The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Sunny Side of Ireland, by
John O'Mahony and R. Lloyd Praeger
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Title: The Sunny Side of Ireland
How to see it by the Great Southern and Western Railway
Author: John O'Mahony and R. Lloyd Praeger
Release Date: September 19, 2006 [EBook #19329]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SUNNY SIDE OF IRELAND ***
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|Transcriber's Note: Inconsistent spelling of place names |
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THE SUNNY SIDE
OF
IRELAND.
[Illustration]
Second Edition. Re-written and Enlarged.
THE SUNNY SIDE
OF
IRELAND.
HOW TO SEE IT BY
THE GREAT SOUTHERN AND WESTERN RAILWAY.
BY
JOHN O'MAHONY.
With Seven Maps and over 160 Illustrations.
AND A CHAPTER ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF
THE SOUTH AND WEST OF IRELAND,
BY
R. LLOYD PRAEGER, B.A., B.E., &c.
ALEX. THOM & CO. (LIMITED),
87, 88, & 89, ABBEY STREET,
DUBLIN.
PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION.
These pages attempt to make better known the large part of Ireland which
is served by the Great Southern and Western Railway Company, and while
doing so to realise Shakespeare's words:
"An honest tale speeds best being plainly told."
If they succeed in these endeavours, they will satisfy the compiler. No
inexorable route is insisted upon, but no suggestion is stinted which
may help the tourist to enjoy fully the beautiful country he passes
through--and a beautiful country it truly is, be it approached from
Athlone, its north-western gate, by the Shannon, where,
"In the quiet watered land, the land of roses,
Stands Saint Kieran's city fair,"
or from its south-western side, in the kingdom of Kerry, where the ocean
leans against the mountains, and the storm-swept peak of Skellig Michael
makes the most westerly citadel of Christ in the Old World! Everywhere
within its broad borders, swift-rushing rivers, mirror-like lakes, and
mountains tiaraed in the skies, delight the vision and gladden the
heart.
The Gaelic names of places are usually word pictures reflecting with
fidelity the physical features of each place, or "tell sad stories of
the death of kings." Where possible, the equivalents have been given in
English.
With these forewords, nothing further remains but to offer an Irish
welcome--
FAILTÈ.
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.
Since "The Sunny Side of Ireland" was issued the Royal Assent has been
given to an Act of Parliament which makes the Great Southern and Western
Railway foremost in every sense amongst Irish Railways. The two
Provinces of Munster and Connaught are now knit together by a huge
network of railway lines comprised in their amalgamated system.
The several counties thus included are dealt with in this Second
Edition. The volume is further enhanced by more particular information
as to the sports and pastimes of the country, and by a valuable chapter
on the Natural History of the South and West of Ireland, by writers of
authority on such subjects.
LIST OF MAPS.
MAP OF THE GREAT SOUTHERN AND
WESTERN RAILWAY AND ITS CONNECTIONS
IN IRELAND 6
MAP SHOWING CONNECTIONS OF THE
GREAT SOUTHERN AND WESTERN
RAILWAY IN GREAT BRITAIN 7
MAP OF DUBLIN CITY 14
MAP OF ENVIRONS OF DUBLIN 15
MAP OF CORK CITY 72
MAP OF ENVIRONS OF CORK 73
PICTORIAL MAP OF KILLARNEY DISTRICT 132
CONTENTS. Page
INTRODUCTION 8
DUBLIN AND DISTRICT--
DUBLIN 15
DUBLIN DISTRICT 24
LIMERICK AND DISTRICT--
LIMERICK 46
LIMERICK DISTRICT 53
THE SHANNON LAKES 67
CORK AND DISTRICT--
CORK 73
CORK DISTRICT 85
THE RIVER BLACKWATER, YOUGHAL, &C. 98
WATERFORD AND DISTRICT 112
KILLARNEY AND GLENGARRIFF 133
LAKES AND FJORDS OF KERRY 175
COUNTY CLARE 221
GALWAY AND DISTRICT 235
CONNEMARA AND SLIGO 245
SUMMER AND WINTER RESORTS 256
NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SOUTH AND WEST OF IRELAND 260
SPORTS--
CYCLING 278
GOLF 291
RIVER FISHING 295
LAKE FISHING 299
SHOOTING 303
INDEX 306
ADVERTISEMENTS 309
Introduction.
Travelling through Ireland in the good old times was at best a
precarious and inconvenient diversion. Those who had to do so regretted
the necessity, and those who had not, praised Providence. Many "persons
of quality," to use Dr. Johnson's phrase, have written narratives of
their adventures and experiences in "the most damnable country." No man
of position, even early in the nineteenth century, would dream of
travelling threescore miles from his residence without having signed and
sealed his last will and testament. The highways were beset by
"Gentlemen of the Road," such as that fascinating felon, "Brennan on the
Moor," of whom the ballad tells--
"A brace of loaded pistols he carried night and day."
The coach roads were dangerous, the stage was deplorable, and everything
but the scenery unpleasant. The interior and west of the country were
connected with Dublin by canals cut in the time of the Irish
Parliament, which followed the enterprise of the Dutch. They were looked
upon at the time as feats of engineering skill, somewhat in the light
that we view the Suez or Panama Canals to-day. Neville, the engineer,
was the recipient of extravagant encomiums from the Lords and Commons,
and his fame is embalmed in a street ballad which sings the praise of--
"Bold Neville,
Who made the streams run level
In that bounding river
Called the Grand Canal."
Nowadays we have changed all that, and Neville and his skill are as
little remembered in Ireland as the military-road cutter in Scotland, of
whom, to show that
[Illustration: G. S. & W. R. Corridor Train.]
Ireland had not the monopoly in "bulls," an English admirer wrote:--
"If you had seen those roads before they
Were made,
You would hold up your hands and bless
General Wade."
A poor Italian boy--Charles Bianconi--who tramped through the country as
a print-seller, was the first, in the days of Waterloo, in the south of
Ireland, to begin really that healthy competition with the mail-coaches
which made straight the way for the Iron Horse.
The Great Southern and Western Railway was incorporated in 1845. Mr.
Under-Secretary Drummond, the English statesman who got closest to the
Irish heart, was identified with the construction of the line.
Year after year the Company prospered and increased, gradually absorbing
the smaller lines adjoining it until the year 1901, when it amalgamated
the only two other systems of broad gauge lines in their district which
had remained independent. Practically the two provinces of Munster and
Connaught are now knit together by the great network of railway lines
which comprise the Great Southern and Western System. The total length
is about 1,100 miles. The main line stretches from Dublin, through Cork,
to Queenstown, forming the route for the American Mails and the great
transatlantic passenger traffic. Branches extend to Waterford, Limerick,
Killarney, and Kerry, and every place of importance in the South of
Ireland, while in the west the line extends from Tralee, through
Limerick, to Sligo. The carriages which the Company provide are of the
very latest design; vestibule corridor trains, with dining and breakfast
cars, are run daily, and the speed of the trains will bear comparison
with any. The journey, Dublin to Cork (165 miles) is performed in four
hours; to Killarney (189 miles) in about fifteen minutes more, and all
the important tourist centres can be reached within a very short time.
The comfort of passengers is well arranged for; refreshment rooms are
provided at the principal stations, and breakfast, luncheon, and tea
baskets can always be had, as well as pillows, rugs, and all the modern
conveniences of travel. Besides all this, the enterprise of the Company
has provided at Killarney, Parknasilla, Kenmare, Caragh Lake, and
Waterville, hotels, which for appearance and luxury, tempered by
economy, are the equals of any in Europe.
[Illustration: Interior of G. S. & W. R. Dining Carriage.]
The scenery of Ireland surpasses the most roseate expectations. Within a
comparatively small compass her scenic beauties include mountains,
lakes, and seas, and it is the good fortune of the Great Southern and
Western Company to have within its borders the finest scenery in the
country. The "Skies of Erin" have been paid tribute to by artists again
and again. Turner said the sun never seemed to set so beautifully
anywhere as in Ireland, and Lady Butler, the well-known painter, has
expressed the opinion that nowhere, except in the valley of the Nile,
does the firmament put forth such varied changes of beauty as in
Ireland. To the Gulf Stream, which strikes the south-western coast,
scientists attribute the mildness of the climate. From Queenstown to
Leenane the coast-line contains countless health resorts, where invalids
may be recommended winter quarters as salubrious as many of the
continental districts.
The sportsman has always found himself at home here. The fine hunting
counties of Kildare, Tipperary, Kilkenny, and Waterford are familiar to
every son of Nimrod. Shooting and fishing, although the preserves are
not so many or so well kept as in Scotland, may be called the staple
sports of Ireland. Golf has come to stay, and within recent years links
have been laid in the vicinity of most of the tourist districts.
One word for Irish industries will not be out of place. Ireland has no
industries in the sense in which England has. With the exception of
Belfast, there is no place in the country which approaches to a factory
town in the sense in which that phrase is understood across the channel.
Agriculture, of course, is the backbone of Ireland, and in connection
with it the creamery system of the south may be mentioned. Anyone
anxious to find a line of industry in Ireland which has beaten the Dane
in his own market should visit Cleeves' famous factory at Limerick. The
woollen industry in the country has withstood destructive legislature,
and a typical example of modern success is the great tweed factory of
Morroghs, at Douglas, County Cork. The Blarney tweeds have become a
household word, but Douglas is shouldering them in the keen competition
for public recognition. The great bacon-curing houses of Denny, at
Waterford, are well worth seeing, as is also the thriving wholesome
Co-operative Factory at Tralee. In Dublin the mammoth brewery of
Guinness and Sons can be viewed under the conductorship of a servant of
the firm employed for the sole purpose of showing visitors through the
great concern. But it is the lesser industries in Ireland which are
really attractive. The law of the survival of the fittest stands to
these--the homespuns woven in the cottages, the beautiful Dublin poplin,
the delicate lace of Youghal and Limerick, the exquisite pottery of
Belleek, these good things are beyond compare.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Sackville-street, Dublin.]
Dublin and District.
DUBLIN.
The Tourist too often hurries away from Dublin to the south or west with
but a superficial knowledge of the attractions of the city. It will well
repay a stay, and if the visitor happens to come at Horse Show week he
can easily believe himself sojourning in the capital of one of the
wealthiest countries in Europe. During that short carnival each autumn
the tears are brushed aside, and Erin is all smiles and welcomes for her
guests. The hotels are good, the lodging-houses are clean, and moderate
in price. The restaurants have much improved within recent years.
Readers of Lord Mayo's encouraging articles to would-be Irish tourists
will do well to test his tribute to "The Dolphin" in Essex-street. If
anyone wants to see the ladies of fashion at their tea, Mitchell's in
Grafton-street is a sure find, and the well-equipped D.B.C. tea-houses,
which are established in several parts of the city, will meet the
requirements of moderate purses.
To attempt to mention more than a few of the more important places worth
seeing in this city would be beyond the intention of these pages.
Stretched beneath the beautiful Dublin Mountains the city scatters
itself about the sides of the River Liffey. To get from one place to
another in Dublin is simplicity itself. The electric-tram system is
equal to any in Europe, and excels most in the cheapness of its fares.
The cars run through the principal streets and along the quay sides to
the suburbs. A good view of the city may be had from the top of a tram
on a fine day. Those who wish to suit their own convenience, however,
will always avail themselves of the outside car. The jaunting car is to
Dublin what the gondola is to Venice--at least an imaginative Irish
Member of Parliament has said so, and that settles the matter. When
selecting an "outside" take care that you secure one equipped with a
pneumatic tyre. The Dublin driver is much maligned, he is generally
courteous, and not without humour. The municipal authorities supply him
with a list of fares and distances. He is bound to produce it should any
difficulty arise as to the financial relations, which sometimes happens.
[Illustration: _Photo,, Lawrence, Dublin._ Shelbourne Hotel,
Stephen's-green.]
Dublin was an old fortress of the Danes. They held the whole eastern
seaboard of Ireland until 1014 when Brian Boru defeated them and broke
their power at the battle of Clontarf. Historic remains of the old
city--the Ford of the Hurdles the Irish call it--there are none. The
Danes, the Normans, the Elizabethan, the Cromwellian, the Jacobite, all
made history in Dublin in their day, but the city as it stands is
practically modern. Between the Rotunda, one of the finest maternity
hospitals in the world, and St. Stephen's Green, the beautiful park
presented to the citizens by Lord Ardilaun, the principal buildings in
the city lie. The College Green, however, forms a natural centre from
which to make a short tour. The magnificent portico of the Bank of
Ireland--formerly the Irish House of Parliament--is characterized by
surprising dignity of proportion. Visitors can witness the printing of
bank notes. The Irish House of Lords, which remains unaltered, is an
oblong room with recess for throne at one end. Within may be seen two
valuable Dutch tapestries, the one representing the famous Siege of
Derry, and the second the Battle of the Boyne. Immediately outside "The
Old House at Home," as the historic building is affectionately called by
Irishmen, is a noble statue of Henry Grattan. He was the people's
darling from 1782, when the Volunteers mustered in College-green, up to
1800, when the Act of Union was passed. Behind Grattan stands the old
leaden statue of William III., erected in 1701. This equestrian figure
of "King Billy," as the prince of glorious, pious, and immortal memory
is familiarly known, has been the centre of, in its time, much mischief
and merriment. Up to 1822 His Majesty was annually decorated with orange
ribbons to celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne. This
party demonstration was always resented by the populace, and King Billy
came in for no end of ill-treatment. However, he has braved the battle
and the breeze.
Turning from the Bank we face the University, in front of which stand
fine bronze statues of its distinguished sons, Edmund Burke and Oliver
Goldsmith. The University, unlike its sisters, Oxford and Cambridge,
contains but a single college--that of the Holy and Undivided
Trinity--founded by Adam Loftus in Elizabeth's reign. Visitors to the
College should be shown the chapel halls, museum, and library, and grand
quadrangles, including Lever's notorious "Botany Bay." While in the
library the world-famous "Book of Kells" may be inspected, and the
enduring qualities of its marvellous illuminations admired. The College
park is very beautiful, and during the College races at midsummer
presents quite a gala sight.
[Illustration: _Photo,, Lawrence, Dublin._ Dublin Castle.]
In Dame-street most of the Irish banks have their offices. At the end of
the street furthest from the College is the City Hall. The building was
originally the Royal Exchange, but in the middle of the nineteenth
century it was handed over to the Dublin Corporation. The Corinthian
columns which form the portico are very handsome. The entrance is
modern, the older structure having given way in "the troubled times,"
while a crowd of citizens were beguiling the time watching a public
whipping of a malefactor from the steps. The centre hall is crowned with
a decorated dome. The hall contains statues of O'Connell,
Under-Secretary Drummond, Grattan, and Dr. Lucas, a publicist in
eighteen-century Dublin. The Council Chamber is well furnished, and some
of the portraits of former Lords Mayor are very fine. Immediately behind
the City Hall is Dublin Castle, far from being the imposing structure
those familiar with its history may suppose. The Lower Castle Yard is
entered from Palace-street. It contains the Birmingham Tower, a modern
structure replacing the fortress, some of the walls of which still
stand, from which the fiery Red Hugh O'Donel, Prince of Tyrone, escaped.
The Castle Chapel is beside the Tower, and permission to visit it is
easily obtained. Among the things of interest in the chapel are the
emblazoned arms of all the Irish viceroys. The wood work throughout is
Irish oak, and there are ninety heads in marble to represent the
sovereigns of England. St. Patrick's Hall, the Throne-room, and the Long
Drawing-room are the most important of the State apartments. While in
the vicinity of the Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral should be visited.
Founded so long ago as 1190, this cathedral, dedicated to the Apostle of
Ireland, has had a chequered history. Mostly Early English in
architecture, modern styles have been grafted on the building without
consistency or unity of ideal. The monuments are many. Dean Swift's
bears an inscription written by himself and breathing the hatred of
oppression and love of liberty characteristic of the writer--
"Hic depositum est corpus
JONATHAN SWIFT, s. t. d.
Hujus Ecclesiae Cathedralis Decani
Ubi saeva indignatio
Ulterius cor lacerare nequit
Abe Viator
Et imitare si poteris
Strenuum, pro virili,
Libertatis vindicatorem,
Obiit 19° die mensis Octobris, A.D. 1745,
Anno Aetatis 78."
Hard by is a white marble slab in memory of her whose name must be for
ever associated with that of Swift--"Stella." Ten minutes' walk through
Patrick-street will bring one from St. Patrick's to the most interesting
ecclesiastical structure in Dublin--Christ Church Cathedral. An old
Danish foundation, fire and time laid hands upon the original
building. Its restoration is a triumph of architectural genius in the
reproduction of thirteenth-century English Gothic. Strongbow's tomb is
the famous monument of the place. The Crypt contains, besides other
antiquities, the old City stocks, which is some three centuries old.
Other places worth seeing in the city are the Four Courts, the Custom
House, the Pro-Cathedral, Marlborough-street, St. Michan's Church and
Churchyard, and the Church of St. Francis Xavier, Gardiner-street. The
general architecture in the streets is incongruous, and the modern
"improvements" not always desirable. In the back streets here and there
the quaint gables as old as Queen Anne still survive, but the Dutch
houses have almost entirely, and the Cage houses have entirely,
disappeared.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Custom House, Dublin.]
Leinster Lawn, or the Duke's Lawn, as the man in the street in Dublin
still calls it, contains, among other attractions, the National Gallery,
Museum, and Public Library. These are store houses of treasure. The
catalogue of the Gallery reveals a valuable collection of paintings, and
the Museum contains an unique exhibition of gold, silver, and bronze
ornaments, collars, brooches, shields, clasps, and spears, which were
found from time to time throughout Ireland, and are evidence of her
former civilization. The Royal Irish Academy, in Dawson-street,
possesses a rich collection of ancient Irish manuscript.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ National Library, Dublin. Four
Courts, Dublin.]
