Romantic Ireland; volume 1/2

more nearly to the popular conception of the feudal stronghold of the romancers and poets,

s it not contain," says the proud inhabitant, "nearly fifteen thousand souls?" It does, indeed, but it is mor

thing ever heard elsewhere. It is a fact that this cheering is peculiar to Kilkenny. These are no hurrahs of the ordinary British kind, but every time the feelings of the people find a vent, a long, shrill wail res

liaments" were held here, and, in 1367, one of them ordained that death should be the punishment of any Englishman who married an Irishwoman. This

Kilkenny the name of "The City of Confederation," though the same act culminated in its siege by Cromwell, and its ultimate downfall into t

Ireland in a familiar way. It is famous, some one has already said, as bein

t of the Marquis of Ormonde, the founder of whose ancestors, Theob

estroyed it in the following year, but again it took form as the ancestral home of a race of men who

nd, and also one of the most picturesque. Its massive gray

NNY C

st the wistful blue of Irish skies, while at night it looks like a true palace of enchantment when the moon rises beyond its turrets and towers, and throws indistinct, distorted, and mysterious shadows on

made the Earl of Carrick. His son was created Earl of Ormonde

Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, and he it was, the second earl of the house of Ormonde,-the direct ancestor of the

as history tells, although their story is

unsupported,-was favoured by the sun's having remained stationary in its co

oriously. The sixth earl was smitten by the fervour of the Crusades and died in Jerusalem, and one of the daughters of the

ful not to give always good advice, but, when bad ones were followed, too complaisant to be any great complainer." For thirty years he was Chief Governor and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, when he incurred the hatred of a bold rascal, Thomas Blood, the son of a black-smith, and a staunch supporter of Cromwell. After the Restoration even, Blood plotted against royalty

at Kilkenny Castle. Later, he became a favourite of Queen Anne, and succeeded Marlborough as commander-in-chief of the land forces of Great Britain. Suspected

Attainder affected estates only, and not Irish titles, though the English attainder included the loss of both. The Earldom of Ormonde, a purely Irish title, was therefore restored to John Butler, who became seventeenth in

wealth of detail that makes interesting reading for the inquisitive. Among other

w fell softly upon the placid mirror of the water below, and the pale moonlight gleamed upon the white houses and walls of the lower town. Every hotel and inn-and there are many from some unexplained reason-was crowded with guests invited to the castle, while in the doorways one caught glimpses of officers in uniform and levee dress, and women in white gowns with jewels that flashed in the lamplight, waiting for their carriages and coaches to convey them to the castle entr

s by old masters, where the guests were being received. In the adjoining dining-room, glowing in the candlelight, gle

e early hours the city of Kilkenny was noisy with the merriment of its citizen

n a few words the conventionalities of the occasion in a frame of picturesquen

PS AND THE ROUND

ons, and, though most of us know it only in costume novels, sword-and-cloak dramas, and

appropriately dressed. The adaptations and modernizations have not discounted its grand towers, battlements, and bastions, and though, chiefly, it is a modern building which c

by Holbein, Lely, Van Dyck, Kneller, and Sir Joshua, of men who have illustrated those tragedies of history which, with time, have assumed the rich colouring o

remains. It is a cruciform church in plain, simple Gothic style, small but stately, and has in its collection of monuments the most varied and rich in Ireland. It also possesses

ven than the cathedral; the Black Abbey; the Franciscan Friary; and the modern Ro

largest in Ireland. The description is, however, misleading.

REW C

commerce; but it is, truly,

llowing views, which are hig

ruined Knights Templars' preceptory, known as Rhincrew Castle and founded by Raymond le Gros in 1183. Ardsallat foll

institution, founded by St. Fachman in 501. Raymond le Gros is claimed to have

acked by most streams of its size. Strancally Castle is now but a moss-grown rock; but it possesses a traditional tale of horror, which gives the waters at this p

smond, who died only, at the age of 140 years, by reason of having fallen from a cherry-tree. It is not recorded as to how or why this sprightly old lady came to be in, or up, a cherry-tree on that fatal occa

comes abruptly to an end at the most lovely and interesting of all the kaleidoscopic views which it e

