd he 
 went to furrin parts, on a pilgrimage, before he 
 was able to show a clane skin with any poor Chris- 
 tian in Ballincollig. 
 
 ' There's many of the quality," continued our 
 guide, becoming communicative in proportion to 
 our attention, " who seek afther the toomb of one 
 Arthur O'Leary I dare say you might hear tell 
 of him?" 
 
 " Oh yes! " was our reply; " Arthur O'Leary 
 the outlaw." 
 
 "Ay! so they called him," she said, "but I 
 heer'd my father say, who often saw him when he 
 crossed the back of that noble baste that cost him 
 his young life! I often heer'd him say it was 
 hard times for the ould residenters when new men 
 were put over their heads, and laws made to 
 crush those that were born on the land. It was 
 my father said it," added our guide, in a quieter 
 tone, thinking perhaps she had spoken more 
 freely than wisely; " it was my father said it, and 
 people are changed now." 
 
 We expressed our belief that they were 
 changed for the better; for that no man now 
 would dare to insult the poorest peasant in Ire- 
 land, as that high-born gentleman wild and 
 reckless though he was had been insulted! 
 
 " God bless ye! God bless ye! " muttered the 
 guide. " That's his toomb, and there's the de- 
 scription of himself. I've known that toomb 
 taken in ' a round,' often ; and many a stubborn 
 knee bent by its side. I've seen strong-hearted 
 men, in my time, cry bitter tears beside it."
 
 CORK 157 
 
 She withdrew a little, and we read the inscrip- 
 tion, engraved on a plain low flat stone 
 
 " Lo ! ARTHUR LEARY, GENEROUS, HANDSOME, BRAVE, 
 SLAIN IN HIS BLOOM, LIES IN THIS HUMBLE GRAVE." 45 
 
 We never saw a ruin so full of graves as Kil- 
 crea. Choir, cloister, aisles every part is 
 crowded. There are some other tombs worthy of 
 notice within this extensive ruin where we have 
 lingered long, and must remain a little longer 
 to note an old and remarkably handsome woman, 
 who was praying, very devoutly, in a small 
 dilapidated chapel at the right hand, near the 
 entrance. There was something so meek, so 
 humble, and withal so earnest in her face, up- 
 turned as it was to the heavens while the rosary 
 trembled in her fingers, that we asked the guide 
 who she was. 
 
 " A poor ihravelor, God help her, and noth- 
 ing else," was the reply. At the instant it be- 
 gan to rain, and one of us was glad to take 
 shelter in the guide's cottage, while the other 
 proceeded to inspect the ruins of the castle. 
 
 We have been in many Irish cabins; yet, per- 
 haps, never in one so neat or so well-ordered, as 
 the little one that crouches by the entrance gate 
 to Kilcrea. The earthen floor was clean the 
 deal table white and a pretty kitten was lap- 
 ping milk upon it, who looked both sleek and 
 happy; there was a half partition opposite the 
 door, where the bed was placed; two coops filled 
 with speckled chickens; a dresser heavily laden 
 with crockery; two chairs, and a stool; complet-
 
 158 IRELAND 
 
 ing the furniture of the room, in which there 
 was barely space to turn round. We almost 
 wished to have been benighted in such a cottage; 
 to have sat with the guide by the blazing faggot, 
 and heard the tales all the tales she could tell 
 of the old abbey in its glory. She wanted us 
 very much to have some milk, or an egg; she 
 knew it was fresh, and she could either roast it 
 in the embers or boil it in a minute. She had a 
 cake of griddle bread there it was if she 
 hadn't made too free, would we have a bit of 
 that ? Having offered us everything in her cabin, 
 we at last prevailed upon her to sit down. She 
 forthwith pulled out her knitting, and we in- 
 quired what she knew of the woman we had seen 
 in the abbey. 
 
 " Ah thin," she said, " my heart aches for that 
 poor widdy woman, though I never set eyes on 
 her till four or five days ago, when she came here 
 one morning faint and fasting to finish a round 
 she'd undertaken." 
 
 " Going from abbey to abbey to pray for re- 
 mission of her sins?" 
 
 " Not her own sins," she replied, " but poor 
 thing, here she is coming in out of the rain; she 
 laves me to-morrow." 
 
 " Does she lodge with you? " 
 
 " We give her the length and breadth of her- 
 self, at night, on a lock of straw under the table ; 
 and, sure, neither me nor mine will ever miss the 
 bit or the sup the Lord allows us to have for such 
 as her." Oh, what lessons of loving-kindness 
 are to be learned in Irish cottages; hospitality
 
 CORK 159 
 
 without display, and that true generosity which 
 takes from its own necessities to relieve the neces- 
 sities of others! 
 
 We at once observed that the woman was 
 superior to the generality of her class; she was 
 neatly clad; her cap was white as snow; and a 
 broad black riband fastened round it indicated 
 an attempt at mourning. We had asked her 
 how she intended to return, and her simple an- 
 swer was, " The Lord will raise me up friends 
 to help me on the way ; sure, hasn't He helped me 
 homewards already?" she added, as she looked 
 on the silver we had given her, " praise be to His 
 holy name, that cares for the widow and the 
 fatherless ! " 
 
 ' You've had a busy time of it lately," we said, 
 as she entered the small cabin, and with a meek 
 curtsey took the seat we insisted on her taking 
 " a very busy time of it lately? " 
 
 " I have, praise be to Him who gave me the 
 strength to get over it! a very busy time; it's a 
 long journey from Kenmare to Kilcrea, a weari- 
 some journey; and a wonderful thing to be 
 climbing the mountains ; it's a fine thing too, my 
 lady for somehow one feels nearer to the Al- 
 mighty. I thought the life would leave me be- 
 fore I got over the ' Priest's Leap,' that is a 
 wonderful mountain intirely I don't suppose 
 there's many higher than that in the world." 
 
 " And why did you undertake such a journey? 
 you seem old." 
 
 " I am old, my lady three score and eight 
 years at the least; but God fits the back to the
 
 160 IRELAND 
 
 burden, and the limbs to the mountain steep. I 
 wouldn't, for all that, have took it, only for the 
 reason I had; you see, ma'am, since you've been 
 so good as to ask you see, afther the will of the 
 Lord had taken from me my husband (the 
 heavens be his bed), and my poor boys, He left 
 me one little girl a delicate, gentle creature 
 and though she was my own child, I may 
 say, a handsomer or a better girl never brought 
 the sunshine to a lone widow's cabin. Oh, but 
 her goodness was past telling. When I closed 
 my eyes as if asleep, I was sure to hear her voice 
 praying for me when I opened them in the 
 morning, she was there beaming blessings on me. 
 She was so handy! Such a fine scholar too! 
 The brightest girl, the schoolmaster said, that 
 ever stood at his knee. Well, ma'am dear, every 
 true crown has its cross. My little girl's love 
 was sought by many, but won by a young man 
 respected by no one, though chose by her. 
 ' Alley,' says I, * if you marry Laurence Daly, 
 you'll break my heart.' ' Mother/ she says, 
 throwing her arms, white as a wreath of snow, 
 about me, ' mother,' she says, ' I'll never do that.' 
 My mind was as light as a feather at first, for I 
 knew she'd keep her word. But oh, my grief! 
 to see her wastin', and wastin', dying in the 
 sight of my eyes to see that, almost took the 
 life from me. She made no complaint, but fell 
 away like the blossom off the bough of a summer 
 tree; and I could not bear to look in her faded 
 face ; and I says, ' Alley, take him take him, 
 avourneen; and from this day out I'll never say
 
 CORK 161 
 
 a word aginst him.' In less than a month from 
 them words she was blooming as a rose; in an- 
 other she was his wife!" The poor woman 
 covered her face with her hands, and wept bit- 
 terly. " His love," she continued, " never, to 
 say, turned; and he was gentler to her than he 
 could be to any other thing; and if he had kept 
 from meddling with what didn't concern him, 
 all would have gone well enough ; but he got into 
 trouble sore trouble and the end of it was, that 
 three years after they were married, he was in the 
 jail at Tralee, and my poor child my poor Alice 
 at the feet of every one in the county that 
 could help her to pass a word through the iron 
 bars or get her a look at him. Now wasn't it 
 strange ! she was as pure in the light of heaven, 
 as pure as unf alien snow; and she knew he was 
 guilty. She would not even deny it for the 
 thought of falsity wasn't in her and still her love 
 grew stronger the greater grew his trouble. It 
 isn't for me to tell what she went through. Be- 
 fore the first blush of morning she'd be on her 
 knees at prayer; and, I'm sure, for six weeks 
 that passed betwixt his taking and trial, the rest 
 of sleep was never on her eyes for five minutes 
 together. I asked her, when the day came, for 
 the love of God and of me, her broken-hearted 
 mother, not to go to the court-house, but she 
 would and she did. She clung to my side in 
 the crowd, and I felt her heart beating against 
 my arm ; I darn't look at her, and she kept crush- 
 ing closer and closer to me until the trial began, 
 
 and then she gathered strength and stood up- 
 v 11
 
 162 IRELAND 
 
 right, at once. All along, her husband denied 
 that he was in it at all, when the great harm was 
 done; and two or three more boys stood up for 
 the same. * There,' said the Counsel for the 
 Crown, pointing to my poor Alice, ' there's his 
 own wife ask her where her husband was that 
 night.' Every one cried shame ; and the Counsel 
 for the prisoners said it was contrary to law to 
 question a man's own wife; but before I could 
 get at the rights of it, Alley, throwing her arms 
 round me, muttered, * Mother, take me away 
 I can't tell I can't tell! ' With that a neigh- 
 bour's son, who had loved my little girl all her 
 life a'most a fine fellow he was, though she 
 never would hear to him, and with a good char- 
 acter, and of decent people, that wouldn't look 
 at the same side of the road with Laurence Daly 
 steps out at once, with his cheeks reddened and 
 his eyes like diamonds, and says he, ' Hear me,' 
 says he, * I can swear where he was that night; 
 and no one who knows me, will think I favour 
 Larry Daly.' Between supporting Alice, who 
 fell in a faint on my bosom, not knowing what 
 was coming, and knowing myself that the boy 
 had good cause to spite Laurence, I thought my 
 senses would lave me; and then my blood ran 
 cowld to the heart, and my brain felt as if afire ; 
 for I heard him sworn and prove an ALIBI for 
 the prisoner. When it was over, his cheek was 
 like the cheek of a corpse, and no light was in 
 his eyes; he came forward to the outside, where 
 Alice came a little to herself, and understanding 
 her husband was safe, was crying, like an in-
 
 CORK 163 
 
 fant when it first draws in the air of a sorrowing 
 world ; he made the throng keep back, and afther 
 looking at her for a minute, he whispers, * Alice, 
 live, avourneen; live and be happy, for to save 
 you I've done what an hour agone, I didn't 
 think I could have done. I've sinned my soul, 
 Alice, for you; so live, and God bless you.' 
 I've heard of the love of many a man, but 
 I think that bates it all; and though what 
 he did was not right, still he did it for pure 
 love of my child: love, without any feeling 
 in it that could make a blush rise to the 
 cheek of a married woman, or cause the pang of 
 shame at her heart ; and that's a wonderful thing 
 to say. But his love didn't end here. I was go- 
 ing home from Laurence's cabin, and after see- 
 ing them happy together once more, and he mak- 
 ing all the good resolutions a man always makes, 
 at the first goin' off, afther getting out of trouble, 
 and the children so glad, poor things, to have 
 their father again; and as I was going on, just 
 at the end of the boreen, ' Mrs. Lawler,' says a 
 voice, (you'll excuse my telling his name,) ' Mrs. 
 Lawler,' he says, ' afther to-day, I can't stay in 
 the place. Who knows, but Laurence is so odd 
 tempered, he might mistrust his wife, knowing 
 as he does that I perjured myself to make her 
 happy. Those that ar'n't what they should be,, 
 often think bad of others ; so I'll go to America, 
 Mrs. Lawler, and mind the last prayer I'll brathe 
 in Irish air will be for Alice.' ' Again the old 
 woman wept ; it was some time before she added, 
 " And I saw him no more." I begged of her to
 
 164 IRELAND 
 
 continue. " It's soon ended now," she said, " and 
 not much to tell; but the poor have more trials 
 than the mere want of food, and I've often 
 thought that when the rich and the stranger laugh 
 at their rags, or turn from them in disgust, they 
 don't think that maybe the heart beating under 
 them has a dale of feeling. 
 
 " Well, as I said, I'll soon be done now: Alice, 
 my poor child, every one saw she was going, 
 and yet the darling, she talked for evermore of 
 taking * a round; ' and I used to talk to her, and 
 tell her what sin had she to answer for to put that 
 in her head and she'd only smile ! Oh then, but 
 the smile upon patient lips is scalding to the heart 
 to look at: Oh, God forgive me for having 
 wearied Him with prayers to leave the angel he 
 was winging for heaven a little longer over her 
 children and to close my eyes and Laurence, 
 poor man! he was sorry too, and so loud in his 
 grief that it shook her spirit. The priest had 
 been with her, and said to me as he was going 
 out, ' Take comfort, for it's a great privilege to 
 have reared up a child for heaven ; I wish we were 
 all as sure of it as she is.' After that I went 
 in, and she told the people she wanted a few 
 words with her mother: they cleared out of the 
 little room at once; and her voice was so thin 
 I could hardly hear it, and her breath on my 
 cheek was cold as the first breath of the new 
 frost upon the air in harvest. ' There's one 
 thing,' she whispered, ' though his reverence says 
 it's no harm, that's heavy on my heart it's a
 
 CORK 165 
 
 debt if I could have lived to pay it I should die 
 easy/ 
 
 " What debt, dear? I asked. 
 
 " ' You remember THAT day, mother? * 
 
 " Ay, sure, I said. 
 
 " And what he did?' 
 
 " Yes, darling, it's not easy forgot. 
 
 " * He sinned his soul.' 
 
 " The Lord above is merciful, and will forgive 
 him, I pray night and day, I made answer. 
 
 " ' He was nothing to me more than a neigh- 
 bour's child,' she went on, ' and for all his love 
 I never gave him a good word; yet mother 
 mother he perjured himself for my sake.' 
 
 " The Lord is merciful, I said again ; what 
 else could I say? and sure it was the truth any 
 how. 
 
 " ' Yes, I know that ; but I made a vow that 
 night, to take my rounds at the holy Abbey of 
 Kilcrea, so that the sin might be taken off him 
 through my means. Oh mother, that is denied 
 me, and I must die with it on my soul I can't 
 get rid of it.' 
 
 " No, avourneen, no, I said ; the way is long, 
 and I am old and poor, but by the blessing of 
 the holy saints I'll take off yer vow: I'll do for 
 you what, if the Lord had spared you, you'd have 
 done for yourself. I made the vow on my knees. 
 
 " ' Oh my mother, my mother, my mother ! ' 
 she said, as if a new life had sprung in her, and 
 then faded, faded, faded. She was gone be- 
 fore Laurence and the children could catch her
 
 166 IRELAND 
 
 last breath; but she died happy, and so shall I 
 now, for I've done all she would have done." 
 
 Between Kilcrea and Macroom there are sev- 
 eral ruins of castles, once the strongholds of the 
 Mac Sweenys, powerful chieftains, although 
 feudatories to the lords of Muskerry. On the 
 high road, it is stated on the authority of Smith, 
 there was a stone set up by one of the family, 
 who were " anciently famous for hospitality, 
 with an Irish inscription, signifying to all pas- 
 sengers to repair to the house of Mr. Edmund 
 Mac Sweeny for entertainment." The historian 
 adds that, in his time, the stone was still to be 
 seen lying in a ditch, where it had been flung by 
 a degenerate descendant, who, according to pop- 
 ular belief, never throve afterwards. Townsend 
 also describes an Irishman of the same class, 
 whose residence was nigh to Mill-street, in this 
 district of the county. He was the chief of his 
 clan, and was known only by the name of 
 O'Leary; to have addressed him by the term 
 " Mister " would have been a mortal offence. 
 He was one of the last who kept " open house 
 to all comers ; " had food and drink and lodging 
 for all who asked it ; and although his cellar was 
 well stocked with wine, it never knew the pro- 
 tection of lock or key, for, as he used to say, 
 " nobody had occasion to steal what any one 
 might have for asking." It derived security, 
 however, from other causes from deference to 
 his sway and respect for his person, both of which 
 were universally felt and acknowledged within
 
 CORK 167 
 
 the circle of his influence. His appearance was 
 always sufficient to maintain order at fairs and 
 meetings, and to suppress disturbances without 
 the aid of soldier or constable. He is said to 
 have possessed some admirable requisites for a 
 maintaining of the public peace, being a very 
 athletic man, and always carrying a long pole, 
 of which the unruly knew him to be no churl. 46 
 
 The town of Macroom, twenty-four miles west 
 of Cork, is situate on the Sullane a river which, 
 for extent and beauty, rivals the Lee. The 
 castle of Macroom is very ancient, or rather parts 
 of it are of very remote antiquity, for it has un- 
 dergone many of the chances and changes in- 
 cident to the civil wars. It was converted by its 
 late proprietor, Robert Hedges Eyre, Esq., one 
 of the last of " the good old Irish gentlemen," 
 into a comfortable mansion; and it is now easy 
 to distinguish the ancient from the modern por- 
 tions of the building. It consists of one huge 
 square of masonry the mere keep with em- 
 battled parapets; but the hand of taste is not 
 very apparent in the alterations it has under- 
 gone to convert the ancient fortalice of the 
 O'Flynns into a dwelling-house of the eight- 
 eenth century. 47 
 
 From Macroom to Killarney the road is by 
 no means picturesque; it passes along the banks 
 of the river Sullane, and through the small vil- 
 lage of Ballyvourney, almost the only congrega- 
 tion of houses in the route. It runs, however, 
 within a few yards of the singular castle of Car- 
 rig-a-pooka, built, according to Smith, by the
 
 168 IRELAND 
 
 Mac Carthy of Drishane, and placed on the sum- 
 mit of a solitary rock, so steep as to render cau- 
 tion necessary in climbing it. It is now a single 
 tower, and never could have been much more 
 extensive, for it almost covers the rock on which 
 it stands. 
 
 A visit to the castle affords us an opportunity 
 for introducing to the reader one of the fairy 
 legends of Ireland the legend of the Pooka. 
 
 Of the malignant class of beings composing 
 the Irish fairy mythology and it is creditable 
 to the national character that they are the least 
 numerous the Pooka excels, and is pre-eminent 
 in malice and mischief. In form he is a very 
 Proteus, generally a horse, but often an eagle. 
 He sometimes assumes the figure of a bull; or 
 becomes an ignis fatuus. Amongst the great 
 diversity of forms at times assumed by him, he 
 exhibits a mixture or compound of the calf and 
 goat. Probably it is in some measure owing to 
 the assumption of the latter figure that he owes 
 his name ; puc being the Irish for a goat. Gold- 
 ing, in his translation of Ovid, describes him by 
 name, in a character of which the goat forms a 
 component part : 
 
 " The country where Chymaera, that same Pouk, 
 With goatish body, lion's head and breast, and dragon's 
 tail," &c. 
 
 And Spenser has the following lines: 
 
 " Ne let the Pouke, nor other evil spirit, 
 Ne let mischievous witches with their charms, 
 Ne let hobgoblins, names whose sense we know not, 
 Fray us with things that be not."
 
 CORK 169 
 
 The Pouke or Pooka means literally the evil 
 one ; " playing the puck," a common Anglo- 
 Irish phrase, is equivalent to " playing the 
 devil." 
 
 There are many localities, favourite haunts of 
 the Pooka, and to which he has given his name, 
 as Drohid-a-Pooka, Castle Pook, and Carrig-a- 
 Pooka. The island of Melaan, also, at the 
 mouth of the Kenmare river, is a chosen site 
 whereon this malignant spirit indulges his freaks. 
 It is uninhabited, and is dreaded by the peas- 
 antry and fishermen, not less because of its 
 gloomy, rugged, and stern aspect, than for the 
 tales of terror connected with it. The tempest 
 wails fearfully around its spectre-haunted crags, 
 and dark objects are often seen flitting over it 
 in the gloom of night. Shrill noises are heard, 
 and cries, and halloos, and wild and moaning 
 sounds; and the fishermen benighted or forced 
 upon its rocks may often behold, in the crowd- 
 ing groups which flit around, the cold faces of 
 those long dead the silent tenants, for many 
 years, of field and wave. The consequence is, 
 that proximity to the island is religiously avoided 
 by the boats of the country after sunset, and 
 a bold crew are they who, at nightfall, approach 
 its haunted shores. 
 
 The great object of the Pooka seems to be to 
 obtain a rider; and then he is all in his most 
 malignant glory. Headlong he dashes through 
 briar and brake, through flood and fell, over 
 mountain, valley, moor, or river, indiscriminately; 
 up or down precipice is alike to him, provided
 
 170 IRELAND 
 
 he gratifies the malevolence that seems to inspire 
 him. He bounds and flies over and beyond them, 
 gratified by the distress, and utterly reckless and 
 ruthless of the cries, and danger and suffering, 
 of the luckless wight who bestrides him. As 
 the " Tinna Geolane," or Will o' the Wisp, he 
 lures but to betray ; like the Hanoverian " Tuck- 
 bold," he deludes the night wanderer into a bog, 
 and leads him to his destruction in a quagmire 
 or pit. Macpherson's spirit of Loda is evidently 
 founded on the tradition of the Pooka; and in 
 the Fienian Tales he is repeatedly mentioned as 
 the " Puka (gruagach, or hairy spirit) of the blue 
 valley." 
 
 The English Puck is a jolly, frolicsome, night- 
 loving rogue, full of archness, and fond of all 
 kinds of merry tricks, " a shrewd and knavish 
 spirit," as Shakspeare has it. But he is, never- 
 theless, very probably in his origin the same as 
 the Irish Pooka; as, besides the resemblance in 
 name, we find he has not at all times sustained 
 his laughter-loving character; but, on the con- 
 trary, exhibited unquestionable proof of his Irish 
 affinity or descent. For this we have the poeti- 
 cal authority of Drayton, in his " Polyolbion." 
 
 "This Puck seems but a dreaming dolt, 
 Still walking like a ragged colt, 
 And oft out of a bush doth bolt 
 
 Of purpose to deceive us, 
 And, leaving us, makes us to stray 
 Long winter nights out of the way ; 
 And when we stick in mire and clay, 
 He doth with laughter leave us."
 
 CORK 171 
 
 The early English adventurers imported to 
 the Irish shores their softened version of the 
 native Pooka, under his Saxon appellation of 
 Puck, and have left his name to Puck's rock 
 near Howth, and Puck castle, a romantic ruin in 
 the county of Dublin. 
 
 An ancient chronicler, at Bantry, related to 
 us the adventures of many of his friends, as " con- 
 firmation strong," to support his assertion that 
 a Pooka haunted his own neighbourhood. " He 
 knew two boys who, on their way to a midnight 
 mass rather fresh met a horse; let's get on 
 his back, says one; wid all the veins, says an- 
 other; so they got up; and och! murdher, didn't 
 he give 'em a ride; laving them next morning 
 twenty miles from their own door." This how- 
 ever is the only instance, within our knowledge, 
 of the spirit being encountered by more than one 
 at a time. On our venturing to hint that the 
 fact was unusual, we were met at once by an 
 answer, " Sure weren't the both of 'em brothers." 
 Another friend of the old man's " going through 
 a narrow pass, heerd a horse coming along at a 
 fast gallop, and drew up to let him pass, when 
 he heerd a voice by his side say, ' Lien ' that's 
 lie down ' here's the Pooka coming ; ' and sure 
 enough he saw the baste with his eyes and nose 
 flashing out fire. So the boy turns round and 
 says, * Who are you ? ' thinking 'twas a fellow 
 Christian that gave him the warning. ' I'm the 
 Lanian Shee/ says the voice. Now wasn't it 
 queer that the spirit should be afeard of the
 
 172 IRELAND 
 
 Pooka? but you see they weren't friends at all 
 at all." 
 
 The highest of the Galtee mountains, called 
 the Galtee More, and sometimes Dawson's seat, 
 rises over a gloomy lake which is said to be the 
 residence of a Pooka, who is believed to be 
 chained at the bottom, and only permitted to 
 make excursions upon state occasions. The lake 
 is believed, to this day, to possess, in consequence 
 of its terrible inhabitant, the three following 
 properties: First, It is unfathomable: an at- 
 tempt was once made to sound it, and, from the 
 descriptions of the people, it appears that the 
 regular process was adopted, yet no line could 
 be found that would reach the bottom. Sec- 
 ondly, The warmest day in summer, let the light- 
 est breeze arise, and the cold about the lake will 
 be intense. Thirdly, Although the lake does 
 not appear of great extent, yet no stone could 
 ever be thrown across it. We have heard that a 
 famous stone-thrower from Clonmel, who could 
 throw a stone from Fairy Hill to the other side 
 of the river a much greater apparent distance 
 than the extent of the lake attempted to throw 
 a stone across the watery habitation of the Pooka, 
 but, like all other stones, it did not go beyond 
 the centre, and then fell powerless into the dark 
 waters. There is a tradition that one of the 
 Dawson family (whose mansion is within view 
 of the lake) once attempted to drain it. Ac- 
 cordingly everything was prepared, and the en- 
 gineer and labourers set actively about the work ; 
 but they had not gone far with it when a sudden
 
 CORK 173 
 
 light shone around them, and on looking towards 
 the direction from whence it came, they saw the 
 mansion of their employer on fire. They im- 
 mediately all ran to the spot to extinguish the 
 flames, but on arriving at it, the fire instantly 
 vanished, and the place exhibited no appearance 
 of having received any injury. They returned 
 to their work, but immediately the flames burst 
 out from the mansion again; and, on their once 
 more coming up, the illusion as instantly van- 
 ished. This having been repeated several times, 
 they at length relinquished their purpose, tak- 
 ing the hint that the Pooka would not have " the 
 secrets of his prison-house " explored. Such is 
 the tradition current to this day in the glen of 
 Aherlow. 
 
 Of the pranks of the Pooka, as will be im- 
 agined, many amusing stories are told by the 
 peasantry; all generally, however, having nearly 
 the same termination : " And, plase yer hon- 
 our, I found myself in the morning lying in a 
 wet ditch; and it couldn't be the drop I tuk; 
 for, barring a few glasses at a neighbour's, I 
 didn't drink a drop at all at all, all day." 
 
 One of these stories, having more than the 
 usual point, we shall repeat, as nearly as we can, 
 in the words in which we received it; only re- 
 gretting that we have it at second-hand, being 
 unable to record the fact on better authority, in 
 consequence of the decease of the actual ad- 
 venturer. 
 
 " It was, ye see, sir, my cousin, Jerry Deasy, 
 that done the Pooka; and that's more than e'er
 
 174, IRELAND 
 
 another boy can say, betwixt this and the Cause- 
 way. A hearty chap he was; there wasn't the 
 likes of him at fair or pattern, for breaking the 
 heads of the boys, and the hearts of the girls, 
 and the backs of the horses; the only thing he 
 couldn't master was the drop. Och, if it hadn't 
 been for that same, he'd be to the fore this day, 
 to tell yer honour all about it. Well, he was 
 sthreeling home wid a neighbour one dark night, 
 and the both of 'em war a little overtaken, and 
 complaining of the length of the road, as they 
 joulted from one side to the other widout near- 
 ing many steps tow'rds Ballyvourney ; when 
 says my cousin, says he a mighty pleasant man 
 he always was * It isn't the length of it at all at 
 all, but the breadth of it that's killing me; ' wid 
 that he laid himself down in the ditch, and the 
 never a stir he'd stir; so the other boy went on 
 and left him. Well, yer honour, just as he was 
 settling himself for a sleep, what should he hear 
 but a shnort and a neigh. ' That's a horse,' 
 says he; and wid that he gave a click, click, and 
 held out his hand as if 'twas a whisp of hay 
 was in it. So the. horse came up, and wasn't 
 Jerry on his back in a jiffy? ' 'Ar-up,' says he; 
 but 'twasn't needed. Off went the Pooka like 
 shot for the Pooka it was surely up hill and 
 down hill, through the bog and the river; and 
 wherever a furze bush and briar was, there he 
 went. Poor Jerry could make no hand of him; 
 the life was sthruck out of him at last, and in 
 the morning he found himself kilt, in the very 
 place where he met the vicious baste over night.
 
 CORK 175 
 
 Well, sir, Jerry kept himself sober for him 
 till the next gale day, when his honour, the land- 
 lord, wouldn't hear of him going home widout 
 a rasonable sup; and when Jerry came near the 
 ould castle at nightfall, he purtended to be 
 mighty wake, and not able to stand at all at all; 
 and, just as he expicted, up trots the Pooka, and 
 ' Mount, Jerry Deasy,' says he, ' and I'll car ye 
 home/ ' Will ye go asy? ' says Jerry. * As 
 mild as new milk,' says the desaving vagabone. 
 Wid that, Jerry gave a spring, and got astride 
 him. Well, my dear, off the blackguard set 
 agin, a gallop that ud bate a flash o' lightning on 
 the Curragh o' Kildare. But Jerry was too 
 cute for him this time; and as fast as the Pooka 
 druv, Jerry plunged his bran-new spurs into 
 his sides, and shtruck away wid his kippeen at 
 the head of him, until the Pooka was as quiet as 
 a lamb, and car'd him to his own door. Now 
 wasn't that a grate thing for a boy to do to 
 make a tame nagur of a Pooka? I'll go bail the 
 scoundrel never came in Jerry Deasy's way from 
 that day to this." 
 
 To examine, properly, the romantic lake of 
 Gougane Barra, the pass of Keim-an-eigh, and 
 the wild and singular scenery that conducts to 
 or surrounds them, the traveller must diverge 
 from the high-road, and pursue a route that leads 
 only *' back again," unless he is prepared to tread 
 over mountains where the goat will scarcely find 
 his way homewards without direction ; and to en- 
 counter the perils of bogs and morasses more 
 numerous than cottages. The venturous pe-
 
 176 IRELAND 
 
 destrian, however, will be amply repaid for the 
 risk and labour he will have to endure ; for in no 
 part of Ireland has Nature been left more com- 
 pletely to her own guidance and government. 
 
 From Macroom to Inchageela, a village mid- 
 way between the town and Gougane Barra, the 
 road becomes gradually wilder and more rugged ; 
 huge rocks overhang it, high hills look down upon 
 them, and over these again the mountains tower 
 each and all clothed with purple heath and 
 golden furze, and other plants that love the arid 
 soil; while here and there patches of cultivation 
 have been snatched from them by the hand of in- 
 dustry and toil; and from many a small fissure 
 the smoke arises, giving token that civilization 
 is astir even in this region of savage grandeur 
 and beauty. 
 
 The Lee, which, for a considerable space, has 
 dwindled to a small murmuring rivulet, at length 
 widens out into a sheet of water, forming the 
 picturesque Lough Allua the lake of the Lee. 
 The road winds for about three miles along its 
 northern margin ; the rocks on one side, the clear 
 and deep water on the other a more perfect 
 solitude it is impossible to imagine. Not a tree 
 is to be seen; but the rocks, as if to remedy the 
 defect, have assumed forms the most singular 
 and fantastic, and, every now and then, seem to 
 stay the further progress of the wayfarer, by 
 pushing a monstrous base directly across his 
 path. Yet a century and a half ago, these rocks 
 and hills, as well as the valleys, were clothed with 
 forests to the water's edge; in their fastnesses,
 
 CORK 177 
 
 unfamiliar with the step of man, the red deer 
 roved; and often the labourer delves out, from 
 a patch of mountain bog, some huge trunk that 
 tells of the former occupiers of the soil exist- 
 ing in decay many feet below the surface. 
 
 The approach to Gougane Barra is now suffi- 
 ciently easy; although, a hundred years ago, a 
 pilgrimage of two miles occupied two hours. 
 Dr. Smith pathetically describes the toil: he 
 calls it " the rudest highway that ever was passed; 
 a well-spirited beast trembles at every step; 
 some parts of the road lie shelving from one side 
 to the other, which often trips up a horse; other 
 places are pointed rocks, standing like so many 
 sugar-loaves, from one to three feet high, be- 
 tween which a horse much take time to place and 
 fix his feet." 
 
 A sudden turning in the road brings the trav- 
 eller within view, and almost over, the lake of 
 Gougane Barra a scene of more utter loneli- 
 ness, stern grandeur, or savage magnificence, it 
 is difficult to conceive; redeemed, however, as all 
 things savage are, by one passage of gentle and 
 inviting beauty, upon which the eye turns as to 
 a spring-well in the desert the little island with 
 its group of graceful ash-trees and ruined chapel. 
 Down from the surrounding mountains rush 
 numerous streams, tributaries to the lake, that 
 collects and sends them forth in a bountiful river 
 for here the Lee has its source until they form 
 the noble harbour of Cork, and lose themselves 
 in the broad Atlantic. In summer these streams 
 
 are gentle rills, but in winter foaming cataracts; 
 v 12
 
 178 IRELAND 
 
 rushing over ridges of projecting rocks, and bar- 
 ing them even of the lichen that strives to cling 
 to their sides. 
 
 When the traveller stands within this amphi- 
 theatre of hills, he feels, as it were, severed from 
 his fellow-beings as if imprisoned for ever; for 
 on whichever side he looks, escape from the valley 
 seems impossible; "so that if a person," writes 
 the old historian, " were carried into it blindfold, 
 it would seem almost impossible, without the 
 wings of an eagle, to get out the mountains 
 forming, as it were, a wall of rocks some hundred 
 yards high." 
 
 The small island is nearly midway in the lake ; 
 a rude artificial causeway leads into it from the 
 main land. This is the famous hermitage of St. 
 Fin Bar, who is said to have lived here previous 
 to his founding the cathedral of Cork. It is 
 classed among the " holiest " places in Ireland, 
 and has long been a favourite resort of devotees, 
 in the confident expectation that its consecrated 
 waters have power to heal all kinds of diseases; 
 making the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the 
 lame to walk. Here, at certain seasons, they as- 
 semble in immense crowds bringing their sick 
 children and ailing animals to bathe; and upon 
 the neighbouring bushes and wooden crosses 
 hang fragments of clothes, or halters and span- 
 eels, in proof that to the various animals, biped 
 and quadruped, the lake has performed the an- 
 ticipated miracle of making them whole. 
 
 The greater portion of the island is covered by 
 the ruins of a chapel with its appurtenant build-
 
 CORK 179 
 
 ings, and a large court or cloister, containing 
 eight arched cells. A spot better fitted for 
 gloomy anchorite or stern ascetic, who desired 
 perfect seclusion from 
 
 " the cheerful haunt of man and herds," 
 
 it would be hard to find; but here, too, undoubt- 
 edly, study might have prepared the early Chris- 
 tian missionary for the " labour of love " he was 
 called upon to undertake. 
 
 To describe the romantic grandeur of the scene 
 is indeed impossible, without calling poetry to 
 our aid. It has been rendered so happily and so 
 effectually, that we do not hesitate to quote the 
 composition entire : 
 
 " There is a green island in lone Gougane Barra, 
 Where Allu of songs rushes forth like an arrow ; 
 In deep-valley'd Desmond a thousand wild fountains 
 Come down to that lake, from their home in the mountains. 
 There grows the wild ash ; and a time-stricken willow 
 Looks chidingly down on the mirth of the billow, 
 As like some gay child that sad monitor scorning, 
 It lightly laughs back to the laugh of the morning. 
 
 " And its zone of dark hills oh ! to see them all brighten- 
 ing, 
 
 When the tempest flings out his red banner of lightning, 
 And the waters come down 'mid the thunder's deep rattle, 
 Like clans from their hills at the voice of the battle ; 
 And brightly the fire-crested billows are gleaming, 
 And wildly from Malloc the eagles are screaming: 
 Oh, where is the dwelling, in valley or highland, 
 So meet for a bard as that lone little island ! 
 
 " How oft, when the summer sun rested on Clara, 
 And lit the blue headland of sullen Ivera,
 
 180 IRELAND 
 
 Have I sought thee, sweet spot! from my home by the 
 
 ocean, 
 
 And trod all thy wilds with a minstrel's devotion, 
 And thought on the bards who, oft gathering together, 
 In the cleft of thy rocks, and the depth of thy heather, 
 Dwelt far from the Saxon's dark bondage and slaughter, 
 As they raised their last song by the rush of thy water. 
 
 " High sons of the lyre ! oh, how proud was the feeling 
 To dream while alone through that solitude stealing; 
 Though loftier minstrels green Erin can number, 
 I alone waked the strain of her harp from its slumber, 
 And gleaned the grey legend that long had been sleeping 
 Where oblivion's dull mist o'er its beauty was creeping, 
 From the love which I felt for my country's sad story, 
 When to love her was shame, to revile her was glory. 
 