The cemeteries of Dublin are small, except Glasnevin. A drive through
the Phoenix Park will bring one by the embanked river or through the
northern side of the city. An inquisitive tourist asked an Irish driver
why the Park was so called, when there was no such bird ever in the
world. "Sure that's the reason," said the driver. "Sure there's no such
Park in the world either." Lord Chesterfield put up a column with a
Phoenix in the Park, but of old its name was Parc-na-Fionniake (the
field of the clear water). It lies on the northern bank of the river
celebrated by Sir Samuel Ferguson:--
"Delicious Liffey, from the bosoming-hills
What man who sees thee issuing strong and pure
But with some wistful, fresh emotion fills,
Akin to nature's own sweet temperature;
And haply thinks:--On this green bank 'twere sweet
To make one's mansion sometime of the year,
For health and pleasure on these uplands meet,
And all the Isle's amenities are here."
Long ago the St. John's Hospitallers had their house at Kilmainham, and
the lands belonging to the Order lay about either side of the stream.
The Hospice is now the Old Man's House--an Asylum for Disabled Soldiers,
designed by Sir Christopher Wren--and possesses one of the finest halls
in Europe. The lands have been built over at Inchicore, and on the other
side of the river formed into the Phoenix Park, containing close on
two thousand acres, and bounded by a circumference of seven miles. The
Park contains the lodges of the Viceroy and the Chief Secretary for
Ireland, and the monuments to Lord Gough, Lord Carlisle, and the
"overgrown milestone," as the obelisk to the Duke of Wellington has been
called. The People's Gardens have been laid out with great taste, but
they cannot compare with the natural beauty of the Furze Glen with its
deep shade and silent lake. Visitors in the summer time should not fail
to drive from Knockmaroon gate, beside the Liffey, to "The Strawberry
Beds." Here, in the season, delicious fruit, fresh from the gardens, and
rich cream, can be had in most of the cottages beside the road.
DUBLIN DISTRICT.
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ Round Tower and Church at
Clondalkin.]
The country in the immediate vicinity of Dublin contains much that is
picturesque. The scenery along the coast has in general been already
referred to. But Killiney, Bray, and Howth, if time permits, should be
visited. The train and tram facilities are sufficient. Wicklow County
has been called the Garden of Erin, and on no account should a visit to
Glendalough or "The Meeting of the Waters" in the Vale of Avoca be
deferred. But those who wish to speed on to the south or west will do so
from the Kingsbridge Terminus. From here we pass through Inchicore, the
busy thriving hive of industry, where the Great Southern and Western
Railway have their engineering works. The first station we come to is
that of ~Clondalkin~. The old village sits snuggled up at the foot of
its round tower, which is one of the best specimens of that early
architecture in Ireland, of which the poet says:
"Two favourites hath Time--the Pyramids of Nile
And the old mystic temples of our own dear Isle."
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ Salmon Leap, Lucan.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ Castletown House.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ Carton House, Maynooth.]
Irish antiquaries for generations have squabbled over these famous
"Pillar Towers of Ireland," but the general trend of scientific opinion
is that they are of early Christian origin. Father Matt Horgan, a famous
Munster antiquary, humorously started the theory that they were built to
puzzle posterity, which they have very successfully done. ~Lucan~ is a
health resort, possessing a sulphur spa, and situated in a well-wooded
country above the Liffey. The Hydropathic stands well sheltered and
commanding a splendid view. The drives in the district are many, and the
antiquarian will find much of interest. In Lord Annaly's demesne are the
remains of an early Norman castle, and in the vicinity is an ancient
Rath and souterraine. The drive to the Salmon Leap, at Leixlip, should
not be missed. Near by is ~Castletown~, the palatial mansion of the
Connolly family, and a grotesque structure known as "Connolly's Folly,"
which was built in the time of the famine of "Black '47" to give
employment. Here, too, the great Dean of St. Patrick's beguiled his time
at "The Abbey," the home of Esther Vanhomrigh, the "Vanessa" of his
strange life. From Lucan Maynooth may be reached. Here is St. Patrick's
National College for the education of priests for the Catholic Church,
originally founded on a Government grant. "Carton House," in the
vicinity, is the residence of the Dukes of Leinster. It is surrounded by
beautiful parks, well planted, among the trees the royal oaks, for which
Kildare was celebrated, being conspicuous. ~Straffan~ may be called a
"hunting village," as the meets of the famous "Killing Kildares" most
usually take place in its neighbourhood. Here, too, are the seats of
Lords Cloncurry and Mayo. The thriving market town of ~Naas~ is two
miles from Sallins, and is the railway station for Punchestown, the
great steeplechase meeting of the Kildare Hunt. Long centuries ago it
was an historic spot--"Naas of the Kings." From the station may be seen
the Hill of Allen, rising like a sentinel on the mearings of the "Great
Plain of Ireland." ~Harristown~, the second station on a branch line, is
about three miles from Poulaphouca Waterfall. The road to the Falls
leads through the picturesque village of Ballymore-Eustace, situated on
a bank at a bend in the river Liffey. The view from the river below the
Falls is very impressive. Tullow is the terminus of this branch of the
line. It is a good business town, and the river Slaney affords excellent
trout fishing. Within half-an-hour's walk from Sallins is Bodenstown
Churchyard, where Theobald Wolfe Tone, the founder of the United Irish
Organisation of 1798, is buried. He was the most desperate man who ever
crossed the path of the English Government in Ireland. "The most
extraordinary man I ever met," is the verdict of the Duke of Wellington.
"He went to France with but one hundred guineas in his pocket, and
induced Bonaparte, by his single unaided efforts, to send three
armaments to Ireland." Six and twenty miles from Dublin, the town of
~Newbridge~ exists as a kind of aide-de-camp to the Commissariat
Department of the ~Curragh Camp~. The Curragh, a great plain over twelve
miles square, was once a common, the property of the Geraldine tenants,
but the Crown quietly seized upon it, and "their right there is none to
dispute." It has been made a camp of instruction, and can accommodate,
under more or less permanent cover, ten thousand men. It is in a good
fox-hunting, sporting country, "the country of the short grass," and
several times a year is the scene of race meetings. It is the Newmarket
of Ireland, for here are the training stables for Punchestown,
Fairyhouse, Leopardstown, Baldoyle, and all the lesser meetings in the
Green Isle, and many of the greater ones across the water. The Curragh
was the scene of more than one battle in centuries past, and, like Tara,
was one of the historic places chosen in the minds of the insurgents of
Ninety-eight as an ideal mustering point. The Curragh District Golf Club
has been formed by the military stationed there. ~Kildare~, some thirty
miles from Dublin, is the junction for the Kilkenny branch of the line.
The town is very old, being, in the early Christian era, a cell of St.
Bride, a patroness of Ireland. The ancient cathedral has been partly
rebuilt, and in the south transept is the vault of the Earls of Kildare,
progenitors of the Leinster line. These Geraldines were the most famous
of the Norman invaders:
"And, oh! through many a dark campaign
They proved their prowess stern,
In Leinster's plains and Munster's vales
On king, and chief, and kern;
But noble was the cheer within
The halls so rudely won,
And generous was the steel-gloved hand
That had such slaughter done.
How gay their laugh, how proud their mien,
You'd ask no herald's sign--
Amid a thousand, you had known
The princely Geraldine."
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ The Liffey, near Celbridge.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Curragh Military Camp.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Curragh Military Camp.]
The Round Tower in the graveyard, which is one hundred and three feet
high, is perfect, except that the original cap has been replaced with a
battlement, out of character with the rest. The old castle stood by, to
guard the church and tower, and what remains of it has been turned to
use as a tenement. The Earls of Kildare were often warring with the
Kings of England. The Archbishop of Cashel one time protested to the
King against the Earl burning down his cathedral, and the Earl, when
reprimanded, explained to the King in person that he would not have done
so had he not thought that the Archbishop was inside the church at the
time. This was the same Earl of whom the Parliament complained that "all
Ireland could not govern the Earl of Kildare." "Then," said the King,
"let the Earl of Kildare govern all Ireland," and he was appointed Lord
Deputy, and made an excellent one. From Kildare, Carlow, twenty-six
miles distant, and Kilkenny, fifty-one, are the principal stations on
the line which terminates at Waterford. ~Carlow~ is an old town which
belonged to the hereditary enemies of the Fitzgeralds, the Butlers of
Ormonde. It is beautifully situated, surrounded by fine trees, and built
on the picturesque Barrow. There is splendid water-power above the town,
and it was the first place in Ireland that was lighted with electricity.
~Kilkenny~, the marble city, easily induces the visitor to linger within
its walls and enjoy fully the attractions of the river Nore. Long ago it
was a keep of "Dermott of the Foreigners," "who had grown hoarse from
many shoutings in the battle," and was given by him as a dowry with
his beautiful daughter Eva to Strongbow. Afterwards it passed, by
purchase, into the possession of the Butlers, Lords of Ormonde. Here a
Parliament was held in 1367, which endeavoured by law to prevent the
absorption of the newcomers by the old Irish race. It tainted the blood
of all who gave their children into fosterage with Irish women, and
penalised the usage of Irish dress and customs. It made it a capital
offence for any of English blood to marry an Irish woman, which was
humorous enough when we remember that Strongbow, "the first of the
foreigners," did so. But the statute was of no avail, and the Butlers in
time became as big rebels as the Geraldines. Here, in 1642, the
Confederate Catholics held their Parliament. Among other things they
drafted a scheme of local government for the country, and set up the
first printing press in Ireland. ~St. Canice's Cathedral~, the Round
Tower, one hundred feet high, the Black Abbey, and Franciscan Friary,
are the principal ecclesiastical objects of interest. The Round Tower is
at the southern side of the Cathedral. This latter building, which is of
an Early Pointed Style, was founded in the twelfth or thirteenth
century. The pavement is of the famous Kilkenny marble. The principal
object of interest in the building is St. Kieran's Chair, against the
wall in the northern transept.
[Illustration:]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Kilkenny Castle.]
The grounds of the Franciscan Friary have been overbuilt by a brewery,
but the fine seven-light window and tower still stand. The ~Black
Abbey~, a thirteenth century foundation, has come back into the
possession of the Order of Preachers, or Dominicans, who have restored
it. The small parish church near the northern transept of St. Canice's
contains a window commemorative of Lieutenant Hamilton, V.C., of
Inistioge, who was killed in the massacre of the Cavagnari Expedition by
the Afghans in 1879. From the market place, Kilkenny Castle, the noble
seat of the Butlers, may be entered. In the absence of the family of
the Marquis of Ormonde, the public are allowed to visit the castle. It
is a practically modern residence, built into the ancient walls; and
three of the imposing watch towers of bygone years survive. The hall of
the castle is decorated with beautiful Spanish leather work, and the
rich tapestries on the staircase were wrought in the sixteenth century,
on looms set up in the town by Flemings. Besides the family plate,
jewels, and heirlooms--which are displayed in several apartments--the
picture gallery is exceptionally attractive. Among its treasures are
Murillo's "St. John," Corregio's "Marriage of St. Catherine," and
Giordano's "Assumption of the Blessed Virgin." From St. John's Bridge,
above the Nore, a splendid view of the castle may be seen. There is a
pleasant pathway under the castle wall, along the river side from the
bridge. From Kilkenny many interesting excursions may be made. To
~Kells~, twelve statute miles, where there are the ruins of an important
twelfth century priory. Two miles from Kells is Kilree, where are
situate a ruined church, Round Tower, and Celtic cross, and a remarkable
tomb slab in the church, on which is an ancient symbolic sculpture of a
cock-in-a-pot crowing. Three miles from Kilree is Aghavillar, with
ruined church, attached castellated house, and Round Tower. About seven
miles from the city is the Cave of Dunmore, a stalactite cavern worth
seeing. ~Thomastown~, on the line to Waterford, was formerly a walled
town. It is less than two miles from Jerpoint Abbey, the ruins of which
are interesting. It was founded by Donough Tiernach, Chief of Ossory, in
1180. The style is Early Norman, but the turrets and battlements are
fifteenth century work.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Picture Gallery, Kilkenny
Castle.]
Cromwell, who is discredited with destroying places in Ireland where he
never was, is said to have passed by Jerpoint without molesting it, but
when the peal of bells rang out in thanksgiving, he took it for a
challenge, and returned and sacked the place. In Cork he melted down the
chapel bells, saying that "as it was a priest that invented gunpowder,
the best thing that could be done with chapel bells was to make them
into cannons," which he did.
If, instead of branching off the main line at Kildare, we continue along
it in the south-western direction.
~Monasterevan~, which was an old ecclesiastical place of importance, now
insignificant except for its malting houses and distillery. The Marquis
of Drogheda's demesne and residence, Moore Abbey, stands in the centre
of the well-wooded lands, which were formerly monastic property.
~Portarlington~, a small town on the Barrow, has the seat of the Earl of
Portarlington. The river divides the town, and is the boundary here
between Kildare and the Queen's County. The Irish name of this place is
Coltody; but in the time of the "Merrie Monarch" it was given to a court
favourite, Lord Arlington, who here built a little harbour on the
Barrow, whence its name. In the townland of Deer Park, near the town,
there is still a colony of pure Huguenot descent. Portarlington is the
junction of the branch line running to Athlone.
~Maryborough~ is pleasantly situated on the river side. From the Rock of
Dunamaise, an old fort of "Dermot of the Foreigners" in an almost
impregnable position, there is a splendid view of the Slieve Bloom
mountain ranges. At Ballybrophy is the junction for the Parsonstown and
Roscrea and Nenagh branches. ~Roscrea~, under the Devil's Bit mountains,
has celebrated ecclesiastical remains and a modern Cistercian Monastery,
the parent house of which is the famous Mount Melleray Abbey. Among the
ruins of interest to the antiquary are the remains of Augustinian and
Franciscan foundations, and a Round Tower, about the foot of which St.
Cronan had one of the early schools in Ireland in the sixth century. A
square tower of the Butlers and a tower of Prince John's Castle will
repay attention. ~Birr Castle~, the seat of the Earl of Rosse at
Parsonstown, is surrounded by a fine park. It is remarkable for its
mammoth telescopes, one of which is fifty-two feet long, with a speculum
six feet in diameter. Nenagh, at the foot of the Silvermines and Keeper
mountains (2,278 feet), is a stirring market town, and possesses a
Norman keep in fair preservation. Birdhill brings us to the Shannon, the
attractions of which are dealt with in another chapter.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Birr Castle.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Lord Rosse's Telescopes at
Birr.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ The Bridge, Athlone.]
The branch line which runs from Portarlington to Athlone, runs right
through the Bog of Allen. It is available for through passengers for
Connemara. For miles, the undulating bog land, green and brown. The
~King's County~ still remains out of the primeval forests, and its great
peat fields are the only source of wealth to the surrounding peasantry.
~Athlone~, some two miles below Lough Ree, on the Shannon, is the
military key to the Province of Connaught. The keep of the old Castle,
dating from King John's reign, remains, but the bridge and salmon weir
are of more interest. In 1691 Ginckle besieged the town on the eastern
bank, but a handful of Irish troops held the Connaught side, desiring to
keep the position until St. Ruth arrived. The defence of the bridge is
one of the most gallant exploits in Irish history. Colonel Richard
Grace, who held the position for the Jacobites, was offered security in
his estates and military honours, if he surrendered, by the Duke of
Schomberg. At night, when the offer reached the Jacobite general, he was
in his quarters, playing the familiar Irish card game of spoil-five with
his officers. The six-of-hearts happened to be the "deckhead." Grace
took it from the pack and wrote on the back, "It ill becomes a gentleman
to betray his trust," and gave it to the Williamite messenger. The
"six-of-hearts" is still known as "The Grace's Card," especially in
Kilkenny, where the general's estates were. From Athlone excursions may
be made to Auburn, eight miles; Clonmacnoise, ten Irish miles; and to
Lough Ree. Lissoy, where Goldsmith spent his childhood, there can be
little doubt, was the original of--
"Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain."
It is a pleasant drive, the road from Ballykeeran skirting Lough
Killinure. Lough Ree, three miles from Athlone, is low-lying, some ten
miles long, and in parts prettily wooded. There is a small archipelago
in the northern end, of which pretty "Hare Island" is the residence of
Lord Castlemaine. The Seven Churches of Clonmacnoise formed the old city
of St. Kieran, whose feast day is the 9th September. There are two Round
Towers, O'Rourke's and M'Carthy's; a Holy Well, the Cairn of Three
Crosses, Relich Calliagh, founded by Devorgilla, who bewitched Dermot of
the Foreigners. Teampul-Kieran is a small cell. Teampul-Connor has an
interesting tenth century doorway, and in Teampul-Fineen the chancel
arch still remains, and the piscina can be traced. Teampul-Ree has two
round-headed lights and a lancet window, twelfth century work. The
~Great Cross of the Scriptures~ is inscribed with Gaelic, "a prayer for
Flan, son of Malseclyn," and "a prayer for Colman, who made this cross
for St. Flan," referring to the ninth century monarch of Meath, and to
Colman, Abbot, early in the tenth century, of Clonmacnoise. The cross is
fifteen feet high, and its panels were sculptured with Scriptural
scenes, interlined with Celtic tracery.
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ The Shannon at Athlone.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ At Clonmacnoise.]
"In a quiet, watered land, a land of roses,
Stands St. Kieran's city fair;
And the warriors of Erin in their famous generations
Slumber there.
"There, beneath the dewy hillside, sleep the noblest
Of the Clan of Conn;
Each below his stone with name in branching Ogham,
And the sacred knot thereon."
For information as to Sport to be had in the Dublin District, see
end of this volume, where particulars are given as to Golf, Fishing,
Shooting, &c.
[Illustration]
Limerick and District
[Illustration]
LIMERICK.
