Romantic Ireland; volume 1/2

urroundings are concerned, is exceedingly attractive

her city of the size of Dublin in the British Isles, and is, moreover, of great extent. It is densely wooded, has lovely gl

ying immediately to the southward; but the distant views of the Wicklow pea

GR

ch as Dublin, livable at

Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Burke were walking together on the n

was a very favourite duelling-ground in olden times

ings of the eighteenth century, when Dublin beaux, half-sobered after a night's debauch, used to confront one anothe

ur miles up the Liffey, near th

inest and most perfect round towers in Ireland, eighty fe

ain below. This is a scenic gem, such as amateur photographers love, and its picturings are found in the album of almost every Irish traveller. Its name enshrines one of the best known of the many Celtic fairy myths,-that of the

f Celtic origin, but with equal assurance it is said to be Norse, and again Indian. The apparition is a

ines, though the view of its harbour, with its cross-channel shipping, its fishing-boats, and its l

and placed upon four stone balls, stands near the harbour entrance, and commemorates-what? The king's coming? Not at all. He landed at Howth,

Irish hospitality on this score. Perhaps it is an at

story and legend,-at least most of the local story-t

om England, it may perhaps be permissible to include the following lines here. They were written many years ago by a lo

n artist trav

ructure of a l

ress on the

ts beside his

k, some side to

in the cent

s, full many

egs the jovial

eek, or Howth's

iling on the

ically with fields of heather and of greensward in a manner apparently possible only in Ireland. From the cliffs over-looking the sea, the outlook embraces the counties of Dublin, Meath, and Louth; the Mourne Mountains and County Down, Ir

reet,-or was; of late it has grown more pretentiou

ich in ancient works is printed Irlandse

the old church of St. Nessan, showing por

e was Tristram, and that even Sir Armoric never bore the present family title, but that a descendant or relative assumed it on the occasion of a battle won by him on St. Lawrence's Day. The castle was in a great measure rebuilt by the twentieth

freshment. Determined to have her revenge, however, and to teach hospitality to the descendant of the Saxon, she kidnapped the heir and kept him a close prisoner until a pledge was obtained from his father that on no pretence whatever were the gates of Howth Castle to be closed at the hour of d

cture. Its foundation by Luke, Archbishop of Dublin, dates from 1234, and it is one of those picturesque ruins which, while by no means so grand, will rank in the memory w

as the scene of Brian Boru's victory over the Danes

glories of B

ays of the h

Mononia, and co

to Kinkor

field, which so

n the batt

ts glory remain

us to vic

heir favour. Scotsmen will be interested to see the name of Lennox mentioned among the soldiers of the patriot king. An Irish

with other brave Albanian Scots, the descendants

his devoted followers, who looked upon him in the light almost of a saint. W

(Duleck) conducted it to the church of St. Kiaran. Here the clergy of Lowth (Lughmach) attended the corpse to their own monastery. The Archbishop of Armagh, with its suffragans and clergy, recei

orce takes a good deal on faith, as one does much of histo

pendency of that at Kilmainham, formerly occupied t

annel" of the river Liffey, and to have communicated the name by some expansionist process to the surrounding county, which compri

n this respect it has manifestly been cheated by nature. Neither are there any of

it behooves one to stop and think for a moment, when viewing some shrine to which his fancy has led him, whether it

of the people of Partholan," who first colonized Ireland. The mounds are there, and we, perforce, have to imagine the rest, but there is good ground for believing that the

rom the second century onward, it has encountered many battles, sieges,

of modern life and movement; for the student of history, a

visibly affected by that which lies on t

t up its roadways with tram-lines, and disfigured its streets with telegraph and electric-light poles; and, in short, h

splendidly organized bodies of constabulary,-the

height is five feet, eleven inches, so that Dublin streets seem to be policed by a race of amiable giants. In America the same type of constable is well known. It is also well known that the "force" in America is organized on somewhat different lines from that of it

l of a Catholic country, not only possesses no Catholic cat

's interior troubles to, the number and power of the Catholic places of worship

ions, but most of the Catholic places of worship are. This may mean much or little. Just what

he former Danish foundation. The fabric is of much interest, although, owing to various mishaps, such as the slipping away of the peat-bog on which it was injudiciously built, the walls have many times fallen and been renewed. In Christchurch Cathedral Lambert Simnel was crowned in 1486, and mass was celebrated here during the sojourn of James II.

