The Charm of Ireland

d, unless one likes fish, or is content with bread and butter. Every evenin

e wantin' for b

can we

hing ye l

at, for i

nd eggs, miss, a

d out of place on the breakfast-table. Besides

fee or tay, miss?" th

good, though strong, and it seems somehow to suit the climat

r Ireland-and the tea tasted better than I had ever imagined tea could taste, and outside the sun was shining brightly, but no brighter than the face of the maid who waited on us, and there was a pleasant stir of movement up and down the street, f

rd work; there were red calves in little pens, and chickens in crates, and eggs and butter in baskets; and there were a lot of pedlars offering all sorts of dry-goods and hardware and odds and ends to the country-people who stood stolidly around, apparently rather sorry they had

family driving to town, all crowded together on a little cart behind a shaggy donkey, the men with their feet hanging down, the women scrooched up under their shawls, with their knees as high as th

scended to a winding stream, the Suir, flowing gently between rushy banks, and presently we saw ahead a great pile of crumbling

it is not quite just to blame England for them, as most of the Irish do. It was the English, of course, who broke up the monasteries and destroyed many of the castles; but the march of the centuries would probably have wrought much the same ruin in the end; for men no longer live in castles, finding homes far pleasanter; and it is not now to monks they go for learning, nor is the right of sanctuary needed as it

BBEY, FROM T

UINS ON THE

ad many strange vicissitudes, in the centuries that followed, but it was not lost, as was the one which the Cross of Cong enshrined, and it is preserved to-day in the Ursuline convent at Blackrock. Holy Cross had better luck than most, for, at the dissolution in 1563, i

arms of the cross, or transepts, stretching north and south, and the body of the cross, or nave, extending to the west, where the main entrance was; a door from the nave opened to the south into a court around which were the cloisters and the domestic buildings-the refectory

proof of the loving workmanship that was lavished on it; but its bright particular gem is a little sanctum in the north transept, surrounded by delicate twisted pillars and covered by a roof beautifully groined. Whet

de which once surrounded it; but the square of domestic buildings about it is better

floor; the church is still used as a burial place, and is cluttered with graves, marked by stones leaning at every an

and more ago, when Red Hugh O'Donnell, marching southward from Galway with his army to join the Spaniards at Kinsale, came down yonder white highway, and stopped at the monastery gate, and invoked a blessing from the Abbot. And the Abbot, with all the monks in attendance, carried the fragment of the Cross in its gilded shrine out to the gate, and held it up for all to see, and Red

antage-ground; and at last, most regretfully, we mounted the car again and drove back to

for only one excursion out of Dublin, he should hesitate

lat top is about two acres in extent. In itself it is a natural fortress, and it was of course seized upon as such by the dim people who fought back and forth over the length and breadth of Ireland in the far ages before history begins. At first it was strengthened

plucked the trefoil or shamrock to illustrate the principle of the Three-in-One; Brian Boru strengthened its fortifications; and in 1134 was consecrated here that wonderful chapel of Cormac McCarthy, King of Munster, which still endures as a most convincing demonstration of the beauty of old Irish architecture. Then a round tower was put up, and then a castle, and then a great cathedral, fo

od & Unde

OF TH

uccessor, Milar Magrath, abjured his religion, under Elizabethan pressure, and to prove the sincerity of his Protestantism, married not

s are so incommodiously situated that they cannot be resorted to for divine service," power should be given the chief governor, with assent of the privy council, to "remove the site of a cathedral church to some convenient parish church." Two years later, in 1749, an act was passed directing that the cathedral be removed from the Rock into the town. This was, of course, impossible in any but a metaphorical sense; but, incredible as it may s

on that-and then, quite suddenly, away to the left, we saw the Rock, golden-grey, high against the sky, so fairy-like and ethereal that it seemed impossible it could be anything more than a wonderful vision or mirage. And then the train stopped, and we jumped out, and hurried from the station, and presently we were following t

a moment later we had the pleasure of meeting John Minogue, the caretaker-the most accomplished caretaker, I venture to say, in all the length and breadth of Ireland. For, as we soon found, he has

ldren who had followed him up from the village; and then began one of the most deligh

he north, we could just discern the gap of the Devil's Bit, beyond which lay Limerick and the Shannon. And then we walked to the other side of the Rock, and there, away i

ad a comely son, Ossian the sweet singer; but at times his spirit hung heavy on him, for his wife was dead, and no man has peaceful slumber who is without a fitting mate. So he looked about for one to share his bed, but found it hard to choose, for there were many fine women in Erin; and at last in his perplexity he sat himself down on

here the Kings of Munster were crowned in the old, old days. Here it was, perhaps, that St. Patrick himself stood when he stooped to pluck the trefoil, and that King ?ngus was baptised. Legend has it that, as he was performing that ceremony, the Saint, without knowing it, drove the spiked end of his crozier through the King's foot. ?ngus said never a word, nor m

as when its stones were laid, eight centuries ago. It nestles in between the choir and south transept of the

ings rich in dog-tooth and lozenge ornamentation, and though it is b

rches, traceried surfaces, sculptured capitals, and I know not what beside. Facing the choir is a stone sarcophagus, beautifully ornamented with characteristic Celtic serpent work, as may be seen

visit the place, some day, and have John Minogue to take you round. But, let me warn you, he does not waste himself on the unsympathetic. While we stood admiring the sculptures of St. Patrick and St. Brigid and eleven of the apostles, in the north transept

e, "we can amuse ourselves for a while, if y

ot one gla

t worth it. Now come-I mus

d doorway, twelve feet above the ground. It stands eighty-five feet high, and is wonderfully preserved; but

, and found the rabble of children still waiting. They closed in on us at once, murmurin

they're sayi

l fight for it; or, if you'd rather, they will put up a prayer for you, so that you will get safe

ation, I fancy, for they scurried away as though the devil was after them. I regretted, afterwards,

rote our names and looked at his books-one had been given him by Stephen Gwynne, and others by other writers whose names I have forgotten; but the treasure of his library was a huge volume, carefully wrapped against possible soiling, which, when unwrapped, p

arrow, crooked streets, and thatched houses, and friendly women leaning over their half-doors, and multitudinous children; but the most vivi

ore Abbey, a Cistercian monastery built about 1272, but had added that it was scarcely worth visiting after Cashel. That was perhaps true-few ruin

ould probably have declined to venture but for the assurance that there are no snakes in Ireland. The nearer we got to the ruin, the

her times. But it seemed to us singularly impressive, with its narrow lancet windows, and plain, square pillars. Such vaulting as remains, at the crossing and in the chapels, is very simple, and the whole church was evidently built with a dignity and severity of det

. We did hurry, though with many a backward glance, for one is reluctant to leave a beautiful place which one may never see again; but