Leaving ~Limerick Junction~, between it and Limerick City, there are few
places of interest. The country side is very rich, and is the centre of
the Creamery Co-operative system. At Boher is Glenstal, the residence of
Sir Charles Barrington. The demesne contains the Ilchester Oaks, with
which the country people associate a romance. The story is told in
detail in Lefanu's "Seventy Years of Irish Life." At Caghercullen, which
is now part of Glenstal Demesne, early in the last century lived Squire
O'Grady, an old _grandee_ of Limerick; he was a fox-hunting widower, and
his beautiful and only daughter was the cynosure of all eyes. When she
came out at a Limerick hunt ball the little beauty captivated Lord
Stourdale--eldest son to Lord Ilchester who was then with his regiment
at Limerick. O'Grady's keen eye soon discerned that the young people
were falling in love with each other. Proud of his family as the
Irishman was, he feared his position was such that an English lord may
not look on an alliance with favour. He wrote a friendly letter to Lord
Ilchester--in order to prevent trouble--saying that, as an elder man, he
perceived that his son was about getting into a scrape, and it would be
well to have him brought home or sent on active service. Stourdale
disappeared; and Lord Ilchester wrote thanking the squire, and notifying
that an old military friend--a Colonel Prendergast--would call and thank
him personally. The colonel came in good time, and partook of O'Grady's
hospitality. As he was leaving, he mentioned to the squire that he
thought his beautiful daughter was falling into bad health. O'Grady,
with brusque confidence, said that she had been fooling about Stourdale,
but would soon forget him. Lovers will rejoice at the sequel of the
romance. Colonel Prendergast discovered himself as Lord Ilchester, and
expressed his gratification at the possibility of having such a wife for
his son. There was the usual happy marriage; and the present Earl of
Ilchester and the present Earl of Lansdowne, can claim descent from
Maureen O'Grady.
~Limerick~.--Like most of the Munster seaboard towns, it was built by
the Danes; and it was the cock-pit of the fights between the Ostmen and
the warlike clans who followed O'Brien's banner in the early centuries.
It made history in Cromwell's days, and until recently the old house
occupied by Ireton stood within its streets. Ireton sentenced many men
of eminence to death during the short triumph of Cromwell. Among the
most noble of the cavaliers who died at Limerick was Geoffrey Barron of
Clonmel, a young Irish lawyer who acted as civil secretary to the
Confederates. With exquisite cruelty he was sentenced to be executed
upon the morning which had previously been fixed for his wedding. He
asked, as a favour, that he should be permitted to wear his bridegroom
attire on the scaffold, and Ireton granted the boon.
He made a brave show amid the crop-eared Roundheads.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Treaty Stone, Limerick.]
"Taffeta as white as milk,
Made all his suit.
Threads of silver in the silk
Trailed like moonlight through it.
Silver cap and white feather,
Stepping proud and high,
In his shoon of white leather,
Came Geoffrey Barron to die.
Then the Roundhead general said,
Fingering his sword--
Art thou coming to be wed,
Like a heathen lord?
"Go! thy pride thy scaffold is,
Give her sigh for sigh.
Breath for breath, and kiss for kiss,
For Geoffrey Barron must die.
But he laughed out as he ran
Up the black steps;
Never happier bridegroom man,
With his wife's lips.
If for mortal woman's sake,
In silks should go I,
I shall for heaven the same pains take,
Now, Geoffrey Barron must die."
But the name of Limerick scintillates in those glowing chapters in its
country's history, when it stoutly withstood the valour and prowess of
the great soldier-king, William of Orange. Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan, the
beloved of damsels and dames, was the hero of this period. A handsome,
large-limbed, brawny soldier, towering over the tallest of his dragoons,
and true as the steel he wore, he was a fitting leader of a forlorn
hope. Originally, one of the "Gentlemen of the Guard" under the Merrie
Monarch, his defence of Limerick was a military achievement worthy of
the ambition of any general; nor were his Williamite opponents slow to
cordially appreciate his valour. But he was fated to die, "on a far,
foreign field." The sieges of Limerick led up to its name of the City of
the Broken Treaty. William of Nassau, having routed King James in
August, 1690, invested the city with 35,000 men. Tyrconnel and Lauzun,
Commander of the French allies, had cleared out, considering that the
place could not be defended. Sarsfield, although not in command, with
other kindred spirits, decided to defend the position. The heavy
ordnance of the Williamites, while on the way to the scene of siege, was
surprised at night at Ballyneety by Sarsfield and a hero called
"Galloping O'Hogan," and the guns spiked and the ammunition mined and
fired. Auxiliary artillery was, however, brought into camp, and the
assault delivered. The guns breached the walls, the outworks were
carried, but before the garrison could pour in, the townspeople--men and
women--the latter, vieing in valour, flowed out and swept away all
opposition. The siege was raised. But a year later, Ginckle again
invested the place by land and sea. After three months' defence,
Sarsfield agreed to capitulate, the chief conditions of the treaty
being, that Catholics should be admitted to practice their religion
without hindrance, and that the Jacobite garrison should march out with
the honours of war. The latter condition was kept, but when Sarsfield
and his regiments had gone beyond the seas, the former was shamefully
violated. By the Thomond may be seen the Treaty Stone, on which the
capitulation papers were signed, October 3rd, 1691. In the Cathedral
place is the modern monument to Sarsfield. The castle, which was built
by King John--now a store--is an excellent example of the military
architecture introduced into Ireland by the Normans. The Shannon, the
largest river in Ireland, flows through the city. Limerick lace is
valued wherever people of taste are. The industry still thrives; but the
former greatness of the glove manufacturers has departed. Bacon curing
is the great industry of the city to-day, and the names of Denny,
Matterson, and Shaw--the principal manufacturers--have become household
words. The greatest factory in Limerick, however, is belonging to the
famous Condensed Milk Company, organized through the enterprise of Sir
Thomas Cleeve. The milk of some 15,000 cows contributes to the huge
output of this great concern.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Sarsfield Statue, Limerick.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ At Castleconnell, near
Limerick.]
LIMERICK DISTRICT.
From Limerick tours may be made into North Kerry by rail, or by combined
steamer and coach service along the Shannon lakes and shores. The
amalgamation of the railway services in the south and west of Ireland
has contributed greatly to the many facilities which, with an improved
railway accommodation, now await the tourist.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Falls of Doonass-River
Shannon.]
Some seven miles from Limerick, and about the same distance from
Killaloe, is the pretty little town of ~Castleconnell~. The place was of
yore a stronghold of the O'Brien's, and to-day the remains of the old
castle from which the village takes the name still stand. During the
Jacobite wars the place was of importance as one of the military keys to
the Province of Connaught, and Sarsfield and Ginkel alternately
garrisoned and fought for its possession. The village is situated
delightfully beside "The lordly Shannon," and is famous as a resort for
anglers. The scenery in the immediate vicinity is unsurpassed, and the
Shannon here has been described as possessing "The majesty of the Amazon
with the grandeur of the Rhine." Taking the well-appointed Shannon Hotel
as our centre many most enjoyable excursions can be made to the
beautiful places in the adjoining district. The hotel itself is only
five minutes' walk from the far-famed Rapids of Doonass, and beside the
celebrated Chalybeate Spa. Beneath a list of excursions is given of some
of the pleasant driving and boating trips that may be made. It cannot
pretend to be exhaustive, however, and is only offered as suggestive.
Assume that the visitor has three days at his disposal--
~First Day.~--Start from Hotel, walk to Chalybeate Spa, World's
End, Old Castle and Grounds (admission by pass), cross River at
Ferry, walk to "Old Turrett," from which a grand view of the
"Rapids" may be obtained--the Scenery at this particular point is
unsurpassed--visit St. Synan's Well, return to Hotel, drive to
"Clare Glens," see the Cascades--this is one of the most
picturesque spots imaginable and well repays a visit.
~Second Day.~--DAY TRIP ON THE LORDLY SHANNON (LOUGH
DERG).--Take train from Castleconnell Station at 10.40 a.m.
for Killaloe where the Shannon Development Co.'s Steamer awaits the
arrival of the Train to convey passengers for a Cruise on Lough
Derg. Steamer returns to Killaloe about 5.30 p.m., the Train leaves
Killaloe at 6.10 p.m. for Castleconnell, arriving at 6.41 p.m.; or
take car from Hotel to meet the 8.15 a.m. Steamer at Killaloe for
Portumna, return by down Steamer to Killaloe, thence by 6.10 p.m.
Train for Castleconnell. This Cruise embraces the whole length of
Lough Derg, and affords a grand combination of lake and mountain
scenery.
~Third Day.~--A selection from the following may be made:--
(_a_) Drive to Limerick City. See its magnificent Churches,
Treaty Stone, etc, etc.
(_b_) To Killaloe. St. Flannan's Cathedral, a very ancient edifice,
Oratory with stone roof, Brian Boru's Fort, and Cragg
Hill, from which a very pretty view of Lough Derg may be
obtained.
(_c_) To Glenstal Castle and Grounds (admission by pass).
(_d_) To Keeper Hill. A splendid panoramic view of the
surrounding country afforded from the summit of this Hill,
including Lough Derg and "reaches" of the Shannon below
Limerick.
(_e_) To Adare Manor (admission by pass).
(_f_) Or take Row Boat from Castleconnell to Killaloe _via_
O'Brien's Bridge, or to Limerick _via_ Plassy.
(_g_) Take train from Castleconnell Station at 10.40 a.m. for
Nenagh, drive from Nenagh to Dromineer, take Steamer
from Dromineer to Killaloe, thence rail or car to Castleconnell.
(_h_) Or take train from Castleconnell Station at 10.40 a.m. for
Killaloe, take Steamer Killaloe to Dromineer, drive from
Dromineer to Nenagh, thence rail to Castleconnell.
(_i_) Lower Shannon Steamer Trip to Kilrush (see special programme
of Sailings).
Above a bend in the river at the Falls of Doonass the "Rapids" begin,
and eddying and whirling through the rocks run for nearly half a mile
along the surface of the river. It is to the angler, however,
Castleconnell will prove most attractive. The season commences on the
1st February, and closes on the 31st October. Trout, pike, and perch
fishing free; salmon and grilse fishing by arrangement. The fishing-rods
manufactured at Castleconnell have won a world-wide reputation for
Messrs. Enright and Sons, and Mr. Jack Enright has himself won the
record as a long distance fly caster. A writer in _The Fishing Gazette_
having dealt in an appreciative article with Castleconnell gives
valuable information as to the names and situations of the more
important pools on the river.
The fisheries in the Castleconnell district taken in rotation from
below, are: the Prospect or Clareville Fishery, on the Limerick side of
the river (this means that the fishery extends to midstream; adjoining
it on the Clare side, and immediately opposite, is the Landscape
Fishery. Both of these are well-known salmon and peel catches. A few of
the best pools in Prospect are Pinnee, Salahoughe, Feemoor, and
Commogue. On Landscape the best pools are Poulahoo, Pallaherro, and
Filebegs).
Adjoining the Prospect Fishery, on the Limerick side of the river, is
the New Garden Fishery, which contains the pools of Moreagh, Glassogue,
Black Weir, and Sporting Eddy. Next to this, on the Limerick side, is
the Hermitage Fishery, which contains some famous catches, such as Back
of Leap, Fallahassa, Poolbeg, the Commodore, Bunnymoor, and Head of
Moreagh. Still on the Limerick side, we next reach the Woodland's
Fishery, a picturesque portion of the Shannon, and here are the pools of
Panlaides, Drarhus, Thunnavullion, and Long Eddy. Next is reached the
Castle Fishery, and the pools here are Balcraheen, Lackaleen, and the
Lough, the last affording several courses of fly fishing. Still on the
Limerick side the World's End Fishery adjoins the Castle Fishery, and
the pools here are the Pantry, the Kitchen, and the Over the Weir.
Returning to the Clare side of the river the fishery next to Landscape
is the famous Doonas, the lower part of which contains the pools of
Poolcoom, the Stand, Black Weir, Faalgorribs, Franklin's Eddy, and the
Old Door, while the upper part includes Lickenish, the Dancing Hole, Old
Turf, Lurgah, Lacka, and Sallybush. Next on the Clare side we reach the
Summer Hill Fishery, part of which is opposite the Woodland's Fishery
and part opposite the Castle Fishery. The pools on Summer Hill are the
Black Eddy, Clare side of Drarhus, Thunahancha, Figar, Clare side of
Lackaleen, and Clare side of the Lough. After this the Erinagh Fishery
is reached, and here the pools are Gorribs and side of the big Eddy.
In the spring salmon fishing is pursued principally with Devon minnows
as lures, the "cullough" running a good second favourite. Phantom
minnows and the very large spinning Shannon flies are also useful. A bit
later on the prawn takes precedence, the bigger the prawn the better. As
the season advances the lure, whatever it may be--fly, minnow, prawn, or
what not--should decrease in size until October, when again they should
assume larger proportions, but not so big as in the spring. Towards the
latter end of March, and onwards for the rest of the season, artificial
flies are are almost exclusively used. Truly wonderful specimens of the
fly dresser's art are some of the Shannon patterns. Fancy a salmon fly
dressed on an 8-o hook! Yet this is at times absolutely necessary to
ensure success. The best patterns for various times of the year are--For
February, March, and April, big Shannon Blue Fly, the Black Goldfinch,
the Jock Scot, and the Yellow Lahobber; for May, June, and July, Purple
Mixture, tinsel bodied Green Parrot, purple bodied Green Parrot, Silver
and Blue Doctors, Purple Widgeon, Orange and Grouse, and Thunder and
Lightning. Towards the end of the season here, as elsewhere, strange
fancy patterns will frequently prove successful. The most suitable
patterns of trout flies (the size of which depends entirely upon the
height of the water) are--Orange and Grouse, Green Rail, Purple Rail,
Black Rail, Orange Rail, March Brown, Hare's Ear, silver-tinselled body
Black Rail, and Orange and Grouse with a sprig of Guinea Fowl or Green
Parrot in wing.
The tackle for the coarse fish is of the ordinary character.
At the foot of Lough Derg stands ~Killaloe~, an ideal resting place for
an angler. The cathedral is of some interest, and in the vicinity the
Protestant Bishop's palace stands. The bridge connecting the town with
the village of Ballina has thirteen arches, and the huge weir helps as a
breakwater. Shortly above the bridge of old time stood Kincora, the
fortified palace of Brian Boru; its glory has departed, and all that
remains is a mound, crowned with a grove of trees. Here Brian of the
Tribes held his sway; and still the peasant in Munster, wishing to
express his welcome, says in Gaelic--"Were mine the boire of the Dane or
the wine of Kincora, it would be poured for you." Here it was that the
Norse King, Magnus, wintered early in the twelfth century, and found a
wife for his son, Sigurd, in the house of Brian. M'Laig, the bard of
Brian Boru, after the death of his king in 1014, made a lamentation,
which Mangan thus translated:--
"Oh! where Kincora is Brian the Great?
And where is the beauty that once was thine?
Oh! where are the princes and nobles that sate
At the feast in thy halls, and drank the red wine?
Where! oh, Kincora.
They are gone, those heroes of royal birth,
Who plundered no church and broke no trust,
It is weary for me to be living on earth,
When they, oh, Kincora, are below in the dust.
Lo, of Kincora."
From Killaloe, northwards for twenty-five miles, Lough Derg at times
expands in width over eight miles, where its distant shores form a sky
line--hedged in with Tipperary and Clare Mountains. The lough loses none
of its picturesque attractiveness to the sportsman, who is informed that
the whole of the fishing is free.
From Limerick as centre, as we have said, tours may be made into North
Kerry.
To the average tourist North Kerry is a _terra incognita_, and yet from
the pleasant pasture lands around "Sweet Adare" in Limerick to where the
distant mountain of Caherconree sees his regal head reflected in the
sea--there lies a beautiful land. Beyond Patrickswell, on the Maigue, is
the little village of Adare, once the camping ground and stronghold of
"those very great scorners of death," the Desmond Geraldines. Still the
ruins of Desmond Castle, and of three abbeys, tell the tale that here
once, beside a citadel of strength, were places of religion and refuge.
Now, in the depth of the retreat of sylvan splendour, the Earl of
Dunraven has his noble mansion.[1] At Adare, as well as at Ballingrane,
six miles away, still are many evidences of the Palatine plantations,
which were effected here in the eighteenth century. In 1709 a fleet was
sent to Rotterdam by Queen Anne, and brought to England some 7,000
refugees from the German Palatinate. Of these, over 3,000 were settled
in this part of the County Limerick. They were allowed eight acres of
land for each man, woman, and child, at _5s._ per acre; and the
Government engaged to pay their rent for twenty years, and supplied
every man with a musket to protect himself. Industrious and frugal, the
exiles throve in the land of their adoption; many of them emigrated to
America, and only a comparatively small number of families still remain.
These, however, preserve, besides the names, many of the characteristics
of their predecessors--as Dr. R. T. Mitchell, Inspector of
Registration in Ireland, testifies in his survey of this very
district:--"Differing originally in language, though even the oldest of
the present generation know nothing of the German tongue spoken or
written, as well as in race and religion, from the natives amongst whom
they were planted, these Palatines still cling together like the members
of a clan, and worship together. Most of them have a distinctly foreign
type of features, and are strongly built, swarthy in complexion, dark
haired, and brown eyed. The comfortable houses built in 1709 are in
ruins now. The original square of Court Matrix in the ruined wall can be
traced, and also, in the very centre of this square the foundations of
the little Meeting House in which John Wesley occasionally preached to
them in the interval, 1750-1765. Modern houses stand there now, but not
closely grouped together. They are all comfortable in appearance, some
thatched, some slated, some with one story, others with two; nearly all
have a neat little flower garden in front, and very many have an orchard
beside or immediately behind the house. There is all the appearance of
thrift and industry among them." From ~Ballingrane~, a branch line
passing Askeaton, with its ruined Castle and Abbey ruins, to ~Foynes~, a
good harbour, from which passage can be made to Kilrush, and thence per
rail to Kilkee. From the junction the main line runs by ~Rathkeale~ and
~Newcastle~, where there is a ruined castle of the Knights Templars, and
by Abbeyfeale and Kilmorna, where Mr. Pierce Mahony bred and kept his
stud of famous Kerry cattle, to Listowel, an old market town which
figured in the Desmond rebellion.
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ Adare Abbey, Croom.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin_ Adare Manor.]