 " Last bard of the free ! were it mine to inherit 
 The fire of thy harp and the wing of thy spirit, 
 With the wrongs which like thee to my own land have 
 
 bound me, 
 
 Did your mantle of song throw its radiance around me: 
 Yet, yet on those bold cliffs might Liberty rally, 
 And abroad send her cry o'er the sleep of each valley. 
 But rouse thee, vain dreamer ! no fond fancy cherish, 
 Thy vision of Freedom in bloodshed must perish. 
 
 " I soon shall be gone though my name may be spoken 
 When Erin awakes, and her fetters are broken 
 Some minstrel will come in the summer eve's gleaming, 
 When Freedom's young light on his spirit is beaming, 
 To bend o'er my grave with a tear of emotion, 
 Where calm Avonbuee seeks the kisses of ocean, 
 And a wild wreath to plant from the bank of the river 
 O'er the heart and the harp that are silent for ever." 48 
 
 The sacred character of Gougane Barra has, 
 it is said, preserved it from the pest of so many 
 Irish lakes the monster worm or enchanted eel. 
 We have heard stories of them in abundance ; and
 
 CORK 181 
 
 have " seen the man who has seen " the meta- 
 morphosed demon that infests the little lough 
 on the top of Mount Gabriel it is " deeper than 
 did ever plummet sound; " yet not so deep but 
 that it supplies a home to one of these " things 
 horrible." Often, but always at night, the 
 hideous head of the serpent is raised above the 
 surface of the water; and if a cow be missing 
 from some neighbouring herd, there is no dif- 
 ficulty in ascertaining its fate it has been made 
 a " toothful for the ould enemy." In ancient 
 times, indeed, the blessed isle of St. Fin Bar was 
 subjected to the visits of such an intruder; who 
 having been guilty of the imprudence and impu- 
 dence of snatching, from the very hand of the 
 officiating priest, the loneen a vessel for holding 
 holy water as he was in the act of sprinkling 
 with it a crowd of devotees, witnesses of the 
 sacrilegious act, he was expelled the neighbour- 
 hood for his wickedness, and has never since 
 ventured to leave his loathsome slime upon the 
 green banks of the lake. 
 
 The pass of Keim-an-eigh (the path of the 
 deer) lies to the south-west of Inchageela, in the 
 direction of Bantry Bay. The tourist will com- 
 mit a grievous error if he omit to visit it. Per- 
 haps in no part of the kingdom is there to be 
 found a place so utterly desolate and gloomy. 
 A mountain has been divided by some convulsion 
 of nature; and the narrow pass, about two miles 
 in length, is overhung on either side by perpen- 
 dicular masses clothed in wild ivy and under- 
 wood, with, occasionally, a stunted yew-tree or
 
 182 IRELAND 
 
 arbutus growing among them. At every step 
 advance seems impossible some huge rock 
 jutting out into the path; and, on sweeping 
 round it, seeming to conduct only to some bar- 
 rier still more insurmountable, while from all 
 sides rush down the " wild fountains," and, form- 
 ing for themselves a rugged channel, make their 
 way onward the first tributary offering to the 
 gentle and fruitful Lee: 
 
 " Here, amidst heaps 
 
 Of mountain wrecks, on either side thrown high, 
 The wide-spread traces of its watery might, 
 The tortuous channel wound." 
 
 Nowhere has Nature assumed a more appalling 
 aspect, or manifested a more stern resolve to dwell 
 in her own loneliness and grandeur, undisturbed 
 by any living thing for even the birds seem to 
 shun a solitude so awful; and the hum of bee or 
 chirp of grasshopper is never heard within its 
 precincts. 
 
 Protected by these fortresses of rocks, ages 
 ago, the outlawed O'Sullivans and O'Learys 
 kept their freedom, and laughed to scorn the 
 sword and fetter of the Saxon; and from these 
 " mountains inaccessible " they made occasional 
 sallies, avenging themselves upon, and bearing 
 off the flocks and heads of, the stranger. As 
 may be expected, in modern times, these rocky 
 fastnesses have given shelter, often, to bands of 
 lawless or disaffected men: here, in some deep 
 dell, might have been detected the light curl of 
 smoke issuing from the roof of some illicit still-
 
 CORK 183 
 
 cabin, to disturb the inmates of which would have 
 required a very strong force of the revenue; 
 among these rocks, too, the smugglers had many 
 a cave, in which they deposited their goods until 
 suspicion had been lulled on the highways, so 
 that they might be conveyed in safety to the 
 neighbouring towns. And here, too, men who 
 had set themselves in battle array against the law, 
 have often met to arrange their plans for carry- 
 ing destruction into the adjoining valleys. In 
 the immediate vicinity of the pass, there was a 
 stronghold of the Rockites, during the disturb- 
 ances of 1822. The subject of these agrarian 
 bands, united under a score of names, is one of 
 much interest and importance, and will form a 
 topic for discussion hereafter, when we visit 
 Tipperary; we may, however, detain the reader 
 while we relate an incident borrowed, partly 
 from the Rev. Caesar Otway's " Sketches in Ire- 
 land," and partly gathered from the relation of 
 the aged man we encountered at Bantry, who 
 was an actor in the drama, and who lay for many 
 days, wounded, among the hills, having been in- 
 jured by an accidental shot fired by one of his 
 own party. 
 
 Several hundreds of the peasantry were sworn 
 to obey an unknown Captain Rock; for their 
 leaders professed to receive their orders from a 
 person who made his appearance only when some 
 work of more than common peril and difficulty 
 was to be performed. The pass of Keim-an-eigh 
 was their place of rendezvous, from whence they 
 made their visits to the houses of the gentry for
 
 184 IRELAND 
 
 many miles around, demanding arms, and leav- 
 ing directions as regarded the persons to be em- 
 ployed and the rent to be paid; which it was 
 dangerous to disobey, and which were, at times, 
 accompanied by the significant hint of a grave dug 
 at the hall-door, or beneath the window, of the 
 party to whom instructions were addressed as to 
 his future conduct. The evil at length spread so 
 widely and became so intolerable, that the neigh- 
 bouring gentry combined to suppress it. Lord 
 Bantry, his brother, Captain White, and about 
 forty mounted gentlemen, accompanied by a 
 party of the 39th Foot, undertook the dangerous 
 task of pursuing the outlaws into the recesses of 
 their mountains. They arrived at the pass we 
 have described; but the officer who commanded 
 the military refused to proceed further with so 
 small a force, and left his lordship and his com- 
 panions to make their way through the defile, re- 
 maining at its entrance to cover their retreat. 
 They rode through it, round the lake of Gougane 
 Barra, and into the village of Inchageela which 
 they found deserted by all the men, who had 
 joined their associates, and were in arms among 
 the hills. During their ride, however, the party 
 had given token of the nature of their mission, 
 and had killed one man, who, having mistaken 
 them for his own friends, had ascended a bank 
 and hurraed for Captain Rock. He was shot 
 instantly and his body was a few minutes after- 
 wards discovered by his exasperated comrades, 
 who swore, over it, to take ample vengeance. 
 Having failed to arrest any of the persons
 
 CORK 185 
 
 against whom they had informations, the gentry 
 commenced their ride back to Bantry, through 
 the pass; and by this time the evening twilight 
 was becoming dark and darker. 
 
 Meantime, the insurgents had not been idle; 
 their captain who he was has never been clearly 
 ascertained, but it is certain that he belonged to 
 the better order of society 49 had noted the sep- 
 aration of the mounted gentry from the soldiers, 
 and guessed that in an hour or two they would 
 return through the pass. He at once issued 
 instructions to his men to loosen a huge rock that 
 overhung the narrow road; at a signal agreed 
 upon, it was to be flung from its place so effectu- 
 ally to block up the passage, and, if possible, to 
 crush some of the party by its fall. The design 
 was then to rush upon them with stones and 
 pitchforks; several who had guns remaining in 
 the rear to shoot them as soon as they were 
 scattered; and afterwards to wait the ap- 
 proach of the soldiers, who would no doubt be 
 thus drawn from the open ground in which they 
 had bivouacked. So shrewdly was the plan laid, 
 that the destruction of the party appeared in- 
 evitable. 
 
 On they came, at a slow trot, cautious and 
 fully conscious that they were in the midst of 
 peril; the rock was nearly in the middle of the 
 pass, and they were rapidly nearing it, yet no 
 human enemy was seen, and not a sound indica- 
 tive of danger was heard; when an old man of 
 the Mahonys looked down from a cranny in the 
 mountain, and saw Lord Bantry and his troop
 
 186 IRELAND 
 
 in the path beneath him. We now borrow a 
 passage from Mr. Otway: "This poor fellow 
 had once two sons, the pride of his name and 
 the consolation of his descending years; active, 
 honest, and industrious, but alas! seduced into 
 the Rock system. Their house near Gougane 
 Barra was searched under the Insurrection Act, 
 and arms and ammunition being found concealed, 
 they were tried at Bantry and sentenced to be 
 transported, which sentence was put into instant 
 execution, and their aged parents were left deso- 
 late and destitute ; the mother wept her life away, 
 and her grey hairs descended in sorrow to the 
 grave; the father joined the rising, and cared not 
 how he died." The old man, under the excite- 
 ment of the moment, screamed a bitter curse 
 against those who had made him childless, and 
 flung a huge stone at them as they passed; it 
 struck and wounded the horse of Lord Bantry. 
 One of the party instantly fired his pistol at the 
 aged man, whose body came tumbling down the 
 precipice, and fell a lifeless corpse upon the path. 
 In a moment, every crevice of every rock sent 
 forth a living man to avenge the deed; a crowd 
 came rushing and yelling down the mountain 
 sides; the mounted gentlemen spurred their 
 horses into a fierce gallop; a minute was thus 
 gained and it was enough; the rock fell the 
 instant the last of the party had passed uninjured 
 beyond its reach, and just in time to bar the pur- 
 suit of the exasperated peasantry. 
 
 Another generation must be removed, both 
 from the gentry and the people, before the pass
 
 CORK 187 
 
 of Keim-an-eigh and this striking incident in its 
 history will be forgotten. 
 
 Still nearer to Bantry, and still among the 
 wild and almost trackless wastes, is the mountain 
 of the Priest's Leap 50 formerly the principal 
 line of communication between the two most pic- 
 turesque portions of Irish scenery, Glengariff 
 and Killarney, but now abandoned for one of the 
 best roads in the kingdom. Besides considerably 
 abridging the distance between them, this old 
 road possesses to perfection the characteristics of 
 the fine old vigorous and uncompromising sys- 
 tem of road-making, now exploded, that was ob- 
 servant only of the straightest line of access 
 following as nearly as possible the flight of the 
 bird regardless alike of acclivity or declivity, of 
 cliff or crag, of stream or torrent. 51 In this re- 
 spect the Priest's Leap road offers to every 
 student of the ancient mystery of road-making 
 the fairest subject for inquiry and contempla- 
 tion; nothing can be more direct than its up-hill 
 flights, or more decided and unswerving than its 
 downward progressions; no mountain elevation, 
 however bristling with crags, or formidable the 
 aspect of its precipitous sides, deterred the stern 
 and uncompromising engineer who laid it down. 
 He carried it over the loftiest summits, the wild- 
 est moors, at the bottoms of the most desolate 
 glens, and along the most dizzy steeps, overlook- 
 ing the deepest dells. A savage-looking defile 
 is sometimes made available as a conduit for every 
 ferocious breeze that loves to howl and sweep 
 along such localities; and the loneliness of many
 
 188 IRELAND 
 
 of the scenes is emphatically marked by the sig- 
 nificant " leacht," or stone-heap, that points out 
 the spot where, in other times, some solitary 
 traveller met his fate from the way-side plun- 
 derer. Such alarming " hints " are now, in- 
 deed, rare ; and, of later years, the record of acts 
 of violence, committed in the security of these 
 seldom-trodden paths, is a barren one. The 
 heaps of stones, to indicate where deeds of mur- 
 der have been done, still remain, however ; and to 
 the present day the peasant discharges what he 
 considers his solemn duty by flinging, as he 
 walks or rides by, a contribution to the mass. 
 
 To the lover of the wild, the picturesque, and 
 the romantic, we recommend this road for his 
 special enjoyment. Glorious is its scenery over 
 mountain and through glen. The broad bay of 
 Bantry is glistening far beneath, and the blue 
 shores of Ivera and Bear in the distance, are 
 noble features in the majestic panorama. Nor 
 has the voice of tradition failed, or become silent, 
 among these hills ; many a wild legend and whim- 
 sical fiction may be gathered, by a little kindness, 
 from their shrewd, inquisitive, and really imagi- 
 native, inhabitants. 
 
 Nearly midway in the course of the mountain- 
 road stand the ruins of one of those small ancient 
 churches, whose era, from their style the Ro- 
 manesque must be placed between the fifth and 
 eleventh centuries. A portion of the walls only 
 remains. The stones are large and Cyclopean, 
 curiously jointed and well fashioned. We were 
 told that it is " one of the first churches called at
 
 CORK 189 
 
 Rome " a traditional record of its high antiqui- 
 ty. Outside the burial-ground is a perfect curios- 
 ity ; a natural rock of a tabular form with five 
 basin-like hollows on the surface, of four or five 
 inches in depth, and about a foot in diameter. 
 These are severally filled with water, and in each 
 is a stone of a long oval form fitting the space 
 fully. The whole forms a petrified dairy the 
 basins being the " keelers," the ovals the rolls of 
 butter. 
 
 The history of this strange monument is that, 
 in ancient times, a woman lived here who, not 
 respecting the commandment against thieving, at 
 night milked the cows of her neighbours, and 
 transferred the milk as well as the butter to her 
 own dairy. Suspected at length, the hue-and- 
 cry was raised against her, and Saint Fiachna, 
 who led a holy life at the church we have referred 
 to, resolved to punish the culprit. He mounted 
 his horse to visit her, but she fled. The Saint as 
 he passed turned her dairy to stone, and then de- 
 scended the hill towards the river in pursuit of 
 her. In crossing the stream his horse left his 
 hoof -marks on a stone in the centre of it ; this we 
 did not choose to wet ourselves to look at, but we 
 were assured by several that it was there. He 
 then drove up the opposite hill-side, where, about 
 midway, he overtook the criminal of whom he 
 was in chase, and instantly turned her into stone; 
 and there she still stands, the Irish " Lot's Wife," 
 not, however, a pillar of salt, but a goodly dallan 
 of six feet in height; yet still holding a resem- 
 blance to the original lady. The tree beside it
 
 190 IRELAND 
 
 grew out of the " kippin " of the spancel which 
 she carried in her hand, and with which she was 
 accustomed to tie the cows' legs at milking. And 
 what a goodly picture it now makes as a bloom- 
 ing hawthorn! It is a singular and striking 
 object, standing as it does in the midst of a moun- 
 tain solitude. 
 
 We must now reconduct the reader to Cork, 
 in order that we may be his guide to the county 
 of Kerry, along the sea-coast, through Bantry 
 and Glengariff. 
 
 The port of Kinsale, although not in the direct 
 route, may be visited in the way; the town is ex- 
 ceedingly interesting, and as, for a very consider- 
 able period, it was the most celebrated and fre- 
 quented of the southern harbours of Ireland 
 taking precedence of that of Cork it occupies a 
 full and prominent page in Irish history. 
 
 The road from Cork a distance of nineteen 
 English miles has little to interest the traveller; 
 but on either side the mountain-hills are richly 
 cultivated ; the fields of green and brown alterna- 
 ting like a chess-board, very few, even at the high- 
 est summits, being without some cultivated 
 patches. The town is seen to great advantage 
 from this approach. It is built on the side of 
 a hill; its character is peculiarly quaint; the 
 streets are remarkably narrow; and many of the 
 houses have projecting windows like those of the 
 Spaniards ; by whom some of them were probably 
 built. 52 The population is about eight thousand. 
 The charter of incorporation is so early as Ed-
 
 CORK 191 
 
 ward III. Kinsale gives the title of Baron to 
 the De Courcys, the descendants of Milo de 
 Courcy, son of John, Earl of Ulster; and the 
 Lords Kingsale enjoy the exclusive, although 
 vain and useless, privilege of being covered in the 
 royal presence a privilege granted by King 
 John to the Earl of Ulster. Lord Kingsale is 
 the premier Baron of Ireland. 53 
 
 It would occupy far more space than we can 
 afford, to give even an outline of the sieges to 
 which the town has been subjected from a very 
 early period from the first English invasion to 
 the Revolution of 1688. It was several times in 
 the occupation of the Spaniards; who had pos- 
 session of it so far back as 1380 ; and who, in 1601, 
 having been largely aided by O'Neill and other 
 Irish chieftains, kept at bay for a considerable 
 time the English army, under the Lord Presi- 
 dent Sir George Carew. 
 
 On the 12th of March 1689, James II. landed 
 in Kinsale (the house in which he slept is still 
 pointed out), and then commenced the struggle 
 to regain the throne he had abdicated. In 1690, 
 it was taken by the Duke of Marlborough after 
 a gallant defence, however, when the garrison was 
 allowed to march out " upon honourable condi- 
 tions." 
 
 The parish church is dedicated to a female saint 
 St. Multose or Multosia, by whom it is said to 
 have been erected in the fourteenth century. 
 
 A legend is told in connection with it. When 
 the Saint was building it, which she did with her 
 own hands, she desired to place a large stone, too
 
 192 IRELAND 
 
 heavy for her to lift. Seeing two men passing, 
 one a native of the town, the other a stranger to 
 it, she summoned them to her aid; the native re- 
 fused to help her, but the stranger laboured until 
 her object was effected. Upon which she gave 
 her blessing to the one, and left her curse with the 
 other. It is a remarkable fact, and one that does 
 not depend upon the authority of tradition, that, 
 generally, when two inhabitants of the town 
 marry, they will not go through the ceremony 
 within the walls of St. Multose, but are " united " 
 at some church in the neighbourhood; and we 
 were supplied with proofs in support of the 
 legend, by references to several unlucky couples 
 who had been so unwisely sceptical as to neglect 
 the ancient warning. 
 
 The harbour of Kinsale, although greatly in- 
 ferior to that of Cork, is capacious, deep, and 
 well-sheltered. It is defended by a strong fort, 
 called Charles-Fort, so called in honour of Charles 
 II., and erected by the Duke of Ormond in 
 1681. 54 
 
 The " Old Head," the point nearest the sea, 
 has a light-house, and has long been a famous 
 landmark for mariners. Although, for upwards 
 of a century, Kinsale has ceased to occupy a very 
 prominent station among the harbours of Ireland, 
 and has lost its commercial importance, it is still 
 a flourishing town; its prosperity being sus- 
 tained, chiefly, by its facilities for fishing the 
 Cork markets being almost exclusively supplied 
 from it the skill of its ship and boat builders, 
 and by its convenience as an outlet for the trans-
 
 CORK 193 
 
 fer of cattle to England. The adjoining coast 
 is unhappily full of melancholy relics of ship- 
 wrecks; and in the churchyard are numerous 
 grave-stones recording merely the facts of bodies 
 being washed on shore and interred there. 
 
 The road from Kinsale to Innishannon passes 
 along the banks of the river Bandon according 
 to Spenser, 
 
 " The pleasant Bandon crowned by many a wood." 
 
 The woods, however, have long since fallen under 
 the ruthless axe of the woodman. About midway 
 to Innishannon, a pretty village that skirts the 
 clear and rapid river, is the ancient castle of Ship- 
 pool, a structure erected by the Roches; and be- 
 tween Innishannon and Bandon, is the castle of 
 Dundaneere (or Downdaniel) , which stands near 
 the confluence of the rivers Brinny and Bandon. 
 It is stated by Dr. Smith, that " about the year 
 1612, the East India Company of England had 
 a settlement here for carrying on ironworks, and 
 building large ships, for which uses they pur- 
 chased the adjacent lands and woods; the follow- 
 ing year, two new ships of five hundred tons were 
 launched, and a dock was erected for building 
 more ; they kept a garrison in the castle, and built 
 three villages." Unhappily the old curse of Ire- 
 land jealousy of "the stranger" prevailed; 
 the company were so much " disturbed in their 
 undertakings," and such was the " implacable 
 spirit of the Irish against them, that by contin- 
 ually doing them several ill offices, they forced 
 
 them at length to quit the country." The castle, 
 v is
 
 194 IRELAND 
 
 is now a complete ruin, but one of the most strik- 
 ing and interesting we have visited ; it commands 
 a charming point of the river; the surrounding 
 scenery is perfectly beautiful, and the neighbour- 
 ing hills are covered with woods and villas. The 
 road leads along the banks of " the pleasant 
 Bandon " the whole way to the town to which it 
 gives its name. It was formerly called Bandon- 
 Bridge, and was built by the first Earl of Cork; 
 who, in a letter to Mr. Secretary Cook, dated 
 April 13, 1632, describes " the place in which it 
 is situated," as " upon a great district of the coun- 
 try that was until lately a mere waste of bog and 
 wood, serving for a retreat and harbour to wood- 
 kernes, rebels, thieves, and wolves." His lord- 
 ship adds, as the strong claim of Bandon to royal 
 favour and protection, that " no popish recusant, 
 or unconforming novelist, is admitted to live in 
 all the town;" 55 and Smith, so late as 1750, 
 states that " in the town there is not a popish in- 
 habitant, nor will the townsmen suffer one to 
 dwell in it, nor a piper to play in the place, that 
 being the music formerly used by the Irish in 
 their wars." The old and illiberal system has 
 long since been exploded; the bagpipes are now 
 heard as frequently in Bandon as elsewhere ; and 
 among its dealers and chapmen are numerous 
 descendants of the Irish Mac Sweeneys and 
 O'Sullivan's; and the Anglo-Irish Cappingers 
 and Fitzgeralds. The town is of considerable 
 size, populous and flourishing, being the great 
 thoroughfare into Carbery, and also to Killar- 
 ney. It belongs, partly to the Duke of Devon-
 
 CORK 195 
 
 shire, and partly to the Earl of Bandon, whose 
 beautiful seat, Castle Bernard, is in its imme- 
 diate neighbourhood. 
 
 From Bandon to Bantry there are two roads : 
 the northern and nearest, through Ballyneen, 
 Dunmanway, and Drimoleague ; and the south- 
 ern and most picturesque, along the coast 
 through Clonakilty, Ross-Carbery, and Skibbe- 
 reen. Ballyneen and Drimoleague are small 
 villages; Dunmanway is a poor town, although 
 the only one in a very large district. Emigra- 
 tion has drained it of its most able-bodied and in- 
 telligent inhabitants; as their dwellings remain 
 tenantless, and an Irish cabin is never worth 
 pulling down, they crumble with every shower 
 and every storm, giving to the scene an aspect 
 of extreme dreariness and desolation. Some- 
 times they are overgrown by the weed called 
 " love entangled," and the golden stone-crop, 
 rendering them what artists call " picturesque," 
 which comfortable well-built houses seldom are. 
 We noticed a thin gaunt-looking dog wander- 
 ing about one of these deserted tenements, and 
 the girl of our little inn crossed over the way 
 to give him a bone, which the creature carried 
 within the ruin. " The poor baste," said Mary, 
 " belonged to those who, though they had a good 
 heart to the counthry, war forced to lave it; the 
 dog followed them for certain to Cork, but I 
 suppose missed them there, and came back to 
 die in the ould walls. I often give it a bit for 
 the sake of them that owned it, though it's al- 
 most a sin, where the same bit might.keep a child
 
 196 IRELAND 
 
 from starving." " And who ' owned ' the dog, 
 Mary? " we inquired; Mary blushed and turned 
 to arrange the fire. She had wiped the tears 
 from her eyes, with the corner of her apron, be- 
 fore she looked up again. 
 
 The little inn at Dunmanway is very clean, 
 and, considering all things, comfortable; the 
 landlord, as is usual at country inns, walks about 
 with his hands in his pockets, seeing, and hear- 
 ing, and talking, evidently desiring to be thought 
 anything rather than an innkeeper; the land- 
 lady but with the exception of the hostess of 
 the Imperial Hotel in Cork, who came often to 
 inquire if all things in her well-managed house 
 pleased us with that solitary exception we do 
 not recollect seeing a landlady anywhere. We 
 believe that both landlords and landladies are 
 above their business; a circumstance much to be 
 regretted, as it militates against their own pros- 
 perity and the comfort of travellers, who spend 
 hours where, if the menage were better, they 
 might be induced to spend days. 56 The little 
 maid at Dunmanway did her best certainly to 
 make up for the absence of her mistress. She 
 was the model of a cheerful do-everything sort 
 of girl, that, like one of the fairies of her own 
 mountains, was in a score of places at the same 
 moment. She would make a fire in the bed- 
 room because it had rained in the morning, and 
 would be sure to rain to-morrow. She was afraid 
 we'd be dull in such a poor place, and brought 
 us an old volume of the " Hibernian Magazine,"
 
 CORK 197 
 
 which, like all the numbers of that periodical, 
 contained an abundance of everything that had 
 no reference to Ireland. In about half an hour 
 she popped in her sunny face again, and finding 
 that we noted a female pedlar standing on the 
 elevated steps that surrounded the pump, dis- 
 playing her " soft goods," i. e. calicoes and cot- 
 tons, with sundry gaudy ribands, to the loiterers, 
 rather than purchasers, who crowded round, she 
 volunteered a story of how that same " chate " 
 had sold her a crooked comb, for which she paid 
 sevenpence halfpenny; and how the same 
 crooked comb broke " fair off in three halves, the 
 first minute she put it in her hair ; " which caused 
 us little astonishment, as she had a sufficient 
 quantity to adorn three maidens with luxuriant 
 tresses. She was lady's maid to " the mistress," 
 child's maid to the children, " waitress " to the 
 whole establishment, and, as she said, " every- 
 thing but the boy that minded the horses and 
 claned the shoes." That, in addition to her be- 
 ing cheerful and active, Mary of Dunmanway 
 was ready-witted, a single anecdote will prove. 
 The inn, certainly, was very clean, having been 
 newly painted; and the little drawing-room was 
 enriched by, as she called it, a bran-new Kitter- 
 minister carpet ; " but notwithstanding, a par- 
 ticularly active little insect left undeniable 
 proofs of its propensities upon our wrist two 
 large red spots. " Mary," we said, " look here 
 this is really too bad." She looked with 
 feigned or unfeigned astonishment it was diffi-
 
 198 IRELAND 
 
 cult to say which and exclaimed, in a tone of 
 mingled anger and repugnance, " Why, then, 
 bad luck to the dirty bastes at the house ye slept 
 last in" 
 
 On the road to Bantry, we sent our car for- 
 ward, and loitered to look upon a fair landscape 
 our " idle time not idly spent " and were 
 somewhat wearied, for 
 
 " These high wild hills and rough uneven ways 
 Draw out our miles/' 
 
 when we heard the notes of an old Irish song as- 
 cend from the bank of a small mountain rivu- 
 let. 57 We paused to listen, for the air we heard 
 was as the greeting of an old friend but the 
 singer's mood changed the song ceased, and in- 
 stead of its music a loud peal of merry laughter 
 earnest, and full, and joyous, ascended with 
 the whistle of a blackbird from the little glen. 
 Presently, we heard a plashing of the waters 
 then more laughter. Anon, the sound of young 
 girls' voices in cheerful converse. " Peggy, lave 
 off yer tricks do, and mind yer work; lave off, I 
 say. Faix, for one stroke ye give the linen ye 
 hit the wather twice, which is a shame. My hair 
 is wringing wet, so it is, wid yer nonsense." 
 ' Yarra, Nancy ! there's no life left in ye, since I 
 know who went to Austrailee. Why then, I 
 wonder do they be beetling the linen there 
 this a-way? " " Not that a- way, I'm certain," 
 answered Nancy, who we now perceived was 
 " drawing " some linen through the stream, 
 while the lively Peggy stood with the wooden
 
 CORK 199 
 
 instrument called a " beetle " uplifted in her 
 hand ready to strike the linen a mode of wash- 
 ing called " beetling," which certainly purifies it 
 more than any way of " getting up " with 
 which we are acquainted. A " beetling stone " 
 of ample dimensions was firmly based in the 
 brook at her feet, and upon it the clothes of the 
 neighbouring hamlet had doubtless been sub- 
 jected to such ablutions time out of mind. 
 " That's not the way they work there, I'm sure," 
 persisted Nancy. " Why for oust you strike 
 the linen, you strike the wather ten times. I 
 hope, Peggy agra, you'll make a better offer at 
 
 yer bachelor's heart than you do at ." 
 
 " Whisht, Nancy will ye whisht ! " exclaimed 
 Peggy, having discovered that we were observ- 
 ing them. " Where's yer manners to the strange 
 quality? " and the girls began a series of blushes 
 and curtsies, wound up by an invitation to rest 
 at their house, though but a poor place, as 
 " Maybe we war tired coming over the back of 
 the hill that was so cruel steep." We were too 
 hurried to accept a courtesy that has often af- 
 forded us much pleasure, as well as great insight 
 into the genuine feelings and character of the 
 Irish peasant. We can refer to the knowledge 
 acquired by long and close observation, and de- 
 clare that we never left the cabin of a genuine 
 Irish peasant, without having our opinion raised 
 as to the materiel which composed the dwellers 
 therein, frequently acknowledging to adopt the 
 beautiful idea of Joanna Baillie that they were 
 
 " Clothed, indeed, but not disgraced, with rags."
 
 200 IRELAND 
 
 Of the towns on the southern or coast road, 
 Ross-Car bery alone demands particular notice; 
 it is one of the oldest towns in Ireland; the an- 
 cient name being Ross-Alithri " the field of 
 pilgrimage ; " and, according to Hanmer, " There 
 was here anciently a famous university, whereto 
 resorted all the south-west part of Ireland for 
 learning sake." It was formerly a bishop's see, 
 but was united with that of Cork, and, recently, 
 also with that of Cloyne. 
 
 A glance at the map of the county of Cork 
 will convey some idea of the numerous bays and 
 harbours along the coast; it is for the most part 
 exceedingly wild and rugged; for miles upon 
 miles there is not a single tree to be seen ; but the 
 ocean around it is dotted with small islands, 
 against which the breakers dash and foam; the 
 peculiar scenery has been aptly described by 
 Dean Swift, in a Latin poem " Carberise 
 Rupes " 58 from which the following passage 
 is translated: 
 
 " With hoarse rebuff, the swelling seas rebound 
 From shore to shore; the rocks return the sound. 
 The dreadful murmur heaven's high concave cleaves, 
 And Neptune shrinks beneath his subject waves; 
 For long the whirling winds and beating tides 
 Had scooped a vault into its nether sides; 
 Now yields the base, the summits nod, now urge 
 Their headlong course, and lash the sounding surge." 
 
 Not only the number, but the advantageous 
 positions, of the harbours will claim attention; 
 the coast from Youghall to Bantry is indented 
 by at least twelve, eight of which are perfectly
 
 CORK 201 
 
 well calculated for merchant vessels of burthen, 
 and not less than five would float the largest 
 ships in the British Navy. When we consider 
 also that this land is made, at its southern ex- 
 tremity, by vessels from either hemisphere, 
 bound for the English or Irish Channel, their 
 advantages under unfavourable circumstances of 
 wind or weather are at once felt to be striking 
 and important. How essential to the commerce 
 of the universe is that little headland in the chart 
 of the navigator the well-known Cape Clear, 
 almost as necessary to the reckoning of the sea- 
 man as the meridian line of Greenwich! It does 
 not appear, however, that the multiplicity of ports 
 has contributed much to the wealth or prosperity 
 of this part of the kingdom ; whether the fact may 
 be attributed to want of public spirit or capital, 
 preventing the people from availing themselves 
 of the immense resources at their command, or 
 whether it must be referred to their indolence 
 and ignorance, is a matter upon which we do not 
 at present design to enter ; although " the Irish 
 Fisheries " will, hereafter, necessarily occupy no 
 inconsiderable portion of our attention. It is 
 notorious that the teeming wealth conveyed by 
 the ocean around their shores easily rendered 
 as productive as their soil is neglected by the 
 people, who cleave to old prejudices and customs 
 with unaccountable bigotry; the consequence is, 
 that the Irish are the worst fishermen to be found 
 anywhere; and that, not unfrequently, even the 
 markets of large towns are supplied by the activ- 
 ity and industry of their Scottish neighbours
 
 202 IRELAND 
 
 the fish being taken within a stone's throw of the 
 Irish strands. 59 Habits at variance with science, 
 forethought, and thrift, unhappily still largely 
 prevail, and the people have, as yet, manifested 
 no inclination to improve their condition by 
 means so completely within their reach. This 
 disheartening fact has been fully exposed by the 
 Committee of Inquiry into " Deep Sea Fisher- 
 ies." Would that their Report might teach wis- 
 dom, and rouse some true patriot to apply him- 
 self to the task of directing the energies of the 
 people into so accessible, valuable, and profit- 
 able a channel. 60 
 
 In former times, when temptations to illicit 
 trade were great, and the securities against de- 
 tection comparatively easy, smuggling was car- 
 ried on to a large extent along a coast so favour- 
 able for it. For some years it has been on the 
 decline, and it is now nearly abandoned. We 
 desire permission to record one of our own mem- 
 ories in association with this coast. In the im- 
 mediate neighbourhood of Ross-Carbery, about 
 two-and-twenty years ago, it was our lot to spend 
 a few weeks at the house of a gentleman for 
 such he was by birth, education, and connexions, 
 although circumstances had unfortunately se- 
 duced him into the practice of trading with Hol- 
 land, and importing foreign produce without the 
 design of paying, for a license so to do, any duty 
 to the crown. His residence, a large and hand- 
 some building, was close to a peculiarly rugged, 
 rocky, and wild shore; here, for a considerable 
 period he contrived, by the assistance of a nu-
 
 CORK 203 
 
 merous and attached tenantry, to elude all the 
 watchfulness of the excise, who practised every 
 art to entrap him. The roads from the sea-coast 
 to the adjoining towns were strictly and nar- 
 rowly guarded; yet, by night, the smuggled 
 goods generally escaped seizure, and very often 
 artifice succeeded by day. The peasants were 
 usually cunning enough to baffle the excise force ; 
 and often managed to pass safely the " com- 
 modity " under loads of turf or sand; sometimes 
 funeral processions were seen along the road, 
 and, of course, proceeded without scrutiny. The 
 coffins were filled with tobacco, and the mourn- 
 ers carried loads under their cloaks. On one 
 occasion, we remember, the officers were com- 
 pletely outwitted by a man who lay on a cart, 
 apparently in all the agonies of a contagious 
 fever, while his wife, screeching by his side, was 
 conveying him to the nearest hospital. A few 
 hours afterwards, both were seen merrily wend- 
 ing homewards, laughing at the soldiers whom 
 they had balked of a rich prize. 
 
 During our visit at the house we have referred 
 to, we had expressed a wish to be present on some 
 midnight excursion of the smugglers, when the 
 most hazardous part of their enterprise was per- 
 formed the discharging the cargo of one of 
 their vessels. It was soon gratified. We were 
 roused from sleep by the son of our host, with 
 the news that a lugger was at anchor in the neigh- 
 bourhood. We hastened to accompany him to 
 the shore ; in doing so, we had to tread cautiously 
 in the footsteps of our guide, through dells and
 
 204 IRELAND 
 
 over precipices, which, else, would have been 
 fatal to us. On the heights above, and over one of 
 the most dangerous passes, a number of the peas- 
 antry, men and women, were collected, ready to 
 roll down immense stones on any intruder from 
 which the password of our companion alone pre- 
 served us. The night was dark; yet the few 
 stars that shone, glimmering from a clear heaven, 
 supplied light enough to excite those feelings of 
 awe which the wildness and grandeur of the 
 scene could not have failed to inspire even by 
 day. At length we reached the small and nar- 
 row beach, where preparations had been made to 
 receive the cargo of the lugger that was lying-to 
 in the offing. A long range of rocks, jutting out 
 into the sea, concealed her from a revenue cutter 
 that was anchored not a mile distant; while the 
 preventive guard had its station on the other side 
 of the nearest hill. The strand was literally 
 covered with men and horses ; about twenty boats, 
 with muffled oars, were ready for the signal to 
 put out to the ship; the most intense silence pre- 
 vailed, the people spoke in whispers, and the 
 hoofs of the horses had been covered with straw. 
 The director of this half -magic scene, whom we 
 had seen a few hours previously, laughing with 
 his guests, and with his wonted vivacity and hu- 
 mour setting the table in a roar, was now seated 
 in the cave of a rock; before him was an up- 
 turned cart covered with bank-notes. He was 
 issuing " orders " to the peasants, who sur- 
 rounded him, to receive tobacco, tea, or geneva, 
 from the boats as they brought supplies from the
 
 CORK 205 
 
 ship; for almost invariably the goods were dis- 
 posed of on the spot, each purchaser bearing his 
 own risk, and keeping or concealing it upon his 
 own responsibility, until he found opportunities 
 for selling it to the dealers in the towns. Many 
 of the peasants were armed! and it was evident, 
 that without a perilous struggle they were not 
 likely to surrender the articles they were paying 
 for. It is scarcely necessary to add, that many 
 fatal encounters took place between them and 
 the revenue officers; and that the consequences 
 of a system so demoralizing was to fill the crim- 
 inal calendar of the county. A few minutes 
 after our arrival on the spot, the boats left the 
 shore; it required little persuasion to induce us 
 to embark in one of them. We were soon in the 
 lugger's cabin, and formally introduced to the 
 captain, who had prepared refreshments for ex- 
 pected visitors. Some two-and-twenty years 
 have passed since then, but we can recall his form 
 and features accurately. He was the very oppo- 
 site of the " Dirk Hatteraick " of our imagina- 
 tion a small man, of mild exterior, and very 
 courteous in his manner. Yet resolute and 
 brave he certainly was ; his step was firm and de- 
 cided, and his eye had the quick and determined 
 glance that evidences acquaintance with danger, 
 and indifference to it. On the deck all was bus- 
 tle and activity ; yet the arrangements were made 
 with the utmost skill, order, and precision. 
 Each boat brought several large stones, neces- 
 sary to supply ballast as the cargo lessened ; and 
 the principal boatman delivered bits of cards to
 
 206 IRELAND 
 
 the number of the bales he conveyed to shore. 
 The business of the night was nearly finished, 
 and the boats were for the last time putting off 
 to the vessel, and were half way towards it, when 
 some signal of alarm was given, and they re- 
 turned to land. 
 