, the Anglo-Norman Archbishop of Dublin, in 1190, the ancient Celtic church of St. Patrick de Insula, which stood without the city walls, and was specially held in reverence from its association with the baptism of the saint, formed the nucleus of the new establishment, which was self-contained and fortified. Its exp

g James II. this seems inexplicable t

se of more than ￡140,000) is to the credit of the family of Guinne

een a righteous, if stern man, but his virtues wer

e laurelled arbour-retreat near Celbridge, where, two hundred years ago, the luckless Vanessa waited long, and often in vain, it will be well for him t

and the vaults possess the peculiar property of preserving the bodies entrusted to them in a perfect state, resembling in this respect the Egyptian mummy-pits. Dryness, one great essential to the preserving of animal matter, is c

pair of vengeful eyes, and so terrified him that he left his lantern and ran home half-dead with fright. The lady is said to h

g its notables of the past, or at least only s

that city was at its flood-tide of prosperity,-w

race of Bedford, "was opposed at every toll-gate, obliged to show a pa

s large as his powers of oratory, for sixty-seven long years he laboured at the busin

peeches, which latter have come to be accepted as but another form of literary expression, were not even more productive of good than were his pol

on, where he first met that other master of delicately phra

to glorify him as "An Irish dragoon, not a grand man or one of great influence, but so kindly by nature, and so gracious in speech and writing, that the world has n

entified with Dublin. Statecraft and letters alone number them in hundreds, and

was founded by Queen Elizabeth, and endowed with the monastic property and many very valuable private bequests. The co

the main gateway, flanked by the statue

vereignty by his nephew Tarlagh, journeyed to Rome, taking with

through Tara's halls-found its way back to Ireland, and is now, with t

great, although certain of the chief buildings, ot

ial residence of the viceroy. The buildings are grouped around two courts, with a chief gateway on Cork Hill. The presence-chamber, ballroom (Hall of St. Patrick), portrait-chamber, and private drawi

ment House, has a finely designed Ionic fa?ade

nd is exceedingly rich in portraiture. Some one has said that there are but three truly

IN C

once notice and admire its great width, its splendid dimensions, and its singularly attractive disposition of public and commercial

n to Ireland as chaplain to Lord Berkeley. "Here he had a glebe and a horse, and bec

litician were much one and the same thing; and, in spite of his indiscretions, he did good service, though, to be sure, his sincerity was doubted. A story is told, of the occasion when he was urged for Bishop of Hereford, that the

in 1667. He died in 1745, and is buried, not among the literary giants a

literary reputation in general is without doubt-by reason

cal and social tracts, the inimitable "Gulliver" (1727) and the "Polite Conversation." "Cadenus and Vanessa" appeared without the author's consent soon after the dea

the English prose-writers"-has been best sum

title pleas

, Bickerstaff

oose Cervantes

hake in Rabela

court, or ma

country's coppe

, it expands into a noble bay, which is guarded on the one side by t

ut the year 1780 that the trade first assumed a degree of importance in Dublin, though it had been introduced by the French Huguenots in the reign of William III. From that period till the Union in 180

not the saddened, sodden, blighted land that the calamity

poverty; though, to be sure, there are in many parts no indications of great prosperity. There is a sort of happy mean in the lives of the Irish people; and

reland. One may truthfully say of Wicklow, as of the other mountainous counties of Ireland, "the more one sees of it, the more one wants to see." Its roads for the cyclist or the automobilist are, like the Irish character, a blend of the seducing and the bold, corrugated and rough in places, but withal fascinating and appealing, if only for their variety. Powers

ore or less of the suburban order of attract

hole fall had been dammed up on the cliff above, with the object of letting it loose when the royal party approached, so that a fine effect might be ensured. All this trouble and expens

uite worth covering to see what the Dargle develops into near the coast; and, also, for the sake of the trim, rose-clad cottages, which here suggest none of that state of poverty we associate so recklessly with Ireland. One may see on the roadside notice-boards the intimatio

ISK

his meanness in not subscrib

interesting, and proves upon acquaintance to be so, though the

d Punchestown. Naas is a delightfully quaint old town, its broad High Street being lined with little whitewashed houses, many of them tumbling down after lon

ed with little Irish cabins, with thatched roofs and whitewashed walls, and in the low doorways are gathered old grannies and swarms of lit

with his arm affectionately around the neck of a fine

is quite on a par with the flags and festoons which decorate Naas itself on these occasions, and the legends in old Celtic and English, which the cottagers en route display. "The top of the morning to

rs, which are taken by storm every time a train arrives from Dublin, and then with their load of passengers bump, smash, or blarney their way out. Music resounds everywher

till midday, most of them moving at a cheerful stretching gallop, while children and race-card-sellers run gaily in and

olerant, and a thriving business is done in games of hazard, which have lately been ruthlessly extinguished at Epsom and Newmarket, in England. The roulette-table, the man with three cards, and his comrade with the thimble and the pea are among the recognized adjuncts of Punchestown. The country folk on the whole appear to enjoy the "sport," and if, as is usually the cas

rival of the king and queen, and the grand stand was closely packed with a representative assembly of Irish aristocracy. The racing provided some very excellent sport. There

y a mile long, with drivers, passengers, and police storming, threatening, and entreating, till at last a passage is slowly forced to the little wayside station at Naas. Here the railway officials had long ago given up the traffic problem in

ccounts the next mor

re met by all that was left of the population. They drove rapidly to the Viceregal Lodge, al

f pleasure-making,-which are often as ineradicable as those of battle,-and, after the inevitable "meat te