From Listowel the Lartigue railway, unique in the British Isles, runs to
~Ballybunion~, a beautiful watering place, remarkable for its sea-caves
and old castle. ~Ardfert~ is remarkable for its ruined Abbey and
Cathedral, both dedicated to St. Brendon, the story of whose voyage to
the New World was one of the subjects mentioned at the court of
Ferdinand and Isabella by Columbus, when inducing them to assist him in
his mission of discovery. ~Tralee~ is the largest town in the Kingdom of
Kerry. It is one of the most thriving towns in the south of Ireland, and
is situated in the vicinity of marine and mountain scenery. Those
interested in the revival of industry in Ireland will do well to visit
the Kerry Knitting Co.'s Factory, as well as the fine bacon-curing
establishment of the Wholesale Co-operative Society which has been
erected under the management of the well known Mr. Joseph Prosser. At
Spa and Fenit there is good sea-bathing, and on the Dingle Promontory
the ascent of Mount Brandon may be made. From Dingle excursions can
easily be taken to Slea Head, by Ventry, and under the Eagles' Mountain,
and within sight of the Blasket Islands. ~Smerwick~ has in its
neighbourhood a coast line of mighty cliffs, the most remarkable of
which is called the ~Three Sisters~. Smerwick was the scene of the
massacre of seven hundred Spaniards, who had surrendered in the
sixteenth century to Lord Deputy Grey's forces. The bloody affair is the
blackest stain in the careers of the gallant Raleigh and the gentle
Spenser. Between Smerwick and Ballydavid Head the well preserved remains
of the ~Oratory of Gallerius~ may be seen.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Lartique Railway, Ballybunion.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ At Ballybunion.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ At Ballybunion.]
For information as to Sport to be had in the Limerick District, see
end of this volume, where particulars are given as to Golf, Fishing,
Shooting, Cycling, &c.
[Illustration]
The Shannon Lakes.
DUKE OF YORK ROUTE.
The Shannon Development Company run during the season a service of
steamers between Killaloe and Dromod (county Leitrim). The whole of the
journey from ~Killaloe~ to Dromod--about one hundred miles--is
interesting and full of variety, the shores and lakes of the lordly
river presenting an ever-changing panorama of beautiful scenes. About
Killaloe the views are very fine. The mountains of Clare and Tipperary
shadow the town on either side, and away to the north for twenty-three
miles stretches Lough Derg. Going up the lake, the first stopping place
is at Scariff, which overlooks the beautiful Inniscattery or Holy
Island. The reach from here to Portumna is crowded with islands, and on
both shores are ruined castles and finely wooded demesnes. Dromineer, on
the opposite bank, four and a quarter miles from Nenagh, is the next
station. Nearly opposite Portumna, with its ruined and blackened castle,
are the ruins of the monastery of Tirdaglass.
[Illustration: Sailing on the Shannon.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Kincora, Killaloe.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Shannon Steamer.]
The ancient city of Portumna was once the chief pass and means of
communication between Connaught and North Munster. Between Portumna, at
the head of Lough Derg and Banagher, are the rich meadow lands of
Galway, along which the river winds tranquilly, passing beautifully
wooded islands; its banks green with rich, low-lying pastures. A few
miles from Shannon Bridge is Clonmacnoise, over which hang many ancient
memories of learning, of wars, and of worship. Near Athlone is a point
in the river where the Counties of Westmeath, Roscommon, and King's
County meet, and the waters of Lough Ree wash the shores of County
Roscommon on the one side and of Westmeath and Longford on the other.
Lough Ree is but little known to the tourist; and yet this lake, with
its rocky shores full of indentations, and its shoals of sparkling
islands, is one of the loveliest in Ireland. King John's Castle, on the
Roscommon side of the lake, is a magnificent Norman ruin, and the town
of Roscommon--which is not far from the brink of the lake--also contains
the remains of a fine castle and of a Dominican Friary. The castle,
which is flanked by four towers of massive masonry, was built in the
thirteenth century by Sir Robert de Ufford, and afterwards suffered many
changes of fortune; it is now the property of The O'Conor Don. The abbey
is chiefly interesting as containing the sculptured tomb of Phelim
Cathal O'Connor.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Lough Ree, Shannon Lakes.]
Circular tourist tickets for one day trips are issued by the Railway
Company. Details will be seen on summer time tables.
[Illustration]
Cork and District.
CORK.
Enshrined in song and _saga_, set in the beautiful valley of a romantic
river, Cork is one of the pleasantest places within the four shores of
"the most distressful country." It is the capital of the rich Province
of Munster, "the wheat of Ireland," says a Gaelic proverb, and while it
preserves the characteristics of an old Irish town, here, too, the
traveller, familiar with the quaint cities of the Continent, will meet
with much that is suggestive of foreign scenes.
Cork sits snugly at the foot of, and leans her back up against, high
hills that shelter her from the north, and the breeze that blows up from
the sea is fresh and mildly bracing. From a height to the north
overlooking the city a bird's-eye view can be had of the entire
surroundings, and of what the poet Spenser called--
"The pleasant Lee, that like an island fayre
Encloseth Cork in his divided flood."
Away to the west the eye can easily trace the river, winding with haste
to the sea, through the barony of Muskerry, "the fair country," from its
fountain home over the hills and far away.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Patrick-street, Cork.]
More than halfway along the Mardyke Walk there is a sidepath leading
down to a ferry across the Lee. Here a good view may be had of the river
looking towards the city, with Sunday's Well, Blair's Castle, and
Shandon standing high on the hill.
The history of the foundation of Cork City, and its progress through the
centuries, is well authenticated. Towards the close of the sixth
century, the place was founded by Lochan, son of Amirgin, the great
smith to Tiernach M'Hugh, the proud chief of the O'Mahonys. Lochan has
since come to be called St. Finbarr. His feast day is a retrenched
holiday in the diocese of Cork, and his patron day is kept by the
peasantry at the shrine of Gougane Barra, by the cradle of the river
Lee. The Irish name, Cork, signifies that the locality was a marsh, and
in the life of its founder it is described as a "land of many waters."
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ The Marina, Cork.]
For less than three hundred years the little city throve, and then came
the Sea Rovers, hungry for spoil. In 820 they burned down Cork, carrying
away as pillage the silver coffin wherein St. Finbarr was buried.
Shortly afterwards they returned, and seized on the marshes lying
beneath Gill Abbey Rock, fortified them, and founded another little
city--but their own. There they sang their "Mass of the Lances; it began
at the rising of the sun," and, as the Four Masters assure us,
"wheresoever they marched they were escorted by fire."
But in time the Rovers were absorbed, and race hatreds died out. They
paid tribute to the MacCarthys, and were married and given in marriage
to the Irish. Merovingian Kings came to buy and sell in Cork, and the
Sagas of the North tell of many a hardy Norseman who fell captive to the
maidens of Munster. To this day the Danish blood moulds the nature of
many in Cork, and among the men especially the passionate affection for
the sea is a characteristic. When the Normans invaded Ireland they found
Cork a Danish fortress. They broke the power of the Danes in a sea
fight, and won over the allegiance of MacCarthy, the old King of Cork,
through the wiles of a woman. The strangers had not been long in the
city when they, like the Danes before them, were absorbed, and became
more Irish than the Irish themselves. As their island city grew in
opulence, they began to assert an independence similar to the free
cities of the Continent. A historical writer of repute points out that
they were practically independent of external authority. Their edicts
had nearly the force of laws. They levied taxes, and regulated commerce.
They judged, pilloried, and hanged offenders. To suit themselves they
modified the English laws of property. They set up a mint of their own,
and their money had to be declared by the English Parliament to be
"utterly damned."
Their audacity can be imagined from the part they played in Perkin
Warbeck's rebellion of 1492. They decked him out "with some clothes of
silk," and John Walters, the Mayor, insisting that the poor Fleming was
son to the Duke of Clarence, demanded that the Lord Deputy should
declare him King. Failing in this a number of Cork merchants sent him to
France, where they duped the King, and induced the Duchess of Burgundy
to give them armament and money. They then sailed for Kent, and having
landed there, proclaimed their foundling "Richard the Fourth, King of
England and Lord of Ireland." But the sequel of all this bravura
behaviour was not so happy, as Warbeck and Walters lost their heads, and
Cork lost its charter.
In 1847 the city suffered fearfully from the ravages of famine and
famine fever. The failure of the potato crop drove the unfortunate,
hunger-stricken peasantry into the city for sustenance; and it has been
estimated that upwards of a million of people emigrated in these unhappy
years through the port of Cork. During the Fenian movement, 1865-67,
Cork was a hotbed of treason, and more prisoners were sentenced from
there than from all the other parts of Ireland put together. Thus, in
the nineteenth century, the name of "Rebel Cork," which was earned so
far back as the time of Perkin Warbeck, was still deserved.
The manners of the people, gentle and simple, rich and poor, are
perfect. There is, perhaps, too often a tendency to adopt your view of
anything or everything with the most accommodating agreeableness. This
is very pleasant, if not always sincere, but in this respect a thing
never to be forgotten is that Cork is only a few miles from Blarney, and
"There is a stone there, whoever kisses,
Oh! he never misses to grow eloquent.
'Tis he may clamber to a lady's chamber,
Or become a Member of Parliament.
A clever spouter, he'll sure turn out, or
An 'out-an'-outer' to be let alone;
Don't hope to hinder him, or to bewilder him,
Sure he's a pilgrim from the Blarney Stone."
Thackeray, like many another man before his time and since, has paid
tribute to the loveliness of the girls of Cork. There is a graceful
charm about them before which the most inveterate bachelor succumbs. The
accents of the Siren singers were never so insinuating and caressing as
the Munster brogue as it slips off the tongue of a gentlewoman. Blue
eyes predominate, but are excelled in lustre by what Froude has been
pleased to call "the cold grey eyes of the dark Celt of the south of
Ireland." Edmund Spencer, when he was not busy "undertaking" Rapparees,
or smoking Raleigh's fragrant weed--"than which there is no more fair
herb under the broad canopy of heaven"--wooed and won and wedded a fair
woman of Cork; not of the city, though, but of the county. She was a
country lass, as he is at pains to point out to the Shandon belles who
fain would vie with her:--
"Tell me, ye merchant daughters, did ye see
So fayre a creature in your town before?
Her goodlie eyes, like sapphyres shining bright;
Her forehead, ivory white;
Her lips like cherries charming men to byte."
There is nothing of peculiar interest about the streets of Cork but
their number, their narrowness, and the irregularity of the houses. St.
Patrick's-street, which is the principal thoroughfare, has many handsome
shops, and winds its way in three curves through the city.
From the "Dyke," as it is locally known, through the "Band Field"--the
baby park of Cork--we can cross to an entrance to the Queen's College on
the Western-road. The College itself is a handsome building of white
Cork limestone, in the later Tudor style, forming three sides of a
quadrangle, and consisting of lecture-rooms, museum, examination hall,
&c. It is built in the centre of well-laid pleasure grounds, which are
open to the public, and which formerly were the site of St. Finbarr's
old monastery. During the session proper, practically from November to
June, visitors will not be admitted through the building without an
official order, which may be had at the Registrar's office.
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ Queen's College, Cork.]
During the vacation the steward or assistant officials are in attendance
to conduct visitors. The large palm-house is one of the most successful
in Ireland, and the Crawford Observatory will repay a visit. The grounds
were laid out under the personal supervision of the late president, Dr.
W. K. Sullivan, a distinguished scientist. While at the south side of
the city, St. Finbarr's Cathedral[2] (Church of Ireland), eastward from
the College, should be seen. It is a very dignified design of the French
Early Pointed style. The nave, aisles, and transepts are grouped under
three lofty towers with spires.
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ St. Finbarr's Cathedral, Cork.]
From the foot of the street a few minutes' walk will bring us under the
old bi-coloured steeple, which contains the famous Shandon Bells. The
church was built in 1772. The steeple is unique, inasmuch as the
southern and western sides are of white limestone, and the northern and
eastern red sandstone--
"Parti-coloured, like Cork people,
Red and white, stands Shandon steeple."
But the "Bells" are the chief attraction, and the quaint inscriptions on
them amuse the curious. In the stillness of a summer night their sweet
chimes sound with peculiar cadence across the waters which encircle the
old city of the Lee. The charter song of Cork is:--
THE BELLS OF SHANDON.
With deep affection and recollection
I often think of the Shandon bells--
Whose sounds so wild would, in days of childhood,
Fling round my cradle their magic spells;
On this I ponder, where'er I wander,
And thus grow fonder, sweet Cork, of thee;
With thy bells of Shandon,
That sound so grand on
The pleasant waters of the river Lee.
I have heard bells chiming full many a clime in,
Tolling sublime in cathedral shrine;
While at a glib rate brass tongues would vibrate,
But all their music spoke nought to thine;
For memory dwelling on each proud swelling
Of thy belfry knelling its bold notes free,
Made the bells of Shandon
Sound far more grand on
The pleasant waters of the river Lee.
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ Shandon Church, Cork.]
Francis Sylvester Mahony, author of this ballad, known in the world of
literature as "Father Prout," was born in Cork in 1804. He was educated
for the priesthood, but spent the best years of his life in London, as a
magazine writer.
Further north than Shandon is St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral, an
ample piece of architecture, not particularly attractive. Coming down
the hill towards the city on Pope's-quay, St. Mary's Dominican Church
may be seen. It is a very beautiful church, of the composite style of
architecture. The Grecian portico is remarkable for the gracefulness and
justness of its proportions, and is very much admired. It is, perhaps,
the most chaste building of its kind in the kingdom.
Besides the churches and public buildings already enumerated, the
Courthouse and the Municipal Schools of Science and Art should be seen.
The Courthouse is in Great George-street. In a recent fire there many
valuable records were destroyed. Courthouses seem to be ill-fated in
Cork. The old Courthouse fell during the trial for treason in the Penal
days of the Catholic Bishop of Cork. The present Courthouse was burnt on
Good Friday, 1891.
The punning, duel-fighting, hanging judge, Lord Norbury, of whom the
country people still say, "He'd hang a man as soon as knock the head off
a rush," often dispensed with an escort in the most exciting times, and
rode here on circuit with a brace of pistols at his saddle-bow. But he
was a man of uncommon determination. Once, when his acts were unusually
unjudicial, he was reprimanded from Dublin Castle and threatened with
compulsory retirement. He rode instanter to Dublin, and never stopped
until he drew rein at the Castle gate. He demanded to see the Lord
Lieutenant, but the then Viceroy, Lord Talbot, was in England. He was
ushered into the presence of a courteous official, who was a little
astonished to be authoritatively asked, "Who are you?" "I, sir," said
the Under Secretary, whom he addressed, "am Mr. Gregory." "Then you be
d----d, and don't Sir me," said his Lordship. "Fifty-two years ago I
began life at the Irish Bar with fifty guineas and a case of pistols.
Here it is! I have fought my way to preferment. Within a few months I
expect a letter of an unpleasant character from the Castle. Tell the
writer he may take his choice of these, and send me his second." History
does not record whether "the letter of an unpleasant character" was ever
written.
[Illustration: _Photo, Guy and Co., Cork._ Cork Exhibition.]
The Municipal Buildings of Science and Art in Emmet-place can bear
comparison with those of any town of the same size in Great Britain or
Ireland. The sculpture and picture galleries are open to visitors. The
splendid collection of casts from the antiques in the Vatican Gallery
were executed under the superintendence of Canova, and sent by Pope Pius
VII. to George IV. The ship which carried them by long sea from Italy
put into Cork, and was there detained for harbour dues. The King,
instead of paying, transferred the Papal gift to the Cork Society of
Arts.
A paltry exhibit of coins, antiquities, and fossils forms the Museum.
Although Cork County has been one of the richest in Ireland in "finds"
of gold and metal work of the ancient Irish, they are absolutely
unrepresented.
CORK DISTRICT.
The county of Cork is the largest shire in Ireland. The pleasure seeker,
the artist, the antiquary, the sportsman, the invalid, will each find
within its broad barriers much to meet his wants. Sir Walter Scott is
credited with the statement that the history of this single county
contains more romance than the history of the lowlands and highlands of
his own dear land of the mountain and the flood.
The surface of the county Cork is as diversified as the people. In some
places, such as Kilworth, Mushera, and Ballyhoura, the elevation is
considerable, elsewhere it sinks to a low-lying plain, such as at
Kilcrea, where the bog is that tradition says saw the last wolf in
Ireland killed, and Imokilly, where the sea is yearly eating into the
lowlands. The county is watered by no less than twenty rivers of
importance.
Making the city the headquarters for a few days, there are many places
of interest in the vicinity which may with ease be visited. The
excellent tram system may be availed of by visitors to the sights in its
immediate vicinity. A drive by Douglas and Vernamount can be
recommended. Douglas was an old town, famous for its manufacture of sail
cloth, and in recent years a village providence in the person of the
late Mr. John Morrogh has resuscitated industry in the district by the
establishment of a splendidly equipped tweed factory. With a fine day
and a good "outside jaunting-car" to travel the five miles' drive to
~Blarney Castle~ will be found most enjoyable. The famous stone, which
no one should miss kissing, is set in the parapet wall. The word
"Blarney," meaning pleasant "deluderin' talk," is said to have
originated at the Court of Queen Elizabeth. MacCarthy, the then
chieftain over the clan of that name, resided at Blarney, and was
repeatedly asked to come in from "off his keeping," as the phrase in the
State Papers goes, to abjure the system of Tanistry by which the clan
elected the chief, and take tenure of his lands direct from the Crown.
He was always promising with fair words and soft speech to do what was
desired, but never could be got to come to the sticking point. The
Queen, it is told, when one of his speeches was brought to her, said,
"This is all Blarney; what he says he never means."