 The crew had been resting for a few minutes, 
 and singing with a careless air; but their voices 
 were lowered and their words half smothered. 
 They were evidently a motley group, composed 
 of the hardy and the desperate of various nations 
 for inquiries as to the cause of interruption 
 were made in many languages. Almost the in- 
 stant the alarm was given, their voices were 
 hushed, all hands were on deck, the hatches were 
 fastened down, fire-arms were distributed, and 
 preparations made for repelling some antici- 
 pated attack. The reason was soon ascertained. 
 Rounding the point, still at a distance, and dimly 
 seen by the uncertain light, a sail was discerned 
 approaching the lugger. We can remember, 
 even now, our awkward sensations on the occa- 
 sion; apprehensive that we might have to pay a 
 frightful penalty for our curiosity; for when re- 
 flection came, it came too late; we had no means 
 of returning to land, and were compelled to 
 share the destiny of our comrades of the moment, 
 whatever that destiny might be ; the easiest, per- 
 haps, a trip to Holland. The opinions of the 
 crew as to the nature of the object that drew to- 
 wards them were varied; the night was too dark 
 to distinguish more than that the vessel was small 
 and had but one mast but the neighbouring
 
 CORK 207 
 
 revenue cruiser was known to bear this character. 
 We shall not readily forget the whispers of " 'tis 
 her," and " 'tis not her," that went round only 
 serving to make the suspense more painful. The 
 alarm was soon found to be a false one; it pro- 
 ceeded from one of the fishing hookers of the 
 coast. The smuggler made her heave to, and 
 remain alongside; but solaced the men for the 
 delay, by flinging on board an anker of geneva. 
 Another signal was made; the boats returned; 
 the work was rapidly finished; we embarked in 
 the last of them; and, as we touched land, we 
 saw the lugger gradually fade away into the 
 deeper darkness, her bow was turned towards 
 home. 
 
 The strand was by this time nearly deserted; 
 and it is worthy of remark, that barely an hour 
 had sufficed to discharge the whole cargo, and to 
 distribute it among the glens and mountains. 
 Next day parties of the excise were scattered in 
 all directions, in search of the prize they had 
 missed but very little of the whole was found. 
 The curious in such matters may now examine, 
 all along the coast, numerous holes and caves 
 formerly depositaries of smuggled goods ; 61 and 
 in a little island off Glengariff, may, if he pleases, 
 visit one of them, known as " Brandy Island," 
 stories in connexion with which will be related 
 to him, in abundance, by the boatmen. 
 
 Between the town of Ross-Carbery and Skib- 
 bereen, and at the head of Glandore Harbour, 
 the tourist passes along a beautiful and pictur- 
 esque road, where
 
 208 IRELAND 
 
 " Lakes upon lakes interminably gleam; " 
 
 and to one point, in particular, his attention 
 should be directed the glen called " The Leap," 
 the ancient boundary which divided the civilized 
 from the uncivilized; " beyond the Leap beyond 
 the law," being, even within our own mem- 
 ory, an accepted proverb. Not far from 
 Skibbereen is a singular salt-water lake, Lough 
 Hyne, or Ine (the deep lake). In the cen- 
 tre is a long island, upon which are the 
 ruins of one of the castles of the O'Driscolls. 
 It is surrounded by picturesque hills, some rocky 
 and precipitous, others steep and woody, rising 
 from the lake. Mr. Willes has made his sketch 
 from a churchyard, peculiar to Ireland, devoted 
 exclusively to the interment of children, and 
 where there was formerly a chapel dedicated to 
 St. Bridget. (See Plate No. 4.) In the fore- 
 ground is one of the singular ring-stones or pil- 
 lar-stones, engraven with inscrutable characters. 
 It is immortalized in traditionary lore, and the 
 country people attach great value to it, affirm- 
 ing that it has been gifted by the Patron Saint 
 with miraculous power at least, for its own 
 preservation. It has been repeatedly removed, 
 to form lintels for doors, and to answer various 
 other purposes, but always found its way back 
 again to its original station. Once it was taken 
 off by a gang of sacrilegious sailors, and thrown 
 into the sea ; when, after raising a terrific storm, 
 it was beheld, next day, safely and soundly in its 
 own proper place. With this lake there is also
 
 FOUR
 
 CORK 209 
 
 connected another legend but one common to 
 nearly all the deep-bedded and lonely loughs with 
 " gloomy shores ; " for Lough Hyne 
 
 " Skylark never warbles o'er." 
 
 As at Glendalough, the sweet birds " singing to 
 heaven's gate " having disturbed the saint at her 
 orisons, she prayed to the Virgin to silence their 
 song; and was so far answered, that they were 
 ordered into a solitude less sacred to penitence 
 and prayer. 
 
 The coast, south-west of Skibbereen, is dotted 
 with islands; 
 
 " Sea-girt isles, 
 
 That, like to rich and various gems, inlay 
 The unadorned bosom of the deep/' 
 
 the most famous of which is that of Cape Clear. 
 Innisherken, immediately opposite Baltimore 
 harbour, is full of interest. The O'Driscolls had 
 formerly castles here, which defended the en- 
 trance to the harbour. Cape Clear the well- 
 known landmark for vessels outward or home- 
 ward bound is the most southern point of 
 Ireland. In the ancient ecclesiastical books it is 
 called " Insula Sancta Clara," and in the old 
 Irish MS. " Inish Damhly." Many years have 
 passed since we visited this wild and primitive 
 district ; but we learn from more recent travellers 
 that the character of its inhabitants continues 
 quite unchanged. They exist almost in a state 
 of nature; depending for food upon the potato 
 crops and the fish that swarm round their rocks; 
 
 V 14
 
 210 IRELAND 
 
 seldom visit the main land ; and are devotedly at- 
 tached to their rugged strand and almost as 
 rugged plain a temporary exile from which 
 they consider a grievous affliction. 
 
 In the year 1750 there were, according to 
 Smith, in the island, about four hundred fam- 
 ilies ; they do not seem to have increased, for the 
 latest returns give the population as less than 
 eleven hundred. Indeed it is not likely that it 
 could supply the means of existence to a larger 
 number the island being only three miles long, 
 and one mile and a half in breadth. On the 
 south side is the light-house, which, it is said, may 
 be distinguished in clear weather from a distance 
 of twenty-eight nautical miles. On the north- 
 west point of the island is the singularly 
 picturesque ruin of the castle of Dunanore, or 
 the Golden Fort. It stands on a rock; a very 
 narrow passage leads to it; the path being so 
 steep and high, and the sea dashing and foaming 
 against it on either side, the ascent to it is a 
 somewhat perilous task. " When I got to the 
 top of the castle," says Dr. Smith, " and beheld 
 the ocean roaring round me, I wished heartily 
 to be again on the main land." Legends enough 
 to make a volume are connected with this re- 
 markable ruin: it was formerly a stronghold of 
 the O'Driscolls some of whom are stated to 
 have mingled the hospitalities of the Irish chief- 
 tain with the reckless darings of the buccaneer. 
 
 To the west of Baltimore is the harbour of 
 Crookhaven, separated by a narrow promontory 
 from the beautiful Dunmanus Bay, which an-
 
 CORK 211 
 
 other promontory divides from the famous Bay 
 of Bantry. 
 
 The mail-coach road from Skibbereen to 
 Bantry runs through a wild and uninteresting 
 country; and the traveller who desires to ex- 
 amine the most peculiar and picturesque portion 
 of the Irish coast, will have to pursue a route 
 less easy of access, but far more certain of recom- 
 pense for the expenditure of time and labour. 
 The mountains appear to rise directly from the 
 sea, as if they were but the continuations of 
 mountains underneath the ocean; small villages 
 are thickly scattered at their base; Mount 
 Gabriel, bleak and barren from the foot to the 
 summit, looks down upon the poor village once 
 a famous collegiate town of Scull. 
 
 Lakes are to be seen in every valley, upon the 
 mountain sides and on their summits, from 
 whence pour down the streams that now and then 
 break in cataracts over precipices; and on the 
 opposite sides, the sea, with its stores of green 
 islands, or black rocks ; creeks and bays and har- 
 bours running into the land; and beyond all the 
 broad Atlantic, that affords no resting-place for 
 the sea-bird until he closes up his wings and 
 stands on the continent of America. 
 
 The ocean, with its tales of shipwrecks and 
 piracies the land, with its legends and tradi- 
 tions, afford themes to fill folios of interest and 
 excitement; every castle (of which there remain 
 the ruins of hundreds) has its story of bold ad- 
 venture. 
 
 The Lakes, too, are fertile of legends : for ex-
 
 212 IRELAND 
 
 amples that on the summit of Mount Gabriel, 
 with its eternal serpent, and depth that has 
 never been fathomed; Loughdrine, where on a 
 certain day of every year the islands used to 
 dance merrily, change places, and shift from one 
 side to the other from sunset to sunrise; 62 Bal- 
 linlough, where the fairies keep nightly guard, 
 protecting the passage that leads from the an- 
 cient rath that borders it, to the bottom, where 
 flourishes the Thierna-na-oge " the land of 
 perpetual youth." The stranger will, in short, 
 find, wherever he travels, in this wild and com- 
 paratively primitive neighbourhood, a rich abun- 
 dance to interest, excite, and amuse, and not a 
 little to inform and instruct. 
 
 The early associations of one of us with Ire- 
 land are connected chiefly with this wild district; 
 for here our father, Colonel Hall, embarked in 
 mining speculations, and within a circuit of little 
 more than twenty miles, discovered and opened 
 no fewer than thirteen mines; some of which he 
 continued to work for a considerable period ; and 
 although his efforts were in the end unsuccessful, 
 he set an example of enterprise and activity, and 
 supplied evidence of the vast mineral wealth of 
 the country, which entitle us to claim for him 
 some tribute of public gratitude, and justify us 
 in placing to his credit much of the benefit that 
 Ireland has since derived from the " Companies," 
 who have been enabled to render to it the service 
 that exceeded the strength of a private indi- 
 vidual. We shall, therefore, discharge a debt of 
 duty no less than affection, if we briefly direct
 
 CORK 213 
 
 attention to the exertions of a gentleman who is 
 now removed beyond the reach even of so small 
 a recompense. 
 
 Colonel Hall commanded a regiment, raised 
 by him in his own country of Devon, which con- 
 tained a large number of Cornish miners. In 
 1795, it was ordered to Ireland; and at the sug- 
 gestions of some practical men under his com- 
 mand who were astonished to find everywhere 
 demonstrations of mines more promising than 
 those with which they were intimate in Cornwall 
 he was, not long afterwards, induced to em- 
 bark his property in mining speculations. It 
 was not, however, until his regiment was dis- 
 banded, in 1802, that he was enabled to devote 
 his whole time and energy to the subject. 
 
 If our recollection serves, his first essays in 
 mining were commenced by Colonel Hall on the 
 property of Mr. Bolton, in the county of Water- 
 ford, and subsequently in the vicinity of the 
 village of Silver-mines on the estate of Lord 
 Dunally, in the county of Tipperary. The 
 product of this mine was a sulphuret of lead, 
 containing a considerable proportion of silver, 
 which had been worked at a former period, and 
 probably gave name to the village. But it was 
 on the royalty of Lord Kenmare, in the vicinity 
 of Killarney, that his operations assumed a char- 
 acter of importance. This was a deposit of an 
 exceedingly rich copper ore, the working of 
 which commenced in 1804. 63 Exclusive of the 
 very extensive mineral deposit brought to light 
 on Ross Island, operations, to a limited extent,
 
 214 IRELAND 
 
 were prosecuted at another small island on the 
 lake, called Crow Island, where evidence of the 
 presence of copper manifested itself; and, at a 
 subsequent period, other attempts were made in 
 this vicinity, on the estate of Mr. Herbert of 
 Mucruss Abbey, where a limited quantity of the 
 arseniates of cobalt and copper were obtained, 
 but not sufficient to induce an extensive prose- 
 cution. The mines on Ross Island continued at 
 work for some years; and it was not, we believe, 
 until 1813, that Colonel Hall commenced his 
 discoveries in the district to which we make 
 especial reference; and where he persevered, 
 until somewhere about the year 1823, with varied 
 success, but with capital far too limited for large 
 operations opening, as we have said, no fewer 
 than thirteen mines, one of which, that at Bal- 
 ledehob, between Skibbereen and Scull, was at 
 work for about four years, employing on the 
 average two hundred persons weekly, and ship- 
 ping many thousand tons of ore to Swansea. 
 Mr. Croker, in his " Researches in the South of 
 Ireland," states that " the mines on the estate of 
 Lord Audley, about ten miles west of Skibber- 
 een, were discovered and opened by Colonel 
 Hall about the year 1814. Three distinct veins 
 present themselves at no very considerable dis- 
 tance from each other. The first worked was a 
 bright yellow ore of iron pyrites, containing in 
 general about eight per cent, of copper. The 
 second has been scarcely attended to, as it chiefly 
 consisted of green carbonate of copper, dissem- 
 inated through a slate-clay, with small nodules of
 
 CORK 215 
 
 grey or purple ore appearing here and there. 
 In the third (Kippagh), which has been more 
 extensively pursued than either of the others, the 
 ore is a very rich sulphuret of copper, containing 
 from fifty-five to sixty-five per cent, of that 
 metal, and near the surface gave every promise 
 of being a very valuable vein, but it degenerated 
 in depth, and was, as well as the others, relin- 
 quished." 
 
 This mine of Kippagh was subsequently taken 
 by the " Mining Company of Ireland," who 
 worked it for a time, but with success so limited 
 as to induce its abandonment; 64 and about the 
 year 1835, the late Lord Audley, into whose 
 hands it again came, formed a company, and 
 raised an enormous sum in London, for the pro- 
 fessed purpose of setting the mine once more at 
 work. Circumstances, to which it is now un- 
 necessary to do more than refer, brought the 
 matter into the Court of Chancery, and we ap- 
 prehend the consequence has been a total loss to 
 the shareholders; who have complained, and cer- 
 tainly not without justice, that a mine which had 
 been resigned by a private party, and relin- 
 quished by a public company, as either valueless 
 or impoverished, should have been so described 
 as to induce them to embark capital in the under- 
 taking. 
 
 The other mines discovered and opened by 
 Colonel Hall do not require particular notice 
 with the exception of one, if it can be classed 
 under that head. The history of this discovery 
 is curious, and may interest our readers.
 
 216 IRELAND 
 
 Walking, one day, in the neighbourhood of his 
 residence at Glandore, Colonel Hall noticed 
 some fish-bones of a green hue among turf ashes ; 
 his curiosity was excited to inquiry by what 
 means they obtained so singular a colour; and 
 on analysing them, he found they contained cop- 
 per. His next object was to ascertain how they 
 acquired this unnatural quality; and he learned 
 that it was received from contact with the ashes 
 of turf cut in a neighbouring bog, known to the 
 peasantry as the " stinking bog; " and that 
 neither dog nor cat would live in the cabin in 
 which the turf was burnt. Having gathered so 
 much, his farther progress was easy. The ashes 
 were strongly impregnated with copper. He 
 first collected from the heaps adjoining the cot- 
 tages as large a quantity as he could, and shipped 
 it to Swansea, where it brought, if we remember 
 rightly, between eight and nine pounds a ton 65 
 a remunerating price. His next step was to 
 take a lease of the bog, build kilns upon it, and 
 burn the turf. This plan he continued until the 
 whole of the bog was consumed, and sent, to the 
 extent of several hundred tons, to the Welsh 
 smelting-houses the ease with which it was 
 smelted greatly enhancing its value. 
 
 It was a curious sight and one we recollect 
 well to see scores of workmen cutting the turf, 
 conveying it to one kiln to dry, and then to an- 
 other to be burnt; while the carts were bearing 
 the ashes to the river side to be shipped for 
 Wales. Mr. Croker, in the work we have 
 quoted, states, that " the particles contained in
 
 CORK 217 
 
 the turf are supposed to have been conveyed into 
 the bog by a stream from one of the surrounding 
 hills, which, passing through a copper vein, took 
 them up in a state of sulphate, but meeting with 
 some iron ore in its progress, or in the bog, be- 
 came deposited in the metallic state, though a 
 large proportion contained in the turf was still 
 in a state of sulphate, which was proved by al- 
 lowing a knife to remain in it a few seconds, 
 when it became incrusted with a coat of copper." 
 Unfortunately for Colonel Hall, however, when 
 the bog was burnt out, he considered his oper- 
 ations as only commenced; his object being to 
 discover the vein of ore by which the bog had 
 been supplied with copper. In a vain search 
 for the source, technically called " the lode," he 
 expended all he had made by sales of the ashes; 
 shafts were sunk in several of the surrounding 
 hills; and he continued the pursuit until his 
 capital was exhausted. 
 
 We have written sufficient to do honour to the 
 memory of an individual, to whose energy and 
 enterprise Ireland is considerably indebted; for 
 he was among the earliest of those who laboured 
 to turn to account the great natural resources of 
 the country to encourage men of larger means 
 men who will probably reap the rich harvest 
 for which it was his destiny only to prepare the 
 ground 66 and to direct public attention to a 
 source of profit for the undertakers, and of em- 
 ployment for the people. Like many others 
 who have pointed out the way to fortune, it was 
 his fate to behold the achievement of his hopes
 
 218 IRELAND 
 
 only from a very remote distance; but he enjoyed 
 the enviable knowledge that his labour had not 
 been in vain; that he had been the means of 
 spending some hundreds of thousands of pounds 
 in the country; of giving advantageous em- 
 ployment to masses of the people in various 
 districts, and of showing how others might 
 certainly do that which he, as certainly, failed 
 of doing. 
 
 The far-famed Bay of Bantry is, perhaps, 
 unsurpassed by any harbour of the kingdom for 
 natural beauties combined with natural advan- 
 tages. As we approach it, along the dreary 
 road from Skibbereen, a sudden turn, at the base 
 of a rugged hill, brings us suddenly within view 
 of the most striking objects which make up the 
 glorious scene. Far and away, in the distant 
 background, tower, and meet the clouds, the 
 lofty Mangerton and Macgillicuddy's Reeks; 
 nearer, rises Hungry Hill, the Sugar Loaf, and 
 a long range the Caha Mountains among 
 which it is said, and said on good authority, there 
 are no fewer than three hundred and sixty-five 
 lakes the number having, of course, suggested 
 a legend, that some holy saint prayed effectually 
 for one to supply water for each day of the year. 
 Little flat and fertile islands lie at the feet of the 
 spectator; and, nearly facing the town, Whiddy 
 Island, with its fierce-looking fortifications, and 
 its fields rich with the promised harvest. It is 
 impossible to do justice to the exceeding gran- 
 deur and surpassing loveliness of the scene; the 
 whole of it is taken in by the eye at once ; we are
 
 CORK 219 
 
 not called upon to turn from side to side for 
 new objects to admire we gaze upon it all; and 
 he must be indeed dead to nature, who does not 
 drink in as delicious a draught as Nature, in the 
 fulness of her beauty, ever presented. 67 
 
 The road into the town a town that has been 
 too truly described as " a seaport without trade, a 
 harbour without shipping, and a coast with a 
 failing fishery " runs immediately under the 
 fine demesne of the Earl of Bantry and all 
 the way it is one continued line of beauty; we 
 never for a moment lose sight of the distant 
 mountains, or the foreground of green islands; 
 while the ear is gladdened by the mingled har- 
 mony of the rippling waves, and the birds that 
 sing among the foliage of the thickly and grace- 
 fully wooded plantations. 
 
 There are not many islands in this vast ex- 
 panse of water " Whiddy " is the largest ; and 
 there are besides, Hog, Horse, Coney, and 
 Chapel Islands, flung into the glorious bay 
 land-locked, as we have said, by gigantic abrupt 
 headlands, beyond which the Killarney moun- 
 tains seem to tower into the clouds. 
 
 The Bay is memorable in history as having 
 been twice entered by a French force for the 
 invasion of Ireland the first in 1689, in aid of 
 James II. ; the next in 1796 : some details con- 
 cerning the latter cannot fail to interest our 
 readers. 
 
 The French invasion of Bantry Bay, which 
 occurred in December, 1796, forms a remarkable 
 page in the history of the country and of the
 
 220 IRELAND 
 
 age; and it is singular that so very little should 
 be known of the circumstances under which it 
 took place. The accounts published in the news- 
 papers of the day are meagre and questionable; 
 and, upon the whole, the " Journal of Theobald 
 Wolfe Tone," edited by his son, and printed at 
 Washington, in 1826, is the best authority re- 
 specting the organization of this formidable 
 armament. The project, undoubtedly, arose out 
 of the suggestion of Tone; whose seditious con- 
 duct in Ireland had caused him to become an 
 exile in America, where, stimulated to action, 
 and supplied with funds, by his republican 
 friends, he determined on proceeding to France, 
 as agent for the Society of United Irishmen. 68 
 He landed at Havre, in February, 1796; and on 
 his arrival at Paris, was put into the proper chan- 
 nels for diplomatic negotiation, by Munro, the 
 American ambassador, who was, at this period, 
 cautiously, yet vigorously, intriguing for the 
 separation of Ireland from England. The 
 vague plans of the French for invading Ireland 
 speedily assumed a tangible shape. Tone re- 
 ceived a commission as chef -de-brigade ; was in- 
 troduced to General Hoche, by whom he was sub- 
 sequently appointed adjutant-general, and was 
 directed to draw up a proclamation respecting the 
 contemplated invasion. 69 This proclamation was 
 immediately printed, but so secretly as to baffle 
 the English spies; while other documents, which 
 assigned to the armament different destinations, 
 were suffered to fall into their hands a ma- 
 noeuvre intended to mislead the British govern-
 
 CORK 221 
 
 ment, and which may account for the distrust of 
 the intelligence respecting the large and active 
 preparations then making at Brest, which occu- 
 pied the entire summer of 1796. On the 1st of 
 December, Tone embarked on board the " In- 
 domptable," a ship of the line, and on the 16th 
 of December the fleet " for the invasion of Ire- 
 land," set sail in two divisions from the port of 
 Brest. It consisted of 17 ships of the line; 13 
 frigates; 5 corvettes; 2 gun-boats; and 6 trans- 
 ports; with about 14,000 men, 70 45,000 stand of 
 arms, and an ample supply of money for the 
 purposes of the expedition. In their passage 
 from the harbour, as if ominous of the disasters 
 they were subsequently to encounter, one of their 
 ships, a seventy-four, struck on a rock, and of 
 550 men on board only thirty were saved; and a 
 few days afterwards another was driven on shore ; 
 when 1,000 out of 1,800 perished. After other 
 disastrous accidents every ship of the fleet be- 
 ing more or less injured the main body arrived 
 off the coast of Ireland, and on the 22nd, an- 
 chored off Bere Island, in Bantry Bay. 71 Intel- 
 ligence of the event was, as rapidly as possible, 
 communicated to the Irish and English govern- 
 ments. Not the slightest preparation, however, 
 had been made to meet the enemy; and, but for 
 the interposition of Divine Providence, Ireland 
 must have been involved in a bloody and deso- 
 lating civil war. 72 
 
 For several days previous, the weather had 
 been even more than usually stormy at this pe- 
 riod of the year; and when the wind lulled, a
 
 222 IRELAND 
 
 dense fog overspread the sea, so that the French 
 ships were seeking each other, in vain, along the 
 ocean. 73 Of the 43 that quitted Brest, 16 only 
 anchored at Bantry; next day, a heavy gale once 
 more dispersed them ; on the morning of the 26th, 
 others having parted company, the formidable 
 fleet was reduced to seven sail of the line and 
 one frigate; the force in men had by this time 
 dwindled to 4,168; it was therefore resolved at 
 a council of war, " not to attempt a landing, as 
 no demonstration had been made " by the Irish 
 on shore in favour of the French ; 74 and it was 
 determined to put out to sea, and to cruise off 
 the Shannon in the hope that the dissevered arma- 
 ment might be concentrated there. On the 27th, 
 they weighed anchor and quitted the bay ; but on 
 the 1st of January, a portion of them returned, 
 and remained inactive for two or three days. By 
 degrees, ship after ship of the once formidable 
 fleet entered the French harbours; and on the 
 15th, General Hoche himself, in the Fraternite, 
 reached Rochelle, having had several narrow es- 
 capes from capture by the English fleet. 
 
 Bantry was, thus, soon freed from the pres- 
 ence of the invaders ; no Frenchmen having trod- 
 den upon Irish ground, with the exception of an 
 officer and seven men, who, being sent in a boat 
 to reconnoitre, were taken prisoners by Mr. 
 James O'Sullivan of Berehaven. 
 
 The storm that scattered the French fleet, and, 
 under Providence, preserved Ireland from civil 
 war and contamination by the atrocious princi- 
 ples of the republicans of 1793, is still remem-
 
 CORK 223 
 
 bered in the vicinity of Bantry Bay, where it is 
 referred to as an epoch to assist memory. 75 
 
 To visit Glengariff, the tourist may proceed 
 either by land, or by water across the bay; it 
 is obvious that the best mode will be to go by one 
 way and return by the other, both offering strong 
 temptations to the lover of the picturesque. 
 Those, however, who take it in their route to 
 Killarney, and do not design to make any stay 
 at Bantry, had better continue the road; for the 
 bay may be seen fully from the hills above either 
 Bantry or Glengariff ; or, at all events, by taking 
 a boat a mile or two from the shore of either. 76 
 The road is exceedingly wild and picturesque; a 
 short distance from the town, the Mialloch, " the 
 murmuring river," is crossed by a small bridge; 
 a little way below which the water is precipitated 
 from thirty to forty feet over a ledge of rocks 
 of fantastic forms ; this is the " Fall of Duna- 
 marc: " close to it we saw a water-mill in full 
 work, which, although it diverted the current, and 
 consequently lessened the effect of the cataract, 
 evidenced activity and industry, and heightened 
 the moral beauty of the scene. In this imme- 
 diate vicinity, according to one of the fanciful 
 traditions of Keating, the first human foot trod 
 upon Irish ground Ladra having effected a 
 landing in Ireland exactly forty days before the 
 Flood. After passing three or four miles of 
 good road, and comparatively cultivated land, 
 we entered a rude and rugged district; barren 
 hills towering over us at either side; and among 
 them rapid streams rushing over gigantic stones
 
 224 IRELAND 
 
 down into the valleys. We left to the right an 
 interesting object a little chapel nestling among 
 the barren hills; and a short way farther on we 
 passed one of those singular dwelling places, by 
 no means rare in this wild part of the country; 
 we were startled by a human form issuing from 
 a mass of huge rocks ; and, upon inquiry, learned 
 that a family actually lived in a hole which the 
 rocks protected and sheltered. They had evi- 
 dently fallen, ages ago, in the position they re- 
 tained, enclosing and covering a natural chamber. 
 On entering, we found a woman with three chil- 
 dren; the man was at work in the adjacent 
 " garden; " here they contrived to exist during 
 the summer months; for we ascertained that, in 
 winter, they quitted it for some neighbouring 
 town, where they worked or begged, according to 
 circumstances. The woman replied to our few 
 questions with cheerfulness and civility; and to 
 an expression approaching to condolence as to 
 the misery of her lot, replied " It's bad enough 
 to be sure, yer honour; but there's many have 
 worse places to lay their four bones in." While 
 conversing with her, we observed a singular char- 
 acter watching our movements ; it was one of the 
 Kerry peasants, mounted on a small active pony, 
 sitting in front of a pair of hampers, in which 
 he had conveyed his tubs of butter to the market 
 of Cork, from which he was now returning. The 
 hampers were fastened to the horse by a rope of 
 hay; and his bridle, which was merely twisted 
 round the nose of the animal, was made of the 
 same material. In this primitive style he gal-
 
 CORK 225 
 
 loped up and down hills as fearlessly, and far 
 more safely, than a steed fully caparisoned for 
 the chase. We learned that he was one of the 
 class known in cities and towns by the cognomen 
 of " Kerry Dragoons." He was a fine hand- 
 some fellow, with keen grey eyes, white teeth, and 
 a complexion bronzed by healthy exercise ; by no 
 means communicative, however, for to our ques- 
 tions he had but one answer " Nein English." 
 As we drew near Glengariff, we had a foretaste 
 of the rich treat we were about to enjoy; for, long 
 before we had again a glimpse of the bay, the 
 scenery assumed a rich and luxuriant character, 
 strongly contrasting with the dreary solitude we 
 were leaving. 
 
 Language utterly fails to convey even a lim- 
 ited idea of the exceeding beauty of Glengariff 
 " the rough glen " which merits, to the full, the 
 enthusiastic praise that has been lavished upon it 
 by every traveller by whom it has been visited. 
 It is a deep alpine valley, enclosed by precipitous 
 hills, about three miles in length, and seldom ex- 
 ceeding a quarter of a mile in breadth. Black 
 and savage rocks embosom, as it were, a scene of 
 surpassing loveliness endowed by nature with 
 the richest gifts of wood and water ; for the trees 
 are graceful in form, luxuriant in foliage, and 
 varied in character; and the rippling stream, the 
 strong river, and the foaming cataract, are sup- 
 plied from a thousand rills collected in the moun- 
 tains. Beyond all, is the magnificent bay, with 
 its numerous islands, by one of which it is so 
 guarded and sheltered as to receive the aspect of a 
 
 v is
 
 226 IRELAND 
 
 serene lake. The artist cannot do it justice; and 
 the pen must be laid aside in despair ! Our mem- 
 ories, indeed, recall every portion of the magic 
 spot, but only to convince us how weak and in- 
 efficient must be our efforts to describe it. We 
 are again wandering through the glen among 
 majestic trees, fantastic rocks, and bubbling riv- 
 ulets, which every now and then rush by huge 
 masses of stone, and, finding a declivity, roar 
 along their rapid way, until, encountering some 
 new obstruction, they creep awhile, and anon 
 force a passage onwards, breaking into masses 
 of foam forth ere the mountain torrents crawl 
 or gallop to mingle with the broad Atlantic. 
 The song of birds is either hushed or unheard; 
 and but for the ripple or the roar of waters, there 
 is no sound to disturb a solitude perfect and pro- 
 found. We look up to the mountains; they are 
 of all forms, altitudes, and outlines. The most 
 prominent among them is the Sugar-loaf, Slieve- 
 na-goil, " the mountain of the wild people,'* with 
 its conical head, soaring into the clouds; and to 
 the rear, but at a considerable distance, Hungry 
 Hill, with its naked and meagre sides, down 
 which runs a stream from the lake upon its sum- 
 mit, until, gathering as it goes, it breaks in a 
 tremendous cataract of eight hundred feet, ex- 
 panding as it falls, and flinging a spray around 
 it, that seems to cover with a thick mist a third 
 part of the hill : 
 
 " Now a blue wat'ry sheet; anon dispersed 
 A hoary mist; then gathered in again, 
 A darted stream along the hollow rock,
 
 CORK 227 
 
 This way and that tormented, dashing thick. 
 From steep to steep with wild refracted course, 
 And restless roaring to the humble vale." 
 
 We turn from the mountains but a step, and 
 gaze over the broad bay; the foreground is com- 
 posed of islands of various shapes and sizes ; and 
 we stand in the midst of cultivation, as if nature 
 had resolved upon mingling as much grandeur 
 and beauty as the eye could take in at once. We 
 turn again and look inland; enormous rocks are 
 scattered in all directions, without order or ar- 
 rangement, but graceful from their very confu- 
 sion; seeming as if the giants of old had done 
 battle here, and fought with huge masses they 
 had wrenched from the adjacent mountains. 
 
 From every part of the glen some attractive 
 object may be discovered; but the best view, per- 
 haps, is to be obtained from a small hill small 
 in comparison with its stupendous neighbours 
 in the immediate vicinity of a chapel west of 
 the village; it places the spectator in the very 
 centre of a glorious panorama, absolutely be- 
 wildering from its profusion of beauties. There 
 will be a gush of enjoyment from the heart the 
 instant this hillock is ascended. But it is from 
 the road to Kenmare that the surpassing love- 
 liness of the valley, and the full glory of the bay, 
 will be seen to perfection. For three or four 
 miles the traveller winds round the side of a 
 mountain a steep and weary road, so barren of 
 interest that he has ample leisure to ponder 
 over, and fix in his mind, the marvels he has 
 seen. Suddenly he arrives on the brow of the
 
 228 IRELAND 
 
 hill. He is over the glen, many thousand feet 
 above the ocean, which he beholds stretching out 
 into space, while the islands appear as dots upon 
 it; the river that runs through the valley has 
 dwindled to a white thread ; the trees have gath- 
 ered into masses, and the hill upon which he 
 stood a while ago seems no bigger than a fairy 
 mound. Midway down are scattered cottages, 
 the pale smoke from which alone distinguishes 
 them from mole-heaps. Thin and narrow 
 streams, like snow-wreaths, are running from 
 the mountains; and every now and then his eye 
 falls upon the lakes that send them forth to fer- 
 tilise the valley. The whole scene is within his 
 ken its sublime beauty and its transcendant 
 grandeur ocean, mountain, glen, and river. He 
 is in the midst of solitude; the clouds are on a 
 level with him ; at times, they hide for a moment 
 every object from his sight. There is no song 
 of bird to break the perfect loneliness; but if he 
 look upward he will see the eagle winging his 
 way homewards in solitary grandeur. We were 
 startled by the scream of one of them flying 
 over our heaols, so near to us that we could al- 
 most count the feathers in his wing. Our feel- 
 ing was that he had seen enough of the sublime 
 and beautiful in Nature, and need go no further 
 in search of either. 
 
 On the summit of the mountain an incident 
 occurred to us, which we may not omit to notice 
 in this record of the most gratifying and inter- 
 esting portion of our journey: 
 
 We had been gazing so earnestly upon the
 
 CORK 229 
 
 scene below and around us, that we had not noted 
 the sudden appearance of a lad, upon a bank, a 
 little to the left of the place on which we stood; 
 but our attention was attracted by his clapping 
 his hands together, and laughing, or rather 
 shouting loudly, in evident delight at the scene. 
 There was nothing in his appearance different 
 from that of many young goatherds we had 
 passed, and who hardly raised their heads from 
 the purple heath to gaze at our progress. His 
 sun-burnt limbs were bare below the knees; but 
 his long brown hair had been cared for, and 
 flowed beneath a wide-leafed hat, that was gar- 
 nished, not untastefully, by a couple of wreaths 
 of spreading fern. His garments were in suf- 
 ficient disorder to satisfy the most enthusiastic 
 admirer of "the picturesque;" and although 
 we called to him repeatedly, it was not until a 
 sudden diffusion of cloud had interfered between 
 him and the sunset, so as to diminish the light, 
 and of course lessen the effect of the shadows, 
 that he noticed us in the least; indeed, it was 
 evident that he would not have done so at all, 
 but for the unexpected appearance of another 
 " child of the mist," in the person of a little 
 bright-eyed girl literally one mass of tatters 
 who sprang to where the boy stood, and seizing 
 his hand, pointed silently to us. He descended 
 immediately, followed by the girl, and after re- 
 moving his hat, stood by the side of our carriage, 
 into which he peered with genuine Irish curios- 
 ity. 
 
 To our question of " Where do you live? " the
 
 230 IRELAND 
 
 mountain maid replied, " Nein English." We 
 then addressed ourselves to the boy, when the girl 
 placed her hands on her lips, then to her ears, 
 and finally shook her head. " Deaf and dumb ? " 
 I asked. Upon which she replied, " Ay, ay, 
 deaf, dumb deaf, dumb." The little creature 
 having so said, regarded him with one of those 
 quick looks so eloquent of childish love ; and seiz- 
 ing his hand, raised her rosy face to be kissed. 
 He patted her head impatiently, but was too 
 closely occupied examining the contents of our 
 carriage to heed her affectionate request. His 
 eye glanced over our packages without much in- 
 terest, until they rested on a small black port- 
 folio ; and then he leaped, and clapped his hands, 
 making us understand he wanted to inspect it. 
 His little companion had evidently some idea 
 that this was an intrusion, and intimated so to 
 the boy ; but he pushed her from him, determined 
 to have his own way. Nothing could exceed his 
 delight while turning over a few sketches and 
 some engravings. He gave us clearly to under- 
 stand that he comprehended their intent look- 
 ing from our puny outlines to the magnificent 
 mountains by which we were surrounded, and 
 smiling thereat in a way that our self-love could 
 not construe into a compliment. 
 