POQ

t Melleray, capped, in its turn, by a Trappist convent, wh

iously. They drink no stimulants, not even tea,-which is probably a good thing,-and five or six hours' sleep suffices for their resting moments. The rest is work, incessant and laborious, and, greatest hardship of all,-at least it will seem so to many of us,-is that they preserve a "discreet and who

monks, who were driven from France by the Revolution o

n been mentioned, among the people here, as a prospective royal residence, though, like enough, this is not to be taken as anything more than irresponsible gossip, based on a wish that is father to the thought. It has been in the possession of the Cavendish family since 1748, and the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire spend some time every

RE CA

zed the castle and equipped it with interior luxuries witho

de to frowning heights, crowned in the gold of the gorse, which gives an additional glory to the land, and, on the other side, fall sheer down in an almost precipitous steep, across which there is a vast and enchanting view over the rolling plains of Tipperary. As one passes through the Gap, either on a car or coach, or on foot, the sun st

being a fine example of the fortified domestic Gothic architecture of its time, and, s

lum, recounting contemporary history in a manner which classes it as one of the famous chronicles of English history, worthy, perhaps, to rank

eling of sadness, if he is observant

; to-day scarcely one house remains, and hardly a sign of life, except a few sheep snatching at the precarious grazing. Of the 42,000 acres belong

ne's nerves after a time, and, during a sojourn in this beautiful region, admiration of the scenery is mingled with wo

logheen, the Knockmeledowns, are capable of an entirely pacific interpretation. Commonly one says, "We are knocked down all in a heap" by this or that which takes us by surprise, and these mountains surprise all by their beaut

mental order. Mitchelstown's Castle, Skereenarint (a "place for dancing in the wood"), and the Caves of Coolagarranroe are

7) as the locus amoens salubrium aquarium frequens, is hardly of great moment

Awbeg, the "Mulla bright and fair," "Mulla mine," of Spenser.

ly French, it reminds one of the "Push forward" man?uvre of Barry's men against the followers of MacCarthy. The

e th

se and dark r

antique monu

faithless to

lped, once held i

ds of those wh

or saint, whos

esiastical buildings and monuments of a great age,-a cathedral, Cormac's Chapel, an episcopal palace, and various other edifices. Cormac's Chapel and its round tower, commemorating the virtues of Cormac MacCullinan, "at once King and Archbishop of Cashel," are justly reckoned as among

and "Cormac's Glossary," though there appears to be some doubt as to whet

. To-day it is a ruin, but a magnificent one, and its outlines and proportions mark i

gnificance. Twenty feet from the ground, it is connected with the cathedral itself, while its completed he

oss of

silent and solitary, before the cathedral itself took form, and perhaps before even Cormac'

to ruin, gives indications of great strength. In 1647 it was stormed by Lord I

F VOL

n

I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P

l, 27

n, St.

son,

I., 39,

boe,

Palace

in,

f Dalri

Oge,

Quee

38, 139, 147,

gast

ert,

ra,

llat,

ow,

11, 127,

an,

one,

Rebellion,

ee Vale

, The,

dale

, The, 2

, The

iggan

, Donal

House, Wate

tra, 1

stle, 1

yfin

mena,

non, Fall

thery

ore, 1

gher

oleraine,

n Bay

Bay,

avid de,

f the Bo

aven,

, 28, 45, 8

eek,

ey, Lo

, The, 238

, 10, 19, 90,

, The (see Bl

Thoma

orehead,

, Anne

an (see B

3, 204,

Nicholas (see

a, 67, 11

, St.,

d, St

argie Ab

mund, 195

Thoma

, Bisho

vant,

Margery,

e, St

Clear

quin,

low

kfergu

kmacro

-on-Sui

l, 27

, 127, 12

Chapel,

ss,

ter,

, 27

aven, L

eknoc

lere

eagh, 1

ch, Sha

Lord Fred

Coolagarr

idge,

es I.

es II

the Fir

aboy,

Mounta

ents

den,

heen

alkin

es,

rt, 12

acnoi

mell

181, 182

le,

maul

ne,

ine, 1

Uais

t., 119, 1

bishop of D

ct,

al,

ve, 19

ghal

f Tyro

ht, 22,

, 22, 23,

ock,

g of Muns

27, 45, 46, 80, 9

dral,

c, 27

f Larne,

elin,

3, 164, 193,

haven

, Palace

llain

n, Dr

, 209,

s, St

21, 16

da, 13

iag,

he, 205,

reyn

rie,

ee Londo

Count

Bit Moun

s Glen

Dukes of,

mid,

, Bisho

4, 28, 111

127,

ck Cathed

mod

a Cast

34, 79, 86, 95, 148, 160, 163

Irelan

ham Tow

he, 151,

Cathedral,

Archbis

Hill,

n Acres

Court

The (see

rchbish

l Galle

rk, 176,

Force,

lle St

n, Church

de Insula, C

thedral, 126, 12

Colleg

al Lodg

ck,

mase

Castle,

rvan,

(see Ki

Castle,

rth, M

d I.,

VII., 2

en, 184, 197,

Palace of),

corth

kerry

n, St.