By the Great Southern and Western Railway the castle can also be
reached. By this route a good stretch of the Upper Lee is seen, with
Carrigrohane Castle, which belonged to the M'Sweeneys, beetling high on
a rock, and the line runs through the picturesque valley of the
Sournagh, which may be likened to a Swiss ravine. All the remains of the
former greatness of Blarney consists of the ruins of two mansions, one
of the fifteenth century, and the other of the Elizabethan period. In
its time the place was one of considerable strength, and was erected by
Cormac MacCarthy Laider, or the Strong-handed chief of his name. Most of
the outworks and defences are gone. The old square keep, ivy-crowned,
rises from a huge limestone rock, around which the Coomaun or crooked
river winds. The Castle is over 120 feet high; the great staircase at
the right-hand side leads through the entire building, here and there
small vaulted chambers being set in the massive walls, which are in
places nine feet thick. The arched room, of which the projecting window
with three lights overlooks the streamlet below, is known as the Earl's
Chamber. The last fight in which Blarney Castle figured, was that in
which the Confederates held out for King Charles in 1642. It fell before
the superior ordnance of Cromwell's commander, Ireton. It was never
afterwards used for a dwelling-house, being almost completely
dismantled. From the summit of the Castle a good view of the surrounding
country can be had. To the west lies Muskerry, with what Ruskin calls
"the would-be hills" rising towards Mushera Mountain. To the north is
St. Ann's Hydropathic Establishment, on a gentle slope, surrounded by
well-wooded parks. In the village beneath is the well-known Blarney
Tweed Factory of Messrs. Martin Mahony Brothers, through which visitors
may be shown when convenient to the courteous proprietors. The "Rock
Close," which is at the foot of the Castle at the southern side, is one
beautiful jungle of foliage, in which myrtle, ivy, and arbutus
intertwine with the rowan tree and the silver hazel.
[Illustration: Blarney Castle.]
If we have gone to Blarney on the "outside jaunting-car," the return
journey may be made by Bawnafinny, Kerry Pike, and the Sournagh Valley,
and Northern Lee road. Beneath Bawnafinny, "the pastures of beauty," we
get a glimpse of Blarney Lake, a broad sheet of water bordered with tall
trees, above which the old Castle raises its head. It would gladden the
heart of Izaak Walton, as it is full of fish, among which is the famous
gillaroo trout, which will not rise to the tantalising fly. The
peasantry have a legend, that within the lake lies hidden the treasure
and plate of the last of the MacCarthys, who hid them there sooner than
allow his conquerors to gain possession of it. The secret is said to be
known to three of the old family, and before one dies he tells it to
the other, so that it may be recovered when the MacCarthy "comes to his
own again." The milk girls also on May mornings are said to have
frequently seen fairy cows along the banks of the lake, which vanish
into thin mists when approached by human footsteps!
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ Blackrock Castle, Cork.]
~Ballincollig~ is a place of some interest. The powder mill is a
long-established factory, and gives considerable employment in the
neighbourhood. The large cavalry barracks is amongst the finest in the
south of Ireland.
~Blackrock~ is little better than a fishing village; but the suburbs
between it and Cork are filled with villa residences, pleasure grounds,
and market gardens. Beside the road, between the city and the village,
are situated the well-known nursery gardens belong to Hartland. The
daffodil farm, when the flowers are full, is a sight very difficult to
surpass in the three Kingdoms. Maxwellstown House, on the slope of a
southern hill, was the scene of a tragedy, not yet forgotten in Cork.
After a marriage _dejeuner_, the bride retired to her dressing-room to
don her going-away dress, but the bridegroom waited in vain for her
return. She had died suddenly in the arms of those who attended her; and
the story goes that the disconsolate lover dismissed the servants, shut
up the house with everything just as it was, and went on his way out
into the wide world alone. Long years afterwards, when news of his death
came from a far-off land, his next-of-kin had the house re-opened, and
found everything just as it had been left half a century before, after
the wedding breakfast. The dust and cobwebs were cleared away, and all
went to the hammer.
Eastward, towards the harbour's mouth, there is much to be enjoyed.
Excursionists may take the train direct from the Great Southern and
Western Railway terminus, or by Passage from the Albert Station, and
then by steamer to Queenstown. Taking the direct line the train runs
almost parallel with the promenade called the Marina, which separates
from the river side the broad pasture known as Cork Park, which is the
local race course. A race meeting at Cork is well worth witnessing. The
gay young bucks, described long ago by Arthur Young, still are with us,
and they and their lady friends make a fine flutter during race week.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Queenstown Harbour.]
~Passage~ (~West~) was once the busy site of ship-building and
dock-yards, but the industry is no longer of anything like its original
proportions. The town is an old-fashioned place, and has not escaped the
pen of Father Prout, who, in what he calls "manifestly an imitation of
that unrivalled dithyramb," The Groves of Blarney--with little of its
humours and all its absurdity--signs the attractions of what he styles a
fashionable Irish watering-place:--
"The town of Passage
Is both large and spacious,
And situate
Upon the say;
'Tis nate and dacent,
And quite adjacent
To come from Cork
On a summer's day."
Steamers ply between the railway station at Passage and the many little
towns around the port. ~Glenbrook~ and ~Monkstown~ are particularly
picturesque. Above the latter, nestling in the trees, may be seen
Monkstown Castle, the legend attached to which says it was built for one
groat. The owner of the site, one of the Archdeckens, an Anglo-Irish
family, having gone away to the wars in the Lowlands, his better-half
promised him a pleasant surprise on his return. She employed a number of
workmen to build the castle, a condition of the contract being that they
should buy their food from her while so engaged. Truly, she was a shrewd
woman. Her profits were such, that she had enough to pay the entire cost
of the work, less one solitary groat.
~Spike Island~ is mentioned in Church History as a present given by a
Munster King to St. Cartach, of Lismore. In modern times it was used as
a convict prison, the convicts' labour being employed in the
construction of the fortifications around the harbour.
~Queenstown~, or, to give it its old Irish name, Cove, is built upon an
island. It is the paradise of naval pensioners, and the home of all
nationalities, yet Irish is still a spoken tongue not a mile away,
behind "Spy Hill." The magnificent Cathedral to St. Colman, the patron
Saint of Cloyne, occupies a commanding position over the harbour. It is
in the later florid Gothic architecture, and within one of its
transepts is buried the celebrated Dr. Coppinger, a learned writer and
member of the most famous and enduring of the Danish families to whom
Ireland became a native land. In an old graveyard on the island, Charles
Wolfe, the writer of the elegy on Sir John Moore, and Tobin, the
dramatist, are buried. The panorama from Spy Hill embraces the
enchanting river and the wide harbour, which is capable of holding all
the ships in the British Navy within the line drawn from the two forts,
Camden and Carlisle, which guard the entrance. Of Queenstown, the
_Dublin Health Record_ says:--"The climate is remarkably mild and
equable, and, at the same time, fairly dry and tonic, and is especially
suitable as a winter and spring residence for persons with delicate
chests, to sufferers from chronic catarrhal throat affections, and to
convalescents from acute diseases. It is particularly appropriate as a
seaside resort to persons requiring a soothing and sedative atmosphere.
From the position of Queenstown, winds from the colder points are very
little felt, and it is completely protected from the north, north-east,
and north-west winds. The mean temperatures of the seasons are exactly
similar to those at Torquay, the noted winter health resort in the south
of England, and higher than those of Bournemouth, Hastings, and Ventnor.
As a winter health resort, Queenstown possesses all the best natural and
climatic advantages."
The beach presents the most varied and motley sights to be seen anywhere
in northern Europe. Merchant seamen from every port of the world
congregate here; military and man-of-war sailors are ever present,
pleasure-seeking yachtsmen, pilots and fishers mix with the melancholy
groups of emigrants, or the irrepressible vendors of impossible wares.
Beyond in the blue waters, His Majesty's flagship rides at anchor, one
or more of the "ocean greyhounds," with dead slow engines, are steaming
out between the forts; tenders, whale-boats, small steamers, tugs, and
every craft that sails the sea, down to the familiar Munster "hooker,"
are hurrying to ports far and near, or lying "idle as painted ships upon
a painted ocean." Most of the Atlantic liners have offices here. Tenders
convey the mails from the deep-water quays at the Great Southern and
Western terminus out to the steamers, which usually ride in the fair way
by the harbour's mouth. Queenstown is the principal port through which
the emigrants leave Ireland. Young and old, when the "emigration fever"
is rife, the tides of people may be seen flowing oceanwards. Sometimes
they have a little money, and are going to better themselves; but most
usually they are going out penniless to relatives abroad, or "just
trusting in God." Not an unfrequent sight is to see bare-footed peasant
children waiting for their turn to cross the gangway which leads to the
New World. Perhaps they have nothing with them but "a pot of shamrock,"
or a little mountain thrush or orange-billed blackbird, in a wicker
cage, to make friends with "beyant the herring-pond." It is very
curious, but very Irish, that they do not at all seem to want the
sympathy that is lavished upon them by the onlookers. When they are
leaving their native place, the "neighbours" hold an "American wake,"
and in the morning, with heartrending embraces and wild caioning, give
them the last "Bannact Dea Leat"--"God's blessing be on your way"; but
when they come to Cove, the sorrow is smothered; they are buoyed up by
that trusting faith in the future which is the first fibre in the Irish
nature. They may look melancholy to us, but they themselves make merry,
and before the "big ship" is but on the "Old Sea," as the Atlantic is
called, the girls and young men are slipping through rollicking reels to
improvised music "to show their heart's deep sorrow they are scorning."
Perhaps, as the Gaelic proverb expresses it, "'Tis the heavy heart that
has the lightest foot." But a truce to trouble. They tell a story of an
emigrant and a grand trunk merchant at Queenstown which shows alike the
hapless condition and happy-go-lucky heart of the Irishman. "Pat," said
the merchant, "you're going to travel; will you buy a trunk?" "A trunk,"
answered Pat, "an' for what, yerra?" "To put your clothes in, of
course." "And meself go naked, is it? Och! lave off your gladiatoring;
sure it's took up I'd be if I did that!"
~Crosshaven~ and ~Aghada~, two watering places inside the harbour, are
within easy reach of Cove by steamer, which calls at Currabinny Pier.
The Owenabwee[3] river runs between Currabinny and Crosshaven; it is a
beautiful, well-wooded stream which has been celebrated in a
plaintive-aired Jacobite ballad, the "Lament of the Irish Maiden."
"On Carrigdhoun the heath is brown,
The clouds are dark on Ardnalee,
And many a stream comes rushing down
To swell the angry Owenabwee.
The moaning blast is whistling fast
Through many a leafless tree,
But I'm alone, for he is gone,
My hawk is flown, ochone machree."
A few hundred yards from Crosshaven river there is a fiord of the
Owenabwee, known as Drake's Pool. Here the great soldier-sailor, Sir
Francis Drake, with his five little sloops, hid in 1587 from a
formidable Spanish fleet. The Spaniards entered the harbour, but failing
to find their quarry, put to sea again in high dudgeon.
Near ~Aghada~, at the other side of the harbour, is Rostellan Castle,
formerly the residence of the Lords of Thomond. ~Cloyne~ is only four
miles' drive "on the long car" through a rich countryside, and on the
way may be seen a Druidical cromlech, at Castlemartyr, in a very fair
state of preservation. Cloyne Round Tower "points its long fingers to
the sky" above the ancient church wherein there is a fine alabaster
statue of the metaphysician, Dr. Berkeley, who was Bishop of Cloyne.
~Ballycotton~ is seven miles from Cloyne. The cliffs here are high and
wild, and Youghal, shining white in the sun in summer weather, can be
easily seen at the mouth of the far-famed Blackwater. There are modern
hotels and moderate lodgings at Ballycotton. In the season splendid
deep-sea fishing can be had in the vicinity, and the opportunities of
sea-bathing are enticing.
[Illustration: Ballycotton Harbour]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Ballycotton.]
For information as to Sport to be had in the Cork District, see end
of this volume, where particulars are given as to Golf, Fishing,
Shooting, Cycling, &c.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The River Blackwater, Youghal, Etc.
Edmund Spenser spent most of his time in Cork County, at Kilcoleman
Castle in the vicinity of Buttevant. The place was well chosen as the
house of a poet. The surrounding country is very beautiful, and every
mountain and glen has its story.
The town of ~Buttevant~ took its name from the battle-cry of the
Barrymores--"Boutez-en-avant," "push forward." The ruins of the
beautiful Abbey remain. At the time of the supervision of monasteries it
was described as "a nest of abbots." Buttevant is the railway station
for Doneraile, and hard by is Cahirmee, where the greatest horse fair in
the British Isles is annually held. The fair lasts for two days. It is
held about midsummer, and attracts buyers not only from all parts of
these countries, but from as far away as Vienna and Stockholm. Spenser
pays tribute to the beautiful Blackwater which flows through Mallow to
Youghal--
"Swift Annsduff, which of the English is called Blackwater."
Far away in the highland country between Cork and Kerry the stream
rises, and comes floating and pushing down from the haunt of the
fairies and the outlaw, through the wild country of Meelin. Here is a
remarkable cave, the hiding place of Donald O'Keeffe, last of the old
chiefs of the land of Duhallow, who was outlawed after the fall of the
Jacobites.
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ In the Woods at Buttevant.]
The river flows through Newmarket, the birthplace of Curran, and
Kanturk, the birthplace of Barry Yelverton, to ~Mallow~ which is the
centre of the lines of railway radiating into Kerry, Fermoy, and
Lismore, as well as to Cork city. The town is very beautifully situated.
In the distance are the Kilworth mountains, which seem afar off to join
the ample deer-park at Mallow Castle. It was once one of the liveliest
and most fashionable resorts in Ireland, but its famous spas, to which
gentlewomen and gallants came in the last century, are now unfrequented
and almost forgotten. When abductions, duelling, and such pastimes were
in vogue, "The Rakes of Mallow" were in their heyday. As Lysaght sang:--
"Beauing, belleing, dancing, drinking,
Breaking windows, damning, sinking,
Ever raking, never thinking,
Live the rakes of Mallow.
Spending faster than it comes,
Beating waiters, bailiffs, duns,
Bacchus' true-begotten sons,
Live the rakes of Mallow.
Living short, but merry lives.
Going where the devil drives:
Having sweethearts, but no wives,
Live the rakes of Mallow."
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ Mallow Castle.]
~The Blackwater~ flows past Mallow through a rich country surrounded by
soft-breasted hills and well-planted lawns, to Fermoy, a garrison town
of importance, from which Mitchelstown, eleven miles away, may be
reached by a light railway. The caves at Mitchelstown are described
elsewhere (Waterford section). We will part the branch line here and
return, _via_ Cork, to Youghal, the point from which to become familiar
with the Blackwater at its best.
~Youghal~, except in summer-time, when the visitors to its splendid
strand enliven its appearance, is a sombre old place with an air of
retired respectability. It is full of memories of other days, for here
the Dane and the Christian came together; the Norman made it a walled
town, and the Spaniards came into its harbour.
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ View on the Blackwater Youghal.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ The Clock Tower, Youghal.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ Sir Walter Raleigh's House at
Youghal.]
From here Sir Walter Raleigh, its Mayor, went forth to found
Virginia--and to the scaffold. It was a chartered city, and grew in
wealth and importance from 1183 to 1579, when it was sacked by Gerald,
sixteenth Earl of Desmond, then out "upon his keeping." Ormonde drove
the Geraldines out of the town, and hanged the then Mayor outside his
own door for aiding them. He rebuilt its walls, and placed here a
strong garrison. In 1641 it was again besieged, but held out for six
weeks until relieved. In 1645, Castlehaven attacked it, but was repulsed
by Broghill, fifth son of the Earl of Cork. Here, during the war with
the Confederates, money was struck. On the execution of Charles I.,
Ormonde proclaimed his son King, but the Puritans in the town revolted
to Cromwell, who wintered here in 1649. In 1660, the Cavaliers and
broken followers of the Geraldines captured the town, and ten days
before his actual succession proclaimed Charles II. King. With varying
fortunes of war, the town passed into the hands of the Jacobites and
Williamites. The objects of interest, besides the picturesque
attractions of the strand and beautiful bay, are very many. The Clock
Tower remains where the old South Gate to the town stood. Tynte's Castle
was built by Norman settlers in the fifteenth century. St. Mary's
Cathedral is cruciform, consisting of nave, aisle, transepts, choir, and
massive tower. In the chantry of Our Blessed Saviour, or south transept,
besides the memorial to the founder and his countess, is the grotesque
mausoleum, in florid, glaring Italian style, to the Earl of Cork and his
family. At Boyle's feet is the kneeling figure of his first wife, Joan;
at his head is that of his second, Catherine. Over the arch is his
mother, Joan, and along the margin of the plinth are nine diminutive
effigies--his children. The tower was evidently constructed rather as a
defence than simply for a belfry. The churchyard, where there are many
ancient gravestones, is the chief centre of local superstition, and here
all local ghostly visitations are alleged to take place. ~Myrtle Grove~,
whilom the residence of the ill-fated Elizabethan soldier, Raleigh, is
an unpretentious, ancient gabled dwelling. The interior is remarkable
for its beautiful oak wainscoting.
During his sojourn in Munster, "Captain Sir Walter Raleigh" performed
many deeds of dering-do, albeit some of them were far from being like
Bayard's, without reproach. He was Mayor of Youghal, 1588-9; and, with
Spenser, was granted the greater part of the forfeited estates of the
Earl of Desmond. Raleigh's grant comprised property at Youghal and along
the Blackwater to Affane, already mentioned. In the garden attached to
Myrtle Grove he is supposed to have planted the potato, the first
planted in Ireland.
The strand at Youghal is very fine, and sea-bathers are afforded every
opportunity of enjoying themselves. In summer time the watering-place is
much patronized, and every year is becoming more attractive. There are
good hotels, and plenty of residences and lodgings to accommodate
visitors during the season. In the morning the whole fore-shore is given
over to the bathers, and in the evenings it is mostly "Oh, listen to the
band" along the Promenade and in the Green Park. The inroads of the sea
at Claycastle are at length being successfully encountered by the Case
groining system, which has been found so efficient elsewhere.
The coast-line from Youghal to Cork is indented with splendid sea
cliffs, fiords, and strands. Garryvoe lies between Youghal and
Ballycotton. The sea for miles along this district has been eating into
the clay cliffs, and threatens to fulfil a Gaelic prophecy that it will
yet reach Killeagh, a town six miles inland. Near Killeagh is a very
beautiful scene of sylvan splendour, Glenbower.