 While he was thus occupied, his little compan- 
 ion, struck by some sudden thought, bounded 
 up the almost perpendicular mountain with the 
 grace and agility of a true-born Kerry maiden, 
 until she disappeared; but she soon returned, 
 springing from rock to rock, and holding the
 
 CORK 231 
 
 remnants of her tattered apron together with 
 evident care. When she descended, she dis- 
 played its contents, which interested us greatly; 
 for they were her brother's sketches, five or six 
 in number, made on the torn-out leaves of an 
 old copy-book in pale ink, or with a still paler 
 pencil. Two were tinged with colour extracted 
 from plants that grew upon the mountain; and 
 though rude, they bore evidence of talent. The 
 lad could have had no instruction ; the copy-book 
 was the property of his eldest brother, and he 
 had abducted the leaves to record upon them his 
 silent observations on the magnificence of Na- 
 ture, whose power had elevated and instructed 
 his mind. We should not have read even this 
 line of his simple history, but for the opportune 
 passing of another " Kerry Dragoon " a wild, 
 brigand-looking young fellow, mounted between 
 his market-panniers on his rough pony who 
 proved to be the lad's brother, although he did 
 not at first tell us so. 
 
 " We all," he said, " live high up in de moun- 
 tain; but I can't trust him to look after de goats 
 by himself. His whole delight is puttin' down 
 upon a bit of paper or a slate whatever he sees. 
 I'd ha' broke him off it long agone; but he was 
 his mother's darlin', and she's wid de blessed 
 Vargin these seven years, so I don't like to cross 
 his fancy; besides, de Lord's hand has been 
 heavy on him already, and it does him no harm, 
 no more than himself, except when any of de 
 childer brake what he do be doing; den he goes 
 mad intirely, and strays I dunna where ; though,
 
 232 IRELAND 
 
 to be sure, de Almighty has his eye over him, 
 for he's sure to come back well and quiet." 
 
 The lad at last closed our portfolio with a heavy 
 sigh, and did not perceive, until he had done so, 
 that his little sister had spread out his own pro- 
 ductions on the heather, which grew so abun- 
 dantly by the road-side. He pointed to them 
 with something of the exultation of spirit so 
 natural to us all when we think our exertions 
 are about to be appreciated; and he bent over 
 them as a mother would over a cherished child. 
 His triumph, however, was but momentary it 
 was evident that his having seen better things 
 rendered him dissatisfied with his own, for, while 
 gathering them hastily together, he burst into 
 tears. We gave him some pencils and paper, 
 and a few engravings ; and as the evening was ap- 
 proaching, bade him a hasty farewell ; as he stood, 
 his little sister clinging to his side, waving his 
 hat on a promontory, while we were rapidly 
 descending into the valley. 
 
 The village of Glengariff consists of but a few 
 houses; there is a little inn, happily situated at 
 the head of the bay; and the glen is divided be- 
 tween two proprietors Lord Bantry and the 
 widow of his brother, Colonel White. His lord- 
 ship has a small lodge, where he generally resides, 
 in a valley away from a view of the sea ; but the 
 other seat skirts the left of the bay, is cultivated 
 to the water's edge, and commands a view of the 
 principal island, on which is built a Martello
 
 CORK 233 
 
 Tower as if for the express purpose of giving 
 interest and value to the demesne. 
 
 The old bridge, now a picturesque ruin, which, 
 in ancient times, was on the high road to Bere- 
 haven, is called " Cromwell's Bridge." History 
 being silent as to the origin of the name, we must 
 have recourse to tradition. When Oliver was 
 passing through the glen to visit the O'Sullivans, 
 he had so much trouble in getting across the nar- 
 row but rushing river, that he told the inhabitants, 
 if they did not build him a bridge by the time 
 he returned, he would hang up a man for every 
 hour's delay he met with. " So the bridge was 
 ready agin he come back," quoth our informant; 
 " for they knew the ould villain to be a man of 
 his word." 
 
 The demesne which surrounds the lodge of 
 Lord Bantry cannot be surpassed for natural 
 beauty by any scenery in the kingdom. A wild 
 river runs through it, and this is frequently crossed 
 by rustic bridges. The lodge itself occupies the 
 centre of a small island, and from several mounds 
 glimpses may be obtained of near or distant ob- 
 jects, which are absolute feasts. As we stand 
 upon the highest of them, nothing can be more 
 delicious, more varied, more positively enchant- 
 ing, than the panoramic view that surrounds us : 
 mountain, rock, river, and ocean, trees of the 
 most picturesque growth, and shrubby under- 
 wood of such luxuriance, that painters there may 
 study nature under every shade and form. As 
 we issue from this demesne the very ideal of
 
 234 IRELAND 
 
 " the happy valley " the wild, rugged, abrupt 
 character of the glen becomes more apparent; 
 patches of rich brown bog produce the most pro- 
 fuse vegetation; marsh weeds of every hue 
 flourish; rocks of various shapes and sizes be- 
 come the bases of now sloping, now almost per- 
 pendicular hills; while above them continually 
 floats the eagle, whose nests have been in these 
 mountains time out of mind. 77 
 
 We grieve for those who no matter what 
 charming and picturesque countries of Europe 
 they have visited have not yet enjoyed the 
 natural beauties of Glengariff. 
 
 West of Glengariff is the promontory of Bere- 
 haven, separating Bantry Bay from the Ken- 
 mare river. It is a wild and primitive district; 
 abounding in picturesque and romantic scenery; 
 full of legends; with historical associations of 
 great interest; and possessing the ruins of many 
 castles of the O'Sullivans for centuries the lords 
 of the soil, although their descendants are now 
 but the hewers of stone and drawers of water. 
 The accompanying print represents the harbour 
 of Berehaven, and the ruin of the ancient castle 
 of Dunboy. 78 (See Plate No. 4.) 
 
 In the parish of Berehaven is worked one of 
 the few profitable mines of Ireland. It is situ- 
 ated on the property of a Mr. Puxley, and was 
 discovered some thirty years ago the discovery 
 being the result of a very minute scrutiny of the 
 estate of Colonel Hall, who was at the period 
 working his own mines in neighbouring districts 
 of the county.
 
 CORK 235 
 
 We are now about to quit the county of Cork, 
 and shall next visit Carlow; and although we 
 have occupied, in describing Cork, a much larger 
 space than the limits of our work will justify us 
 in devoting to any other county, we are fully 
 aware that we have omitted to direct the reader's 
 attention to many subjects, connected with it, 
 of exceeding interest and deep importance. 
 
 Perhaps there is no county of Ireland, to 
 which Nature has been so bountiful. To its 
 mineral wealth we have made reference; of its 
 fertile rivers we have spoken; its bays and har- 
 bours are not only numerous, but singularly safe 
 and commodious, abounding in fish, and rich in 
 the best manures; the land is for the most part 
 generous and productive; there is scarcely a dis- 
 trict of a dozen miles without turf -fuel. In fact, 
 in nothing are the wants of men without the natu- 
 ral means of supply, yet the population is prover- 
 bially poor, the houses of the lower classes are 
 generally wretched to a degree, and Providence 
 would seem to have lavished gifts in vain upon its 
 people. These evils and others to which we 
 need not here more distinctly refer must be, as 
 they have always been, mainly attributable to that 
 system of absenteeism which, for centuries past, 
 appears to have largely prevailed in Cork 
 county. 79 
 
 The county of Cork, in the province of Mun- 
 ster, is the largest county in Ireland, and larger 
 than any English county, except that of York: 
 comprising, according to the Ordnance survey, 
 1,725,100 statute acres of which, 1,024,340 are
 
 236 IRELAND 
 
 cultivated, and 700,760 are, at present, either 
 barren mountain or bog; but, as every day some 
 portion of both is reclaimed by the industry or 
 the necessity of the peasant, the enormous pro- 
 portion of waste is rapidly lessening. 80 In 1821, 
 the population was 629,786; and in 1831 it had 
 increased to 700,359. The new census about 
 to be taken will, no doubt, exhibit a large 
 augmentation. From east to west the county 
 extends about ninety English miles; its great- 
 est breadth being about forty. We take this on 
 the authority of the Rev. Horace Townsend; 
 Smith makes it greater. It is bounded on the 
 north by Tipperary and Limerick ; on the north- 
 east by Waterford; on the north-west by Kerry 
 being considerably wider in the centre than at 
 the extremities; and on the south by the Ocean. 
 By the statute of the 4th Geo. IV. cap. 93, the 
 county was divided into the East and West 
 Ridings; the East comprising eleven baronies, 81 
 with the liberties of the city of Cork, and the 
 port of Kinsale ; and the West, eight baronies. 
 
 These baronies are, in the East Riding, 
 Duhallow, Orrery and Kilmore, Condons and 
 Clongibbons, Fermoy, Kinsale, Imokilly, Ker- 
 rycurrihy, Kinnalea, Barrymore, Barretts, and 
 East Muskerry; in the West Riding, Ibane 
 and Barryroe, Bere, Bantry, West Muskerry, 
 Kinalmeaky, Courcies, East Carbery, and West 
 Carbery. 
 
 The principal towns of the county, besides the 
 city of Cork, are, Youghal, Kinsale, Bandon,
 
 CORK 237 
 
 Mallow, Cove, Bantry, Fermoy, Skibbereen, 
 Macroom, and Dunmanway. 
 
 The county sends only eight members to the 
 Imperial Parliament: two for the county, two 
 for the city, and one for each of the towns of 
 Bandon, Kinsale, Mallow, and Youghal.
 
 CARLOW 
 
 The inland county of Carlow is of small ex- 
 tent, being about twenty-six Irish miles in length 
 from north to south, and twenty-three in breadth 
 from east to west : and it possesses no feature of a 
 peculiar or exclusive character. We have, there- 
 fore, chosen to close with it the first volume of 
 our work, because as it will require but a limited 
 notice we shall thus be enabled to introduce 
 other topics of more importance, or that are likely 
 to have greater interest for our readers. 
 
 It is in the province of Leinster; bounded on 
 the north and north-west by the Queen's County 
 and the county of Kildare; on the west by the 
 county of Kilkenny; and on the east and south- 
 east by the counties of Wicklow and Wexf ord. 
 It comprises, according to the ordnance survey, 
 an area of 219,863 acres, of which 196,833 are 
 cultivated land, and 23,030 mountain and bog. 
 The population was in 1795, 44,000; in 1821, it 
 had increased to 78,952; and in 1831, to 81,649. 
 It contains six baronies Carlow, Forth, Idrone, 
 east and west, Rathvilly, and St. Mullins; and 
 its principal towns are Carlow, Leighlin-B ridge, 
 Tullow, Bagenalstown, and Hacketstown. The 
 county is thickly studded with the seats of resi- 
 dent gentry very few of its " landed proprie- 
 tors " being absentees. 
 
 238
 
 CARLOW 239 
 
 The town of Carlow is seated on the east bank 
 of the river Barrow, the " goodlie Barrow," 82 
 as Spenser terms it; its source is in the Slieve 
 Bloom mountains, in the Queen's County, and 
 passing through the towns of Portarlington, 
 Monastereven, Athy, Carlow, Leighlin-Bridge, 
 and Graigue-nemanagh, it forms a junction with 
 the Nore, and both join the Suir, a few miles 
 from Water ford. The Barrow is navigable for 
 a distance of forty-three miles. 
 
 The town is modern in its general aspect, pre- 
 senting a singular contrast to its neighbour, the 
 city of Kilkenny so full of magnificent castel- 
 lated and monastic remains. The only ancient 
 relic in Carlow is " the Castle." It is situated 
 on a gentle eminence, overlooking the river; and 
 is said to have been erected by Hugh De Lacy, 
 who was appointed lord-deputy of Ireland in the 
 year 1179. It was built after the Anglo-Nor- 
 man style of architecture; a square area, sur- 
 rounded by thick walls, fortified and strengthened 
 at each corner by a large round tower. Until 
 the year 1814, it had bravely withstood the at- 
 tacks of time and war; but its ruin was effected 
 by the carelessness of a medical doctor, into 
 whose hands it came, and who designed to put 
 it " in order " for the " accommodation " of in- 
 sane patients. In the progress of his work he 
 applied gunpowder, with some unexplained ob- 
 ject, to the foundations, and in a moment com- 
 pleted its destruction, leaving but two of its 
 towers, and the wall between them. Their pres- 
 ent height is sixty-five feet, and the length from
 
 240 IRELAND 
 
 one tower to the other is one hundred and five 
 feet; as the ruin is but one side of a square, it 
 affords a correct idea of the large space the 
 castle formerly occupied. As it was built to 
 protect the English of the Pale, it occupies 
 no minor station in Irish history. In the 
 reign of Edward II. it was made the head- 
 quarters of the seneschalship of the counties 
 of Carlow and Kildare, instituted in conse- 
 quence of the disturbed state of those dis- 
 tricts. In the year 1361, Lionel Duke of Clar- 
 ence established the exchequer of the kingdom 
 in Carlow, and expended .500 in fortifying it 
 with walls, of which at present there is not a 
 vestige. In 1494, James Fitzgerald, brother of 
 the Earl of Kildare, besieged the castle. The 
 lord-deputy, Sir Edward Poynings, proceeded 
 at once to oppose him, when, after a brief siege, 
 it was surrendered. In 1534, Lord Thomas 
 Fitzgerald, who with others rebelled, had pos- 
 session of six of the principal castles of Ireland, 
 amongst which was that of Carlow. In 1641, 
 the castle was invested by a strong party, and 
 reduced to great extremity. A number of Eng- 
 lishmen had taken refuge within its walls, and the 
 garrison was about to surrender, when it was 
 relieved by Sir Patrick Wemys, on whose ap- 
 proach the insurgents raised the siege, and fled, 
 after burning the town; but upwards of fifty 
 were killed in the pursuit. Finally, in 1650, it 
 was surrendered by Captain Bellew, commander 
 of the garrison, to Sir Hardress Waller, after 
 having been bombarded with cannon. A field
 
 CARLOW 241 
 
 about half a mile distant, on the opposite side of 
 the river, in the Queen's County, is still pointed 
 out as the place where Waller planted his artil- 
 lery on the occasion. Ireton had previously 
 summoned it to surrender, but in terms more 
 than usually courteous; informing the governor 
 that " we hare been your gentle neighbours 
 hitherto, doing little more than looking upon you. 
 But the time being come now that we are like 
 to deal in earnest with your garrison, as effectu- 
 ally and speedily as God shall enable us; that 
 I may not be wanting on my part to save any 
 of the blood which may be spilled therein, I am 
 willing, upon a timely surrender, to give terms 
 to so fair an enemy." The garrison was suf- 
 fered to march out with the honours of war ; but 
 there are grounds for suspicion that its surrender 
 was effected by treachery. :< This treachery," 
 says Carte, " was now grown universal, arising 
 sometimes from the fears of the inhabitants, 
 and sometimes from the corruption, avarice, or 
 cowardice of the garrisons of the towns, and 
 was the cause of the loss of the castle of Cather- 
 logh." 83 
 
 Carlow is one of the most fertile and best- 
 cultivated of the counties of Ireland, and has 
 been termed " the garden of Erin; " it is almost 
 exclusively an agricultural county, its soil being 
 admirably adapted for the production of corn 
 of every description a fact that may account 
 for the number of flour-mills to be found in every 
 district of it, the Barrow affording great facil- 
 ities for export through the towns of New Ross 
 
 V 16
 
 242 IRELAND 
 
 and Waterford, the river having been rendered 
 navigable for boats of considerable size; but the 
 navigation requires still farther improvement. 
 The principal mills are those of Mr. Alexander, 
 at Milford, and the Lodge Mills, at Bagenals- 
 town, of which Mr. Crosthwaite is the present pro- 
 prietor. The grain raised in this county bears a 
 high price in the markets of London and Liver- 
 pool; its butter also is famous, competing with 
 that of Cork and Kerry, and large tracts of rich 
 pasture-land are occupied as dairy-farms. 
 
 The establishment at Milford is one of the 
 most extensive and celebrated in Ireland. It is 
 situated about four miles from Carlow, on the 
 Barrow, in the centre of a lovely valley, through 
 which the river runs, surrounded by hills, and 
 with the magnificent mountains, Leinster, Black- 
 stairs, and Brandon, in the back-ground. The 
 roof of the mill is flat, covered with terceira, 
 formed of chalk, tar, and sand; the walls are 
 castellated, so that it has, from a distance, a very 
 pleasing and striking effect. Plantations of 
 fine trees are growing up around it, and the 
 aspect of the whole neighbourhood is remarkably 
 cheering, comfortable, and encouraging; all giv- 
 ing tokens of the improvements that are pro- 
 ceeding under the direction of its enterprising 
 proprietor and his sons. Roads have been 
 opened through several of the adjacent moun- 
 tains, and cultivation has naturally followed ; the 
 hedge-rows in every direction are as neatly and 
 carefully trimmed as those of England; the cot- 
 tages are exceedingly clean and well-ordered,
 
 CARLOW 243 
 
 for they are frequently white-washed, the ma- 
 terial being supplied " gratis " to every appli- 
 cant; many of them are covered with climbing 
 plants, and, together with their sober and in- 
 dustrious occupants, bear unquestionable evi- 
 dence of the vast importance of resident land- 
 lords in improving the face of the country 
 and the social condition of its population. 
 
 The mill was originally established in 1790, 
 and was commenced on a large scale; the neigh- 
 bourhood was propitious, the soil being very rich, 
 and based on a bed of limestone, which gives 
 an inexhaustible supply of manure. The corn 
 to be converted into flour is invariably purchased 
 from the farmers or the peasantry, many of 
 whom grow only some eight or ten barrels, and 
 sell it in order to purchase materials more nec- 
 essary to satisfy their own wants rarely or 
 never grinding it for their own use. Mr. Alex- 
 ander carries on his trade in corn at eight dif- 
 ferent places in Carlow and the adjoining 
 counties, from whence it is transported to Mil- 
 ford, to be converted into flour, and thence dis- 
 tributed through the country or exported to 
 the English markets; and he largely manu- 
 factures oatmeal, the character of which stands 
 very high in the principal mart Manchester, 
 where it bears the best price. He has also a 
 malting-house, now in active work, although this 
 branch was abandoned soon after the introduc- 
 tion of the existing malt-act, familiarly known 
 in Ireland as " the measure for making smug- 
 gling easy."
 
 244 IRELAND 
 
 Ireland has been termed " the granary of 
 Great Britain," and it is so to a considerable 
 extent; its manufactures are very limited; and 
 almost its whole population are employed in the 
 cultivation of the soil; yet it is notorious that in 
 this country there are more acres capable of 
 raising food, unemployed for any beneficial 
 purpose, than are to be found in any other coun- 
 try of Europe. But every day increases their 
 extent and their power; new systems of farming 
 have been universally introduced; in many in- 
 stances they have doubled the produce; and in 
 many more they have led the proprietors to con- 
 vert into arable land whole tracts of formerly 
 barren mountain and bog. Irish farmers are 
 now losing their prejudices in favour of " old 
 plans ; " the consequence is an enormous addi- 
 tion to the natural resources of the kingdom. 
 
 The entire works at Milford are driven by 
 water power, Nature having bountifully sup- 
 plied a force far greater than that which can 
 be derived from steam, and at a cost infinitely 
 less: it is, indeed, so great as to be commensu- 
 rate with the want of it, even in the hottest day 
 of summer; and an immense quantity is, at all 
 seasons, suffered to run idly to waste. 84 The 
 Barrow is navigable, not only south to Water- 
 ford, but north to Dublin; through the former 
 a large quantity of flour is exported to England ; 
 and through the latter a supply, chiefly for home 
 consumption, by the river, to Athy, and thence, 
 by the Grand Canal, to the capital; a lock con- 
 necting both, so that there is no necessity for
 
 CARLOW 245 
 
 transferring the loads from one boat to another 
 during its transit. 
 
 The Milford works have been constructed 
 under the superintendence of Mr. William Fair- 
 bairn of Manchester; and the chief water-wheel 
 made by him, of iron, cast, hammered, and plate, 
 is, we believe, the largest and most powerful 
 in the kingdom; taking the water on twenty- 
 two feet its breadth. It is equal to one hun- 
 dred and twenty horse power. In the two 
 establishments for producing flour and oatmeal, 
 there are twenty-two pair of millstones in con- 
 stant work; thirteen of which, with all the at- 
 tendant machinery, are driven by the one wheel. 
 The concern is able to manufacture annually 
 60,000 sacks of flour " without," as one of the 
 workmen expressed it, " lighting a candle : " 
 the quantity actually produced is between 
 40,000 and 50,000 sacks; but in the oatmeal 
 establishment, which is separate and distinct, 
 and where the water-wheel is eighteen feet wide, 
 30,000 sacks are the average annual produce: 
 estimating the fiour at 60s. per sack, and the 
 oatmeal at 30s., we have the aggregate of one 
 concern yielding to the country no less than 
 195,000 each year; and this without taking into 
 account the manufacture of malt in the same 
 concern. The refuse of the oats is extensively 
 used for firing, by the neighbouring peasantry; 
 it makes a remarkably strong and durable fire. 
 
 We have dwelt at some length upon this pe- 
 culiar and very interesting feature of Ireland, 
 in the hope that we may thus exhibit its great
 
 246 IRELAND 
 
 capabilities for adding to the wealth of the nation. 
 It was said by Mr. Emerson Tennent, in the 
 House of Commons, that there are in Ireland 
 1,850 corn-mills very few of which are worked 
 by steam. 
 
 The county of Carlow was made shire-ground 
 by King John, under the name of Catherlogh, 
 which signifies "the Castle by the Lake;" and 
 it comprehends the ancient territories of " Hy 
 Cabanagh and Hy Drone, being the northern 
 part of the principality of Hy Kinselagh." 
 The representatives of many of the earliest Eng- 
 lish settlers, and some few of the descendants 
 of the ancient Irish families, still live upon their 
 hereditary estates in this county ; among the most 
 distinguished of the latter is that of Kavanagh 
 of Borris-o-kane. 85 Their present seat and 
 it has been their chief seat for ages is about 
 twelve miles from Carlow; a noble and stately 
 castellated mansion, in the centre of a magnifi- 
 cent domain, where to natural advantages have 
 been added all that could be supplied by art; 
 and where its late estimable owner, the repre- 
 sentative of generations of remarkable men, 
 sustained the old hereditary claim of his race to 
 pre-eminence in hospitality; at the same time, 
 receiving from all parties the character of a just 
 man, a liberal landlord, a firm friend, and a true 
 patriot. 86 
 
 Every country has its own peculiar aristoc- 
 racy, which it could no more do without than a 
 body could do without a head. The Irish have 
 not bowed down to the aristocracy of wealth.
 
 CARLOW 247 
 
 Perhaps it is because they have not been tried; 
 but it will be long ere the " good ancient ould 
 families " will be forgotten in a country which 
 owes whatever is grand about it, rather to the 
 traditions of the past, than to the realities of the 
 present. And even if this creates an unsympa- 
 thizing smile, there is something far higher 
 toned in the ff hero-worship " which they give to 
 the " old families," as connected with the ruins 
 that create the romance and adornment of the 
 country, than the ff mammon-worship" which, 
 more especially during the last few years, has 
 overspread England as a pestilence. 
 
 Whatever nourishes affection and devotion to 
 what is above our sphere, must elevate our na- 
 ture. That certain feelings, in feudal times, 
 were greatly exaggerated, and produced slavish 
 instead of independent service, is most true; but 
 there is little danger of such being the case now, 
 when education gives men the power of obtaining 
 what wealth and birth have denied. In Ireland, 
 the lingering love that encircles old memories, is 
 like the ivy that clings round the ruins of the past, 
 beautifying what it clings to. Some years ago we 
 were strikingly impressed with the shelter if 
 we may so call it which this clan-feeling threw 
 over those it felt bound to protect. 
 
 One of the mud cabins, which a little outlay, 
 and a good deal of taste, had converted into a 
 bathing-lodge on the Wexford coast, was taken, 
 " for the season," by a farmer's wife; the saucy 
 proprietor, a blue-eyed, but dark-haired Barony 
 of Forth woman, insinuating, " that to be sure
 
 248 IRELAND 
 
 one body's money was as good as another; " but 
 for her part she would rather let her little place 
 to one of the " real gentry " for half the money, 
 than to any stuck-up inland farmer. " Them 
 sort," she added, " always thought a deal of them- 
 selves since the war-time, when they made such 
 a handful of goold somehow; but the woman got 
 over me with her smooth talk, and her sweet 
 smile, and paying a month in advance, which the 
 gentry never did, ov coorse, nor I never ex- 
 pected, and might have been knocked down with 
 a straw when it was offered: a month's rent in 
 advance think of that! 'deed and I almost 
 thought it an affront; but as it wasn't intended 
 so, why I took it, and small blame any one could 
 make of that same." 
 
 Some people said that it was very strange for 
 a " sonsy " farmer's wife to set up for a place 
 where the " gentry " went to. They wondered 
 how she would travel, and how many children 
 she would bring, and if any of them were 
 " sickly." The appointed day arrived, and 
 passed, and the " sonsy " farmer's wife did not 
 make her appearance. " To be sure," the people 
 said again, " she must have more money than she 
 knew what to do with. She would come to her 
 time any how." Every sound along the road 
 was watched, until the first week of the month 
 was gone. More than one congratulated the 
 little bright-eyed landlady on having her " rent 
 and no trouble; " while she declared she would 
 rather have good Christians in the house with her, 
 " getting their health and the salt water," than
 
 CARLOW 249 
 
 be the way she was; it was so pleasant to see 
 them that came from the close towns, without 
 any colour on their cheeks, and with hardly 
 strength to breathe heaven's air, grow fresh and 
 rosy, and come out of the sea full of new life, 
 climbing the cliffs after the green samphire, and 
 hunting the holes in the bank for " penny- 
 wincles," tattering the rocks to pieces for the 
 " branyans," tearing through the soft sand after 
 shrimps, and watching the floating holes of the 
 razor-fish, getting their toes pinched by the 
 cockles, and their fingers bit to the bone by the 
 cunning ould lobsters, who would not come out 
 of their dens. And the children the poor weak, 
 sickly children as limp as a wet bathing dress! 
 to see how one week at the " salt water " put 
 bones into them ; how the flabby flesh grew hard 
 and red, and the cheeks rosy, and their voices 
 strong; and how delighted the poor mothers would 
 be to see them eat maybe more than they'd be 
 able to pay for but small matter that ; the gentry 
 always helped the child of the poor bather! 
 
 The little woman declared she was "mighty 
 dull in herself," and wished the farmer's wife 
 had her money back, for she was " heart sore " 
 from waiting. How her lazy neighbours envied 
 her, and said she had " the luck," ever and al- 
 ways! 
 
 At last the farmer's wife arrived! How she 
 " travelled " no one knew; it must have been in 
 the night, for no one had seen her arrive in the 
 approved style of a farmer's wife a feather- 
 bed, covered with a quilt of many colours, being
 
 250 IRELAND 
 
 placed on a common car, in the midst of which 
 the good woman sat, while a bare-legged " gos- 
 soon " dangled his legs from the shaft, and 
 urged the horse forward by means of the end of 
 the rope halter, which was carelessly twisted 
 round its head. In the course of the day which 
 followed the arrival, a rumour spread along the 
 coast that the farmer's wife had not come alone 
 that " some one " accompanied her and here 
 was a new mystery, which is always more at- 
 tractive than the old. 
 
 While the freshness of early day mingled with 
 the sea breeze, and before the " bathers " sought 
 the strand, the farmer's wife drew to the beach 
 a sort of bath chair. It was very old and old- 
 fashioned, moving slowly on little wooden wheels, 
 of more modern workmanship than the body of 
 the little carriage. The hood was partially 
 thrown back, and contained the wasted form of 
 an elderly lady a form so wasted, that its 
 breathing seemed almost a miracle. The fea- 
 tures, so still and lifeless, must have once been 
 of a noble and commanding beauty they stood 
 out then firm and expressionless; and but that 
 the open eyes were still bright and blue so 
 bright as to be painful to look upon it might 
 be supposed that the stranger was conveying her 
 charge to a funeral pyre on the sea-shore. 
 
 " Do you feel any better, darling mistress ? " 
 inquired the farmer's wife, after a long rest 
 where the breeze came freshly over the waters. 
 
 "Oh, yes! oh, yes! much better!" was the 
 murmured reply.
 
 CARLOW 251 
 
 "Thank God, thank God! Oh, then, that's 
 the happy hearing. If I could only see you 
 once more able to sit up in your own fine ancient 
 ould chair! Oh, glory be to God maybe that 
 will come yet." And then kneeling beside that 
 strange couch, she went over her prayers to the 
 Almighty, to her Saviour, to the saints, and the 
 " Holy Virgin," without, however, withdrawing 
 her eyes or her thoughts from her charge they 
 were, in a degree, mechanical prayers ; but on she 
 went, until, at a few half -muttered words from 
 the lady, she sprung up, and drawing the hood 
 over her patient, turned the little carriage home- 
 ward. 
 
 Before Mary Lawler (such was the name of 
 the farmer's wife) arrived, the tide of popular 
 opinion was decidedly against her. Now, it was 
 as decidedly in her favour. If before she had 
 been a " buddagh of a farmer's wife, that was set- 
 ting up in the world for what did not become her ;" 
 now she was " an honest, decent, God-fearing 
 woman, with a proper heart in her body, God 
 bless her!" There was not a man, woman, or 
 child in the whole district who would not, in com- 
 mon parlance, "have laid down their lives for 
 her; " and why? she was a simple, uneducated, 
 plain, elderly woman. Her singing and dancing 
 days were over she had no " fun in her " she 
 was not rich. But in Ireland poverty is not 
 unpopular. She never " gossipped," or took 
 " a turn at the pipe," or talked half an hour with 
 a neighbour to " pass time ; " yet no popular
 
 252 IRELAND 
 
 member before his " trial," after election, was half 
 so popular as Mary Lawler. 
 
 A little troop of children lingered round her 
 door, ready to fly to do her bidding; the men 
 moved their hats as she passed, and the women 
 bade " God bless her; " and why? because of her 
 single-hearted devotion to the last of " the fine 
 ould family she belonged to." 
 
 In early life she had been the slave rather than 
 the servant of the " lady," whom she then served 
 rather like a slave than a free woman. The lady, 
 when young and beautiful, married and went 
 abroad, leaving Mary broken-hearted, as her 
 new " maid " was a Frenchwoman, and she had 
 no farther need for the young Irish girl. In 
 time Mary also married, her husband reconcil- 
 ing his family to the distasteful union of a serv- 
 ant to a farmer, by saying, " that indeed Mary 
 had never served for wages, but for the love she 
 bore the young lady under whom her family had 
 always lived." This was true. It insured 
 Mary a good reception, which as a " paid " 
 servant she would hardly have had. Years 
 passed on, the old master died, leaving " every- 
 thing " to his daughter. The " everything " 
 was worse than " nothing," for it entailed debts 
 on her thoughtless husband, who ill-treated her 
 while he lived, and at his death left her upon 
 the world. The world owed her nothing. Vain, 
 beautiful, headless if not heartless, she had none 
 of the accumulated treasures of a well-spent life 
 to comfort her old age, and therefore had noth- 
 ing to expect. She had laid no virtue out to
 
 CARLOW 253 
 
 interest, and, consequently, had no return to look 
 for. Worn out, friendless, pennyless, she came 
 to the old neighbourhood, to wander like a 
 banshee around the crumbled walls of her an- 
 cestral estate. There were none left of her own 
 caste to show her kindness. The greater num- 
 ber of the tenants and cottars on the estate, 
 which with singular pertinacity she still de- 
 clared ought to have been hers, had emigrated. 
 There seemed to be no roof to shelter her, for 
 she sat within the roofless walls of her once home. 
 The rain poured, and a thick mist, as thick as 
 misery, closed her in on every side. Ill in body 
 as in mind, she leaned her distracted head against 
 a column of the dining-room, and wept such tears, 
 as it is to be hoped never can gush from such 
 eyes as look upon this page. 
 
 " You don't know me, ma'am dear," said an 
 earnest broken voice amid the storm, " but I 
 know you; the colleen has grown into a woman, 
 and has brought children into the world to sarve 
 you, and wait upon you, my lady. Why not? 
 Sure my people did the same hundreds of years 
 before I was born; and my husband said, ' Go, 
 Mary, and offer the lady the best of what we 
 have. You've been a good and faithful, loving 
 and industrious wife, and sure your duty is my 
 pleasure.' And maybe, lady dear, you'd stay 
 with us, just for the sake of your native air. It's 
 but a poor place to what you're used to, I know 
 
 that; but still " Her invitation was broken 
 
 by her sobs ; but it was earnest, and was accepted 
 not gratefully, but rather as a tribute she (the
 
 254 IRELAND 
 
 lady) had a right to expect. The best bed, the 
 freshest egg, " the bit of meat," the sweetest milk, 
 and " whitest bread," were laid before " the mis- 
 tress " before the homeless, houseless, pennyless 
 woman by the descendant of peasants, who 
 never received what the English peasant would 
 consider " fair treatment " from the house they 
 worshipped. " I can afford it, thank God," said 
 the husband, who owed her no fealty, " and if I 
 could not, she should have it all the same. It's 
 hard if I couldn't afford as much as that, in re- 
 membrance of an ancient ould family. I do my 
 'best to love her, poor lady, just to please Mary, 
 who would with a heart and a half lay her aching 
 bones upon a lock of straw, and put her mistress 
 on a swan's breast, if she could. But, poor thing 1 
 her temper's not sweet, and no wonder; though 
 it's not much matter, for the crosser she is, the 
 more Mary tries to take the crossness off her, 
 feeding her up with the memory of the past, and 
 making it seem the present." The farmer's wife 
 regretted that her children did not feel all she 
 felt towards the " mistress " and the " ould 
 times ; " but she said, there were new fashions and 
 feelings maybe they were better than the ould, 
 but she did not know. She was almost afraid 
 they were not. Any how, ever since the mistress 
 came, their blessings had increased they all 
 knew that; and certainly the good woman, who 
 had a long time been talking of resting from her 
 labours, seemed to work harder than ever; while 
 no one but herself could have borne the tyranny 
 she had brought into her house. She laboured
 
 CARLOW 255 
 
 hard to conceal this from her husband, and he, 
 with marvellous kindness, pretended not to see it ; 
 but he could hardly conceal his vexation, when his 
 wife told him that the " mistress " had " taken a 
 notion before death," and would go to " the salt 
 water." " It's the last notion she'll ever take, 
 Mick, honey, and give her her way this onst. It's 
 all I'll ask ov you. 'Deed it will do me good, and 
 take the pains out of my bones, and the impression 
 off my heart, maybe." 
 
 The kind farmer knew better; but smiled at 
 the stroke of womanly cunning, which he told her 
 was not needed. " You're making a smooth bed 
 for yourself in heaven, Mary," he said, " and I'll 
 not stand betwixt you and the duty you owe the 
 fine ould family that owned you" But what the 
 farmer's wife said was true it was the restless- 
 ness of approaching death which caused the poor 
 lady's desire to catch at every straw of life ; odious 
 as she said life was, still she clung to it. It was 
 better than the dull, dark, forgetful grave, be- 
 yond which she saw no light. She would be 
 drawn to the beach every day, and would not suf- 
 fer any creature but Mary to wait upon her. 
 Poor Mary, the pains in her bones, and the " im- 
 pression about her heart," increased; and every 
 one called it a " mercy " when " the lady " died. 
 It was in vain the farmer's wife was entreated to 
 suffer her " mistress " to be buried in the nearest 
 churchyard. 
 