Head,

Norman, Th

f Dalria

nagh,

alds, T

hen, Rob

, Theobald

7, 31, 34

hill,

e I.,

V., 181,

nes, Th

way, 10, 19,

as,

ain (see

the Do

ough, 2

arrif

trim, The (

h, 72, 1

ana Uile (see O

ore,

s Famil

ett,

, 38, 77,

III.

VII.

III., 7

f Alle

Cross

181,

of, 1

s of

21, 181

y's Abb

in, Lo

wen Hea

murra

d's Ey

II., 1

Henry

King,

on, D

her ("Stella

ing,

ls,

ells, The

of Kells

e Cast

County,

St.,

n Castl

re, 2

dral,

2, 242-244,

242, 2

t. Canice, 126,

rches o

Cathed

e, 28,

ral, 1

, 27, 31, 34, 58, 80, 90,

y Hill

owen

gh Cathed

inham

ullach

lace of, 67

20, 180-181,

e, 168

ntains, 260, 263,

Horatio

Islan

cor,

20, 2

astle

The

22, 79, 20

lip,

Charl

e, 19, 179

s of

, 31, 45, 15

dral,

n, 164

e, 267

7

Lismor

242, 2

dral,

, 2

n,

f Dalri

, 45, 90, 111,

dral,

Derg

Foyl

h Re

Swilly

re Cast

Count

muel, 72,

th,

an,

amhfad

mach

bishop of

rthy,

an, Corma

l, Alexan

ell, Ja

, John Mor

ll, Rand

The, 148, 1

Queen

ns, The,

, 24,

oroug

oroug

ell,

, 79

, Justin

0, 111,

Queen,

e "Half-R

he Waters," T

, Donald

lstown

rogh,

Island

as, Abbe

erboic

erevan

nia,

e, 82, 85, 9

03, 104-105, 185-186

Meller

of, 26

Mountai

le, 3

more,

Abbey,

22, 79-80

g Hole, T

rince Puc

ve, Yougha

, 20

of Ferma

Fort

si,

n, St

rcros

stle,

The,

, Donal

, Donog

illiam Smi

, The, 1

eary

of Tyconne

Red Hugh,

ls, The,

y, Grac

l, Mar

l, Sha

urlough Lu

, 144, 146, 1

, Duke

amily, 24

e, Kin

ld Hou

Charles S

92, 102, 116,

rittas

nach, 1

umna

Phooka

ourt, 2

t, Maurice

town, 2

n, 3, 15,

r Walter, 2

down

Island,

le Gros,

t Chur

, Bish

Tower, Wate

w Castl

rd II

rick

athedr

iss Mar

The Cl

l, T.

ight-Ves

f the Ar

hes (see Gl

n Bell

n Brid

n, The

Bernar

Sir He

Sir Phil

Silkbe

Lamber

gs, Th

rint Cas

Aildui

om Mounta

emore

27, 31, 3

ille, M

Boy,

105-106, 17

Hill

Abbey, Ag

Dublin, Ch

n, Church

nces, The

bbey, Howth

urch of, Irela

Insula, Dublin,

Sir Rich

, 6, 1

son, R

bane

lly Cas

rd, 191-192, 232

w's Cast

af Mount

The,

160, 193-194, 195,

aght

Palace), 104, 1

Michae

es, 2

y, 31, 1

lee

ollege (s

(see V

athedr

Teacht

Lightho

nell,

Hugh, Pri

iss Kath

onn, Earl

, 65, 79, 110,

cross

er,

Avoca,

Armoric Tri

ntia

er, Prof

see Vanhomr

h, Hester

e Bede,

ubrey d

s, The

r Hill

20, 24, 45,

dral,

, 24, 2

, 176, 183, 204-205

III.,

he histo

aks (see

(see W

, Georg

Mr.,

24, 168,

Arthur,