The railway line runs direct from Youghal to Cork, passing the thriving
market town of Midleton, the granary of Cork County, and Carrigtwohill,
where there are the ruins of a Norman Castle.
A ferry from Youghal brings the passenger into Waterford County. The
road above Whiting Bay leads to the fishing village of ~Ardmore~. It was
perhaps, the first place in Ireland where the light of Christianity
shone, as St. Declan is generally agreed to have been a precursor of the
National apostle. In the country districts surrounding, as in the
fishing village itself, the language most in use is Gaelic. The round
tower, said to be of later date than any other in Ireland, is unique in
many respects. The Cathedral, with its exquisite chancel arch and
elaborate exterior arcading, will delight the antiquary and architect.
Other interesting objects are the Ogham stones in its chancel, and the
narrow lintelled "Bed" of St. Declan.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Strancally Castle, Co.
Waterford.]
The service of steamers from Youghal to Cappoquin up the ~River
Blackwater~ depends at present mainly on the state of the tide. But
despite this and other things, the scenery on the river side will well
repay inconvenience. Having left the ferry behind, the first place of
interest is Rhincrew (The Bloody Point), and on the wooded hill the
ruins of a preceptory of the Knights Templars still remain. Higher up on
the western bank of the Glendine tributary stands Temple Michael, an
old fortalice of the Geraldines, which Cromwell battered down for "dire
insolence."
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Blackwater River.]
There is a legend which tells that the last of the Geraldines was buried
at Ardmore, far from his young bride, who lost her life during the siege
by the regicides. The story says, after his burial, at night his voice
could be heard clearly, calling across the river, to bring him back and
bury him by his own. For seven years the awe-struck peasants heard the
plaintive voice calling, in the tender tongue of the Gael, "Garault,
come to me,"--"Gerald, a ferry!" At last, some young men of his clan
went to Ardmore and brought his dead body to Temple Michael, where his
wife was buried, and henceforth his spirit no longer troubled the silent
vigils of the fishermen at night.
The bend in the waterway brings one into sight of rich pastures and fine
demesnes. Ballintray, "The Town of the Strand" has in its vicinity
Molana Abbey, where the warrior, Raymond Le Gros, lies buried. At the
broads of Clashmore, the highest water-mark to which the inflowing tide
comes, one can easily imagine themselves upon an inland lake. Beyond is
Strancally Castle, beetling over the river, set firmly in a foundation
of crags. The local tradition carriers will gladly point out "The
Murdering Hole," a natural fissure in the rocks, and here they will tell
you that the departed Desmonds destroyed their guests after robbing
them! Above the confluence of the Bride with the Blackwater,
Villierstown and Camphire villages are passed, then the Awbeg joins its
little flood, and beyond the island Dromana Ford is reached. Near is
Dromana Castle, where "the old Countess of Desmond" was born. In the
table-book of Robert Sydney, second Earl of Leyicester, written when
Ambassador at Paris, about 1640, there is the following reference to
her:--
"The old Countess of Desmond was a marryed woman in Edward IV. time
of England, and lived till towards the end of Queen Elizabeth, so
as she must needes be neare one hundred and forty years old. She
had a new sett of teeth not long afore her death, and might have
lived much longer had she not mett with a kind of violent death,
for she would needes climbe a nut-tree to gather nuts, so falling
down she hurt her thigh, which brought a fever, and that fever
brought death. This my cousin, Walter Fitzwilliam, told me. This
old lady, Mr. Haniot told me, came to petition the Queen, and,
landing at Bristoll, she came on foot to London, being then so old
that her daughter was decrepit, and not able to come with her."
Dromana House, on the eastern branch of the river, is situated on a
beautiful height, which commands the reaches of the river from Cappoquin
to Youghal. At more than one point on the river there were opportunities
of seeing in the distance the cloisters of ~Mount Melleray~--"the little
town of God," lonely above the mists and shadows of the hills. As we
walk or drive, the hillside behind the river winds its way through
cliffs and well-wooded lands in front, the mountains unfold themselves
range behind range. No one who has ever visited Mount Melleray will
forget it or the generous Brothers. The Trappists, expelled from France
in 1830, first settled on the borders of Kerry, but subsequently
colonised this barren hillside, and already they have transformed it
into a fine farm, containing rich pastures and thriving plantations. The
monastery may be visited by gentlemen visitors, and cannot fail to prove
of extraordinary interest. There are two guest houses, one for gentlemen
and the other for ladies. No charge is made for their bed or board, and
all creeds, classes, and nationalities are received with a _caed mille
failté_. Every week a sermon in Irish is preached to the mountaineers.
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ Mount Melleray--View from South.]
Either from Melleray or Cappoquin, ~Lismore~ may be reached by car or
train. It was the home of learning of old, and to-day, not only its
beautiful position but historic Castle command attention. It is the
birthplace of Boyle, the philosopher. Ptolemy is asserted very
confidently by some authorities to have mentioned this place and its
river. It is certain, however, that the place was long in existence in
631, when St. Carthage, of Rahan, fled thither. Nothing could be
prettier than the appearance of the town, and it is a comfortable,
well-to-do place, monopolising the trade of a large countryside. St.
Machuda's Cathedral will repay inspection. The Castle is the Irish seat
of the Duke of Devonshire. It was an ancient fortress, dating back to
the reign of King John. It stands in a pre-eminently commanding
position, over the Blackwater, and was the scene of many a hard-fought
fight, especially in the wars of the Commonwealth, when Castlehaven
captured it from the Roundheads. A magnificent view of the surrounding
country may be had from its higher-storied windows. The public are
freely admitted. From one of the high windows, it is said, when James
II. was asked to look, he accused the maker of the suggestion of
desiring to throw him from the dizzy height.
From the Railway Station at Lismore, the most interesting object in view
is the new Roman Catholic Cathedral, dedicated to St. Carthage, the
founder of the See, and believed to occupy the site of his cell. Thickly
surrounded by beautiful lime trees, the warm red sandstones of the
walling, with the limestone dressing of the windows and doorways, forms
a brilliant picture. The interior is richly furnished, and altogether
the church is well worthy of a visit.
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ The Guest House, Mount Melleray.]
[Illustration]
Waterford and District.
Waterford is the port of call for most of the shipping from the West and
South of England and Wales. The projected system by which steamers will
run direct from Fishguard to Rosslare Harbour, whatever effect it may
have upon Waterford as a port, will bring it by many hours nearer to the
English markets. It is only a question of a few years until this route
will be at the disposal of tourists and travellers from across the
Channel. Under the Amalgamation of Railways Act of 1900, Waterford has
the additional advantage of becoming a terminus of the system. With it
as centre, railway services are supplied to Cork County and Lismore, to
Limerick _via_ Carrick-on-Suir and Clonmel, and to Kilkenny _via_
Kilmacow and Thomastown.
[Illustration: _Photo, Croker, Waterford._ Waterford.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ Waterford, from North Side of
River.]
"The Star of the Suir"--the City of ~Waterford~--derived its name from
the Danish words, Vedr-fiord, given to it by its original founders, the
hardy Norsemen. From whatever side we approach the old town, whether
land or sea, the sight is equally delightful. From without, approaching
by the broad waterway, the city stretches forth to meet us, with the
quaint wooden bridge spanning the noble river, and the hills forming a
zone behind. Surely the Danes had an eye for beauty, as for maritime
advantage, in selecting this happy spot for their fortress. In the ninth
century, when the ploughers of the sea seized on the mouth of the Suir,
they fortified a little delta some twenty acres in size, having the
present Quay as its long side. From this little triangle the town grew,
and in the last century was one of the first seaport towns in Ireland.
Here, in 1171, Strongbow landed, defeated the Danes and Irish, who had
confederated to repel him, and sacked the town. It is a strange
historical coincidence that the Feast of St. Bartholomew was the day on
which Strongbow landed and countenanced the massacre of the inhabitants.
Under Raymond Le Gros the carnage was carried out, and in St. Lawrence
O'Toole's address to the Irish princes at peace with the invader, which
has been versified by Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, it is referred to in the
lines:--
"Tell me not of leagues and treaties,
Treaties sealed in faith as true
As Black Raymond's, on the bloody
Feast of St. Bartholomew."
[Illustration: _Photo, Croker, Waterford._ The Quays, Waterford.]
King John landed here, and the town was walled in and fortified against
the Irish, who hung like wolves around a fold in the outlying country.
In the Revolution the town adhered to the King. It was the port most
used by the Confederates, and here many of their proclamations were
printed. It was the one place in Ireland which successfully resisted the
all-conquering Cromwell, and hence received the name from the Cavaliers
of _Urbs intacta_. An object of historic interest which has been
restored within the present century is Reginald's Tower. It was built
originally by Reginald the Dane, son of Sitrius, the great Danish King
of Dublin and Fingal (The Fair Strangers), whom Brian Boru defeated at
Clontarf. Here, it is said, DeClair married Eva, whose fair face induced
him to join his forces to her father's fallen fortunes. Maclise, in his
wonderful historical picture "Bartered Away,"[4] represents the nuptials
as taking place on the battlefield, dyed with the blood of the
vanquished Irish. There could not have been much love in the match after
all. Strongbow was scarcely dead when his young widow wrote to Raymond
Le Gros that "a great tooth had fallen out," which he understood to mean
that the time had arrived for him to come and make her his own, which he
did. The patron saints of the diocese of Waterford and Lismore are Saint
Cartach and Saint Otteran, the latter being a Dane who embraced
Christianity. The Cathedral (Episcopalian) occupies the site of the old
Danish Cathedral, the existence of which, together with that of Christ
Church in Dublin, bears testimony to the zeal with which the Danes
embraced Christianity. The Quay is the most characteristic bit of
Waterford. Across the bridge, from Mount Misery or Cromwell's Rock, two
points of vantage, excellent views of the surroundings can be had. The
Suir, shining silvery, steals in and out among the hills and by the old
town into the sea. The most interesting of the ancient monuments in
Waterford is what is commonly called the "French Church," which, more
correctly, is entitled "The Holy Ghost Friary." Authorities agree in
assigning the date of its foundation to 1240, but its history has never
been written. After the Edict of Nantes, the fugitive Huguenots formed a
little colony in Waterford. The Corporation granted a salary to their
minister, and they were provided with a place of worship in the choir of
the old church. All that remain of this once gorgeous pile of
buildings are the ruins of the tower, Lady Chapel, chancel, and nave.
The style is Early English, and the most attractive feature is the
graceful three-lighted east window. The Catholic Cathedral is worth a
visit. Within easy reach of the Quay is Ballybricken, the heart of the
bacon industry, and the home of the best known body of pig-buyers in
Ireland. These men are almost a community to themselves. They have their
own traditions, and are more like an organisation which would have
sprung up from a church guild centuries ago than in any way a modern
trades union. Formerly Waterford was remarkable for the manufacture of
beautiful cut glass, but the industry has died away. The housekeeper who
possesses specimens of the art considers herself lucky indeed in her
possession, as collectors are continually on the alert to procure them.
In the immediate vicinity of Waterford itself there are many beauty
spots and places of interest. In the suburb of Newtown stands the
paternal home of Lord Roberts of Waterford and Candahar, besides whom on
its roll of famous children Waterford includes the names of Charles
Keane and Vincent Wallace. Portlaw, four and a half miles away, on the
south bank of the Suir, was once the centre of a thriving cotton
industry. Here an order may be had at the estate office to visit
Curraghmore, the residence of the Marquis of Waterford. The magnificent
demesne includes over four thousand acres, and Curraghmore is possessed
of the best-blooded stud of hunters in Ireland.
[Illustration: Imperial Hotel, Waterford.]
[Illustration: Curraghmore.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Croker, Waterford._ Tramore.]
~Tramore~, seven miles away, is reached by train in fifteen minutes. It
is one of the most popular watering places in the South of Ireland, and
in the height of the season it is estimated that about four thousand
visitors augment the normal population of two thousand. Many of the
Waterford merchants live there, and their villas and the houses of the
town, rising one street above another on the side of the hill, make a
pretty picture when viewed from the strand. The hotels are numerous,
the Grand Hotel can be recommended as being specially comfortable, while
there are three or four other hotels where very good accommodation can
be had. The lodging-house accommodation is equal to that to be obtained
at any Irish seaside resort.
[Illustration: _Photo, Croker, Waterford._ Evening at Tramore.]
In addition to capital sea and trout fishing, the visitor can enjoy the
pleasures of golf and lawn-tennis, and during the summer months races
are frequently held at the Tramore Flying Course, which is situated
within view of the town. The views of this pleasantly situated holiday
reunion will recall to many minds happy days spent by the Sounding Sea.
The Rabbit Burrow, a little further on, is a mile in length, and helps
to divide the Back Strand from the spacious bay. Just before reaching
this Burrow, the visitor will see a tombstone erected to the memory of
those who were lost in the "Sea Horse" transport, in January, 1816, when
returning from the Peninsular Campaign. No less than 362 lost their
lives in this terrible disaster. At the western side of Tramore there
are many places along the rock-bound coast well worth a visit. Passing
along in the Newtown direction we come in view of the Ladies' Cove;
here, years ago, a fishing pier was built by the Board of Works. It was
swept right away one stormy night over two decades ago, and has not been
replaced since. Along the Cliff Road we catch views of Gun's Cove, and
the Gillameen Cove, where excellent bathing facilities, free of charge,
can be availed of by the visitor.
On the western shore, twelve miles by road from Waterford, is the pretty
watering place of ~Dunmore~. It is situated at the mouth of the river
Suir in a valley gently sloping to the sea, and is protected from the
north winds by a wood which, in the hot summer days, is a most
delightful resort for visitors. There is also a public park and tennis
ground, and the facilities for bathing, particularly for gentlemen,
leave nothing to be desired.
[Illustration: _Photo, Croker, Waterford._ Dunmore.]
In the early part of the last century the place was a mail packet
station for the mails to and from England. The harbour was built by the
Government at a cost of about £100,000, and is at present under the
control of the Board of Works. Here, in the fishing season, are boats
from all parts of the Kingdom fishing for herring and mackerel, and
special steamers are constantly running to and from Milford with the
harvest of the sea.
There are some particularly good villas and houses which can be rented
in the season, and there is a good hotel just over the harbour, while
rooms are to be had on reasonable terms at many houses in the town. For
persons who desire a select quiet place to spend a holiday in, it can be
recommended strongly, while for those who are fond of sea-fishing or
yachting no better place in Ireland can be had. Although there is no
railway connection with Waterford cars run daily, the fare being only
_1s._ for the twelve miles.
Above the confluence of the Barrow and Suir, six and a half miles from
the city, from the top of the hill over Cheekpoint (Side a fairy)--where
"the river Rosse meets the river of Waterford"--a grand panorama
presents itself. In the distance the mountains shoulder one another for
prominence; the Comeraghs, the many peaked Galtees, and
"Sweet Slievenamon, the darling and pride,
With soft flowing bosom and brow like a bride."
This beautiful mountain owes its name, "The Hill of the Women," to a
Finnian legend, which tells that Finn M'Cool promised to make his wife
of whichever of the fair women of Ireland could reach its summit first,
when all were started from the foot. Grainne Oge, the Gaelic Helen, of
course was heroine of the day, and Finn's taking her was the origin of
one of the most enthralling of the Celtic romances.
[Illustration: _Photo, Croker, Waterford._ Dunmore Harbour.]
Among the more interesting objects at Dunbrody are St. Catherine's
Church, an old time dependency of the Abbey, and the splendid remains
of the Cistercian Monastery, rising above the meadows by which the
Campile Stream flows. The monastic church in general style is Early
English, and is fairly preserved. It dates from the twelfth century, and
was founded by Henri de Montmorenzi, Marshal to Henry II.--the same who
was killed at the Curragh.
There is a severe simplicity about its lines which gives an impression
of great dignity. The crenelated Tower springs from the nave and
transept. The Abbots of Dunbrody sat as Lords in Parliament, and
exercised civil jurisdiction. Above Dunbrody, on the river opposite "The
Little Island," where was an ancient hermitage, in a straight line is
Ballinakill House, where James II. spent his last night in Ireland, on
the day before that celebrated in the ballad, which tells:--
"Righ Shemus he has gone to France,
And left his crown behind,
Ill luck be their's, both day and night,
Put running in his mind."
~Passage East~ (seven miles), now a fishing village, with spider-legged
spit light, was reduced by Cromwell in 1649. The old mole still stands.
At Ballyhack, across the ferry, a strong, square castle is well
preserved. "New Geneva," in the vicinity, was garrisoned with Hessians
during the Rebellion of '98. It is mentioned in the well-known Irish
song, "The Croppy Boy." The place received its name in 1786, when a
colony of Genoese exiles were established there. On the Waterford coast,
from the city to where the Blackwater kisses the sea, beside a range of
noble cliffs, there are many points of interest. The Tower of Hook,
standing one hundred feet high, on the promontory of the same name on
the Wexford side, is attributed amongst others to Reginald the Dane,
Ross MacRume, the founder of New Ross, and Florence de la Hague (1172).
Its circular walls are of great thickness and strength. When Strongbow
heard of this Tower of Hook, with Crook (Norse, Krok a nook) on the
western side, he is alleged to have said "He would take Waterford by
Hook or Crook," and thus originated a common saying which has come down
to our own days. The Saltees, two islands off the Wexford coast, were
the refuge to which Colclough and Bagnall Harvey hastened in vain after
the suppression of the Rebellion in '98. Helvick Head, the name of which
also betrays its Danish origin, marks the entrance to Dungarvan Bay. The
line running from Waterford to Limerick Junction contains many places of
interest, from which short tours may be made. As we come near to
~Carrick-on-Suir~ the castle comes into view. The present building was
mainly erected by the former Earl of Ormonde, "Black Tom," as he is
known in history. He was one of the many Irish gallants who found favour
in the eyes of Queen Elizabeth. From Carrick, a drive of eight miles
brings us to Lough Coumshinawn, a lonely tarn lying high among the
Comeragh mountains, on one side of which the cliff rises perpendicularly
to a height of seven hundred feet. The railway from Carrick runs through
the beautiful valley of the Suir to Kilsheelan, and then passes to the
left of the Knockmealdown mountains to ~Clonmel~, the capital of the
"premier county." The town is pleasantly placed in a thriving centre of
local trade. It figured largely in the fights between Cromwellian and
Confederate, and some of the old battlements still stand witness to its
strength in bygone times. The peasantry have a tradition that a cloud
will ever hang above the town since Father Sheehy's death in the last
century. The tradition is hinted at in the beautiful emigrant ballad
"Shameen Dhu," by Katherine Tynan:--
"Now, God watch over you, Shameen,
An' His blessed Mother Mary!