 "No," she answered; "she is the last of her 
 line, and she must rest with her own people." 
 And so she laid her in a decent coffin, for which
 
 256 IRELAND 
 
 the carpenter would take no coin; and all "the 
 neighbours " followed the corse, blessing the 
 " farmer's wife," as she sat at the coffin's foot, 
 talking of ould times, and ould families, not so 
 much with affection or even respect, but with a 
 sort of duty- feeling, that, because they had been 
 " long on the land," they were entitled to their 
 service and devotion. These creatures formed 
 a procession, and accompanied the corse many a 
 weary mile, until the farmer's wife was met by 
 the farmer-husband, and the priest of her own 
 parish, and her own friends; and, strangers as 
 they were to each other, the people exchanged 
 words of sympathy and kindness, praising the 
 good woman's devotion to her mistress and 
 then the sea-side peasants returned home. The 
 corse was " waked " one night in its " native " 
 halls, and then deposited amid its ancestral dust 
 the farmer's wife thankful to the last that, 
 " though indeed the mistress, God help her! was 
 a weary ould body at the last, still it was a bless- 
 ing to be able to do my duty to an ancient ould 
 family, that me and mine lived under for more 
 than two hundred years! " 
 
 The early history of Carlow county is of great 
 interest; long prior to the Anglo-Norman inva- 
 sion it was the scene of innumerable contests 
 between the kings and chieftains of the country; 
 and between them again, and their insatiate foes, 
 the Danes; and many singular anecdotes illus- 
 trating the uncivilised character of the times are 
 recorded, upon the somewhat apocryphal au- 
 thority of Keating and O'Halloran. 87
 
 CARLOW 257 
 
 The history of the struggle between the native 
 Irish and the handful of Welsh invaders, how- 
 ever, rests upon more authentic documents. 
 Carlow was for a considerable period the battle- 
 field of the contending parties ; and here Strong- 
 bow was assailed by a formidable force under 
 the command of O'Ryan, a native chieftain, who 
 would have gained a decisive victory but for the 
 fall of their leader, who was killed by an arrow 
 from the bow of " a monk named Nicholas," an 
 attendant upon the English army. The scene 
 of the rencontre was subsequently called " the 
 Earl's Pass ; " and it is memorable as the place 
 where the most tragic incident of the war oc- 
 curred. Strongbow's only son, it is said, a 
 youth of seventeen years of age, was so dis- 
 mayed by the numbers and savage demeanour 
 of the Irish, that he fled in terror to Dublin ; but 
 learning that his friends had escaped, he re- 
 turned to congratulate them on their safety; 
 when his father emulating the old Roman 
 after upbraiding him with his cowardice, ordered 
 him to be immediately executed: some histori- 
 ans assert, indeed, that he actually slew the boy 
 himself, by hewing his body in two parts with a 
 single blow of his sword. 
 
 When matters had been comparatively set- 
 tled, and King John had elevated Catherlogh 
 into a county, he granted the principality of Lein- 
 ster to William, Earl Marshal, whom he created 
 Earl of Pembroke, and to whom the erection of 
 many of the castles, besides that of Carlow, may 
 be traced. 8 
 
 V 17
 
 258 IRELAND 
 
 The native Irish, " the pestilent infesters of 
 the Pale," as they are generously termed by con- 
 temporary historians, continued for centuries to 
 make Carlow their " harbour," from which they 
 continually broke out to worry their unwelcome 
 neighbours ; and they reduced the county to such 
 straits, that the return to the writ summoning 
 a Parliament, in 1332, contained this remark- 
 able passage: " Having, by virtue of this writ, 
 called before me the Commons of the County, 
 they unanimously allege that there is no layman 
 able, by reason of poverty, from the frequent 
 robberies and depredations of the Irish enemies, 
 to meet our sovereign lord the King in his Par- 
 liament in England." Out of this state of 
 things, and in this county, is said to have origi- 
 nated the custom of " Coygne and Livery," 
 for so long a period a fertile source of misery to 
 the inhabitants of Ireland. It is thus described 
 and characterised by Sir John Davis: "The 
 most wicked and mischievous custom of all others 
 was that of coygne and livery, often before men- 
 tioned; which consisted in taking man's meat, 
 horse meat, and money, of all the inhabitants of 
 the country, at the will and pleasure of the sol- 
 dier, who, as the phrase of scripture is, did eat 
 up the people as it were bread, for that he had no 
 other entertainment." 
 
 In later times, the county of Carlow has oc- 
 cupied no prominent position in the history of 
 Ireland, nor have any of its towns been at all re- 
 markable. There is, however, one of them that
 
 CARLOW 259 
 
 ranks among the most interesting of the king- 
 dom. 
 
 Leighlin " Old Leighlin " although now 
 dwindled to a small village, was in ancient 
 times a place of great importance, and is still an 
 episcopal see, but united, in the year 1600, 
 to that of Ferns, in the county of Wexford. 
 The bishopric is said to have been established 
 so early as the year 632; and it is stated by 
 Archdall, that its founder, St. Laserian, had 
 " at one time 1,500 monks under his juris- 
 diction." 89 "The cathedral (which is of the 
 plainest Gothic architecture) consists of a nave 
 and chancel. The length of the nave is eighty- 
 four feet ; that of the chancel, sixty feet ; breadth, 
 twenty-one feet. In the nave is a large stone 
 baptismal font, sustained by a pedestal which 
 rests upon a raised foundation six feet square. 
 The font is at the height of about five feet from 
 the floor of the nave. A very curiously-worked 
 arch of stone may be observed over part of the 
 nave. The entire side is, with the usual bad 
 taste, whitewashed. The belfry tower is about 
 sixty feet in height, and has a mean sort of slated 
 spire on top; which, from its pigmy size, and 
 general unsuitableness to the building on which 
 it is erected, has the worst possible effect. 
 Winding stone steps are continued to the sum- 
 mit of the belfry; forty steps lead to the 
 first landing-place, after which twenty-two 
 more, of very narrow construction, conduct 
 to the top." In the immediate vicinity of
 
 260 IRELAND 
 
 Leighlin, is a remarkable and very picturesque 
 " Rath," and close to the cathedral is the well of 
 St. Laserian. It was a few years ago a famous 
 resort of the peasantry on the Saint's day, the 
 18th of April; but Mr. Ryan informs us that the 
 patron was very properly prohibited by the par- 
 ish priest, and it is now " no longer the scene of 
 gambling and intoxication." Two very old ash 
 trees and a whitethorn, which formerly over- 
 shadowed the well, were cut down (about 1823) 
 by the late Capt. Vigors, of Erindale, who leased 
 a considerable tract of land here from the see of 
 Leighlin. The whitethorn was formerly hung 
 with all sorts of rags by the devotees, pilgrims, or 
 visitors to this holy spot. At present the well is 
 almost choked up with mud, and is hardly dis- 
 tinguishable from the marsh by which it is en- 
 compassed. About ten yards from the well 
 stands a rude stone cross, five feet in height. 
 The whole is surrounded by a low straggling 
 ditch. 
 
 As the other towns of Carlow county afford us 
 little matter for description or comment, we shall 
 avail ourselves of the opportunity to supply the 
 information we have gathered in reference to the 
 existing " Constabulary Force " of Ireland. 
 
 During our latest visit to Ireland, we had 
 frequent opportunities of testing the advantages 
 that had accrued to the community at large, from 
 the admirable mode in which this force is con- 
 ducted. Our attention was first attracted by the 
 exceedingly neat and clean-looking houses, fitted
 
 CARLOW 261 
 
 up as their barracks, in many instances built ex- 
 pressly for them, and the remarkably soldier-like 
 air and manner of the fine-looking young men 
 who compose the corps. 90 The closer our in- 
 quiries, the more we became convinced that we 
 must attribute to the skilful and wise system 
 under which it is managed, no inconsiderable por- 
 tion of that improvement we have noticed as 
 evident in all parts of the country; and we soon 
 arrived at the conclusion, that it need excite no 
 surprise to find government enabled to withdraw 
 the army from Ireland, when its place is supplied 
 by a force much more shrewd, active, and intelli- 
 gent, and far more effective for the purpose 
 which it is intended to answer. 91 Soldiers were 
 at all times available for quelling disturbances; 
 but the constabulary have acted upon the prin- 
 ciple of the adage, " prevention is better than 
 cure; " as one of its officers very forcibly ex- 
 pressed it to us, they " take off the match before 
 the shell explodes' 1 This design is, indeed, thus 
 distinctly laid down in one of the earliest of the 
 printed " regulations." " In the performance of 
 their duty as peace-officers, they are distinctly to 
 understand that their efforts should be princi- 
 pally directed to the prevention of crime, which 
 will tend far more effectually towards the security 
 of person and property than the punishment of 
 those who have violated the laws; and the very 
 best evidence that can be given of the efficiency 
 of the police is the absence of crime." 
 
 As the subject is one of very great interest,
 
 262 IRELAND 
 
 yet one with which the public, generally, is by no 
 means well acquainted, we may be pardoned for 
 treating it at some length. 
 
 The first introduction of an armed police force 
 into Ireland was in 1787 : prior to that time, con- 
 stables were appointed by courts-leet, and by 
 magistrates in quarter-sessions. By the 27th 
 Geo. III., cap. 40, the lord-lieutenant was em- 
 powered to divide counties into districts, consist- 
 ing of one or more baronies, and to appoint a 
 chief constable to each district, with an annual 
 salary not exceeding fifty pounds. The grand 
 juries were empowered to appoint sixteen sub- 
 constables, " being protestants," in each district, 
 and to present a salary not less than ten pounds, 
 nor more than twelve pounds, for every sub-con- 
 stable. An allowance to constables conveying 
 prisoners, and " armed protestants " assisting 
 them, of threepence per mile, was also made. 
 This act was only carried into effect in thirteen 
 counties. In 1792, another act was passed (32d 
 Geo. III., cap. 16), authorising the grand juries 
 of the remaining counties to appoint not more 
 than eight constables in every barony or half- 
 barony, and to present at each assizes 92 four 
 pounds for every constable. The grand juries 
 were also to raise two pounds per man once in 
 twelve years, for arms and accoutrements, with 
 the same allowance to " armed protestants," as 
 in the former act. 
 
 The constables appointed under the above 
 acts, although armed, wore no uniform, and in 
 general, if not universally, followed their ordi-
 
 CARLOW 263 
 
 nary occupations: they were found so very inef- 
 ficient, that in 1814, Sir Robert Peel, then chief 
 secretary, introduced, what is generally termed, 
 the " Peace Preservation Act," (54th Geo. III., 
 cap. 131) , 93 by which the lord-lieutenant was em- 
 powered to appoint for any district comprising 
 a county, or one or more baronies proclaimed by 
 the privy council as in a state of disturbance, a 
 chief magistrate, 94 a chief constable, and fifty sub- 
 constables, whose functions were to cease on the 
 district being declared tranquil. By this act, 
 provision was made for the continuance of the 
 baronial constables appointed under the acts of 
 1787 and 1792. 
 
 The Peace Preservation Act having been 
 found to answer to a certain extent the object 
 for which it had been framed, induced the govern- 
 ment to introduce a more general measure; ac- 
 cordingly, in 1822, the Constabulary Act was 
 passed. By this act, the lord-lieutenant was em- 
 powered to appoint four general superintendents 
 (one for each province), and one chief consta- 
 ble; and the magistrates, sixteen sub-constables 
 for each barony, half -barony, or other division of 
 a barony (being double the number of constables 
 allowed by the act of 1782). The lord-lieuten- 
 ant was also authorised to appoint " resident 
 magistrates," and an extra number of constables 
 in certain cases. On this act coming into opera- 
 tion, the chief constables and constables under 
 the acts of 1787 and 1792 ceased to act. But the 
 " Peace Preservation " force of 1814 continued 
 in certain disturbed districts until October, 1836,
 
 264 IRELAND 
 
 when the constabulary and peace preservation es- 
 tablishments were consolidated by the 6th Wm. 
 IV., cap. 13, and placed under the control of one 
 head (the inspector-general). Such a measure 
 had long been in contemplation, and different 
 bills were from time to time brought before Par- 
 liament, but not proceeded with beyond a second 
 reading, until Lord Normanby's government 
 took the matter in hand, and carried the present 
 act (6th Wm. IV. cap. 13). By this act, the 
 lord-lieutenant is empowered to appoint one in- 
 spector-general, two deputy inspectors-general 
 (to be resident in Dublin), four provincial in- 
 spectors, thirty-five sub-inspectors (now called 
 county inspectors) one for each county and 
 riding, one chief constable (now called sub- 
 inspector), two head constables, and sixteen 
 constables and sub-constables for each bar- 
 ony, half -barony, or other division of a barony; 
 also, one receiver and eighteen paymasters, and 
 also an unlimited number of paid magistrates. 
 
 It is only necessary to contrast, briefly, the ex- 
 isting with the late establishments, to gain the 
 ready admission of every impartial mind, that the 
 present is a decided improvement on the former. 
 Under the old system there were, first of all, two 
 distinct establishments, somewhat analogous to 
 the line and militia, the one being a permanent 
 force, the other (the Peace Preservation) co-ex- 
 isting with " disturbance." These establish- 
 ments were totally independent of each other, 
 each acting under several heads, and upon differ- 
 ent systems. Thus the constabulary was divided
 
 CARLOW 265 
 
 (by the number of provinces in Ireland) into four 
 distinct bodies, each under the superintendence 
 of a provincial inspector-general. The power, 
 however, of appointing the subordinate members 
 of the force, that is, constables and sub-consta- 
 bles, and of framing rules and regulations for 
 the control and management of the establishment 
 of the several counties, was vested in the magis- 
 trates, subject, in the latter case, to the approval 
 of the lord-lieutenant. Again, amongst the of- 
 ficers of each county force there was no gradation 
 of rank, and of course no one having any supe- 
 riority; consequently, each chief constable acted 
 independently within his district; a few main- 
 tained, in some degree, a show of discipline, but 
 the majority preferred living quietly, or, in other 
 words, they permitted their men to act pretty 
 much as they pleased, and did not interfere to 
 prevent the magistrates from employing them as 
 they thought fit. To meet, in some measure, this 
 obvious defect in the act, and the inconveniences 
 resulting therefrom, the government of the day, 
 as a first step towards improvement, appointed 
 one officer in every county (under the name of 
 sub-inspector), and who was also the paymaster, 
 to superintend the force of his county. Several 
 of these officers were subsequently placed in the 
 Commission of the Peace, and continued to per- 
 form, in addition to their peculiar duties as in- 
 spectors and paymasters, those of a magistrate, 
 efficiently and satisfactorily to the public, with- 
 out any increase of pay, until the passing of the 
 act in 1836.
 
 266 IRELAND 
 
 With respect to the Peace Preservation force, 
 it was, in like manner, subdivided into several 
 distinct parties, each party (not exceeding one 
 chief constable and fifty constables and sub-con- 
 stables) being under the superintendence of a 
 chief magistrate, who had the complete and sole 
 control of it, and with which, under the special 
 provisions of the act, the local magistrates had 
 no authority or right to interfere. Thus, with 
 two separate establishments, each divided under 
 several and distinct heads, all active under 
 different systems, and under a variety of 
 inconsistent regulations, it could not be ex- 
 pected that the public service should be prop- 
 erly or efficiently conducted. Indeed, these man- 
 ifest disadvantages were not altogether unno- 
 ticed, nor left without an effort being made to 
 remedy and counteract them. In the majority 
 of the counties, the magistrates themselves were 
 among the first to desire a change, and com- 
 menced a most wise and salutary reform by sur- 
 rendering, to the inspectors-general of their 
 respective provinces, the right to appoint con- 
 stables, which, to say the least of it, had not been 
 very judiciously exercised. In some counties a 
 man's religion formed a principal consideration 
 whether he should be admitted into the force or 
 not. The number of persons too, generally 
 known by the name of " Followers' 3 who ob- 
 tained appointments was numerous, and, as a 
 consequence, these individuals were more the 
 servants of their patrons than of the public, in 
 many instances acting as their stewards, gate-
 
 CARLOW 267 
 
 keepers, game-keepers, or wood-rangers, &c. 
 On the other hand, the men nominated by the 
 inspectors-general were selected without refer- 
 ence to their religious faith, and not until after 
 strict inquiry into their characters and general 
 fitness for the service as regarded both their lit- 
 erate and physical 95 qualifications ; and, as a fur- 
 ther improvement, they were removed from 
 among their own relations and friends, and from 
 local influence the bane of all discipline. It 
 should be observed, that some persons entertain 
 the opinion that, inasmuch as local knowledge is 
 of the first importance to a policeman, " no man 
 should be removed from his native county, with 
 the localities of which he is supposed to be well 
 acquainted." But it will be obvious that the ob- 
 jections against so fixing them are numerous and 
 strong, especially in Ireland, where the claims of 
 relationship and " party " are frequently para- 
 mount to all others ; and it will be equally appar- 
 ent that greater confidence will be placed by all 
 the inhabitants of a district in a body known 
 to have no predilections towards any. Indeed, 
 those who are acquainted with the Irish character 
 will have no difficulty in arriving at the conclu- 
 sion, that the arrangement, by which the natives 
 of one part are located in another part, was ex- 
 ceedingly rational and judicious. 
 
 The propriety of the measure adopted by the 
 magistracy of the majority of the counties, in 
 surrendering to the inspector-general their right 
 of appointment, was soon manifested in the im- 
 proved appearance, description, and discipline of
 
 268 IRELAND 
 
 the men selected by the inspector-general, over 
 those of the counties in which the magistrates 
 still retained the right of appointment. There 
 was altogether a great change for the better in 
 the order and cleanliness of their barracks, which 
 before this period were not paid much attention 
 to. But a much more important result was pro- 
 duced by this change of system, and its conse- 
 quent effect on the discipline of the establish- 
 ment; namely, confidence on the part of the 
 people in general in its members, and which has 
 continued to increase as the discipline of the force 
 has advanced, and all religious distinctions in the 
 selection of its members have disappeared. The 
 consequence is, that from having been an unpop- 
 ular force, it is now quite the reverse. It is a re- 
 markable fact that, interspersed as the Protestant 
 and Roman Catholics are, in nearly 1,500 bar- 
 racks all over the kingdom, it is of extremely 
 rare occurrence indeed that any difference has 
 arisen on the score of religion. 96 
 
 Thus, then, in a national point of view, the 
 constabulary force has been, and is, of the great- 
 est advantage to Ireland, whether considered 
 socially or morally. In the first place, it is a 
 comfortable and respectable provision for several 
 thousands of her natives, who, from the lives 
 which they are obliged to lead, acquire orderly, 
 sober, cleanly, and respectful habits and man- 
 ners ; the prospect, too, of rising by good conduct 
 and intelligence to the rank of officers, is not 
 only an incentive to the former, but has induced 
 the sons of very many highly respectable gentle-
 
 CARLOW 269 
 
 men to enter the establishment: and as no per- 
 son is eligible to enter it who cannot read and 
 write, it has, from this circumstance, effected 
 more towards the education of the people than is 
 perhaps generally known. 
 
 The great desire to obtain appointments in the 
 force, and the disgrace attached to a dismissal 
 from it, show the value the people set on a situ- 
 ation in it. 97 
 
 With respect to the appointment of officers, a 
 regulation exists that no appointment is to be 
 considered confirmed until the individual nomi- 
 nated has served a probation of six months, to 
 give the inspector-general an opportunity of 
 judging as to his fitness, &c.: this has only ref- 
 erence to original appointments. All promo- 
 tions in the force are made on the recommenda- 
 tion of the inspector-general. 98 
 
 These arrangements have had a powerful ef- 
 fect in stimulating the force, generally, to an up- 
 right, impartial, and zealous performance of their 
 duties, and have diffused an esprit through the 
 entire establishment, which did not before exist, 
 and which has added much to its efficiency, as 
 well as to its respectability. 
 
 The good temper, forbearance under great 
 provocation, patience under fatigue, and strict 
 impartiality, exhibited by the constabulary at 
 riots, contested elections, and other occasions, 
 have frequently been the subject of just com- 
 mendation. A stronger proof cannot be ad- 
 duced to sustain this assertion, than the fact, that 
 it has very rarely occurred, particularly of late
 
 270 IRELAND 
 
 years, that a life has been lost in any affair in 
 which the constabulary have been concerned, 
 which is saying much for an armed body, or that 
 any member of that body has been brought to 
 trial, or reported, for intemperance in the execu- 
 tion of his duty." 
 
 The duties of the constabulary are multifarious 
 and onerous, and are becoming every day more 
 and more so. In fact, whatever is to be done is 
 expected to be performed by it. The constabu- 
 lary is now the great machine by which almost 
 every measure is worked, and there is no doubt 
 that it is becoming gradually of greater political 
 importance ; therefore, the greater care should be 
 taken not to make its members politicians, or to 
 depend on political influence. It should, as 
 much as possible, be kept a distinct body that 
 is, distinct from all political considerations. Be- 
 sides the ordinary and more legitimate duties as 
 peace-preservers, the constabulary are employed 
 in various ways, which creates, indirectly, a vast 
 saving to the public: for instance, they have 
 been, and continue to be, employed under the 
 Poor Law Act, in escorting convicts from all 
 parts of Ireland to Dublin (a duty heretofore 
 performed by the military and county jailers at 
 a very heavy expense) ; in serving notices under 
 various acts of parliament; and at this moment 
 they are engaged in taking the census of the pop- 
 ulation. They attend at all large markets, fairs, 
 " patrons," and public meetings within their re- 
 spective districts, to preserve order ; as well as all 
 assizes, quarter and petty sessions, bankrupt
 
 CARLOW 271 
 
 courts, contested elections, &c. They also render 
 essential service on occasion of wrecks, in the re- 
 covery of fines and estreated recognizances (now 
 a great source of revenue, but heretofore con- 
 sumed by the sheriff) , and in the check they keep 
 upon illicit distillation, and the suppression of 
 unlicensed houses, which could never be effected, 
 without their aid, by the revenue officers. They 
 are patrolling at all hours of the night; and the 
 knowledge that they are invariably on the alert 
 to detect crime has been naturally efficacious in 
 preventing it. 
 
 We have thus entered at length into this sub- 
 ject, because no measure introduced into Ireland 
 of late years is so calculated to influence the char- 
 acter and condition of the country. That, at 
 present, the system is working well in all respects, 
 we have the evidence arising from our own very 
 minute inquiries, made in various quarters, and 
 from various classes; as well as the testimony of 
 many persons better enabled, from longer resi- 
 dence in Ireland, to prove safe and satisfactory 
 authorities. We have, in the course of our ob- 
 servations, referred to many circumstances that 
 lead to a conviction of the great practical good 
 arising to the public from the employment of 
 this force governed and disciplined as it is at 
 present; enabling government to station else- 
 where a large body of military, almost indeed to 
 do without a single soldier in Ireland; to intro- 
 duce habits of order and subordination, as ex- 
 amples and encouragements to the population; 
 to promote education by manifesting its advan-
 
 272 IRELAND 
 
 tages ; and, above all, to exhibit the law as acting 
 for the protection of every class of the commu- 
 nity. Upon this latter point we would lay 
 especial stress. A few years ago, the feeling 
 was almost universal among " the people," that 
 justice was within the reach of but a privileged 
 few, and that the primary, if not the exclusive, 
 duty, of all persons in the service of the law, was 
 to protect the rich from the encroachments of the 
 poor. Unhappily, this opinion was not entirely 
 imaginative; for centuries, the aristocracy failed, 
 either from disinclination or want of sympathy, 
 thoroughly to mix themselves with the people: 
 the former were for the most part of English de- 
 scent, and the latter the aboriginal Irish; and 
 it was the policy of England to strengthen rather 
 than to remove the barriers that kept the two dis- 
 tinct and apart. The one class had entire confi- 
 dence in the power and will of the law ; the other 
 class depended mainly on themselves on their 
 banding together to resist aggression, not un- 
 frequently to become aggressors. Hence a most 
 unhappy state of things, which, having endured 
 for ages, is only now undergoing a change. The 
 dregs of the noxious draught still remain. But 
 the people generally have learned to respect the 
 law, and to look to it for protection and not op- 
 pression. The existing " Constabulary," created 
 by themselves and of themselves, has their CON- 
 FIDENCE; which, until within the last few years, 
 was never given to any force employed by gov- 
 ernment. We have not formed this opinion 
 without instituting the closest inquiries. We
 
 CARLOW 273 
 
 derive it from consultations with persons of all 
 parties and all stations, but more particularly 
 from the small farmers and working men, the 
 least likely to be biassed in its favour. We do 
 not, therefore, hesitate to assert, that a better 
 constabulary never existed in any country; and 
 that, for every additional man appointed to it, 
 two soldiers may be safely removed from Ireland. 
 It seems not unnatural that some account of 
 the ancient distinguishing characteristic of Ire- 
 land " The Faction Fights "should follow 
 our notice of the constabulary force; for we are 
 mainly indebted to that body for their extinction 
 as a national reproach. Their history belongs 
 to OLD Ireland; for, of late years, their occur- 
 rence has been very rare ; and since the establish- 
 ment of temperance, they have been made to 
 appear in the eyes of the peasantry as revolting 
 as they were formerly exciting. Previously to 
 the prevalence of sobriety, however, they had 
 " gone out of fashion ; " murder having for some 
 time ceased to be a necessary epilogue to a fair. 
 A primary instruction to the constabulary 
 keeping carefully in view the principle of " tak- 
 ing off the match before the shell explodes " 
 thus refers to the subject: 
 
 " The law defines that three persons in a state of quarrel 
 constitute a ' riot/ and they or any of them may be in- 
 dicted accordingly, upon the evidence of one or more cred- 
 ible witness or witnesses, although the rioters themselves 
 may not lodge informations against or prosecute each other : 
 and therefore it becomes a paramount duty of the force 
 not only to suppress all riots, but also to identify and lodge 
 informations against rioters, in order to vindicate the law, 
 V 18
 
 274 IRELAND 
 
 and to neutralize any arrangement or compromise which 
 might be entered into by such rioters. 
 
 " Officers in charge of districts are to keep exact memo- 
 randa of the dates of all fairs, markets, races, and other 
 periodical meetings in their several districts, and are to 
 attend at such meetings with a sufficient force for the 
 preservation of the peace; and in the event of any breach 
 of it occurring, it will depend upon the officer's discretion 
 and firmness, the strength of his party, and the several 
 circumstances of the case, whether the rioters are to be 
 arrested, or merely identified so that they may be after- 
 wards brought to justice." 
 
 It was the clause we have marked in italics 
 that settled the matter; for although, in the heat 
 of a fight, the factions would have despised the 
 police, and both, probably (as they often did), 
 have postponed their own affair to beat the com- 
 mon enemy, this " identifying " for after punish- 
 ment was a plan they could not contrive to over- 
 reach. The constabulary were everywhere; it 
 was almost impossible for a contest to take place 
 without their knowledge; and they were invari- 
 ably upon the spot to " identify." The natural 
 consequence was, that the system gradually 
 vanished; and temperance effectually and for 
 ever destroyed it. 
 
 It is unquestionable that it originated in a 
 want of popular confidence in the administration 
 of the law; and it is equally certain that the en- 
 deavours of the police to put an end to it 
 although at first facilitated by the dread of pun- 
 ishment were greatly assisted by a growing 
 consciousness that the law was now administered, 
 not for public oppression, but for public pro-
 
 CARLOW 275 
 
 tection. When the peasant became satisfied that 
 his wrongs were assured of redress, and that satis- 
 faction for either insult or injury was to be had at 
 all times, it was comparatively easy to induce him 
 to abstain from " taking the law into his own 
 hands," and fighting out a quarrel. 
 
 Quarrels descended from father to son. There 
 was scarcely a district in Ireland that did not 
 recognise some hereditary dispute ; and it became 
 a sort of duty for a member of one family to 
 insult the member of another family, whenever 
 they chanced to meet. Every relation of each, 
 no matter how distant, was expected to " stand 
 by his faction;" and times and places were 
 regularly appointed where they might meet to 
 " fight it out; " the majority of the combatants, 
 in nine cases out of ten, being utterly ignorant 
 what they were fighting for, and the leaders be- 
 ing very seldom acquainted with the original 
 cause of the quarrel. 
 
 The magistrates were, generally, totally un- 
 able to interrupt a fight when it had begun, and 
 usually failed to prevent it after the arrange- 
 ments for it had been made; and we have more 
 than once seen a parish priest respected and 
 beloved by his flock labouring as vainly to 
 establish peace among them as if he talked to so 
 many stocks or stones. 
 
 Many years have passed since we witnessed 
 one of those disgusting scenes. Unhappily, with 
 their brutality and cruelty was frequently mixed 
 up so much fun and humour and physical cour- 
 age, that their revolting character was not im-
 
 276 IRELAND 
 
 mediately perceptible, although generosity was 
 a rare ingredient in a fight, and women too fre- 
 quently mingled in it. We must observe, how- 
 ever, that, in the most ferocious encounter, a 
 woman was seldom struck we might almost go 
 the length of saying, never except by accident. 
 We recollect seeing one of " the gentler sex " 
 striking right and left with a terrific weapon 
 a huge stone in a stocking-foot and noting sev- 
 eral men knocked down by her blows without 
 either of them aiming at her a single one in re- 
 turn. It used to amaze us that more lives were 
 not lost in such contests; but a man was fre- 
 quently saved in consequence of the number of 
 his adversaries, all beating at him with their 
 sticks, which generally interfered so much with 
 each other that few of the blows reached him. 
 We call to mind one fair in particular; it took 
 place in the vicinity of Ballydehob, about thirty 
 miles west of the county of Cork, and at a time 
 when there was little dread of interruption. 
 We shall endeavour to describe it briefly, how- 
 ever, for the subject is not pleasant, and now can- 
 not be useful. Towards the afternoon of a fine 
 spring day, the rival factions began to assemble 
 each armed with his stout shillalah. 100 The 
 leaders parleyed somewhat before they began 
 not a very frequent course ; they were surrounded 
 by women and children; and an old hag seemed 
 determined there should be no chance of peace, 
 for she rated one of them with the term " cow- 
 ard." Actual hostilities were, however, com- 
 menced by a huge fellow running through the
 
 CARLOW 277 
 
 crowd, and stopping before each man of the op- 
 posite party, whom he greeted with the foul 
 phrase " liar : " his purpose was soon answered ; 
 one, less patient than the rest, struck him a blow ; 
 their sticks were crossed, and in a moment hun- 
 dreds had joined the melee. They fought for 
 above an hour and, at length, one party was 
 beaten off the field. But, in truth, we can do 
 little good by entering into minute explanations 
 of a scene so revolting; and we shall prefer leav- 
 ing them to the reader's fancy; communicating 
 the attendant consequences in the less disagree- 
 able form of a story ; telling it, however, as nearly 
 as we can call them to mind, in the very words 
 in which we heard it; and so carrying out our 
 plan of varying dry details by the introduction 
 of matter more attractive. 
 
 " The faction fights, plase your honours," 
 said an intelligent countryman when spoken to 
 by us on the subject, " the faction fights are 
 a'most, and maybe more than a'most, gone off 
 the face of the country. The boys are beginning 
 to talk about them as things they have seen like 
 a show or a giant. We ask each other how we 
 were ever drawn into them, what brought them 
 about; and the one answer to that is Whiskey! 
 No gun will go off until it is primed, and sure 
 whiskey was the priming. That made more 
 orphans and widows than the fever or starva- 
 tion. Thanks be to God, if death come upon 
 us now, it is by the Lord's will, and not our own 
 act." 
 
 It was encouraging to hear such a remark from
 
 278 IRELAND 
 
 one of " the people ; " and this was by no means 
 a solitary instance. 
 
 The man, had he confessed, many a time when a 
 mere child, incited by the example of the faction 
 to whom his parents belonged, nerved his little 
 arms to cast heavy stones into the melee, not 
 caring how or where they fell. ' We usen't to 
 mind a bit of a shindy in those times: if a boy was 
 killed, why we said it was ' his luck,' and that it 
 couldn't be helped; if a fellow trailed his coat 
 over the fair green and dared any one to stand 
 a foot on it, we enjoyed the fight that was sure 
 to follow, and never thought or cared how it 
 would end. Sure I remember my own brother 
 and now since he's been a Temperance man, 
 he hasn't raised a finger in anger to any living 
 creature sure I mind him well, feeling the tents 
 for heads, and when he'd get one to his liking, 
 giving it first a good rap, and then calling on 
 the owner to come out and fight him; sure he'd 
 never have done that but for the whiskey. Ah," 
 he continued, " that was a foolish dmarshin, but 
 there was no heart bitterness with it; nothing to 
 lay heavy to the end of one's days. But the 
 faction fights war the bitterest of all black 
 hatred descending from father to son against the 
 opposite faction, as if poor Ireland hadn't 
 enough enemies without turning worse than a 
 wild beast to murder and destroy her own flesh 
 and blood. Now there's a poor woman," he said, 
 pointing to a pale patient-looking person who 
 sat knitting at her cottage door; " there's a poor 
 creature! Mrs. Lawler knows what factions
 
 CARLOW 279 
 
 come to, and so she ought ; she'll tell the lady her 
 story and welcome, if she has any curiosity to 
 hear it. Good morrow-morning to you, Mrs. 
 Lawler, and how's your girleen, ma'am? the lady 
 would be glad to rest while the gentleman and I 
 get up the far hill; and you have always a wel- 
 come, like your people before you, for the 
 stranger." 
 
 " Kindly welcome," said the widow. " Mary, 
 dust the chair, avourneen." 
 
 The cabin was clean and neat, and bearing 
 no evidence of the presence of that sad poverty 
 we had so frequently seen, though it did not dim 
 the smile or lessen the welcome nor was it dif- 
 ficult to lead the widow to the story of sorrows, 
 which, however softened by time, were ever up- 
 permost in her mind. 
 
 " My mother and myself were widowed by 
 factions plase God, my little girl won't have 
 the same tale to tell, for the Connels and the 
 Lawlers might put salt to each other's potatoes 
 without fear of fighting now. It was a shock- 
 ing thing to see the arm of brother raised against 
 brother, only because as battle and murder war 
 in the hearts of their forefathers they must be 
 continued in their own. 
 
 " I was born a Connel, and almost the first 
 thing I learned was to hate a Lawler, from the 
 lip out ; and yet hard fortune was before me, for 
 the very first passion my heart felt was the same 
 love it feels still, for a Lawler; it has known no 
 change, though it has known sorrow; the first 
 knowledge I had of the wild beatings of my
 
 280 IRELAND 
 
 own heart was when I saw that girl's father. 
 Ah yah! it has beat with joy and terror often; 
 but the love for my first love, and my last, was 
 always one ; and now, when all is past and gone, 
 and that you, Mark Lawler, are in your green 
 quiet grave, I am prouder to have been the choice 
 of your own fine noble spirit, than if I was 
 made this moment the queen of all Ireland's 
 ground. O lady! if you could have seen him! 
 ' Norah,' said my father to me, and I winnowing 
 at our barn-door with the servant-maid ' Norah, 
 keep your eyes on the grain, and not after the 
 chaff, and don't raise them above the hedge, for 
 there's many a Lawler will be passing the road 
 this day on account of the fair, and I don't wish 
 a child of mine to notice them, or to be noticed 
 by them.' I intended to do his bidding, and 
 whenever I heard a horse or the voices of 
 strangers coming down the boreen, I kept my 
 eyes on the grain, and let the chaff fly at its 
 pleasure, until a dog broke through the hedge, 
 and attacked a little beast of my own ; so as soon 
 as that came to pass, I let the sieve fall, to catch 
 my own little dog in my arms ; there was no need 
 for that, for he was over the hedge, lighter and 
 brighter than a sunbeam. Ah, then, I wonder 
 is love as quick at taking in all countries as it is 
 here? Mark Lawler didn't speak ten words, 
 nor I two; and yet from that out under the 
 bames of the moon, or the sun, in the open field, 
 or in the crowd, it was all one no one but Mark 
 Lawler was in my mind. I knew he was a 
 Lawler by his eyes, and well he knew I was a
 
 CARLOW 281 
 
 Connel; but the love would have little of boy 
 and girl love in it that would heed a faction. 
 We, who had never met till that moment, could 
 never go astray in the fields without meeting after. 
 Ah! Mary," she continued, addressing her 
 daughter, and yet, in her simplicity, quite for- 
 getting she had been proving the uselessness of 
 precept by her own confession; " ah, Mary dear, 
 if ye feel yer heart soften towards a young man, 
 keep out of his way intirely, avourneen; have 
 nothing to say to him, don't drive your cow the 
 same road he walks, nor draw water from the 
 same well, nor go to the same chapel, Mary, 
 barrin you have no other to go to : there's a deal 
 of mischief in the chapel, dear, because you think 
 in your innocence you're giving your thoughts to 
 God, and all the time, maybe, it's to an idol of 
 your own making, my darling child, they'd be 
 going; sure your mother's sorrow ought to be a 
 warning, avourneen! " 
 
 " Yes, mother," replied the blue-eyed girl, 
 meekly. 
 
 " Well, lady, my poor father thought I grew 
 very attentive intirely to the young lambs, and 
 watchful over the flax; but at last some of the 
 Connels whispered how it was, that Mark Lawler 
 met his child unknownst; and he questioned me, 
 and I told the truth, how I had given my heart 
 out of my bosom; and I fell at his feet, and 
 cried salt and bitter tears until they dropped 
 upon the ground he stood on; and seeing his 
 heart was turning to iron, I, who had ever been 
 like a willow in his hand, roused myself, and
 
 282 IRELAND 
 
 challenged him to say a word to Mark's dis- 
 advantage. I said he was sober, honest, in- 
 dustrious; and my father was struck with the 
 strength of the heart I took, and listened, until 
 at last he made answer, that if a saint from 
 heaven came down, and was a Lawler, he would 
 not give him a drop of water to wet his lips. 
 He threatened me with his curse if I kept true 
 in my love, and thought to settle the thing out of 
 hand by marrying me to my own second cousin; 
 but that I wouldn't hear to. God knows I did 
 not mean to cross him, but what could I do? 
 Mark sent to ask me to bid him farewell, or his 
 heart would break; I thought there could be no 
 harm in blessing him, and telling him to think of 
 me no more. Mary, avourneen," she said, again 
 addressing her daughter, " if ye really want to 
 break off at once with a young man, take warn- 
 ing by me." 
 