ruins of Strongbow's Castle on the isolated rock of Dunamase. Beyond is Maryborough and the plantations of Ballyfin, which clothe the feet of the Slieveb

a curious notched appearance has for its name Sliav Ailduin,-the Devil's Bit Mountain. Here is Thurles, the scene of

where "the wearied O'Brien laid down at the f

e her miracles

ke a worship di

to midnight the ce

o midnight the pe

Cistercians in

hrines that with

from Syria-the pi

rings alike to the

en the wearied

ath's angel his c

igh altar, a

remains its mag

ss Abbey high m

of long ages, fo

shrine of the fo

now but the cre

mmo

Bridget founded a nunnery, in which the vestal sisterhood guarded the e

amp that shone in

h long ages of d

deep sorrows have

tlives them, un

ing until the Reformation. The house where it originally burned is still in evidence, and the cathed

e crowned, it is said, with three royal re

ven Churches next command attention,

Valley of the Seven Churches." It is the locale of the legend of St. Kevin and Kathle

DALO

his popular and sentimental methods, gave the story-though in this case he has tuned his lute with sadness-much more pleasantly and lucidly, when he told of

es for St. Kevin, for, to conti

Kathleen's

most unh

ved him we

ers, nor tho

r the sain

ard her lig

t, where'er

yes before

s, to which came students of high lineage from all Western Europe. It became known the world over as a place of sacred associations, great learning, and immense wealth. In the Dark Ages, there could be but one end to a city possessing the last advantage, especially as it was small and easy to besiege. After endless trouble from both Danes and English, the latter nation finally sacked and

lf to all who have not heart

VIN'S

its tomb of King O'Toole. The present cemetery, all about and within the ruins of the "cathedral," is also characteristically Irish and charming. There is a monument here which bears the inscription: "We append a

n's "kitchen," with a tower like that of the broken, but still striking, round tower not far beyond. Formerly, it was one of the hermit's churches (it was never

of this group of churches, is the

his epoch,-the sixth and seventh centuries. No indications point to the exact resting-place of his bones, and the most that is kn

the Gap at Glendalough, the county, and that famous headland which juts out into

was changed to Wykinlo. The chief architectural remains are those of a Franciscan friary of the rei

LE OF

re; but, though its fame is well deserved, and it is a spot beloved by all who have

vale," where the Avonbeg joins the Avonmore, is the "Meeting of the Waters." Moore lavished his choicest phraseology upon its charms; and tourists-since there have been tourists-have dev

the wide world

hose bosom the b

s of feeling and

hat valley shall f

. . .

Avoca! how ca

hade with the fri

t we feel in this co

ke the waters, be

ly have applied to a

on its base; and when one has made the round of all Ireland's fairest beauties, and heard Moore's melodies dinned into his ears by importunate touts and mendicants without number, the se

otional before its expanse of green, its oaks and beeches, its rocks and rills, its ivies, and more tha

ING OF T

and the last word on the subject. It should be visited and seen in all its beauties; but the

ers have limned its beauties; and, like Killarney, Loch Katrine, and Richmond Vale, on the Thames, replicas of its charms used years ago to find their way in

d has been neglected and overlooked by many in f

f thirty knights, sixty men in armour, and three hundred foot-soldiery, under Robert Fitzstephen. This brought on the sieg

is as a "matter yet fresh in the memory of living men," and the great rebellion-so great at least to Ireland-has been dealt with by writers of all shades of opinion ad infinitum. Even the music-hall songs have perpetuated the belligerent aspect of the inhabitants of Enniscorthy, to say nothing of Killaloe. Nevertheless, the inc

nd; but something of his earnestness and spirit still lives amongst those who bear his name, if we may j

hronicle of Ireland," has emblazo

ITHFUL

e valiant and

foes, not the

rugged cup, no

ld hate in the

ng they had ple

camp, and their

he Norman upra

ts hilt he kis

is sword or this

cross which i

nd honour of n

prince, by this

through the thr

praise to the

e past truth

the great heart

-vessel, thirty miles to the southward, and Carnsore Point, which lies between, forms the turning-point-or the

at circular building known as "Reginald's Tower." It sits close to the quayside, and is by far the most notable landmark, viewed from either sea or land, which the city pos

d Raymond le Gros took Wat

s Tower:

hat Earl Strongbow was married to Eva, daughter of the King of Leinster; and here, too, that Henry II. first

by the corsairs of Algiers, who sacked the town of Baltimore, close to Cape Clear, in 1631, when all the inhabitants were killed or carried off into slavery. A curious page of the Irish history,

ness and romantic environment the celebrated valley of the Blackwater, which, forming a broad estuary, mingles with the waters of the Atlantic at Youghal Harbour. The great beau

orld, who, though he had never been there, is popularly supposed to have introduced its tobacco into Great Britain. As a matter of fact, he did not, but some one of his understudies did; and it was at Myrtle Grove that his servant sought to save him fr

ALEIGH'S COT

leigh really lived there, t

ce become a too staple article of die

ceeding that due to his reputed chivalry to Queen Elizabeth. Without potatoes