'Twas you that had the lightest heart
In all sweet Tipperary--
'Twas you could sing the blackbird's song,
In dry or rainy weather:
Avic, the long-road wasn't long
Whin we thravelled it together.
Sure, scores of times in the mornin' bright
You sung this very road,
You med the mare's heart bate so light
She never felt her load;
'Twas you could lilt wid the thrush's trill,
Ah, well, avic machree!
God grant you may be singin' still
In that lonely far counthrie!"
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ Holy Cross Abbey at Thurles.]
The name of Laurence Sterne, author of "Tristram Shandy," and of the
gorgeous Countess of Blessington, are both associated with Clonmel as
their birthplace. Through a mountain cut, appropriately called "The
Wilderness," the railway line runs aside to Thurles. The little church
of Rathronan, standing high on the hill, was the scene of the
sensational Arbuthnot abduction in the last century. Those who wish for
details of that unhappy love affair will find the story told in faithful
words elsewhere. The demesne lands between Clonmel and Fethard are many.
~Fethard~ was an old walled town, it defied the Cromwellians, and
surrendered with all the honours of war. After treaty and terms were
agreed on, the Roundheads found that what they had mistaken as gaping
mouths of cannon on the fortress were nothing more dangerous than
innocent churns placed in positions of pretence, not defence. The
bogland from Fethard to Thurles is uninteresting; the intermediate
stations are Farranalleen, Laffan's Bridge, and Horse and Jockey, at
which collieries are still being worked. At Thurles we meet the main
line of the Great Southern and Western. ~Thurles~, originally a Danish
town and the scene of the battle between the Norsemen and Irish,
afterwards became a fortalice of the Knights Templars. Here, by the
bridge across the Suir, the remains of the old settlement are still to
be seen. Four miles distant, standing by the banks of the river,
surrounded by tall trees, are the remains of the once great Cistercian
~Holy Cross Abbey~. It was built in 1168-69 to house the relic of the
True Cross sent by the Pope to Brian Boru's grandson, Donald, King of
Thomond. This interesting relic, after centuries of vicissitudes, is now
enshrined at the Convent of the Ursulines, in Blackrock, Cork. On the
feasts of the Finding of the True Cross (May 3rd), and of the Exaltation
of the Holy Cross (September 14th), and on every Friday in Lent, it is
presented for public veneration. Thurles is the seat of Episcopal
residence of the Archdiocese of Cashel. On the main line higher than
Thurles is Templemore, founded by the Knights Templars. Between Thurles
and the Limerick Junction is Goold's Cross station, six miles from
Cashel. The noblest evidence of the early civilization of Ireland is to
be found in ~Cashel Of the Kings~. Generally the buildings date from the
early twelfth century, the Round Tower being much earlier and the
Cathedral later. Cormac's Chapel was consecrated in 1134, being built by
the Saint King of Munster. It is rich Norman work, comprising nave,
chancel, and towers at the transepts. The doorways and chancel arch are
elaborate. The Round Tower is unique when compared with the other
buildings, as it is of sandstone. It is connected with the transept of
the Cathedral. The pointed windows, choir, transepts, and tower are very
beautiful. In the burial-ground outside is the famous Cross of Cashel,
with a sculptured effigy of St. Patrick. The whole group gathered
together on the massive Rock of Cashel, whose firmness is a proverb in
Ireland, presents an imposing array. This Cathedral was the one burnt by
the Earl of Kildare in 1495, when his excuse was that he thought the
Archbishop was within. Here, in 1647, a bloody tragedy fell out.
Murragh-an-Theathaun, "Murrough of the Burnings," as the peasantry still
call Lord Inchiquin, massacred a number of women and children, who
sought sanctuary here when Cashel had fallen before his siege train. At
the foot of the rock are the cruciform remains of the Abbey of the
Cistercians. If, instead of diverging from Clonmel to Thurles, we
continue to the Limerick Junction, we pass Cahir, a military station
with an ancient Castle in excellent repair. From Cahir, tourists can
drive to Cashel, to Ardfinane, or to ~Mitchelstown~ _via_ Clogheen. The
Caves at Mitchelstown may be visited from Fermoy, Lismore, or Clogheen,
and if the visitor is sojourning at any of these places he should find
his way to these wonderful formations. Besides the caves, Mitchelstown
contains Caherderinny Castle, Kilbehiny, and Mitchelstown Castle, the
residence of the Kingston family. Leaving the village of Kilbehiny we
cross to Skereenarinka, "the height for dancing," and follow a narrow
hilly road on the Galtee side which leads to the caves, in the townland
of Coolagarranroe. The different chambers of the larger caves, of which
the Kingston gallery is most beautiful, have been named: "the House of
Lords," "the House of Commons," "the Cross of the Four Roads," "the
Scotchman's," "O'Leary's," and "O'Callaghan's" caves, "the Altar," "the
Closet," "the Cellar," and "the Garret." The smaller objects of interest
within have been called: "Lot's Wife," "Mary Queen of Scots," "the Bed
of Honour," "the Cat and Kittens," "the Flitch of Bacon," &c. From
Clogheen to Tipperary we cross the Suir, and follow the foot of the
Galtees. The surrounding country is picturesque and contains some of the
finest pasture land in Ireland, being part of what is known in Munster
as the "Golden Vale." Four miles away by a beautiful road, through the
rising-grounds, the Glen of Aherlow can be reached. The glen is richly
wooded, and from Newbridge over the Aherlow river, Galteemore (3,015
feet), the highest peak of the range may be reached. Tipperary town is a
good market place, and is pleasantly situated beneath Slievenamon. The
only relic of its former grandeur is that of the Augustinian Friary, a
foundation of Henry the Third's reign.
[Illustration: _Photo, Roche, Dublin._ Rock of Cashel.]
For information as to Sport to be had in the Waterford District,
see end of this volume, where particulars are given as to Golf,
Fishing, Shooting, Cycling, &c.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Dungarvan.]
[Illustration]
Killarney and Glengarriff.
Killarney.--From Limerick Junction to Mallow, where the branch line runs
into Kerry, the tourist to Killarney runs by many places of interest.
~Emly~, now a dwindled village, was once a diocesan city. During the
wars of the Commonwealth, Terence Albertus O'Brien, Bishop of Emly, was
executed in Limerick by Ireton. His stole and pectoral cross are still
in the possession of representatives of the family to which he belonged
at Mitchelstown.
In the rich plain under the Ballyhoura hills, "the land flowing with
milk," is the ancient town of ~Kilmallock~. It was the citadel of the
Earls of Desmond when they held high their crests, and every stone in
the place is historical.
Two of its four gates still remain, and among the ruins, which have
secured it the name of the "Baalbec of Ireland," are those of the old
Dominican Priory and Abbey Church. In the former is the mutilated grave
of the White Knight, a name still loathsome in the peasant's ear, and on
whom the bards have let fall their choicest curses.
Lough Gur is of interest to the antiquary. It is ten miles to the north,
and was the centre of the Desmond country. Here of old, the Kings of
Cashel kept their Grenan or "Sunny Place" for feasting. The cyclopean
structure in the vicinity points to the place as being of importance in
pre-historic times. From Charleville, a thriving town, runs a line of
railway direct to Limerick. Buttevant and Mallow are particularly
referred to elsewhere. Millstreet is the border town on the mearings of
Cork and Kerry.
Beyond the bogland country outside Millstreet is the village of Cullen,
where tradition says no smith has been known to thrive. Saint Lateerin,
a virgin of early Christian days, near here made her recluse, and every
day she walked across the bog, and took "living fire" in her kirtle from
the forge to her home. The smith once remarking the prettiness of her
white feet, she momentarily forgot her vow of chastity, and the fire
burnt through the homespun and blistered her feet. She went back to her
cell, and prayed that no smith should ever thrive in Cullen, and none
has ever tried to do so!
~Rathmore~ is on the high road to Gneeveguillia mountain, and to the
north of the station, and at Christmas time, 1896, occurred the fearful
_débâcle_ of the bog, which struck terror into the simple inhabitants,
and, not unnaturally, was attributed by them to super-natural causes.
Two hundred acres of Bogach-na-Mine formed a landslip and rolled in a
huge mass southwards, sweeping away several little farmsteads and
suffocating the inhabitants and cattle. At ~Headford~, the junction for
Kenmare, the scenery is very wild, and all around
"Kerry is pushing her high headlands out
To give us the kindly greeting."
At last, after about a four hours' run, if we came by the special
tourist train from Dublin, we have completed our one hundred and
eighty-six miles, and are in sight of
KILLARNEY,
the home of lakes, which has well been called "the Gem of the Western
World": its magnificent mountain peaks, its green swards and gushing
cascades, all surrounded with an atmosphere of romance and tradition.
Outside the railway station, we are face to face with the finest hotel
in the south of Ireland. Well placed, well managed, it combines all the
comforts of a home with the convenience of a well-appointed hostelry. It
is within easy reach of the principal points of interest.
[Illustration: Boating at Killarney]
[Illustration: Great Southern Hotel--Killarney.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Guy & Co., Cork._ Lakes of Killarney.]
The grounds adjoin Lord Kenmare's beautiful demesne and Deer Park, which
skirts the lake shores, and contain the splendid Golf Links.
Killarney, or "the Church of the Sloetrees," lies on a flat plateau,
within a mile from the shores of the far-famed Lough Lene, as the three
lakes, popularly known as the Lakes of Killarney, are called in Irish.
The town possesses an Episcopal Palace, a cathedral and churches of
interest, besides a monastery and School of Arts and Crafts. Otherwise
it deserves little attention; but on fair days, when the peasantry from
the neighbouring parishes crowd in, it presents a lively and varying
aspect. If the town is insignificant, not so its surroundings, for
nowhere else in the wide world is there such a combination of charms and
variety of beauty, in mountain and lake scenery, thrown together.
"For how could river, lake, and sea
In softer sister hues agree?
Or hills of passionate purple glow
Far and near more proudly flow?
And when will summer kiss awake
Lovelier flowers by lawn or brake?
Or brighter berries blush between
Foliage of a fresher green?"
There is a story of a tourist who, lingering long in the Holy Land, was
pained at the irreverent hurry of an American, who arrived there one
afternoon, scurried over the sacred places, and prepared to depart
betimes on the morrow. He timidly inquired of the swift-foot why he, who
had come so far, rushed away so quickly. "Sir," said the American, "I am
timed to do Europe in a fortnight. I have thrown in the Holy Land, but
if I stay here longer than one night I cannot see Killarney, which takes
three days." He was a wise man in his generation. Although enterprising
people have attempted to do the tour of the Lakes in a day, they have
always gone away more than satisfied with what they saw, but with hearts
hungry to return at a future date, and behold the beauties they had
left unseen.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ On the Upper Lake, Killarney.]
The ~Lakes Of Killarney~ are three in number, connected by a
swift-flowing stream, the Long Range, and emptying their waters through
the river Laune into Castle Haven, on the Kerry coast. The entire
journey can be performed by boat, but in the suggested tours given, both
car, and boat, and ponies are pressed into our service.
The divisions of the Lough Lene are:--The Upper Lake (extreme length,
two-and-a-half miles; extreme breadth, half-a-mile); the Torc, or Middle
Lake (extreme length, two miles; extreme breadth, seven-eighths of a
mile); and the Lower Lake (extreme length, five and one-eighth miles;
extreme breadth, three miles). The first glimpse caught of the lakes,
lying like broad mirrors beneath the high mountains, is a vision of fair
delight. Like tall clansmen, Mangerton, Carnthoul, and the gathering
Cruacha dhu M'Gillicuddy--the black reeks of the McGillicuddy--muster
around, as it were, to re-tell us
"The tale of the spell-stricken band,
All entranced, with their bridles and broad swords in hand,
Who await but the word to give Erin her own"--
that old legend of the sleeping warriors garrisoned within the
mountain's sides, which is met with in more than one Irish county. The
Upper Lake is characterised by an untamed, peerless outline, and so near
to the mountains does it lie, that the fissures in their rugged sides
are almost countable, and the fingers of fancy almost touch the gorse on
their slopes. Gliding over its waters, we readily see in them a
land-locked sea. A ridge of the Glena mountains shuts it out from the
north, the many-peaked reeks guard the passes to the west, and to the
south stands up Derrycunnihy--"The Oak Wood of the Rabbits"--between
which and Torc is the fair bend of a Glen Coumagloun. Between the lips
of the Lakes and the feet of the hills there appears no distance
"Save just a trace of silver sand
Marks where the water meets the land."
Muffling the boatmen's oars for a moment, we can realise that
indescribable solemnity with which silent nature hushes everything. Even
the countless streams that have lost their way across the highlands, in
their hurry to join the Lakes, seem to cease from babbling. But
following the sinuous Long Range when we reach the still water beneath
the Eagle's Nest, Nadanullar, is the psychological moment to awaken the
echoes that eternally haunt the frowning eyry. A bugle-call sounded here
is taken up by the barricades of rock, and is repeated even ten times
over. Small wonder that the fairy hosts are credited with passing it
along their lines! The mountains take up their dying tones of sweet
sounds, and answer it one to the other until the ear can no longer
follow it through space. The ferns and rich foliage of the mountain side
trail their long fingers in the water, and cluster and quicken among the
crevices of the rocks. Recently the Laureate visited Ireland for the
first time; hitherto this land of poetry had been to him but "the
damnable country" of the politician. He came, he saw, but Killarney
conquered; and he, like all others who have gazed upon its beauty,
renders tribute where it rightly belongs. "Damnable" is not the
adjective to apply to a heavenly land, of which he truly says:--
"Such varied and vigorous vegetation I have seen no otherwhere; and when
one has said that, one has gone far towards awarding the prize for
natural beauty. But vegetation, at once robust and graceful, is but the
fringe and decoration of that enchanting district. The tender grace of
wood and water is set in a frame-work of hills--now stern, now ineffably
gentle, now dimpling with smiles; now frowning and rugged with impending
storm; now muffled and mysterious with mist, only to gaze out on you
again with clear and candid sunshine. Here the trout leaps; there the
eagle soars; and there beyond the wild deer dash through the arbutus
coverts, through which they have come to the margin of the lake to
drink, and, scared by your footstep or your oar, are away back to
crosiered bracken or heather covered moorland. But the first, the final,
the deepest and most enduring impression of Killarney is that of beauty
unspeakably tender, which puts on at times a garb of grandeur and a look
of awe, only in order to heighten by passing contrast the sense of soft
insinuating loveliness. How the missel thrushes sing, as well they may!
How the streams and runnels gurgle, and leap, and laugh! For the sound
of journeying water is never out of your ears; the feeling of the moist,
the fresh, the vernal, is never out of your heart. My companion agreed
with me, that there is nothing in England or Scotland as beautiful as
Killarney--meaning by Killarney its lakes, its streams, its hills, its
vegetation; and if mountain, wood, and water--harmoniously
blent--constitute the most perfect and adequate loveliness that nature
presents, it surely must be owned that it has all the world over no
superior."
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Shooting the Rapids.]
Leaving the ~Upper Lake~ behind, and bidding adieu to the green islands
that stud its breast with arbutus and the cedars of Lebanon, the Old
Weir Bridge meets the eye. 'Neath its arch the waters come down with
foam and force, the oars are shipped, and we shoot straight through the
eye of the rapid, thanks to the strong arm and sure nerve of the
oarsmen. The beautiful reach here is the bosom "where the bright waters
meet." Amid exquisite combination of colour, a Vallambrosa strewed with
ferns, lichens, mosses, rich green hollies and arbutus with many
coloured berries, we tread our way by a passage of beauty round Dinis
Island into the ~Middle~ or ~Torc Lake~, sheltered by the broad breast
of the mountain from which it takes its name. Like "Muckross," the
"Pleasant Point of Wild Swine," the name Torc is called after the wild
boars, which in former years went "gerasening" over its slopes. Rising
abruptly, the mountain stands clear between Mangerton and Glena, the
lower sides well wooded. ~Innis Dinish~, the island at the "beginning of
the waters," is the port for boats. The Cottage may be visited. The
Whirlpool, between the waters of the lake and river, has been called
O'Sullivan's Punch Bowl. Drohid-na-Brickeen, "The Bridge of Little
Trout," or Brickeen Bridge, and Doolah, where the disused marble
quarries and copper mines are still pointed out, are within a short
distance. At the estuary of the Devil's Stream, which flows through the
ravines on the mountain side, is the Devil's Island--almost
inaccessible--on which a few stunted trees manage to secure a precarious
existence. Within the little bay of Dundag is Goose Island. The rocks
and caves along the lake shores are shrouded with traditions of
O'Donoghue, Chieftain of the Glens. A long cave is called "The Wine
Cellar"; at the end is "O'Donoghue's Arm Chair"; his Butler, a solitary
crag, is called "Jackybwee." The most interesting of the fissures made
by the waters in the rock side are what the enterprising boatmen have
agreed to call "Colleen Bawn Rock." By the beautiful Glena Bay, we enter
the Lower Lake, which is the largest and most charming of the group. It
sleeps beneath the guardian heights of the Toomies Hills, and a vision
of more loveliness is nowhere to be found. Low-lying shores, to the east
and north, are jungled with the fronds of the hill ferns.
"Oh, the Fern! the fresh hill Fern!
That girds our blue lakes from Lough Ine to Lough Erne;
That waves on the crags, like the plume of a King,
And bends like a nun, over clear well and spring;
The fairy's tall palm-tree, the heath birds fresh nest,
And the couch the red deer deems the sweetest and best;
With the free winds to fan it, and dew-drops to gem,
Oh, what can ye match with its beautiful stem!"