 " Yes, mother," was again Mary's gentle 
 reply. 
 
 " At that meeting we agreed to meet again ; 
 and so we did, until we got a priest to make us 
 one. At first I was happy as a young bird ; but 
 soon my heart felt crushed, for I had to carry 
 two faces. My father was more bitter than ever 
 against the Lawlers ; and my brother, * Dark 
 Connel,' as he was called, more cruel than my 
 father. At last I was forced to own that I was 
 married. I watched the time when my brother 
 was away; for one storm was as much as I could 
 bear. My father cast me like a dog from the 
 hearth I had played on when a child ; in his fury
 
 CARLOW 283 
 
 he knelt to curse me, but my mother held a gospel 
 against his lips; so I was saved his curse. The 
 arms of a loving husband were open for me ; and 
 until the midsummer fair I thought my happi- 
 ness was sure. I worked hard to keep Mark 
 from it, for the factions were sure to meet there ; 
 he swore to me that he would not raise a finger 
 against my father or brother, nor let a drop of 
 spirits pass his lips. I walked with him a piece 
 of the way, and I thought all pleasure in sight 
 left my eyes when he waved the last wave of his 
 hat on the top of the hill. As I was turning into 
 our own field, a lark was rising above its nest, 
 singing its glory to the heavens in its sweet voice, 
 when a shot from the gun of one of those 
 squireens, who are thick among the leaves as 
 spiders' webs, struck the bird, and it fell quiver- 
 ing and bleeding close to where I knew its nest 
 was in the corn. I opened the bending grain 
 to see if I could find it; it was lying quite dead, 
 and its poor mate standing close by. The lark 
 is a timid thing, but she never minded me, and 
 my heart felt so sick, that I went into my house 
 crying bitterly. 
 
 " I could not rest; I thought in a few hours I 
 might be like that innocent bird; and taking my 
 cloak about me, I walked on and on, until I 
 came in sight of the fair green. It was a woeful 
 sight to me the shouts of the showmen, the 
 screams of the sellers, the lowing of cattle and 
 bleating of sheep, were all mixed together 
 while the yell of the factions, every now and 
 again, drowned everything in its horrid sound.
 
 284 IRELAND 
 
 I knew my father's voice as he shouted ' Hurroo 
 for the Connels down with the Lawlers.' I 
 saw him standing before Mark, aggravating him. 
 My husband's hands were clenched, and he kept 
 his arms close by his side that he might not strike. 
 I prayed that God might keep him in that mind, 
 and flew towards them. Just as I dropped on 
 my knees by his side, he had raised his arm 
 not against my father, but against my brother, 
 who had drawn the old man back ; and there they 
 stood face to face the two young heads of the 
 old factions blows were exchanged, for Mark 
 had been aggravated beyond all bearing; and I 
 was trying to force myself between them, when 
 I saw my father stretched upon the green, in 
 the very hour and act of revenge and sin. It 
 was by a blow from a Lawler the old man 
 never spoke another word and the suddenness 
 of his death (for he was liked by the one 
 and hated by the other) struck a terror in them 
 all the sticks fell to their sides and the great 
 storm of oaths and voices sunk into a murmur 
 while they looked on the dying man. 
 
 " Oh ! bitter, heart bitter, was my sorrow. I 
 shrouded my father with my arms, but he didn't 
 feel me; the feeling had left his limbs, and the 
 light his eyes ; however hard his words had been, 
 the knowledge that I was fatherless, and my 
 mother a widow, made me forget them all! 
 While some of the neighbours ran for a priest, 
 and others raised the cry, my brother darker 
 than ever I had seen him fell upon his knees, 
 and dipping his hand in the warm blood that
 
 CARLOW 285 
 
 poured from the old man's wounds, held it up 
 in the sight of the Connels. ' Boys,' he shouted, 
 and his voice was like the howl of a wild beast 
 * Boys ! by this blood I swear, never to make 
 peace till the hour of my death with one of the 
 name who have done this, but to hackle, and rive, 
 and destroy all belonging to the Lawlers.' 
 
 " And the women who war about me cried out 
 at my brother, and said, ' Sure his sister was a 
 Connel: ' but he looked at me worse than if I 
 was a sarpent, and resting his hand wet as it 
 was upon my head, turned away, saying, ' She 
 is marked with her father's blood in the sight of 
 the people' 
 
 " I thought I should have died ; and when I 
 came to myself I found I was in a poor woman's 
 cabin, as good as half-way home, with two or 
 three of the neighbours about me; and my hus- 
 band, the very moral of a broken heart, by my 
 side. * Avourneen gra ! ' he said, striving to 
 keep down the workings of his heart * Avour- 
 neen gra ! I had no hand in it at all. God knows 
 I wouldn't have hurt a hair of his white head.' 
 I knew it was the truth he was telling, yet some- 
 how the words of my brother clung about me 
 I was marked with my father's blood. 
 
 " And the Connels put the old man's corpse 
 upon a cart, and laid a clean white cloth over 
 it; and carried him past my own little place 
 keening over it, and cursing the hand that gave 
 him his death. Hundreds of the neighbours 
 mixed with my own people, my widowed mother 
 and my dark brother following; and so they
 
 286 IRELAND 
 
 passed by our door; for miles along the road I 
 could hear the loud scream of the mother that 
 bore me high above the voices of all the rest. 
 Oh! it was a horrid sound and a horrid sight! 
 
 " His death was talked of far and near; the 
 magistrates set to putting down the factions, and 
 the priest gave out from the altar, Sunday after 
 Sunday, such commands, that, without flying in 
 his reverence's face, they could not keep on at 
 the fights in public: every innocent diversion 
 through the country was stopped on their ac- 
 count; but though there was outward peace, yet 
 day after day I was followed by the spirit of my 
 brother's words; the world wouldn't put it out 
 of his head, that Mark struck the mortal blow, 
 and he turned his ear from me, and from his 
 own mother, and would not believe the truth. 
 
 " For as good as two years, the husband, 
 whose life was the life-beat of my worn-out heart, 
 seldom left the cabin without my thinking he 
 would never come back. I'd wait till he was a 
 few yards from the door, and then steal out to 
 watch him till he was out of sight. At ploughing, 
 or haymaking, or reaping, his whistle would come 
 over the little hill to me, while I sat at my wheel, 
 as clear as a blackbird's ; and if it stopped but for 
 a minute, my heart would sink like death, and 
 it's to the door I'd be. If I woke in the night, I 
 could not go to sleep again without my arm 
 across his shoulder to feel that he was safe; and 
 my first and last prayer to the Almighty, night 
 and morning, was for him. 
 
 " My brother was very fond of children, and
 
 CARLOW 287 
 
 though he had gone to live at the other side of 
 the parish, I managed to meet him one evening, 
 and place little Mary before him; but his face 
 darkened so over the child, that I was afraid 
 she might be struck with an evil eye, and, making 
 the sign of the cross on her, I covered her from 
 his sight with my cloak : after that, I knew noth- 
 ing would turn his hatred, except the grace of 
 God ; and though I wished that he might have it, 
 whenever I tried to pray for it for him, my blood 
 turned cold. I've often thought," she continued, 
 after a pause, " what a blessing it is, that we have 
 no knowledge of the sorrow we're born to; for 
 if we had, we could not bear life. I had that 
 knowledge; Mark never smiled on me that I did 
 not feel my flesh creep, lest it should be his last. 
 He'd tell sometimes of how things were mend- 
 ing, how there was much bitterness going out of 
 the country; and though there was no talk of 
 temperance then, he saw plain enough, that if 
 men would keep from whiskey they'd forget to 
 be angry. And every minute, even while I 
 trembled for the life of his body, the peace and 
 love that was in him made me easy as to the life 
 of his soul. At last I persuaded him to leave 
 the country ; a new hope came to me, strong and 
 bright, and I thought we might get away to 
 America, and that, maybe, then he'd have a 
 chance of living all the days that were allotted 
 at his birth. I did not tell him that, but having 
 got his consent, I worked night and day to get 
 off : it was all settled ; the day fixed ; and none of 
 the neighbours, barring one or two of the Lawlers,
 
 288 IRELAND 
 
 knew it, and I knew my brother would not hear 
 it from them; and then my mother lived with 
 him. The evening before the day was come, 
 that time to-morrow we were to be on shipboard. 
 ' I'll go,' says my husband, ' I'll go to the priest 
 this evening, who christened, confirmed, and 
 married me, and who knows all that was in me 
 from the time I was born; his blessing will be a 
 guard over us, and we'll go together to his knee.' 
 ' We went ; and though the parting was sad, 
 it was sweet: we walked homewards both our 
 hearts full. At last Mark said, that only for 
 me he'd never have thought of leaving the old sod ; 
 but, maybe, it would be for the best. I opened 
 my mind to him then intirely, and owned more 
 than ever I had done before; how the dread of 
 the factions had disturbed me day and night; 
 though I did not tell him how my father's blood 
 had been laid on me by my own brother. He 
 laughed at me his gay wild laugh and said he 
 hoped my trouble was gone like the winter's 
 snow. Now, this is a simple thing, and yet it 
 always struck me as mighty strange intirely; we 
 were walking through a field, and, God help me, 
 it was a weak woman's fancy, but I never thought 
 any harm could come to him when I was with 
 him, and all of a sudden started, maybe, at his 
 laugh a lark sprung up at our feet; we both 
 watched it, stopped to watch it, about three yards 
 from the ditch, and while it was yet clear in 
 sight, a whiz a flash as of lightning the sound 
 of death and my husband was a corpse at my 
 feet."
 
 CARLOW 289 
 
 The poor woman flung her apron over her face 
 to conceal her agitation, while she sobbed bitterly. 
 " The spirit of the factions," she continued, " was 
 in that fatal shot. Oh that he, my blessing and 
 my pride, should have been struck in the hour 
 of hope! Oh, Mark! Mark! long ago you, that 
 I loved so well, were turned into clay many a 
 long day ago; and still I think, when I sit on 
 your green grass grave, I can hear your voice 
 telling me of your happiness; the heart of the 
 youngest maid was not more free from spot than 
 yours, my own darling! And to think that one 
 of my own blood should have taken you from 
 my side. Oh, then it was I who felt the curse of 
 blood!" 
 
 " And was it was it? " we would have asked, 
 "was it your brother?" 
 
 "Whisht!" she whispered, "Whisht, avour- 
 neen, whisht! he's in his grave too though I 
 didn't inform I left him to God. When I 
 came to myself, the place around the very sky 
 where the lark and his soul had mounted together 
 looked dismal, but not so dark as the dark- 
 faced man who did it: he had no power to leave 
 the spot; he was fixed there; something he said 
 about his father and revenge. God help me! 
 sure we war nursed at the same breast. No one 
 knew it but me; so I left him to God I left him 
 to God! And he withered, lady! he withered 
 off the face of the earth withered, my mother 
 told me, away, away he was eat to death by his 
 conscience! Oh, who would think a faction 
 could end in such crime as that ! 
 
 V 19
 
 290 IRELAND 
 
 "Ah! people who live among the flowers of 
 the earth know little of the happiness I have in 
 taking my child, and sitting beside her on her 
 father's grave; and as month afther month goes 
 by, I cant but feel I'm all the sooner to be with 
 him! " When she said this, it was impossible not 
 to feel for her daughter; the poor girl cast such 
 a piteous look upon her mother, and at last, un- 
 able to control herself, flung her arms tightly 
 round her neck, as though she would keep her 
 there for ever. 
 
 Again and again did her mother return her 
 caresses murmuring, " My colleen-das will 
 never be widowed by faction now; the spirit is 
 all gone, praise be to the Lord : and so I tell him 
 when I sit upon his grave."
 
 NOTES 
 
 i Some idea of the extent of " stock " exported from Ireland 
 may be gathered from the following return supplied to us at the 
 single port of Cork. From the 1st June, 1839, to the 31st May, 
 1840, there were conveyed by the St. George Steam Company 
 
 Cows, 5,468 valued at 54,700 
 
 Horses, 900 18,000 
 
 Pigs, 35,875 71,750 
 
 Sheep, 15,210 15,500 
 
 Fowl, 200 (crates) 1,000 
 
 Eggs, 7,883 (hampers) 24,000 
 
 Butter, 121,859 (firkins) 243,718 
 
 Total, 428,668 
 
 2 In Wexford, charity had been so liberally administered by sev- 
 eral of the resident gentry, and under such judicious arrange- 
 ments, that during our recent visit we were met by the most 
 practised beggars with only prayers and blessings, when driving 
 into the town with a dear friend who had been foremost to aid, 
 and who had actually stocked the market with food so as to com- 
 pel a reduction of prices to the poor. " I'm not come," said one 
 woman, who was accompanied by a troop of children " I'm not 
 come to ax yer honour's glory for anything; but only that the five 
 childer ye saved from starving may look in yer sweet face." 
 
 s " Going a round " travelling from one sacred place to another, 
 and saying a stated number of prayers at each. It is frequently 
 undertaken " for the repose of a soul." At Kilcrea, we met a 
 woman so aged as to be scarce able to walk, who had journeyed' 
 from the extreme end of Kerry in order to perform for her dead 
 daughter a duty which the daughter had promised to do. 
 
 4 In the report made in 1832, by the commissioners appointed to 
 inquire into the parliamentary representation of Ireland, it is stated 
 that " The county of the city of Cork consists of the city, suburbs, 
 and liberties, the whole containing 45,000 statute acres, which en- 
 
 291
 
 292 IRELAND 
 
 tire district forms the borough, is subject to the jurisdiction of 
 the city magistrates, and contributes to the city taxes; and is in 
 these respects, as well as in point of elective franchise, wholly dis- 
 tinct from the county at large. 
 
 " The site of the ancient city is an island, dividing the river Lee 
 into two channels, which, after passing round, unite their waters 
 below it. A portion of this island was formerly considered the 
 city, and the neighbouring land, for a mile in every direction, con- 
 stituted the suburbs under one of the charters, (Edward IV.) The 
 tract of land now called the liberties was added by a subsequent 
 charter (James I.), under which the whole became the county of 
 the city of Cork. 
 
 " The island is connected with the main land on each side by 
 numerous bridges, beyond which the suburbs have in course of time 
 grown to a great extent, and form, in point of fact, a most im- 
 portant portion of the city. 
 
 "The limits of these suburbs were decided in 1813 for the pur- 
 poses of local taxation; and a boundary separating them from the 
 liberties was then laid down by the act of 53 George III. c. 3. 
 Since that time, however, the suburbs have spread considerably. 
 
 " The government of the city is vested in a mayor, two sheriffs, 
 a recorder, an unlimited number of aldermen, and a sufficient num- 
 ber selected from the burgesses to make up twenty-four, forming 
 the common council. 
 
 " The number of dwelling-houses within the city and suburbs is 
 7,928, besides 1,684 warehouses, stores, and buildings; making a 
 total of houses of all descriptions of 9,612. Of these 8,584 are 
 slated, 1,028 are thatched, and 5,602 have seven windows and up- 
 wards." 
 
 s See Mrs. Broughton's Algiers, 1839. 
 
 6 " Deoch an durrass," means literally, drink at the door. 
 
 7 The society did not, however, inculcate " total abstinence." 
 The following is the resolution on which it was founded : " We, 
 the undersigned members of the New Ross Temperance Society, 
 being persuaded that the use of intoxicating liquors is, for per- 
 sons in health, not only unnecessary but hurtful, and that the 
 practice forms intemperate appetites and habits; and that while 
 it is continued, the evils of intemperance can never be prevented 
 do agree to abstain from the use of distilled spirits, except as a 
 medicine in case of bodily ailment; that we will not allow the 
 use of them in our families, nor provide them for the entertain- 
 ment of our friends; and that we will, in all suitable ways, dis- 
 countenance the use of them in the community at large."
 
 NOTES 293 
 
 s The Excise Returns may be referred to as conclusive evidence 
 of the diminution in the consumption of ardent spirits: it is 
 understood that in all the southern provinces the revenue is not 
 sufficient to pay for the collection of it ; and it is rumoured that ar- 
 rangements are in progress for a large reduction of the expensive 
 force employed by the Office. There are now but two distilleries 
 at work in the whole county of Cork, and at the late fair of Bal- 
 linasloe the great cattle fair of Ireland there were but eight gal- 
 lons of whiskey consumed; the average consumption heretofore be- 
 ing between seven and eight puncheons i. e. about 800 gallons. 
 The private stills are, as we have stated, entirely abandoned; one 
 of the most fertile sources of demoralization among the peasantry 
 has, therefore, been put an end to. 
 
 8 At Clonmel we had the safest means of knowing, that out of 
 four thousand, of which one society consists, there had been but 
 four " backsliders." We naturally asked how it was possible to 
 ascertain when the pledge was broken, if it were broken in private; 
 and were told that each member was expected, as a moral duty, to 
 communicate to the secretary the name of any member entering 
 a public-house, or sending one of his family to it. This is of im- 
 portance, as breaking down one of the strongest barriers against 
 Irish improvement the unwillingness to inform against a person 
 who has committed a crime, no matter how abhorrent may be the 
 crime and its perpetrator to the feelings of the witness, arising out 
 of the contempt and hatred with which an "informer" is re- 
 garded. 
 
 10 In order to obtain some idea of the practical working of the 
 system, in promoting economy among the humbler classes, we ob- 
 tained returns from several of the savings-banks in the towns we 
 visited. It will suffice perhaps to publish those from Cork, where 
 it had been at work earlier than elsewhere. 
 
 For the year ending the 20th of Nov. 1838, the number of 
 " small deposits," i. e. under 5, was five thousand two hundred 
 and fifteen. 
 
 For the year ending 20th November, 1839, six thousand four 
 hundred and fifty-seven. 
 
 Being an increase of one thousand two hundred and forty-two. 
 
 The returns for the year 1840 we have not obtained. We do not 
 expect they will be so encouraging; for the autumn of this year 
 was a season of frightful want, one of those periodical visitations 
 of poverty to which Ireland has been unhappily subject. Potatoes 
 throughout the south averaged from 8d. to lOd. a stone, and they 
 were frequently of so bad a quality that often a third was unfit
 
 294 IRELAND 
 
 for use. The difficulty of procuring them at any cost was so great, 
 that the inhabitants of many towns interfered to prevent even a 
 portion from leaving their own districts. At Bandon we beheld a 
 melancholy scene several carts returning empty to their homes 
 in the country, which they had quitted in the morning with money 
 to procure food, but compelled to go back without it. Women 
 and children accompanied them with loud cries ; literally " keen- 
 ing," as if they were following a corpse to its place of rest. In 
 Clonmel we saw the estimable rector distributing aid in food to 
 2,800 persons. In Kilkenny the state of things was still worse. A 
 benevolent gentleman, the editor of a newspaper in that city, as- 
 sured us that, on the morning of our visit, he had issued tickets 
 for meal, at a very reduced price, to 2,500 families, computed to 
 consist of ten thousand persons; nearly half the population. 
 
 If to this want of food had been added the evils of intem- 
 perance, the consequences would have been frightful. Yet, during 
 the three months that the famine prevailed, except in Limerick, 
 where there was some disturbance, there was scarcely an instance 
 of breach of the peace. The people endured their sufferings and 
 misery with wonderful patience; and, with the one exception, no at- 
 tempt was made by the starving multitudes to obtain that which 
 was the property of another. 
 
 We allude to these circumstances chiefly to account for the fact 
 we cannot doubt its being so that this year the receipts at 
 the various savings banks have not increased, the savings having 
 been to a large extent drawn out to preserve existence. 
 
 11 It is a fundamental rule of all the branch societies, of which 
 there are many hundreds scattered through the country, that " no 
 person even suspected of being a member of any illegal associa- 
 tion, or of being bound by combination oaths, shall be allowed to 
 become a subscriber to any of the reading-rooms (where the mem- 
 bers meet) until he has fully cleared himself from such suspicion 
 or accusation." It is further provided that, in these rooms, "no 
 political or religious controversy shall be, on any account, allowed." 
 
 12 Mr. Mathew asserts, and we presume can support his asser- 
 tion by proof, that no member of the Temperance Society had 
 been "brought before judge and jury," up to the 22nd of Sep- 
 tember of the present year. 
 
 is For the card and medal, if we understand rightly, the mem- 
 ber is expected to pay one shilling; this has given rise to an in- 
 quiry as to what becomes of the money so collected. The pledge 
 may be taken without receiving the medal; we met many persons 
 who had not been rich enough to obtain it, and who were saving
 
 NOTES 295 
 
 their pence to do so. The Rev. Mr. Mac Leod, the coadjutor of 
 Mr. Mathew, assures us that " not a fourth' of the two and a half 
 millions belonging to the society have taken either card or medal," 
 and that a large number have received them gratis. Although the 
 amount raised has been therefore much exaggerated, there is no 
 doubt that it is considerable; we should counsel the furnishing 
 some statement, but that to do so would be difficult, inasmuch as a 
 great proportion of it is, to our knowledge, spent in affording 
 temporary relief to those who come, wretched, poor, and diseased, 
 from distances, and in forwarding various other objects of charity. 
 A chapel, a tasteful and beautiful example of architecture, is 
 erecting by Mr. Kearns Dean, the cost of which is to be defrayed 
 out of the proceeds of the society. It is only justice to Mr. 
 Mathew to state, that we have never heard a suspicion expressed 
 that the money was improperly expended. 
 
 i* In a letter lately written by Mr. Mathew, he admits not only 
 that these superstitions exist, but that they are not discounte- 
 nanced by him. "If I could prevent them," he says, " without 
 impeding the glorious cause, they should not have been permitted; 
 but both are so closely entwined, that the tares cannot be pulled 
 out without plucking up the wheat also. The evil will correct 
 itself; and the good, with the Divine assistance, will remain and 
 be permanent." It should be suggested to him that the greatest 
 danger of relapse will arise from the discovery that such imagin- 
 ings are unsubstantial and unreal. 
 
 is The Rev. Matthew Horgan, the Parish Priest of Blarney, in- 
 forms us that " the curious traveller will seek in vain for the real 
 stone, unless he allows himself to be lowered from the northern 
 angle of the lofty castle, when he will discover it about twenty 
 feet from the top, with this inscription: 
 
 COHMAC Me CARTHY FOHTIS 
 
 ME FIEEI FECIT. A.D. 1446." 
 
 The worthy Priest was our kind and courteous companion among 
 the ruins, and the picturesque scenery in the neighbourhood. He 
 is an Irish scholar " a ripe and good one " who has contributed 
 largely to rescue from oblivion much of the antiquarian lore of 
 his country ; and we have to acknowledge some pleasant and profit- 
 able hours passed in his society. 
 
 is Not far distant from Blarney are the remains of an ancient 
 castle built by the English family of Barrett: it is said that 
 O'Neil, Earl of Tyrone, on marching by it in 1600, inquired who
 
 296 IRELAND 
 
 lived there, and being answered that the owner was a good catho- 
 lic, who had possessed it for four hundred years, swore in Irish: 
 " No matter, I hate the English churl as if he came but yester- 
 day." The .feeling is by no means confined to the ancient chief- 
 tains or their descendants; an illustrative anecdote once came 
 under our own notice. We had with us an English servant, who, 
 on going to market, was hailed by a basket-woman wanting em- 
 ployment: "I b'leve, ma'am, you're English?" "Yes." "So am 
 I, ma'am." "Indeed! when did you come over to Ireland?" 
 " Oh ! ma'am, I came over wid Oliver Crom'ell." A Roman Catho- 
 lic clergyman of Cork was, during our recent visit to that city, 
 called upon to administer the last rites of his church to an aged 
 and dying woman. On his entrance, she addressed him in Eng- 
 lish; and after he had had a brief conversation with her, she com- 
 menced her "confession;" speaking, however, in Irish. The Priest 
 was ignorant of the language, and told her so. " Then," she asked, 
 "what brought ye here to me, if ye can't speak in my tongue, 
 when ye knew what ye were wanted for?" "Good woman," he 
 replied, "you understand English, and I can perform my duty 
 as well in that language as in any other." The weak and ema- 
 ciated woman raised herself from her straw pillow, and looking 
 earnestly and angrily at her clergyman, thus addressed him: 
 "And did you think I was going to say my last words to God 
 Almighty in the language of the Sassenach?" 
 
 17 We should note that various other fine buildings are " in, 
 progress " to ornament the city ; which may boast of some of the 
 most skilful architects in the kingdom. 
 
 is The Archdekens were an Anglo-Irish family, who " degenerat- 
 ing " became " Hibernices quam Hiberniores " more Irish than 
 the Irish themselves, and assumed the name of Mac Odo, or Cody. 
 They "forfeited" in 1688, having followed the fortunes of 
 James II. 
 
 1* " You're welcome you're welcome, 
 
 Vice-Admiral Malcolm, 
 To anchor your squadron at Cove; 
 
 And, moreover, the stronger 
 
 Your force, and the longer 
 Your stay the more welcome, by Jove," &c. 
 
 20 Mr. J. Windele, the author of an interesting and valuable 
 work, " Notices of Cork and its Vicinity," supplies the following 
 table, kept for ten months of the year 1833-^., with a view to ex- 
 hibit the slight range or variation of temperature that had taken
 
 NOTES 297 
 
 place at Cove; and argues, upon safe grounds and upon good au- 
 thority, that those who seek to renovate health in continental 
 climes may perceive how attainable it is nearer home, where ex- 
 tremes of heat or cold are alike unknown: 
 
 April May June July Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. 
 Mean highest . . 53 63 63 70 57 52 49 50 
 Mean lowest... 47 50 50 56 47 46 43 43 
 
 21 " The episcopal house," says the amiable Bishop Bennett, " is 
 at the east end of the village, a large irregular building, having 
 been altered and improved by different bishops, but altogether a 
 comfortable and handsome residence. The side next the village 
 has a very close screen of trees and shrubs, and three other sides 
 look to a large garden, and a farm of four hundred acres. This 
 farm constitutes what is called the mensal lands, is generally close 
 to the palace, and was intended for the corn and cattle consumed 
 at the bishop's table. The garden is large four acres consist- 
 ing of four quarters full of fruit, particularly strawberries and 
 raspberries, which Bishop Berkeley had a predilection for; and 
 separated as well as surrounded by shrubberies, which contain 
 some pretty winding walks, and one large one, of nearly a quarter 
 of a mile long, adorned for great parts of its length by a hedge 
 of myrtles, six feet high, planted by Berkeley's own hand, and 
 which had each of them a large ball of tar put to their roots. 
 
 " At the end of the garden is what we call the rock shrubbery, 
 a walk leading under young trees among sequestered crags of 
 limestone which hang many feet above our heads, and ending at 
 the mouth of a cave of unknown length and depth, branching to 
 a great distance under the earth, and sanctified by a thousand 
 wild traditions; and which I have no doubt sheltered the first wild 
 inhabitants of the town itself, cluain being the Irish name for a 
 cave, or place of retirement. I have enclosed this place," con- 
 tinues Bishop Bennett, "which is a favourite spot of mine, with a 
 low wall; enlarged its limits, and planted it with shrubs, which 
 grow in this southern part of Ireland (where frost is unknown) 
 to a luxuriance of which the tall myrtles I have mentioned may 
 give you some idea. Here I always spend some part of every 
 day; sometimes with the mistress of my affections, with her arm 
 in mine. On a Sunday, too, the gates are always thrown open, 
 that my cathob'c neighbours may indulge themselves with a walk 
 to the cave. 
 
 " Of Berkeley little is remembered, though his benevolence, I
 
 298 IRELAND 
 
 have no doubt, was widely diffused. He made no improvement to 
 the house; yet the part he inhabited wanted it much, for it is now 
 thought only good enough for the upper servants. My study is 
 the room where he kept his apparatus for tar-water. There is 
 no chapel in the house; but a private door from the garden leads 
 to the cathedral." 
 
 22 It would be impossible to exaggerate the importance of open- 
 ing roads through the less frequented districts of Ireland. The 
 necessity which formerly existed for keeping a large armed force 
 there has had, at least, this one good effect: "military roads" 
 are to be found in all quarters. One of the wildest mountain- 
 tracts of the county of Cork was, a few years ago, in such a state 
 of insubordination as to be dangerous for travellers at all seasons, 
 and a source of considerable annoyance to the Government. The 
 question was asked, "What was to be done?" A shrewd adviser 
 answered, " Make a road through it." The advice was taken, and 
 the Bograh mountains are now peaceable and prosperous. 
 
 23 Derrick, so late as 1760, writes that he set out from Cork for 
 Killarney " on horseback, the city of Corke not affording at this 
 time any sort of carriage for hire." 
 
 2 * We hired this car in Cork for twenty days, at the rate of ten 
 shillings a day, expenses of man and horse included; for two per- 
 sons it is a very desirable mode of travelling. It is needless to 
 say that objects of the greatest attraction do not often lie in the 
 beaten track, and that the most interesting and picturesque roads 
 are seldom posted. 
 
 25 This arrangement has been characterized as unsocial but 
 conversation is easily carried on by leaning across " the well." Its 
 disadvantage is, that the eye can take in but the half of a land- 
 scape; a caustic friend likened it to the Irish character which 
 limits the vision to a one-sided view of everything. 
 
 26 We shall, however, have some observations to offer on this 
 subject hereafter; and especially in reference to the rough and 
 careless way in which the roads are kept in repair; the stones 
 that are laid down being generally huge knobs, that must remain 
 for a year or two before they are sufficiently broken. This method 
 of improvement is by the peasantry sarcastically called "powder 
 pavement." We had once a rather whimsical illustration of its 
 advantages. Travelling post, and about to change horses, the 
 landlord of the inn came to our carriage door, and politely in- 
 formed us we must have four horses for the next stage. We an- 
 swered, that we had travelled it a year before with but two. 
 " Oh ! " he replied, " but the road has been mended since then."
 
 NOTES 299 
 
 An illustration is supplied by a road in the vicinity of Cork, be- 
 tween the villages of Carrigaline and Monkstown. Part of it is 
 old, and, according to the ancient plan, hilly; to avoid a consider- 
 able elevation, a piece of new road was formed some time ago, 
 substituting a dead flat for a steep ; but so defective is the ground- 
 work of this new line, that all travellers avoid it, taking the hill 
 in preference. The new work is, therefore, perfectly useless; and 
 will continue so until the old road has become entirely impassable. 
 2T If the Irishman was not too firmly wedded to old habits, we 
 should propose for his consideration a plan for providing his boys 
 with jackets; namely, cutting off the tails of his unwieldy big 
 coat; it is a constant custom when walking to throw it over the 
 left arm, and it has always appeared to us an unnecessary waste 
 of cloth. 
 
 28 We were accompanied on our visit to Youghall and Lismore, 
 and subsequently into Tipperary, by William Willes, Esq., of Cork 
 an accomplished artist, to whom the readers of this work will 
 be largely indebted; and from whose observation, information, and 
 experience, we derived as much benefit as we did from his pencil. 
 
 29 Sir Joseph Banks, who took considerable pains to investigate 
 the subject, considers that the potato was introduced into the 
 British Islands (but not first in Ireland) in July, 1586, by the 
 return expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh; for which the patent 
 passed the Great Seal in 1584. Heriot, a scientific man, who ac- 
 companied the expedition, describes, under the head of " roots," 
 those called in Virginia " Openawk," which he says are " round, 
 some as large as a walnut, others much larger; they grow in damp 
 soil, many hanging together, as if fixed on ropes; they are good 
 food, either boiled or roasted." The baron Cuvier denies that the 
 potato was derived from Virginia. 
 
 so Old Gerard, the English herbalist, who lived in 1590, thus de- 
 scribes the potato-luxury: " The potato roots are, among the 
 Spaniards, Italians, and many other nations, common and ordi- 
 nary meate; which no doubt are of mighty nourishing parts, and 
 so strengthen and comfort nature, whose nutriment is, as it were, 
 a mean between flesh and fruit, though somewhat windy; but, 
 being roasted in the embers, they do lose much of their windiness, 
 especially being eaten sopped in wine. Of these roots may be 
 made conserves; no less toothsome, wholesome, and daintie, than 
 of the flesh of quinces. And likewise those comfortable and deli- 
 cate meates called in shops morcelli, placentulae, and divers others 
 such like. These roots may serve as a ground or foundation 
 whereon the cunning confectioner or sugar-baker may worke and
 
 300 IRELAND 
 
 frame many delicate conserves and restorative sweetmeates. They 
 are used to be eaten roasted in the ashes; some, when they be 
 so roasted, infuse them and sop them in wine; and others, to give 
 them the greater grace in eating, do boil them with prunes and 
 eat them." 
 
 31 It is generally believed, however, that the potato, celebrated 
 in the Elizabethan age, " is not the same root as that now com- 
 monly known by the name." 
 
 32 The Earl of Desmond, of whom we shall have to speak here- 
 after, in visiting Kilmallock, " the Balbec of Ireland," was per- 
 haps the greatest subject, at that time, in Europe. Besides his 
 numerous vassals, he had, it is said, 500 followers gentlemen of 
 his name and kindred. At his attainder, his confiscated estates 
 amounted to 574,628 English acres, which were parcelled out 
 among the queen's soldiers as rewards for crushing the rebellion. 
 
 33 In his poem of " Colin Clout's Come Home Again," the poet 
 Spenser thus speaks of the visit of Raleigh to Kilcoleman: 
 
 " 1 sate, as was my trade, 
 
 Under the foot of Mole, that mountain hore; 
 Keeping my sheep amongst the cooly shade 
 
 Of the green alders by the Mulla's shore. 
 There a strange shepherd chaunced to find me out; 
 
 Whether allured with my pipe's delight, 
 Whose pleasing sound yshrilled far about, 
 
 Or thither led by chance, I know not right; 
 Whom when I asked from what place he came 
 
 And how he hight, himself he did ycleep 
 The shepherd of the ocean by name, 
 
 And said he came far from the main sea deep." 
 
 And again, he describes Sir Walter sitting beside him on the 
 banks of the Mulla listening to the music of his pipe: 
 
 " And when he heard the musicke which I made, 
 He found himself e full greatly pleas'd at it; 
 Yet aemuling my pipe; he took in hand 
 My pipe, before that aemuled of many, 
 And played thereon (for well that skill he cou'd), 
 Himselfe as skilful in that art as any." 
 
 s* The present Duke of Devonshire is the proprietor of Youghall 
 and Lismore; inheriting in the female line through the Clifford
 
 NOTES 301 
 
 family, to the heiress of which noble line Lord Cork's eldest son, 
 created Earl of Burlington in 1663, was married. 
 
 ss The house is called " Myrtle Grove," from the luxurious 
 growth of the myrtles, by which it is nearly covered; some of 
 which are between twenty and thirty feet high. 
 
 36 One of these anecdotes we may quote. Raleigh had been di- 
 rected to take prisoners the Lord Roche and his lady, and con- 
 vey them to Cork; a task of no ordinary difficulty and danger, 
 for Roche was safely ensconced in his strong castle, and the roads 
 were beset with the troops of the seneschal of Imokilly, who had 
 notice of the design. Sir Walter managed to avoid them, and ar- 
 rived at the castle early in the morning, with a force of about 
 ninety men ; " whereupon the townsmen, to the number of five hun- 
 dred, immediately took up arms." The knight marched directly 
 to the gate, and desired to speak with the lord; which was agreed 
 to, provided he would bring with him but two or three of his fol- 
 lowers. The gate being opened, he and six of his soldiers entered; 
 and after he had seen Lord Roche and spoken to him, by degrees 
 Raleigh contrived to draw in a considerable number of his men, 
 and to take possession of the outworks of the castle. Lord Roche 
 " put the best face he could upon the matter," and invited the 
 captain to dine with him. After dinner, Raleigh informed him 
 of the purport of his mission; when his lordship, finding excuses 
 of no avail, " resolutely said he would not depart." But Raleigh 
 letting him know that he would take him by force, he found there 
 was no remedy, and he and his lady set out on the journey, on 
 a most rainy and tempestuous night, and through a very rocky 
 and dangerous way, whereby many of the soldiers were severely 
 hurt, and others lost their arms. However, the badness of the 
 weather prevented their being attacked by the seneschal: and they 
 arrived safe in the city [of Cork] (a distance of twenty miles) 
 by break of day, to the great joy of the garrison, who were sur- 
 prised that Raleigh had escaped so hazardous an enterprise. 
 
 37 In Archdale's " Monasticon," there is a singular account of its 
 origin; if this be, indeed, the structure referred to, of which there 
 is some doubt. It was founded in 1224, for Franciscan friars, by 
 Maurice Fitzgerald. He was building a castle on the spot; the 
 workmen who were digging the foundations, on the eve of some 
 festival, requested a piece of money to drink his health, which he 
 desired his eldest son to give them. Instead of obeying the com- 
 mand, he abused the men; the act of disobedience and parsimony 
 coming to the father's ears, he changed his plan, and built a 
 monastery instead of a castle, as a punishment to his heir-
 
 302 IRELAND 
 
 apparent. To this monastery, Maurice Fitzgerald, who had been 
 Lord Justice of Ireland, subsequently retired, assumed the habit 
 of St. Francis, died, and was interred within its walls. Several 
 other members of " the princely house of Desmond " are entombed 
 here. 
 
 as Of the numerous castles in the districts, over which we can 
 afford only to glance, we may particularize Mogeely, on the south 
 side of the Blackwater, and a few miles north of Youghall, of 
 which the following traditionary anecdote is told: Thomas, Earl 
 of Desmond, had a favourite steward who often " took great liber- 
 ties with his lord," and who, having issued invitations to all the 
 chiefs of Munster with their followers to spend a month at the 
 castle, filled it with guests, for whose entertainment the master 
 was unprepared. In a few days provisions grew scarce, and the 
 earl, alarmed at the danger of sacrificing his reputation for munif- 
 icent hospitality for "his pride would not brook to let his visit- 
 ors know the strait he was in " devised a stratagem to save his 
 credit, and gave command to his servants to set fire to the castle 
 while the party was out hunting, and, of course, to pretend it 
 was consumed by accident. Luckily, the steward, who had been 
 absent, returned in time to rescind the order; and when the earl 
 wended homeward " with a heavy heart, expecting to see Mogeely 
 in flames," he was met " by a large prey of corn and cattle " suf- 
 ficient to subsist him and his company for many months. In this 
 tradition originated the " extravagant expedient," as it has been 
 critically called, to which Sir Walter Scott resorted in his beauti- 
 ful fiction of the Bride of Lammermoor, by making Caleb Balder- 
 stone burn, or pretend to burn, his master's castle, to avoid giving 
 a reception to the Marquis. 
 
 39 There were not wanting some to speak their minds plainly to 
 the heartless sovereign; to express themselves with the bold spirit 
 so characteristic of their country. It is stated that a Colonel 
 Costelloe thus addressed the king, in reply to his customary taunt 
 of insolent condolence: "Please your majesty, I ask no compen- 
 sation for my services and losses in your majesty's cause; I see 
 that to your friends, and to my countrymen in particular, you 
 give nothing; and that it is your enemies alone who receive favour 
 and reward. For ten year's service, for many wounds, and for 
 the total loss of my estates, I ask nothing; but in the ardour of 
 youth, and in the belief that I was asserting the sacred cause of 
 liberty, I fought, for one year, in the service of the usurper: give 
 me back such portion of my estates as that year's service entitles 
 me to."
 
 NOTES 303 
 
 40 As an instance of the value of local tradition, we may mention 
 an anecdote related to us by a gentleman who inquired of his 
 guide what had occasioned the accumulation of so many skulls and 
 bones at the entrance to Buttevant Abbey. " The reply," he added, 
 " was one of the most ridiculous you can conceive ' Faix, Sir, 
 'twas a battle that Alexander the Great was killed in, that was 
 fought hereabouts ! ' Can anything be more absurd than this ? " 
 he concluded with an air of triumph. Now we did not agree with 
 him in his opinion, and ventured to show our friend that the 
 " Ollistrum More " of Irish tradition so was Milton's " Colkitto 
 or Macdonnell" called was literally and correctly translated, by 
 his guide, as Alexander the Great. 
 
 41 In reference to this matter, a whimsical circumstance occurred 
 to us while travelling on a car between Dunbrody and Wexford. 
 We had been talking over it, and speculating on the possibility of 
 some happy chance enabling us to enrich the world by finding these 
 " lost books " in some sequestered nook, when the carman turned 
 suddenly round and startled us by an exclamation " I know the 
 man that has 'em." For an instant our hearts leapt with joy, and 
 we eagerly asked, "Who? where?" "Oh, bedad, sir, I know the 
 man that has 'em; he lives at Ballyhack, and has thim and the 
 pinny magazine both." 
 
 42 The famous "caves" are in the county of Tipperary; we 
 shall describe them hereafter: some idea of their extent may be 
 gathered from the fact that we traversed them for upwards of 
 five hours. 
 
 43 For the present, it is only necessary to state, that the Lepre- 
 hawn or Cluricaun, or Lurigadaun, or Loherimaun, or Luriceen 
 is a sort of material fairy, capable of being taken prisoner by 
 mortal hands. The person who is lucky enough to encounter him 
 has the power to compel him to surrender his treasure, provided 
 he keeps his eyes fixed upon the cunning creature, who generally 
 succeeds in averting the sight of his captor, and is then gone in 
 an instant. The Leprehawn is the brogue-maker of the " good 
 people," and is almost invariably found at work, with his lapstone 
 on his knee. 
 
 44 These ruined churches are favourite burial-places of the peas- 
 antry; and it is a common custom to make head-stones of frag- 
 ments of broken pillars, mullions, and fretted work. 
 
 45 There are two very opposite stories in reference to the career 
 and death of this remarkable man; both, however, agree in describ- 
 ing him as "handsome, generous, brave;" high-spirited, "sudden 
 and quick in quarrel;" and jealous for the honour of his religion.
 
 304 IRELAND 
 
 One story goes, that a horse of O'Leary's having beaten, in a 
 race, the horse of a Mr. Morris, the latter claimed it; tendering, 
 in an insulting manner, its price upon the race-course : " Papist, 
 five pounds for your horse" (by the seventh of William III., chap. 
 5, Roman Catholics were disabled from having or keeping a horse 
 exceeding five pounds in value). A quarrel ensued, and O'Leary, 
 with threats of vengeance, made his escape. It is said that a 
 magistrate was found upon the spot, who by a summary proceed- 
 ing proclaimed O'Leary an outlaw, while the echo of his horse's 
 hoofs was ringing in the air, and that he was immediately followed 
 by a band of soldiers. Others say, that he rode about the county 
 for some months, armed at all points, and protected by the peas- 
 antry. Hunted by the military, he had distanced them, and, as 
 he thought, was in safety within sight of his own house, when, 
 in the spirit of his natural daring, he turned round and waved 
 his hat to his pursuers. His triumph was short; a bullet from the 
 musket of a raw recruit, the first it is said he ever fired, laid him 
 dead upon the road. Morris was tried for the murder and ac- 
 quitted. A short time afterwards he was shot at, " in his lodgings 
 near Hammond's Marsh," by the younger brother of O'Leary, who 
 succeeded in escaping to America. This circumstance took place 
 in 1773. Another version of the story has been furnished us by 
 a friend intimately acquainted with the neighbourhood in which 
 it occurred; and it illustrates the wild and reckless character of 
 the Irish gentlemen of the period. O'Leary was remarkable for 
 many personal qualities, for manly beauty and great strength; 
 had unrivalled dexterity in athletic exercises, and courage ap- 
 proaching to madness. He engaged in a mortal feud with one of 
 the neighbouring gentry; which originated, as stated by our in- 
 formant, not in a dispute concerning a horse, but in a scuffle for 
 priority in obtaining a goblet of water which an old woman handed 
 to them at a spring near Mount Massey, called the Spa. For the 
 assault, O'Leary was indicted, and bound to stand his trial; but 
 he failed to appear, and resisted the recovery of his recognizances, 
 which were estreated. A writ of outlawry consequently issued 
 against him; and he went abroad for a time. On his return he 
 made no attempt to conceal himself, but frequented fairs and 
 markets, armed, and bidding ostentatious defiance to his enemies. 
 The feud with his old adversary was renewed, and it became evi- 
 dent that one of the opponents would inevitably slay the other. 
 A party of soldiers were stationed to arrest O'Leary near his 
 house; he sallied out to meet them; several shots were exchanged; 
 when " a little soldier," a raw recruit, covered him with his piece,
 
 NOTES 305 
 
 saying, " I'm sure to hit him now," pulled the trigger, and O'Leary 
 fell dead. 
 
 46 The hospitality of the Mac Sweeny and the O'Leary, is how- 
 ever eclipsed by that of another Irish chieftain, the ancestor of 
 the O'Sullivans, a race of whom the legend says, " Nulla manus, 
 tarn liberalis, atque generalis, atque universalis, quam Sullivanus." 
 The name is said to have originated from the following circum- 
 stance. There chanced to arrive in Ireland, from Albany, a one- 
 eyed Druid, who was also a bard, named Levawn. He was hos- 
 pitably received by Eochy chief of his name and nation who 
 had also but one eye. When the Druid was departing from the 
 castle, he refused all the rich gifts offered to him, but demanded 
 from his host a present of his only eye. Eochy, impelled by gener- 
 osity, at once tore it from the socket and bestowed it upon his 
 avaricious guest. There happened, however, at the time, to be 
 a holy man residing with the outraged Eochy; and he, indignant 
 at such ingratitude, prayed that the Druid's eye might depart 
 from its place, and together with his own, become the prop- 
 erty of Eochy. The prayer was heard the chieftain became in- 
 stantly the possessor of two eyes, and the Druid left the castle 
 for ever blind. Hence Eochy and his posterity obtained the name 
 of " Suil-Levawn " Levawn's eye. 
 
 47 During the lifetime of Mr. Hedges Eyre, it was impossible 
 for the inn at Macroom to prosper; for, whenever a customer ar- 
 rived, if his manner denoted him to be a gentleman, a messenger 
 was soon in his chamber, with " compliments, &c., and a room was 
 prepared for him in the castle;" particular injunctions being 
 given not to sup before his removal. Since the death of the gen- 
 erous and hospitable gentleman, the inn has assumed a more 
 stirring aspect, and is likely to have employment for both cook 
 and housemaid. 
 
 *s This poem was written, about the year 1826, by J. J. Cal- 
 lanan, a native of Cork: he died at Lisbon in 1829; and his grave 
 was made, not by the " calm Avonbuee," in accordance with his 
 fervent prayer, but by the banks of the Tagus far away from 
 " deep-valley'd Desmond." A volume of his poems was published 
 soon after his death; and among them are many of merit fully 
 equal to the fine example we have quoted. 
 
 49 "Was he a gentleman?" we asked of the old man we have 
 referred to. " Och surely," he replied, " for he couldn't speak to 
 us in our tongue; and his hand was as soft as a lady's." We in- 
 quired if he was ever afterwards seen in the neighbourhood of the 
 encounter, and the answer was "No; but an uncle's son of mine 
 V 20
 
 306 IRELAND 
 
 would be on his oath that he saw him not many a long day back 
 riding in a grand carriage about the streets of London; and no- 
 body," he added, " that once seen his dark eye but would know it 
 again." 
 
 so We asked a peasant why the mountain was called the Priest's 
 Leap, and received this answer. " Ye see, sir, one time in this 
 country there was five pounds for a wolf's head, and five pounds 
 for a priest's head; and a dale o' money was made out o' the 
 both of 'em. Well a holy priest was riding over the hill, and he 
 was purshued by the Tories (they called thim Tories that time, 
 that's the blagards that did be hunting the priests); and just as 
 they had their bloody hands upon his robe, he prayed to St. 
 Fiachna to help him out of their way; and the ass he was on 
 gave a leap, and sprung seven miles over the mountain to th' other 
 side of it, and there are the marks of the baste's knees in the 
 solid rock to this day. And the people won't blast the rock, 
 though it comes right in the way of the road to Bantry." There 
 is, beyond question, a singular rock which greatly interferes with 
 the road containing two excavations of a remarkable character 
 the removal of which rock seems to be necessary, but it remains 
 untouched. 
 
 5a To account for the absurd manner in which these old roads 
 were laid down, it must be remembered that, generally, they were 
 not the lines deliberately selected; they were old foot-ways, grad- 
 ually improved into some approach to the character of high-roads. 
 
 52 In the neighbourhood of Kinsale, there are many remains of 
 antiquity of a date long antecedent to the visits of the Spaniards; 
 we examined a singular rath, immediately adj oining " Rathmore " 
 (the great rath), the seat of John Thomas Cramer, Esq., whose 
 lady is sister to the gallant and distinguished officer (Colonel 
 Thomas) who represents the town. We have seen nowhere so 
 graceful a blending of art and nature as in this singularly ro- 
 mantic and beautiful demesne. Wealth and taste have gone, hand 
 in hand for its improvement; it abounds with the richest and finest 
 shrubs and flowers; and magnificent trees fling their branches over 
 the very ocean. In the mildest climate of the south of Europe, it 
 is impossible for foliage to grow in more luxuriant beauty. 
 
 63 The singular circumstances connected with the history of De 
 Courcy are recorded by Hanmer in his Chronicle of Ireland (A.D. 
 1571). Sir John de Courcy had held the highest offices in the coun- 
 try, but had been displaced by his rival Hugh de Lacy, and orders 
 were given to arrest him. Sir John, having secret intelligence of 
 the design, "kept himselfe aloofe," and his enemy had recourse
 
 NOTES 307 
 
 to stratagem to effect a seizure of his person; offering a large re- 
 ward for his apprehension. " Then, privily, he dealt with four of 
 his servants," who informed De Lacy, " We can direct you to a 
 course to bring your purpose to effect; upon Good Friday yeerly, 
 he weares no armes, but is wholly given up to divine contempla- 
 tion, and commonly walketh all solitary round about the church- 
 yard of Dune." Thus betrayed, De Courcy was attacked by a 
 troop of horsemen. " He ranne to a wooden crosse that stood in 
 the churchyard, took the pole thereof, and laid about him lustily" 
 so lustily that he slew thirteen of De Lacy's men, but in the 
 end was taken, " clapt in the Towre of London," and condemned 
 to perpetual imprisonment. " The Judases that had betrayed their 
 master had their hire," but on condition of quitting Ireland never 
 to return to it, upon pain of death. They embarked for England 
 with a singular certificate, under Sir Hugh's hand, of the good 
 service they had done, which contained this passage, " I deem them 
 no better than Judas the traitor; wherefore, let no subject within 
 the king's dominions give them any entertainment, but spit in their 
 faces, and suffer them to rogue about and wander as Jews." Stress 
 of weather compelled the men to land at Cork; where they were 
 apprehended, brought before Sir Hugh, " and forthwith all foure 
 hanged cheeke by jole." Some time after, a quarrel having ensued 
 between John king of England, and Philip king of France, it was 
 agreed to put it to the combat. On the part of the French there 
 was a man "in readinesse;" but (we quote the old chronicler) 
 " King lohn upon the sudden wist not what to do for a Cham- 
 pion to encounter with him; at length, one attending upon his 
 person, enformed him that there was one Courcy in the Towre of 
 London, the onely man in his dominions (if hee would under- 
 take it) to answer the challenge. King lohn ioyfull of this, 
 sent the first, yea second, and third time, promising large re- 
 wards, and rich gifts, and that it stood him upon as farre as the 
 honour of his Crowne and kingdome did reach, to make good the 
 combat. Courcy answered very frowardly, (the which was taken 
 in good part in regard of the urgent necessitie) that he would 
 never fight for him, neither for any such as he was, that he was 
 not worthy to have one drop of bloud spilt for him; that he was 
 not able to requite him the wrongs he had done him, neither to 
 restore him the heart's ease he had bereaved him of; yet notwith- 
 standing all the premises, he was willing, and would, with all ex- 
 pedition, be ready to venture his life in defence of the Crowne and 
 his country. Whereupon it was agreed, that he should be dyeted, 
 ap par relied, and armed to his content, and that his owne sword
 
 308 IRELAND 
 
 should be brought him out of Ireland. The day came, the place 
 appointed, the Liste provided, the scaffolds set up, the Princes 
 with their nobility of each side, with thousands in expectation. 
 Forth comes the French Champion, gave a turne, and rests him 
 in his tent: They sent for Courcy, who all this while was trussing 
 of himselfe about with strong poynts, and answered the messen- 
 gers, if any of their company were to goe to such a banquet, I 
 thinke he would make no great haste. Forth he comes, gave a 
 turne, and went into his tent. When the trumpets sounded to bat- 
 taile, forth come the combatants, and viewed each other. Courcy 
 beheld him with a wonderfull sterne countenance, and passed by. 
 The French man not liking his grimme look, the strong proportion 
 and feature of his person, stalked still along, and when the 
 Trumpets sounded the last charge, Courcy drew out his sword, 
 and the French man ranne away, and conveyed him to Spaine. 
 Whereupon they sounded victory, the people clapt their hands, 
 and cast up their cappes; King Philip desired King lohn that 
 Courcy might be called before them, to shew some part of his 
 strength and manhood, by a blow upon a Helmet; it was agreed, 
 a stake was set in the ground, and a shirt of maile, and a Helmet 
 thereon; Courcy drew his sword, looked wonderfull sternly upon 
 the Princes, cleft the helmet, the shirt of maile, and the stake so 
 farre in, that none could pull it out but himselfe. Then the Princes 
 demanded of him, what hee meant to looke so sowrely upon them; 
 his answer was, if hee had missed his blow upon the blocke, he 
 would have cut off both the Kings heads. All that hee said was 
 taken in good part; King lohn discharged him out of all his trou- 
 bles, gave him great gifts, and restored him to his former posses- 
 sions in Ireland." 
 
 The grant of the "privilege" does not rest upon the same au- 
 thority, although there can be no doubt of its existence. The King 
 (John) it is said, " besides restoring to the Earl his property, bade 
 him ask for anything else in his gift he had a mind to, and he 
 should have it; upon which, he answered he had titles and estates 
 enough, but desired that he and his successors, heirs male, might 
 have the privilege (after their first obeySance) to be covered in 
 the royal presence of him and his successors, kings of England, 
 which the king granted." His descendants have repeatedly upheld 
 their claim to the ancient grant, and the late Lord Kinsale kept 
 his hat on before George IV. during his visit to Ireland; but 
 merely for a few moments, in order to establish his right. The 
 present lord is an absentee, and, we believe, has never seen the 
 town from which he derives his title and his income. The prop-
 
 NOTES 309 
 
 erty is very limited. There is a tradition that when King John 
 granted the privilege, he agreed to give his champion as much 
 Irish land as he could ride round on a given day, and that the 
 existing owners of the intended transfer made him intoxicated; so 
 that he was able to ride over but a small district. 
 
 54 One of the outer forts of Charles-Fort is called " the Devil's 
 Battery." The legend attached to it is that the arch-enemy was 
 wont to take his rounds upon the ramparts, carrying in his hand 
 a cannon-ball, and terrifying the sentinels night after night. The 
 cause of this appearance is said to have originated in a tragic 
 event that once occurred there. The only son of the governor pre- 
 vailed upon the sentinel on duty to convey a message from him 
 into the town; taking his firelock and place during his absence. 
 The young man fell asleep on his post, and the governor, visiting 
 the stations, and finding, as he supposed, the sentinel betraying his 
 trust, shot him dead, and to his horror, found he had slain his 
 child. So great was his despair that he leaped from the ramparts 
 into the sea and perished. From that fatal night his satanic 
 majesty was a constant visitor at the fort; and a cannon is shown 
 there to this day on which he left the mark of his thumb. Several 
 other " frightful " stories of demons, ghosts, and hobgoblins, are 
 told of the neighbourhood. 
 
 ss There is a statement generally credited, but which, we believe, 
 rests on no good authority (for we have vainly searched for and 
 inquired concerning the alleged fact) that the Corporation had 
 formerly carved upon the town-gate, the illiberal and insulting 
 couplet 
 
 " Enter here, Jew, Turk, or Atheist, 
 Anybody but a Papist;" 
 
 under which, it is said, upon authority equally apocryphal, an 
 angry wit wrote the following 
 
 " Whoever wrote this, wrote it well 
 The same is carved on the gate of H ." 
 
 It is more than probable that the author of the latter was also 
 the author of the former couplet; and that neither were ever seen 
 upon the gates of Bandon. 
 
 se We once addressed ourselves to a landlord and tendered him 
 the amount of his bill; he turned away somewhat haughtily, say- 
 ing he was not the waiter, and called " Paddy " to receive our 
 money. On other occasions we were compelled, reluctantly, to 
 conclude that the master construed an order into an insult. We
 
 310 IRELAND 
 
 must except from this observation the landlord at Bantry, who 
 himself accompanied us to the neighbouring points of interest, and 
 gathered together all the old story-tellers in his vicinity who he 
 thought might afford us information. The host at Killarney too 
 was attentive, agreeable, and useful. The waiters were invariably 
 the very opposite of this character; but they are far too original 
 and amusing a class to be dismissed in a paragraph. 
 
 57 We were enabled to carry on our memories a few of the 
 words; and they, subsequently, led to our procuring a copy of the 
 song. The following is a literal translation of some of the first 
 lines, which give a pretty description of rural objects and sounds: 
 
 ** I went forth at early mom, the sun of summer was shining, 
 I heard the vnnding * of a shout and the sweet music of birds ; 
 The badger and the hare were abroad; and the woodcock with 
 
 the long bill; 
 I heard the son of the rock (. 6. echo) resounding the noise of 
 
 guns. 
 
 The red fox was on the rock; the thousand shouts of hunters arose. 
 The woman was at home in sadness, lamenting her geese; 
 Now the woods are falling, let us haste o'er the sea, 
 John O'Dwyer of the valley, you are without pastime." 
 * " In many a winding bout." MILTON'S ALLEGRO. 
 
 58 A tower near Castle Townsend is pointed out as the place in 
 which the Dean composed this poem. It is now a complete ruin, 
 being the mere shell of a turret overgrown with ivy, but command- 
 ing a beautiful prospect of the harbour and over the sea. 
 
 69 It is also a singular fact, but one capable of easy proof, that 
 the Irish, although the best soldiers in the world, make the worst 
 sailors. A friend of ours had occasion, not long ago, to institute 
 very minute inquiries on the subject, and he was astonished to find 
 how few " able seamen," natives of Ireland, were registered on the 
 books of the Admiralty. 
 
 eo It is the curse of Ireland that her " Advocates " are always 
 striving after " vain things ; " turning a deaf ear to real and prac- 
 ticable improvements; and preferring the advocacy of a small 
 benefit that shall produce agitation, to a large good in which all 
 parties may unite. At the present moment, the Irish papers are 
 full of idle treatises showing that (we quote from one of them, 
 "the Vindicator" of Belfast) "the immense sum of 254,000 is 
 sent annually by Ireland for second-hand clothes in England; 
 which," adds the writer, "would, if we had native manufactories,
 
 NOTES 311 
 
 be spent at home." With the question whether a repeal of the 
 Union would build these manufactories, we do not now meddle; 
 but if the labours of such writers were devoted to prove the 
 ability of the Irish to catch their own fish, to eat what they re- 
 quired, and sell the surplus, they would be much better employed, 
 and might lead to results that would make the cost of these " old 
 clothes " a very trifling consideration. We hope to see manu- 
 factories in Ireland flourish ere long (that they may do so has 
 been proved in the neighbourhood of Waterford, where a cotton 
 manufactory has been for some years established where fortunes 
 have been made, and where 1,600 mechanics of both sexes are em- 
 ployed during the whole year) ; but the fisheries require far less 
 capital, and afford far greater certainty of profit. 
 
 si We have seen one, long disused, which contained six or seven 
 natural chambers, and covered an area of, perhaps, a quarter of 
 a mile, the entrance to which seemed hardly wide enough to admit 
 a shepherd's dog; and close to the Old Head of Kinsale, a crevice 
 in a high rock, leads, it is said, to an excavation large enough to 
 hold a regiment; popular tradition states, indeed, that it contains 
 a passage into the town a distance of several miles. 
 
 62 Unhappily, an officer thrust his sword through one of these 
 floating sods (they are no more), and the country people tell you 
 "it limped in the water ever after." 
 
 63 We extract the following passage from Croker's " Researches 
 in the South of Ireland:" 
 
 " About the year 1804, Colonel Hall, who had been some time 
 quartered at Killarney, conceiving a favourable opinion of Ross 
 Mine, induced one or two gentlemen in the vicinity to join in re- 
 opening it. Having succeeded in clearing out the water and rub- 
 bish, the little company were encouraged by the flattering ap- 
 pearances to proceed to work it, which they did on rather an 
 extensive scale, notwithstanding the unfavourable circumstances of 
 its situation, nearly close to the lake, the ground not rising much 
 above, and dipping towards it at an angle about thirty degrees 
 from the horizon; so that in a short time the workmen had ex- 
 cavated completely under the lake, with every fear of its waters 
 breaking in on them. The richness and abundance of the ore 
 was, however, a sufficient inducement to counteract this danger and 
 inconvenience, as, during the four years that Ross Mine was 
 worked, nearly 80,000 worth of copper was disposed of at Swan- 
 sea, some cargoes producing 40 per ton. But this very richness 
 was the ultimate cause of its destruction, as several small veins 
 of pure oxide of copper split off from the main lode, and ran
 
 312 IRELAND 
 
 towards the surface. The ore of these veins was much more val- 
 uable than the other, consequently the miners (who were paid by 
 quality as well as quantity) pursued the smaller veins so near 
 the surface, that the water broke through into the mine in such an 
 overwhelming degree, that an engine of thirty-horse power could 
 make no sensible impression on the inundation; and thus a forcible 
 stop was put to all further proceedings." 
 
 o 4 The company expended 12,000, in addition to the produce, 
 in proving the mine of Kippagh; and sunk the principal shaft 120 
 fathoms, extending on the several levels nearly 200 fathoms; and 
 the mine having been altogether unproductive in depth, where it 
 was expected the junction of two parallel lodes would have yielded 
 return, the lease was surrendered to Lord Audley, who soon after- 
 wards succeeded in forming, in London, the notorious " West Cork 
 Mining Company" for working the mine. 
 
 s The Rev. Mr. Townsend, in his Survey of the County of Cork, 
 states that the ashes yielded from ten to twelve pounds per ton. 
 
 ee This has, indeed, been already done, and to a large extent. 
 The discovery of the productive and profitable mine of Allihies, 
 at Berehaven, in the county of Cork, was the result of a sugges- 
 tion of Colonel Hall's, who, after exploring the land in company 
 with its proprietor, Mr. Puxley, pointed out a particular spot es- 
 pecially favourable for experiment. It was tried, and from it 
 has resulted one of the most successful mines of the kingdom. 
 
 67 We sheltered, until a heavy shower by which we were over- 
 taken had in some degree subsided, beneath a rock; and a story 
 told us by a lady, whose veracity was never questioned, was re- 
 called to our remembrance by the immediate locale in which we 
 stood. We will endeavour to relate it in her own words: 
 
 "When I was a little girl," she said, "my uncle was a magis- 
 trate of the county of Cork, an adtive but kind-hearted man, ren- 
 dered vigilant by the period in which his energies were called into 
 action by the Irish ' troubles.' The attempt of the French to land 
 in Bantry Bay, made the people suspicious of every ship that rode 
 upon its waters; they forgot in their terror that France would not 
 be likely to risk another storm in the same quarter. Now my 
 uncle was what is called a very watchful man, always on the look- 
 out for ships; and it was said, that if a nautilus had raised its 
 tiny sail in Bantry Bay, my uncle would have boarded her if he 
 could. 
 
 " It is no wonder, then, that riding homewards from the town of 
 Bantry one fine evening about six o'clock, before sunset (for it 
 was summer time), he saw an exceedingly fine vessel, but of
 
 NOTES 313 
 
 foreign build, at anchor, nearer the shore than he, as a magis- 
 trate, quite liked. It was so calm an evening, that there was no 
 sound from the sea, save the whisper of the ripple that wandered 
 along the shore the stillness was oppressive to one who loved the 
 music of hound and horn better than meditation but for all that, 
 he did meditate upon the ship, and drew up his horse to observe 
 her at leisure; it was so deadly calm, that the rays of the sun 
 rested almost without sparkling upon the huge mirror of the bay 
 that slept as calmly as a child upon its mother's bosom. While 
 my uncle paused, he drew forth his little telescope and applied it 
 carefully to his eye, and was more convinced than ever that the 
 ship was a foreigner, and carried (as all ships did in those days) 
 a sufficient quantity of guns for her own preservation. He had 
 just taken down his glass, determining to ride back to the town, 
 put the military on the alert, and demand to see her papers in 
 the morning, when, immediately under the stern of the vessel, he 
 saw a tall thin figure rise perpendicularly out of the water. His 
 first impression was, that some one was indulging in an evening 
 bath; but a feeling of extreme awe crept over him as he observed 
 that the form stood upon the sea. My uncle was anything but 
 superstitious, yet he found it impossible to shake off his terror; 
 the mysterious being was there, shrouded, as if in the garb of the 
 grave, standing with outstretched arms in the same spot. My 
 uncle noted that it clasped its hands more than once, and then 
 stretched them forward again towards the ship. He observed its 
 movements with breathless attention, and after a lapse of, as 
 nearly as he could calculate, three or four minutes, it slowly de- 
 scended into the waters. That night my uncle never slept and 
 the next morning he rose before the sun, saddled his own horse, 
 rode into Bantry, and accompanied by what he considered a suf- 
 ficient force in his capacity as magistrate boarded the ship, 
 which was anchored in the same spot, and demanded to see her 
 papers. There was neither mystery nor trepidation in the skip- 
 per's manner, which was blunt and sailor-like; and the papers 
 seemed ' all right.' My uncle was perplexed ! he did not know 
 what to say or do and at last, stimulated by an uncontrollable 
 impulse, he mentioned what he had witnessed the previous evening. 
 In an instant the rough sailor's manner changed; he trembled 
 violently, and sank upon a chair. My uncle's keen grey eyes were 
 fixed upon him he covered his face with his hands and, after a 
 brief pause, exclaimed ' All is in vain ; the vengeance of God is 
 everywhere. Sir, that has followed me from sea to sea, from 
 harbour to harbour, in storm and calm, everywhere.' This extraor-
 
 314 IRELAND 
 
 dinary confession, made while the wretched man trembled with 
 agony, and huge drops stood upon his brow, was followed by an 
 appalling confession of murder upon the high seas, mingled with 
 superstitious forebodings as to his having been doomed from his 
 birth to destruction; and that, finding such was his doom, he had 
 led on a mutiny and destroyed his captain; whose 'wraith' had 
 attracted my uncle's attention on the previous evening. Such 
 was his wild and incoherent tale; and upon that confession, borne 
 out by the evidence of some of the crew, he, and we believe one 
 or two of his associates, were executed in Cork." Such was our 
 friend's story and she added, that it made her uncle's spirit sad 
 to speak of the circumstance, and that at last it was never men- 
 tioned before him. 
 
 es There is little doubt, however, that Lord Edward Fitzgerald 
 and Mr. Arthur O'Connor had previously intrigued with the 
 French government for the invasion of their country. 
 
 Tone afterwards made another attempt to introduce the 
 French into Ireland in 1798. He was captured in the Hoche, off 
 Donegal; transmitted to Dublin, tried by court-martial, and sen- 
 tenced to death. He appeared at his trial in French uniform; and 
 on hearing the sentence, requested to be shot as a soldier holding 
 a commission in the French service, under the name of Smith; the 
 request was, of course, refused. On the evening previous to the 
 day fixed for his execution, he wounded himself in the throat so 
 desperately, that he could not be moved without the probability 
 of dying before he reached the scaffold; after lingering in this 
 state for about a week, he died in prison, on the 19th November, 
 1798. 
 
 70 This force of 14,000 (or more correctly 13,975) men, is mag- 
 nified by the London Gazette of the 3rd of January, 1797, into 
 20,000; and by the Annual Register into 25,000 men. Mr. Alison, 
 in the 4th vol. of his " History of Europe from the commencement 
 of the French Revolution," has followed the authority of the An- 
 nual Register, and states that the fleet "conveyed in all 25,000 
 land forces." 
 
 71 General Hoche and Admiral de Galles, the naval and military 
 commanders of the expedition, were on board one of the frigates 
 the Fraternitd which parted company from the fleet soon after 
 it left the harbour of Brest, and never joined the main body. 
 The failure of the expedition is evidently as much to be attributed 
 to the absence of the leaders, and consequent want of orders, as 
 to the state of the weather. 
 
 72 The Irish government appears to have been most culpably
 
 NOTES 315 
 
 negligent. According to a writer of the period, " Hurry, con- 
 fusion, and disorder, marked the advance of the army; all was 
 terror, doubt, and dismay; troops disaffected, horses wanting, the 
 munitions of war badly supplied, and even the ball was unfitted 
 to the calibre of the cannon, furnished by a defective commis- 
 sariat." This, although the statement of a partizan of France, is 
 perhaps but little exaggerated. We can support it by authority 
 of an opposite character. Colonel Hall, whose regiment was then 
 quartered at Tralee and Killarney, received orders to march to 
 Bantry, from the general commanding the district, and "oppose 
 the landing of the French." If we recollect rightly, the force 
 under Colonel Hall's command (for he was the senior field officer), 
 including as many of his own regiment as he could instantly col- 
 lect, when he arrived at "the bay" amounted to about 700 men; 
 a force which the French, if they had landed, would instantly have 
 annihilated; but which might have been very advantageously em- 
 ployed in breaking up the roads, and harassing the march of the 
 invaders to Cork; procuring time for the government to make 
 preparations to meet them. Colonel Hall's regiment then consisted 
 of raw recruits, nine-tenths of whom had never seen a shot fired, 
 and who would have cut but a poor figure if opposed to the elite 
 of the French army. His intention, therefore (of which we have 
 often heard him speak as a "dismal necessity"), was to have 
 fired a volley in obedience to orders, and then to have saved the 
 lives of his men, by grounding arms and surrendering as prisoners 
 of war. 
 
 73 The instructions were, in case of such a contingency, to cruise 
 four days off the Mizen Head, and then to proceed to the mouth 
 of the Shannon; to remain there three days, and then, if not re- 
 joined, to return to Brest. 
 
 7* The French had marvellously miscalculated as to the co-opera- 
 tion they anticipated from the Irish people, who were, in 1796, 
 totally unprepared to receive them as friends, or to adopt the re- 
 publican principles and government they designed to disseminate 
 and establish. In his memorials to the Directory, Tone had repre- 
 sented the Irish as " fixing their eyes most earnestly on France," 
 as "eager to fly to the standard of the republic;" the catholics 
 as "ready to join it to a man," and that "it would be just as 
 easy, in a month, to have an army in Ireland of 200,000 men as 
 10,000." Whether he had wilfully misstated the fact, or whether 
 his sanguine temperament had led him to believe that his country- 
 men would join the French en masse, it is difficult to say. But it 
 is certain that the invaders would have been received by the Irish
 
 316 IRELAND 
 
 generally, not as friends, but as enemies. Along the coast, the 
 south and west, most distinctly threatened, the peasants were actu- 
 ally in arms such arms as they could command to repel them. 
 We have frequently heard Colonel Hall state that, on his march 
 to Bantry, his men were cheered by the peasantry, supplied with 
 food and drink by them, and received unequivocal demonstrations 
 of their resolves to fight upon their cabin thresholds against the 
 entrance of a Frenchman. In the London Gazette of the 7th of 
 January, 1797, this feeling is particularly adverted to. "The ac- 
 counts of the disposition of the country where the troops are as- 
 sembled, are as favourable as possible, and the greatest loyalty 
 has manifested itself throughout the kingdom; in the south and 
 west, when the troops have been in motion, they have been met by 
 the country people of all descriptions with provisions and all sorts 
 of accommodations to facilitate their march; and every demon- 
 stration has been given of the zeal and ardour to oppose the 
 enemy in every place where it could be supposed a descent might 
 be attempted." The Gazette of the 17th contains a letter from 
 the Lord Lieutenant (Earl Camden), in which, after noticing the 
 good disposition evinced by the troops, his Excellency states, "the 
 roads, which in parts were rendered impassable by the snow, were 
 cleared by the peasantry. The poor people often shared their 
 potatoes with the soldiers. * * * In short, had the enemy 
 landed, their hope of assistance from the inhabitants would have 
 been totally disappointed." Every account published at the time 
 bears out this statement. Our own experience of the Irish justi- 
 fies us in asserting that, even now, they have neither sympathy 
 with, nor affection for, the French; and that under no circum- 
 stances could the majority of the people be brought to consider 
 them as desirable allies. 
 
 75 Of the ships, the Nestor, 74, was driven on shore; the Se'dui- 
 sant was wrecked on the Grand Stevent, going out of Brest; the 
 Impatiente was wrecked on the Mizen Head; the whole crew, ex- 
 cept seven, perished; the Surveillante was captured in Bantry Bay, 
 and scuttled, having been abandoned by her crew; the Resolve 
 was dismasted by being run foul of by the Indomptable, and after- 
 wards towed into Brest; the Tartare was captured, after a short 
 action, by the Polyphemus, and brought into Cork harbour. (The 
 Tartare had 625 men on board, including troops, and had 16 killed 
 and 35 wounded in the action; the Polyphemus lost only one 
 marine.) The Scaevola, gun-boat, foundered off the Irish coast. 
 The Ville d'Orient transport was captured by the Unicorn, and 
 carried into Kinsale, with 400 hussars on board completely
 
 NOTES 317 
 
 equipped. The Justine transport probably foundered at sea, and 
 all on board perished. It is singular that so many of the ships 
 contrived to escape the British fleet, which had kept incessant 
 watch for them. The question was put in a song, very popular at 
 the period: 
 
 " O, where was Hood, and where was Howe, 
 
 And where Cornwallis then; 
 Where Colpoys, Bridport, or Pellew, 
 And all their gallant men?" 
 
 And it was not long afterwards asked in both Houses of Parlia- 
 ment. The reply of Mr. Dundas was a satisfactory vindication 
 of the national character. He stated that Sir Edward Pellew's 
 squadron was employed in cruising off Brest, to watch the motions 
 of the enemy; but the hazy state of the weather was such, that 
 fog guns were obliged to be continually fired, and the French 
 fleet succeeded in getting out, notwithstanding all the efforts of 
 that active and gallant officer to prevent them; that Admiral Col- 
 poys' squadron, which was also hovering off Brest, came into 
 harbour for supplies; and that Lord Bridport's squadron, which 
 was ordered, on the 21st of December, off Cape Clear, sailed on 
 the 25th, but the denseness of the fog prevented his falling in with 
 a single French vessel. 
 
 76 Vast quantities of coral sand are raised in all parts of the 
 bay: it is highly esteemed as a manure; and produces, it is said, 
 between four and five thousand pounds annually to the boatmen 
 who procure it, and the peasants who convey it to distant parts. 
 
 " Many of these eagles' nests have had their histories for cen- 
 turies. There is one in particular to which tradition still points, 
 connecting it by a beautiful and touching legend with the family 
 of the O'Sullivan. At the time when this once powerful race had 
 been despoiled of their territory, by the " Saxon stranger," the 
 chieftain sought and found shelter in this remote glen. After 
 lingering here for some months, however, he proceeded to join 
 his friends then in arms in Ulster, and left his wife and children 
 under the guardianship of his foster-brother, Gorrane Mac Swiney. 
 Gorrane conveyed his precious charge to the foot of the eagles' 
 cliff; and, learning they were eagerly sought after, he contrived 
 a hut for their shelter, so cunningly devised as to seem but a 
 mound of heather. Here, however, they soon wanted food, and the 
 faithful follower saw but little chance of preserving them from 
 perishing of hunger. While bitterly cogitating over their gloomy
 
 318 IRELAND 
 
 prospects, he saw the eagle sailing to its 'eyrie with a leveret in 
 its talons: a sudden thought struck him; he rapidly formed a rope 
 of the twisted fibres of the bog-fir, called his young son, and to- 
 gether they ascended the mountain over-night. There they quietly 
 remained until they had watched the eagles issue forth, return with 
 their prey, and depart in quest of more. Gorrane then commenced 
 operations: he carefully let the boy down the cliff, with directions 
 to tie pieces of string round the throats of the eaglets, not so 
 tight as to do them injury, but sufficiently close to prevent their 
 devouring the food as it arrived. The plan was successful. The 
 offal was left to sustain the young birds; but ample store was 
 thus obtained to supply the family of the O'Sullivan until better 
 days. 
 
 78 Of the castle of Dunboy, the ancient stronghold of the O'Sul- 
 livans, a few walls only remain, barely sufficient to point out its 
 locality. During the wars of Elizabeth, it was occupied by the 
 Spaniards, who subsequently resigned it to Philip O'Sullivan. In 
 1601, Sir George Carew marched at the head of a small army 
 to besiege it The garrison was commanded by a gallant soldier, 
 Mac Geoghegan; with whom co-operated Tyrrell, the best guerilla 
 of his time. It consisted of less than a hundred and fifty fighting 
 men but they were the stoutest and bravest of all the Irish 
 forces. For many days they kept their numerous and powerful 
 enemies at bay; at length, a tower of the castle having been 
 beaten down, they offered to surrender upon quarter. The mes- 
 senger was hanged within their sight, and the breach was ordered 
 to be entered. The Irish fought lustily for many hours, until the 
 remnant were forced to take shelter in the cellars, the only en- 
 trance into which was a narrow stone staircase, which they con- 
 tinued to defend ; offering, however, to surrender " if they might 
 have their lives," which, in accordance with the barbarous policy 
 of the age, were refused. They collected a quantity of powder 
 into one of the vaults, and their captain sate down beside it, with 
 a lighted match a resolution having been formed to blow up the 
 castle and all in it, unless quarter was granted. Ultimately, how- 
 ever, the English troops forced a passage, and Mac Geoghegan, 
 who was lying there mortally wounded, raised himself, and snatch- 
 ing up the match staggered with it to the powder barrel, when 
 Captain Power seized him, and held him in his arms until he was 
 killed. The whole of the garrison were butchered either slain, 
 buried in the ruins, or executed. No single man of the gallant 
 defenders of the castle escaped; and while the memory of Dunboy 
 endures, a dark blot will remain upon the name of one of the
 
 NOTES 319 
 
 bravest, wisest, and most courteous of all the officers of Queen 
 Elizabeth. The O'Sullivan remained among his native fastnesses 
 until the cruel policy of the conquerors so wasted the district, 
 that his followers gradually perished of famine, and the few that 
 remained were compelled to accompany their lord to a far off 
 distance in search of food. It is of this period, and to this county 
 more especially, that Spenser refers when he states " the people of 
 Munster were brought to such wretchedness, that even a heart of 
 stone would have rued to see the same; for out of every corner of 
 the woods and glynnes, they came creeping forth on their hands 
 and knees, for their legs could not bear them; they looked like 
 anatomies of death; they spake like ghosts crying out of their 
 graves; they did eat the dead carrion, happy were they when 
 they could find it; yea, and one another some time after; inso- 
 much that the very carcases they spared not to scrape out of 
 their graves; and if they found a plot of water-cresses, or sham- 
 rock, there they flocked as to a feast." 
 
 79 The complaint that Ireland suffers in consequence of so many 
 persons of rank and wealth expending their properties abroad, is 
 by no means a new one it has existed for centuries: it was 
 sought to procure a remedy for the evil by legislative enactments 
 so far back as the reign of Richard II. Enactments "made by 
 our ancestors to prevent our gentlemen of estate and office from 
 living abroad." We have before us a quaint volume, dated 1729, 
 and "printed for R. Gunne, in Capel Street, Dublin," the writer 
 of which deeply deplores " that the evil (of absenteeism) grows 
 daily upon us, and has already thrown the nation into a wasteful 
 consumption of all its substance." His book is entitled "A list 
 of lords, gentlemen, and others who, having estates, employments, 
 and pensions in Ireland, spend the same abroad; together with an 
 estimate of the yearly value of the same, as taken in the months 
 of May, June, and July, 1729." The list he divides into three 
 classes : first, " those who live constantly abroad, and are seldom 
 or never seen in Ireland;" second, "those who live generally 
 abroad, and visit Ireland now and then, for a month or two;" 
 and third, " those who are occasionally absent their numbers be- 
 ing commonly the same, for if some come home, others go abroad 
 and supply their places." The names of the three classes he gives 
 alphabetically, stating the incomes of each; and, in commenting 
 upon the facts he adduces, he observes "we are not now at a 
 loss to point out the principal source of all our misfortunes, and 
 the chief cause of all our distress; it appears plainly, from the 
 list of absentees, and the estimate of the quantity of specie they
 
 320 IRELAND 
 
 are reasonably supposed to draw yearly out of the kingdom, that 
 no other country labours under so wasteful a drain of its treasure 
 as Ireland does at present, by an annual remittance of 600,000 
 to our gentlemen abroad, without the least consideration or value 
 returned for the same." And the writer further adds, " 'tis mel- 
 ancholy to observe, that now we are labouring under great dis- 
 advantages of trade, and struggling with penury and want, the 
 humour of living and spending abroad still increases among our 
 men of quality and station." 
 
 so Several owners of mountain land if the term " land " may 
 be applied to tracts of country where the spade can seldom sink 
 an inch are in the habit of letting, for a long term, large dis- 
 tricts of it at a nominal rent. We were present when the practice 
 received a singular illustration. A peasant addressed a landlord 
 with, " If ye plase, yer honour, I want thirty shillings' worth of 
 mountain." We were informed that the quantity allotted to him 
 for this sum was thirty acres, for a period of thirty years. The 
 labourer sets to work with his spade and his " four bones ; " picks 
 out every morsel of soil he finds enclosed by rocks; clears it of 
 stones; gradually conveys manure to it; and, in the end, plants it 
 with potatoes. Nothing in Irish scenery is more striking than such 
 patches of cultivation up the mountain slopes. But an Irishman, 
 will endure any privation to obtain " a bit of land ; " suffer any 
 misery to retain it; and, indeed, commit any crime rather than 
 permit it to be taken from him. If our readers could but imagine 
 the extreme eagerness with which they covet its possession, and 
 the frightful passions that are aroused when deprived of it, 
 either justly or unjustly, they would easily understand the nature 
 of those outrages which are continually occurring in Ireland, to 
 blacken the Irish character. We shall go more deeply into the 
 matter hereafter. Several of the mountains, however, have been 
 taken possession of by wanderers, distinguished as " squatters." 
 Any attempt to dispossess them would be dangerous to a degree; 
 they usually mark the boundaries of their " properties " by lines 
 of stones, and are peculiarly jealous of the in-coming of a new 
 settler. 
 
 si The use of the term " Barony " a term with which English 
 readers are not familiar reminds us of the necessity for briefly 
 explaining the divisions and subdivisions of the country. Ireland 
 is divided into four provinces. These are the remains of the petty 
 kingdoms which the island formerly contained. According to Sir 
 James Ware, there were most anciently but two, viz. Legh Cuin 
 the northern, and Legh Moa the southern; and, accordingly, Bede
 
 NOTES 321 
 
 divides Ireland into north and south Scotia. The island was, how- 
 ever, very early partitioned into five divisions. And Giraldus 
 Cambrensis, in the reign of Henry II., divides it into Connaught, 
 Ulster, Leinster, North and South Munster. Topogr. Hibern. 
 Distinc. 1, c. 6. Other, and it would seem more correct, authori- 
 ties mention Connaught, Ulster, Leinster, Munster, and Meath. 
 See Ware's Antiq. cap. iii. citing a MS. of the time of Edw. I. 
 in Archbishop Usher's library, now in Trinity College, Dublin, and 
 the registry of Duisk. The authorities which mention these di- 
 visions, subdivide them into " Cantreds," which seem synonymous 
 with the Saxon hundreds, still known in England. The term 
 cantred, though found in ancient grants even after the coming 
 of the English, has, however, long ceased to be used in Ireland; 
 as Meath, also, has long ceased to be regarded as a province, 
 East and West Meath being now counties in Leinster. The di- 
 vision into provinces is of little or no practical utility at the 
 present day. 
 
 The provinces are subdivided into counties: this division was in- 
 troduced by the English, in the reign of King John, who made 
 twelve counties in Leinster and Munster, viz. Dublin, Meath, 
 Uriel, Kildare, Catherlogh, Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, 
 Kerry, Limerick, and Tipperary. The division of the rest of the 
 island (nearly two-thirds of it in extent) into counties, was not 
 wholly completed until nearly three hundred years afterwards, in 
 the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth. Stats. 3 and 4 Phil, and Mar. 
 c. 2. Ir.; and 11 Eliz. Sess. 3, c. 9, Ir. See the Tanistry Case in 
 Sir John Davies' Rep. 102, Edit. Dublin, 1762. There were orig- 
 inally several counties palatine, having, like those in England, 
 jurisdictions independent of the ordinary courts of law. The 
 rights of all the counts palatine had, however, by various means 
 become vested in the crown, before the time of Sir John Davies, 
 who was attorney-general for Ireland in the reign of James I., 
 except Tipperary, which had been granted by Edward III. to the 
 Earl of Ormond. See case of County of Wexford, Davies' Rep. 
 168, ut sup. But these rights, and the royalties subsequently 
 granted in Tipperary to the Dukes of Ormond, in the reign of 
 Charles II., were all extinguished by Stat. 2 Geo. I. c. 8, Ir.; and 
 there is now no county palatine in Ireland. Several of the coun- 
 ties have changed their names since their first institution. Thus, 
 there is now no county called Uriel. The county formerly called 
 Coleraine, is now Londonderry; Thomond, is now Clare; Cather- 
 logh, is corrupted into Carlow, &c. As the division into counties 
 was introduced for the purpose of holding assizes, appointing 
 V 21
 
 322 IRELAND 
 
 sheriffs to execute the king's writs, &c., according to the laws of 
 England; so it continues to be used to the present day in all the 
 practical details of the law in Ireland as in England. 
 
 The counties are subdivided into baronies, a division which, it 
 would appear, was also introduced by the English a barony, in 
 its original meaning, being the honour and dignity which gives 
 title to a baron, which anciently consisted of 13 knights' fees and 
 a quarter, or 400 merks per annum. Jacob's Diet., by Rufhead 
 and Morgan, tit. Barony. But as the division into counties has 
 long since ceased to have any connection with the titles of counts 
 or earls, so that into baronies has no longer any reference to the 
 dignity which it originally supported. The division into baronies 
 and half-baronies is at present of great practical utility for vari- 
 ous purposes, as in regulating the number of constabulary under 
 Stat. 6 Wm. IV. c. 13; the levying and application of present- 
 ments under the grand jury act, 6 and 7 Wm. IV. c. 116; for 
 some purposes connected with elections, Stat. 2 and 3 Wm. IV. 
 c. 88, &c. &c. It may be mentioned, in reference to the term 
 barony, that although manor-courts still exist in Ireland, and take 
 cognizance of debts within their respective districts, courts baron, 
 at least in the sense in which they are used in England, in con- 
 nection with the tenure of copyhold estates, have not been in use 
 in Ireland. Indeed, it is commonly supposed there is no such 
 thing as tenure by copyhold in Ireland, although a writer of high 
 authority mentions an instance of an estate of this nature at 
 Kilmoon or Primatestown, in the county of Meath 1 Gabbet's 
 Dig. 445 and copyholds are occasionally mentioned in the Irish 
 Statute Book. It may be also noticed, that there is a difference 
 between the dignity of baron as an Irish title of nobility, and the 
 same dignity in England. The curious in such matters will find 
 ample matter to satisfy them in " Lynch's law and usage of pre- 
 scriptive baronies in Ireland," and the work on Irish honorary 
 hereditary offices and feudal baronies, by the same author. 
 
 The recognized ecclesiastical division of the kingdom into dio- 
 ceses and parishes used by the Established Church, differs from 
 that employed by the Roman Catholics. The division into parishes 
 is less important for civil purposes in Ireland than it is in Eng- 
 land. In consequence of the indisposition which existed to pay 
 assessments made at vestries, and the difficulty of peaceably col- 
 lecting them, the legislature have made various provisions to dis- 
 continue them: and the most important of the matters formerly 
 provided by this means are now in the hands of the ecclesiastical 
 commissioners and the grand juries; the principal charge at pres-
 
 NOTES 323 
 
 ent provided for at vestry, except in the county and city of Dublin, 
 being a trifling annual assessment for parish coffins. 
 
 82 It is said to have been called, by the ancients, Bergus, or 
 Bargus, and by the Irish, Bearbha; but some writers consider its 
 present name to be merely a slight alteration of Barragh, the 
 boundary river, as it was for several centuries the boundary which 
 divided the English pale from the Irish clans. 
 
 ss We have been favoured with the following, as among the most 
 popular of the many legends connected with the ancient castle. 
 It is given in the words of a gossipping old man, whom our in- 
 formant had the good fortune to meet as he stood to take an 
 admiring view of the venerable ruin. " Do you see that large 
 round breach, in the middle of the wall opposite there, sir?" was 
 the question demanded of us, in reply to an inquiry respecting the 
 origin of its present dismantled appearance. " Yes," we answered. 
 "Pray can you tell us how or by whom it was effected?" "To 
 be sure I can. 'Twas Crummel Oliver Crummel, sir, who did it," 
 replied the man, warming as he spoke, and assuming a tone of 
 no small importance, as it were, to show how fully he was ac- 
 quainted with the sub j ect. " Now, sir, if you were to see the 
 castle on the other side, or to enter it, and climb its walls, as I 
 have often done in my youth, you would see that the spot in which 
 the breach is, is the weakest and least thick of any in the entire 
 building; and well the crafty, cunning Crummel knew that, when 
 he planted his cannon right fornenst that very part." " But how 
 did he become acquainted with the fact of its being so?" we asked. 
 "Why, then, I'll tell you that too, sir," rejoined our friend. 
 " Well, you see, when the castle was besieged, the poor fellows 
 who were shut up within it, after a short time had nearly con- 
 sumed all their provisions; and water, which you know will not 
 keep fresh for any length of time, was the first to fail them. 
 There happened to be in the castle two or three old women, serv- 
 ants of the governor, and as the loss of these was to be preferred 
 to that of a single soldier of whom there were barely enough to 
 maintain the siege recourse was had to the sending one of them 
 during the night to the river, which, as you may see, runs hard 
 by, for the purpose of drawing water to the castle. Well, as 
 chance would have it, some of Crummel's soldiers, wandering about 
 at the time, fell in with the old woman, and carried her off to 
 their camp, determined to have some sport out of the * Hirish hag.' 
 Learning, however, the object of the errand in which they had sur- 
 prised her, and that she had been an inmate of the castle, they 
 resolved to turn the circumstance to their best advantage, and ac-
 
 324 IRELAND 
 
 cordingly promised her restoration of freedom and a reward, pro- 
 vided she could conduct them into the fortress, or inform them of 
 any way by which they would be likely to succeed in their designs. 
 Frightened almost out of her wits by their threats, and now en- 
 couraged by their promises, she acquainted them with the fatal 
 secret, that the portion of the front wall to which, on the inside, 
 the staircase was fixed, was, in fact, the only point that would 
 yield at all to their artillery. In short, after some time, they 
 agreed on the following terms that she, being sent back to the 
 castle, should, about the middle of the ensuing night, ascend the 
 stairs that conducted to the battlemented parapet surrounding the 
 summit of the walls, and, standing by its edge, should hold forth 
 a burning torch to signify the place where the frailty lay. Like 
 a fool, as she must undoubtedly have been, and like a wretched 
 dupe as she proved herself, she kept her word, and exhibited at 
 the appointed hour the signal agreed on; and Crummel, who had 
 been most anxiously awaiting her appearance, instantly discharged 
 his shot in the direction where the light was seen, and continued 
 the battery until he succeeded in compelling the garrison to sur- 
 render. And now, let me tell you, that she was the first to meet 
 her death on that occasion the old hag, as she deserved, having 
 been blown to atoms the victim of her own treachery." 
 
 s* Here is an invitation to the cotton-spinners of Manchester ! 
 But not to this particular locality alone; there are hundreds of 
 places in Ireland where the water power is as great or greater, 
 giving sure promise of fortune to the employer, as well as profitable 
 labour to the employed. It is the calculation of an eminent Eng- 
 lish engineer, that in a space of two or three miles, between Lough 
 Corrib and the Bay of Galway (the opposite neighbour of America, 
 be it remembered), where there are several flour-mills, there runs, 
 unemployed and to waste, a water power sufficient to turn every 
 spindle in Manchester a counterbalance for all the steam force 
 employed there, which may be fairly estimated to amount to 
 above 100,000 horse power. 
 
 ss Among the English names, it has been remarked that a large 
 proportion of them begin with the letter B as the Bruens, the 
 Butlers, the Bagenels, the Bests, the Browns, the Bunburys, the 
 Burtons, and many others. Hence the sayings were common in 
 Carlow, "Beware of the B's," and "the B's of Carlow carry a 
 sting " alluding to the " good old times," when " a duel at day- 
 break was considered necessary to procure an appetite for break- 
 fast." 
 
 sa The descent of this very ancient family has been " attested "
 
 NOTES 325 
 
 by Sir William Betham, and an outline of it is given in Mr. Ryan's 
 history of the county ; who extracts it from " the pedigree of the 
 ancient illustrious, noble, and princely house of Kavanagh, in 
 ancient times monarchs of all Ireland, and at the period of the 
 invasion of Ireland, by Henry II., king of Leinster; deducing 
 their descent from Bratha, the great grandfather of Milesius, who 
 flourished fourteen hundred years before the Christian era, down 
 to the present day." Whether or not sufficient data have been 
 obtained for tracing back the progenitors of the Kavanaghs to 
 a period so very remote, it is certain that safe authorities exist 
 for establishing their claim to an uninterrupted succession for 
 many centuries. " On the 4th of November, 1550, Charles or 
 Cahir Mac-Art-Macmorough Kavanagh, chief of the name, in the 
 great council-chamber of Dublin, and in the presence of the lord- 
 lieutenant, Sir Anthony St. Leger, submitted himself, and publicly 
 renounced the title and dignity of Macmorough, as borne by his 
 ancestors." Stories, legends, and traditions of various members 
 of the family who took active parts in all the several wars of 
 ages of course abound in the county of Carlow. One of the most 
 interesting we transcribe from Hardiman's " Minstrelsy." He 
 lays, however, the scene of the incident in Connaught, which, says 
 Mr. Ryan, "must certainly be an error, as the Kavanaghs were 
 always a Leinster family." Tradition relates that it occurred at 
 Clonmullin, a castle in the barony of Forth. It was in existence 
 about fifty years ago; but the plough has since passed over the 
 site. "Caroll Moore O'Daly was brother to the celebrated 
 Donogh, a turbulent chieftain in Connaught, in the reign of Queen 
 Elizabeth. He was one of the most accomplished gentlemen of his 
 day, and particularly excelled in poetry and music. He paid his 
 addresses to Ellen, daughter of M. Kavanagh, a lovely and amiable 
 lady, who returned his affections more favourably than her friends 
 wished, who disapproved of the connexion. It happened that an 
 affair of consequence drew O'Daly to another part of Ireland, and 
 the friends of Ellen seized the opportunity of his absence to pro- 
 mote the suit of a rival. By a variety of reports, artfully con- 
 veyed to her, she was induced to suspect the attachment of her 
 lover, and was finally persuaded he had left the country to be 
 married to another. The afflicted Ellen, indifferent now to every 
 object, was prevailed on by her friends to acquiesce in their choice. 
 His rival was favourably received, and a day was fixed for their 
 nuptials, which were to be as splendid as the hospitable manners 
 and the social propensities of the Irish called for on such an oc- 
 casion. The report of these preparations soon reached the ears of
 
 326 IRELAND 
 
 the unfortunate O'Daly; he hastened his return, and arrived in 
 Connaught on the evening before the appointed day. Under the 
 impression of his feelings, he sought with his harp a wild and se- 
 questered spot on the sea-shore, and, inspired by the enthusiasm 
 of the occasion, he composed the song of ' Eibblin A'Ruin,' which 
 remains to this time an exquisite memorial of his skill and sensi- 
 bility. Disguised as a gleeman or minstrel, he next day gained 
 easy access among the crowd of company that thronged to the 
 wedding; and after exercising his talents in a variety of ways for 
 the amusement of the guests, he was called upon by Ellen herself 
 to play. It was then that, touching his harp with all the pathetic 
 sensibility this deeply interesting occasion inspired, he infused his 
 own feelings into the song he had composed, and breathed into his 
 softened strain the very soul of pensive melody. The sympathetic 
 heart of Ellen instantly felt its force; she recognised her lover in 
 his disguise, and by that secret communication of sentiment that 
 needs not the aid of words to convey it, intimated her unalterable 
 attachment, and her readiness to fly with him from her reluctant 
 engagement. The plan of escape was instantly concerted, the 
 guests were more liberally supplied with usquebaugh than even 
 the festivity of the occasion called for; they were reduced to a 
 state of insensibility, and the happy lovers easily effected their 
 escape." 
 
 s^The former relates that, A.D. 375, Eochaidh, a usurping sov- 
 ereign, being exiled to Scotland by " Niall of the nine hostages," 
 killed a Druid when on the eve of embarkation; for which crime 
 Niall invaded his territory and " much distressed the inhabitants." 
 The father of the Druid pitying the innocent, who thus suffered 
 for the guilty, proposed to check all hostilities, provided Eochaidh 
 were delivered into his hands. The people, reduced to the last 
 extremity, acceded to the proposal, and placed the Prince at the 
 disposal of his enraged enemy, by whom he was chained to a 
 large upright stone, with a view of exposing him to all the pains 
 of a lingering death; but after some time the Druid resolved on 
 depriving him of existence by a more summary process, and or- 
 dered nine soldiers to destroy him, not being without a well- 
 grounded apprehension that Eochaidh, who was possessed of great 
 bravery and strength, would make a formidable resistance. Nor 
 was he mistaken. Rendered desperate by the approach of his 
 executioners, the Prince made a superhuman effort to obtain his 
 liberty, which he effected by forcing one of the rivets of the 
 chain by which he was confined. He immediately attacked the 
 soldiers, possessed himself of arms, slew some of them, and finally
 
 NOTES 327 
 
 effected his escape. Keating points out the place in which the 
 stone " may still be seen ; " but Mr. Ryan gives it another locality, 
 and accompanies his assertion with a " full description " of it 
 at the expiration of the fifteen hundredth year of its celebrity ! 
 We extract Mr. Ryan's note: " CLOCH-A'-PHOILL (literally the 
 hole-stone in Irish). Two miles south of Tullow, in the parish of 
 Aghade, is a huge piece of granite of singular appearance. It 
 is about twelve feet in height and four in breadth, having an 
 aperture through it, near the top. There is a tradition, that a son 
 of one of the Irish kings was chained to this stone, but that he 
 contrived to break his chain and escape. This tradition coincides 
 exactly with our historical notice. There are marks left, caused 
 by the friction of the iron on the stone. We would at once con- 
 clude that it was a bull or some other animal that was chained 
 here, and not a human being, were not the tradition confirmed by 
 written history, the verity of which we are not disposed to con- 
 trovert. This stone is now thrown from its perpendicular, and it 
 was a practice with the peasantry to pass ill-thriven infants 
 through the aperture in order to improve their constitution. Great 
 numbers formerly indulged in this superstitious folly, but for the 
 last twenty years the practice has been discontinued. My inform- 
 ant on this occasion was a woman who had herself passed one of 
 her infants through the aperture of this singular stone. She in- 
 formed me, that some of the country people talked of having it 
 cut up for gate-posts, but a superstitious feeling prevented them. 
 Every antiquary would regret the demolition of the cloch-a'- 
 phoill." 
 
 ss A singular instance, characteristic of the age, is related of 
 the immediate descendant of this earl. William, the eldest son, 
 succeeded to the possessions of his father; on his accession, the 
 bishop of Ferns (a Cistertian monk) made a formal complaint to 
 the king, that William, the late earl, had forcibly taken possession 
 of two manors or lordships belonging to his church, and held them 
 by the sword. Having frequently remonstrated with the earl, but 
 to no purpose, the bishop thundered against him the sentence of 
 excommunication; which the earl completely despised, and alleged 
 his determination to retain the lordships by the law of arms. On 
 which declaration, one Melckeria, we are told, wrote a distich, per- 
 sonating the earl-marshal. Thus anciently Englished: 
 
 " I am whom Ireland Saturn hight, and England Sol me calls; 
 Amidst the Normans Mercury, and Mars among the Gauls." 
 
 The earl died in full possession of the disputed territory, which 
 descended to his son William, earl-marshal, the younger.
 
 328 IRELAND 
 
 s A curious anecdote connected with Old Leighlin is told by 
 Ware: "On a certain time there was a great council of the 
 people of Ireland held in the White-field; between whom there 
 arose a controversy concerning the order of celebrating Easter. 
 For Laserian, abbot of Leighlin, who presided over 1,500 monks, 
 defended the new order, which was then lately sent from Rome; 
 while others adhered to the old form. But St. Munnu did not 
 immediately appear at this council, though every one waited for 
 him. He stood by the old order, and came to the council the 
 same day before evening. Then St. Munnu said to the abbot 
 Laserian, in the presence of all the people, thus: It is now time 
 to break up this council, that every man may depart to his own 
 place. You have three options given you, O Laserian: let two 
 books, one of the old order and another of the new, be cast into 
 the fire, and let us see which of them shall escape from the flames. 
 Or let two monks, one of yours and another of mine, be shut up 
 in the same house, and let the house be set on fire, and we shall 
 see which of them shall escape unhurt. Or let us both go to the 
 sepulchre of a dead monk, and raise him up to life; and he will 
 show us which order we ought to observe in the celebration of 
 Easter. To which St. Laserian answered: We will not proceed 
 to judgment with you; because we know, that if you commanded 
 Mount-Marge to be changed into the White-field, and the White- 
 field to be removed to the place where Mount-Marge stands, that, 
 on account of your infinite labours and great sanctity, God would 
 immediately do this for your sake. Afterwards the people re- 
 turned every one to their own houses." 
 
 so The first police-station we visited was at Ballyneen, a village 
 near Dunmanway; we were merely passing through it, and of 
 course our inspection was quite unlocked for, and, consequently, 
 unprepared for. The sergeant, a remarkably fine and intelligent 
 young man, Alex. Hewston, readily complied with our request to 
 be permitted to examine his barrack. It contained five men; 
 strong and active fellows; the rooms were all whitewashed; the 
 little garden was well cultivated and free from weeds; they slept 
 on iron bedsteads; and the palliasses, blankets, pillows, &c., were 
 neatly rolled up and placed at the head of each. The fire-arms 
 and bayonets, polished as a mirror, were hung up over each bed; 
 and the floors were as clean to adopt a familiar simile " as a 
 new pin." Each man had his small box at his bed-foot. All was 
 in as perfect order as if all had been prepared in this little out- 
 of-the-way place for the accustomed call of the inspector. The 
 sub-inspector, we learned, visited the station once a month the
 
 NOTES 329 
 
 inspector once a quarter. In this barrack the men were all bache- 
 lors; but it is usual to assign one married man with his wife to 
 each the wife, of course, arranging the rooms, and providing the 
 meals of the men, who always mess together. We afterwards ex- 
 amined many other stations, and invariably found our first im- 
 pressions borne out. 
 
 i The dress of both the cavalry and infantry is, the coat of rifle 
 green, with black facings, and the trowsers Oxford grey; black 
 belts; caps with leather tops; the arms, carbines and bayonets; 
 and each man wears at his belt a handcuff case, in which hand- 
 cuffs are always carried. When on duty in courts, the men carry 
 batoons, and deposit their arms in the police-barracks. When 
 their duty is discharged, " they are to return the batoons to the 
 head or other constable authorised to receive them, and resume 
 their arms." Each man is required to have, at all times, twenty 
 rounds of ball-cartridge in his pouch. 
 
 92 Increased to ten pounds by 55th Geo. III., cap. 158. 
 
 83 The force employed under this act were universally known by 
 the cognomen of " Peelers ; " and for a considerable time after- 
 wards the name was so obnoxious to the peasantry, that the serv- 
 ice became one of great danger, as well as odium; it was therefore 
 found exceedingly difficult to induce men of good habits to join it. 
 
 94 Chief magistrate's salary, seven hundred pounds per annum, 
 besides allowance for a house, horses, &c. Chief constable, one 
 hundred and fifty pounds per annum, with allowances. Sub-con- 
 stable, fifty pounds per annum, with clothes and lodgings. 
 
 95 The act requires that every sub-constable should be able to 
 read and write, and be an able-bodied man. No man is taken 
 under five feet eight inches in height; upon a late occasion, when 
 a hundred men were sent on duty to a distant county, out of fifty 
 from one county there were twenty-seven six feet two inches and 
 over. 
 
 96 We desired to form some estimate of the relative numbers of 
 Protestants and Roman Catholics employed in the force; and found 
 that, in Ulster, there was a greater proportion of the former, but 
 that the latter greatly preponderated in the other provinces. We 
 took, at chance, two returns one from the Ulster list, the other 
 from that of Munster; and ascertained that in Antrim county, in 
 one district, there were twenty-three Protestants and six Catholics; 
 and in Cork, in one district, twenty-two Catholics and seven Prot- 
 estants: we believe a nearly similar result would have been ex- 
 hibited by all the other returns from the north and the south. We 
 inquired from many of the men, of both religions, whether their
 
 330 IRELAND 
 
 opposite principles prevented their living in harmony or acting in 
 concert; and were assured that the subject was seldom canvassed 
 among them, and very rarely indeed led to " ill-blood." It is 
 notorious, that in the army difference of religion never leads to 
 discord: we rejoiced to find it was the case, also, in this force; 
 and we were thus furnished with another gratifying proof that 
 religious distinctions as a ground of jealousy or hatred are 
 growing every day less and less influential in Ireland. 
 
 *7 The resignations are principally of men who have obtained 
 better situations (members of the force being very much sought 
 for by gentlemen and others requiring steady and efficient servants 
 or assistants), or of men wishing to avoid the disgrace of dis- 
 missal. 
 
 98 The present inspector-general is Colonel Duncan M'Gregor, an 
 officer of great experience, derived from services in various parts 
 of the world. It is admitted on all hands, that no man is better 
 calculated to occupy so important a position; and he has succeeded 
 a task by no means easy in governing the force without in- 
 curring the charge of recognising the existence of any party. In- 
 deed, the great efficacy of the establishment arises to a consider- 
 able extent from the fact, that its chief officers have been enabled 
 to remove all suspicion of its being biassed by undue motives, and 
 to the respect and esteem in which the inspector-general is uni- 
 versally held. He is emphatically " popular " among all classes. 
 In every instance in which we consulted either the officers or the 
 men, upon the essential point whether they had confidence in their 
 " commander-in-chief," we received but one answer generally given 
 with a feeling akin to personal affection. Colonel M'Gregor had 
 been known to the world previously to his appointment in Ireland. 
 It was this officer who published an account of the "Loss of the* 
 Kent Indiaman by Fire, in the Bay of Biscay " and to whose own 
 share of exertion on the melancholy occasion, testimony has been 
 borne by every survivor except himself. 
 
 99 We quote a few passages from the " Introduction to the Rules 
 and Regulations for the Government and Guidance of the Con- 
 stabulary Force." " The Inspector-general is particularly desirous 
 in the outset to impress on every member of the constabulary, 
 from the highest to the lowest, how very incumbent it is on them 
 to act in the discharge of their various duties with the utmost 
 forbearance, mildness, urbanity, and perfect civility towards all 
 classes of Her Majesty's subjects; and that upon no occasion, or 
 under any provocation, should they so forget themselves as to 
 permit their feelings to get the better of their discretion, and con-
 
 NOTES 331 
 
 duct themselves rudely or harshly in the performance of their re- 
 spective offices; for nothing will serve more to create a kindly 
 feeling, and cause the force to be respected and looked up to, than 
 a mild, conciliatory, moral, and decorous line of conduct, and a 
 general readiness on the part of all classes to render kindness or 
 assistance to every member of the community, whilst an opposite 
 course and bearing could only engender in the mind of the public 
 an angry or hostile feeling towards the members of the force, and 
 consequently bring the establishment into disrepute. But, above 
 all, both officers and men are studiously to avoid, in every respect, 
 the most remote appearance of partisanship, or the expression of 
 sectarian or political opinions. It is very difficult to make men 
 fully understand the totally new position in which they are placed 
 on becoming members of the force. They become peace-officers, 
 and are in an entirely new situation; they are invested with cer- 
 tain powers by law which they must exert with great caution and 
 prudence, and it is most essential that they keep under complete 
 control their private feelings. It is totally inconsistent with the 
 situation in which the law and their office place them, that they 
 enter into altercations or squabbles of any kind; if wantonly as- 
 saulted, they have a legal power to arrest the assailant, or, if 
 that be imprudent or impossible at the time, to take proceedings 
 against him afterwards. As to altercation or squabbling, they are 
 altogether inadmissible in a peace-officer; he has the power to 
 avoid them, and must do so. There must be two parties in an 
 altercation, and nothing can justify a constable's being one of 
 them, or joining one of them. On all occasions in which men of 
 the force are placed under circumstances tending to create feelings 
 of irritation, they should maintain the utmost self-possession, self- 
 control, and calmness. The position in which the constabulary 
 force is placed, make it particularly desirable that their conduct 
 should be marked by civility, and that they should show kindness, 
 and render assistance, on all occasions when they see proper op- 
 portunities for doing so." 
 
 100 The shillalah derives its name from a famous wood near Ark- 
 low, in the county of Wicklow, where the best oaks and black- 
 thorns were grown. It was generally about three feet long: some- 
 times a smaller one was used, called " a Kippeen," or " Cla' 
 alpeen;" and occasionally one of eight or ten feet long, called "a 
 Wattle." The peasantry were very choice in the selection of their 
 national weapon, and especially careful in its preparation after it 
 was cut. Sometimes it was tempered in a dung-heap, at others 
 in slack lime; but the more usual mode was to rub it over re-
 
 332 IRELAND 
 
 peatedly with butter, and place it " up the chimney," where it 
 was left for a period of several months. We have in our posses- 
 sion one that we have pretty good evidence had been actively 
 engaged in every fair in the neighbourhood for above twenty 
 years, and at length came into the hands of a magistrate, from 
 whom we received it, in consequence of its owner having been 
 transported for manslaughter at a fight.