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Eagle's Nest Mountain,
Killarney.]
The highest mountain in Ireland, ~Carrantual~,[4] at one side lifts its
lofty brow, "crowned with tiaras fashioned in the sky." On its summit an
outlaw, known in Munster as the "Shon" or Hawk, after many sleepless
nights, footsore and weary, slept here with a prayer, "Thank God, at
last I am above all my enemies." The peasantry pronounce the name
"Carntwohill," which translated means, the left-handed or inverted
sickle. The expansiveness of the Lower Lake appears at first to minimise
its beauty, when compared with its smaller companions. But the more its
loveliness is explored, the greater the revelation of the harmony and
luxuriance of the landscape. No less than thirty-five islands, like
beauty spots of a fairy "drop scene," bedeck the silver sheen of its
surface. The largest of these, ~Innisfallen~, almost midway between the
eastern and western shores, is some thirty acres in extent, and is
engirdled by leafy bowers of green trees. Shaggy sheep are couched in
repose, or are busy with its verdant lawn. In the early morning, or
tender gloaming which closes the Munster day, the holy place is
"Quiet as a nun,
Breathless with adoration."
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ The Turnpike Cap of Dunloe.]
Shafts of the dawning or waning sun, as the hour may be, illumine the
fair pageant. The wavering outlines of the hills make the turret-tops
to the dark green of the woods and the emerald of the meadows. The
richest of colours from hill, tree, and rock accumulate on the surface
of the Lake, burnished like silver. To-day the natural scenery is the
same as of old, and few will wonder that here a saint found delights to
prepare him in some degree for the pleasures stored in eternity. Of St.
Finian Labra we know little beyond that he was a native of Ely
O'Carroll, then a part of Munster, and was a disciple of St. Brendan.
But his spirit loiters around Innisfallen, and the most casual of
travellers will tread lightly on the ground hallowed by his footsteps.
The monastic remains are many, but by the enthusiastic antiquary alone
can their fragments and chief features be traced. "_The Annals of
Innisfallen_," which form one of the chief sources of Irish history,
were written here 600 years ago. Leaving the "Holy Island," we cross the
lake and land at the foot of the Toomies Mountains, famous in
pre-historic myths, to visit the O'Sullivan Cascade. The legend, which
is too often wasted on sceptical ears, tells that O'Sullivan, a captain
of his people, renowned amongst them for fleetness of foot and prowess
as a hunter, on one occasion went to hunt the red deer. The faint yellow
rays of morning were lighting up the eastern sky as he went forth. Gaily
the deep-mouthed dogs obeyed, sniffing the fresh breeze across the
mountain purpled with heather. Scarce had he left home when a
magnificent stag bounded across his path. Swift as the lightning flash
the dogs sprung upon the track--away across the moors and down the
glens, on the scent they went. Throughout that livelong day O'Sullivan
followed the chase, weary, tired, and thirsty, but still determined to
make the prize his own. At length night, and darkness with it, came; the
stag could be seen no more, the dogs, too, were at fault, and the scent
was lost. Disappointed, and spent with the labour of the chase, the
huntsman blew a shrill blast on his horn to call the dogs to him, and
faced for home across the hills. But there was a voice that, loud and
clear, called upon him--"O'Sullivan, O'Sullivan, turn back!" Brave and
fearless, like his race, he turned round, to behold before him the
centre of so many cycles of romance--Finn MacCool. "Why do you dare
chase my stag?" asked Finn. "Because it was the finest that man ever
saw," answered O'Sullivan. The answer pleased Finn MacCool.
"O'Sullivan," said he, "you are a valiant man, and have been wasted in
the long chase. You thirst, and I will give you to drink." So saying, he
stamped his huge heel upon the hard rock, and forth burst the waters,
seething and dashing as they do to this day. O'Sullivan quenched his
thirst and sped on his way.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Meeting of the Waters,
Killarney.]
From the innermost recess of the glen the water flows down, in one of
the most fascinating spots to be found within all the delicious realm of
Kerry. The ivy hangs in dense draperies from the rocks, a sweet disorder
of arbutus, evergreens, and all the flowers that grow in a radiant land,
daringly lean across the canyon, and vainly try to trip the rushing
stream, which, in cascade after cascade, flings itself with passionate
energy, and a ceaseless murmur, over the rocks. The placidness of the
huge lake is in strange contrast to the noisy stream which so excitedly
hastens to meet it, and, as if awed by its dignity, as it comes nearer
and nearer the mountain stream, sinks its voice, until in a subdued sigh
it falls into the breast of the lake. Underneath the projecting rock,
and overhung with luxuriant herbs, O'Sullivan's Grotto offers a quiet
retreat. Following the wooded shores of Glena Bay, we pass Stags, Burnt,
and other islands, and come to Glena Cottage, hiding in the foliage of
leafy trees. Glena means "the valley of good fortune," and a name more
suggestive of happier thoughts than weird Glownamorra across the
lake--"the glen of the dead."
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Muckross Abbey, Killarney.]
A mile's drive through the pleasant demesne lands of Muckross brings us
to the water's edge at Castlelough Bay, in the middle lake, on a
promontry of which the ruins of ~Muckross Abbey~ are to be seen. Here,
in the fifteenth century, Donald M'Carthy founded an Abbey for
Franciscan friars. The quiet cloisters in the northwest transept, with
their varying pointed and rounded arches, are unique. The recessed
doorway by which we enter is very beautiful. The towers and east window
are in fair preservation. The monuments within the ruined pile tell us
that it
"contains
In death's embrace M'Carthy More's remains,"
and also reminds us that
"If Erin's chiefs deserve a generous tear,
Heir of their worth, O'Donoghue lies here."
In the centre of the cloisters there grows a great yew tree, spreading
its many branches and shade over them, and above the side walls, forming
a dark cowl, which overshadows the old house of the monks. In ancient
Erin the yew tree was regarded as sacred, and in its shade the Druids
performed their mystic rites. With the early Christians, as an
evergreen, it was a symbol of Life Eternal.
The peasants still inherit some of the awe with which the sacred tree
was held in former days, and they are loth to hurt it with the loss of a
single leaf. All impressive is the desolate majesty of Muckross,
whatever time it is visited!
"But the gay beams of lightsome day
Gild but to flout the ruins grey."
At night, when the pale ghost of the moon looks across the lake, when
the mountains are shrouded in shadows, when the waters are lulling the
slumbering land,
"And the owlet hoots o'er the dead man's grave,"
the solemnity of the scene surpasses even that of fair Melrose, by the
distant Tweed, of which Sir Walter Scott tells.
Driving past the modern mansion in the demesne, along ~Torc Lake~, by
the groves of Dinis, and through the arches of the Old Weir Bridge, the
river glistens and sparkles in the sun, while the distant calmer water
lies deep in sleepy shadows. Beyond the peculiar rock known as the
White Deer we pass through the Tunnel cut under the huge slope of the
mountains. Here is a point of view which fascinates all visitors, and
from which an ample picture of the surroundings may be secured. A mile
further we cross the Galway river, rushing down a well-worn channel
through Cournaglown, the valley sides of which are covered with oak
trees. Already the ceaseless chorus of Derrycunnihy Cascade fills our
ears. With tumult and cries of havoc, the water springs from an altitude
on the mountain side, dividing its force into many minor cataracts, as
it forces the passage barricaded by rocks and boulders, to unite them
again in a deep pool, and after a second's rest, it musters its full
strength, and falls in a torrent towards the Middle Lake. Colman's Leap,
across the stream beneath the Eagle's Nest, is shown here, and of it a
legend similar to others in many parts of Ireland is told. A mile
eastward, along the Kenmare road, we come to ~Torc Waterfall~, lovely as
a capricious _colleen_, whose modes are all the more "deludering" for
their uncertainty--Torc, whether tripping gently or rushing angrily, "to
one thing constant never," makes its bed in a fairy realm, a leafy
garden of ever-changing beauty. Larch and alder, arbutus, oak, and hazel
thickly curtain the Fall from the passing glance. But a sylvan path
o'erstrewn with leaves, and bordered with many fronded ferns, discovers
the fountain in full bearing. White with foam, and angry for its long
delay in the grip of Mangerton, and the hollow of the Devil's Punch
Bowl, the flood breaks through the wall of rocks seventy feet high, and
spits a shower of spray on every futile thing which attempts to stem its
course or stay its purpose. The panorama spread out beneath the rocks of
Torc comprehends, in all their glory of colour and contrast, the Middle
and Lower Lakes beneath the mountains.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Torc Waterfall, Killarney.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Ross Castle, Killarney.]
Two and a-half miles northwards by the King's Bridge, or about one mile
direct from Killarney, within sight of the ~Lower Lake~ and the Purple
Mountains, are the ruins of Aghadoe, the "Church of the two Yew Trees,"
founded under the blessing of Saint Finian. The remains of the Round
Tower and Abbot's Castle can still be seen, but these and the eighth
century doorway of the old church are all that have weathered the wind
of centuries. The summit of the old tower is a vantage point for a
vista. Dr. Todhunter has written a beautiful ballad, in imitation of the
passionate Irish laments, for an outlaw who was buried there.
AGHADOE.
There's a glade in Aghadoe, Aghadoe, Aghadoe,
There's a green and silent glade in Aghadoe,
Where we met, my love and I, love's fair planet in the sky,
O'er that sweet and silent glade in Aghadoe.
There's a glen in Aghadoe, Aghadoe, Aghadoe,
There's a deep and secret glen in Aghadoe,
Where I hid him from the eyes of the redcoats and their spies
That year the trouble came to Aghadoe.
Oh! my curse on one black heart in Aghadoe, Aghadoe;
On Shaun Dhuv, my mother's son, in Aghadoe!
When your throat fries in hell's drouth, salt the flame be in your mouth,
For the treachery you did in Aghadoe!
For they tracked me to that glen in Aghadoe, Aghadoe,
When the price was on his head in Aghadoe;
O'er the mountain, through the wood, as I stole to him with food,
Where in hiding lone he lay in Aghadoe.
But they never took him living in Aghadoe, Aghadoe;
With the bullets in his heart in Aghadoe,
There he lay, the head--my breast keeps the warmth where once
'twould rest--
Gone, to win the traitor's gold, from Aghadoe!
Oh! to creep into that cairn in Aghadoe, Aghadoe,
There to rest upon his breast in Aghadoe!
Sure your dog for you could die with no truer heart than I,
Your own love, cold on your cairn in Aghadoe.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ The Gap of Dunloe.]
The nearest boat place for Innisfallen is at ~Ross Castle~. We approach
it from the high road across the moat, where once the drawbridge was let
up and down. The old keep, wearing a cotamore of ivy, still guards the
water's edge. By a spiral stone staircase we reach the battlements and
look out across the lake.
The Castle held out for Charles the First, but was dismantled by Ludlow.
It was originally a fort of "The O'Donoghue," the chief who centres in
the many traditions which the boatmen weave around every object of
interest in Killarney. He lies enchanted beneath the lake, with a city
full of his people. But at times he has come across the water on his
fiery steed, or danced to the Rincead-fadda on the shores. Whoever sees
him is fortunate, because he gives "good luck, which is better than
money," to all whose eyes meet his.
The ~Gap of Dunloe~ is a gloomy mountain pass cut through the rough
rocky slope in the hills between the Toomies and the Macgillicuddy's
Reeks. It is a magnificent defile, four miles long. The rough
bridle-path running through it, at times almost on the edge of
precipices, beneath which the wild goats flock. It is approached by a
winding road, embroidered on one side by a shady little grove of fir,
larch, stunted oaks, and mountain ash. Through the little windows
between the trees, when the sun shines, the reflection of the river Loe
is caught, as it creeps humbly on its way to the lakes. On the other
side, the mountains throw up a huge wall. Bidding good-bye to the little
grove, vegetation seems to fear to enter the desolate, sterile places in
the throat of the Gap. Where the river widens, at Cushvalley Lough, the
industrious echo-makers most usually greet the visitor. One has scarcely
recovered from the warmth of their courteous welcome, when some
suggestive volunteer, aborigine to the place, with a "Mr. Bugler, God
spare you your wind," secures their services; although you do not call
the tune, you are expected to pay the musicians. But the trifle spent
on the gunpowder for their cannons, or the breath from their lungs, is
well repaid by the mighty mass of air they start into waves of music.
Here, too, the "auxiliary forces," or pony boys, besiege us with their
sure-footed, shaggy "coppaleens." They have come galloping down the pass
at break-neck speed to lend us the assistance of their light cavalry.
Wonderful creatures they are, these horses and riders. The peasant boys
are for all the world the modern prototypes of those "rake-helly horse
boys" of Queen Elizabeth's reign, who filled so many pages of the State
papers. Sinew and muscle knit their loose limbs together, and, in their
eyes, mild and calm as those of the quiet cattle in the field, but like
the surface of their native lakes, covering unfathomed depths, they
conceal souls swept by deep thoughts, and minds clouded by many
memories. The long unrenewed, but still to be distinguished, Spanish
strain is shown in many of their olive-tinted faces and dark features.
But guides safe, and true, and courteous are they, who know every perch
of the dark Pass, where at times the craggy cliffs shut out the canopy
of the sky, and attempt to precipitate themselves across the track. The
point where the path is narrowest, the peasants have called the "Pike."
From it onward the mountains begin to recede, and the Pass is more open
until, crossing a shoulder of the ~Purple Mountain~ past the three great
expansions of the Commeen Thomeen Lakes, into which St. Patrick is said
to have driven the last serpent, we suddenly come on a surprising
spectacle of magnificent scenery. Here, from the head of the Gap, we see
the Upper Lake spread beneath, to the west, Coomeenduff, or the Black
Valley, dark as the valley of the shadow of death, in charming contrast
with the stern grandeur of the mountains. Their melancholy seems to
reign supreme; the long valley is steeped with shadows in which several
lakes are set, the light upon which only heightens the sublime darkness
of the surroundings. The longest of these lakes is called Lough
Nabricderg, or the "Pool of the Red Trout." Far and wide beneath us lies
what, in the old times, was MacCarthy More's country, and into which so
often the Fiery Cross was sped, when the chief of the great clan went
into action.
Ruskin's ideals of mountains as the great cathedrals of the earth, with
their gates of rock, pavements of cloud, choirs of stream and stone,
altars of snow, and vaults of purple, traversed by the continual stars,
can nowhere be realized more readily than in Killarney. Here the
mysterious summits, warm with the morning tints or evening's glow, will
delight and refresh again and again, and reflect to us imperishable
memories. Crossing the Flesk, if ~Mangerton~ be the desired point, seven
good miles are to be traversed. From the Muckross, a short detour will,
if desired, lead to Flesk Castle, standing on a finely wooded hill above
the wide sweeping river. Eastward, along the Kenmare road, and southward
for a mile, the mountain path is met. From here, either on foot or on a
pony, the ascent of Mangerton may be made. The first important object
that comes in view is Lough Kittane, at the eastern base of the
mountain. It is nearly five miles in circumference, and its waters
contain four islands. The ravine behind the lake, with Mangerton on the
west and Crohane mountain on the east, is the "mustering place of the
winds," Coomnageeha. In this ravine the Blackwater flows. There are two
small lakes, Loughnabraude and "the Lake of Beech-crowned Rock," Lough
Carrigaveha. Away in the bed of the mountains is Keimva Lochlin--the
pass of the Danes--reminding the historian of "Stern Lochlin's sons of
roving war," and Dereenanawlar, or "the little oakwood of eagles."
Moving still higher, eastward the mountains melt into the distant
counties of Cork and Limerick, and beneath, the smaller highlands recall
the Psalmist's description of
"The hills like the lambs of the flock."
[Illustration: McCarthy More's Castle--Lake Hotel Landing Stage.]
To the left, Glown-a-Coppal, the "Horse's Glen," invites the adventurous
to fathom its depths. The dark lakes lying in its shadows are shoreless,
but for the gloomy rocks which overhang the water's edge. Where the
ground becomes more broken and rugged, suddenly a less inaccessible path
arises, and leads to the Devil's Punch Bowl, a dark tarn, beset with
strange echoes that strike a death-song on the heart-strings of the
superstitious. The view from the summit is very wonderful; in the
foreground of the huge picture, the forest of mountain tops, while
westward in the distance is the fabled and saint-blessed Mare
Brendanicum of the old writers, where the fiords embroider the coast
line.
Descents from Mangerton may be made due south from the eastern angle
along the Oubeg to Kilgarvan, five miles east from Kenmare; by the
"Horse's Glen," from Lough Garagary, across the moor to the commencement
of the bridle-path. Neither way is recommended in the afternoon or
without a guide. The best route to Carntuol is from the entrance to the
Gap of Dunloe. There is a beaten track by the side of the waterway of
the mountain stream, called "Giddagh," the bed of which is filled with
glacial moraines, leading into a romantic valley, the Hag's Glen, which
is shut in by the Reeks and Knocknabinaneen. The dark tarn in the Glen,
as well as every object of prominence, has been seized upon by the
imaginative peasants, and associated in some wise with the witch who
here had her local habitation and left it its name. The track across the
heather leads to the junction of two rivulets from Lough Gonvogh on the
right, and Lough Callee on the left. The beginning of the summit is
reached by the rough moraine pavement, and with a little perseverance
the "parkeen," or "little pasture," on top is reached. Here on the
wind-swept height it is interesting to find the _London Pride_, or _St.
Patrick's Cabbage_, and the common _Thrift_ flourishing The view is
indescribable. Like the jaws of some huge monster, the teeth of the
Reeks close in everywhere, each with its own blue lake behind. Of
Killarney we see little; but seawards "everything between this end of
the world and America," descent may be made, either following the flank
of the hill, and half way between the two largest lakes beneath,
striking for the Gap of Dunloe road, or through Coomduff to the shores
of the Upper Lake.
When the tourist's time is limited, the following excursions, extending
over three days, will enable him to see a good many of the points of
interest:--
TOUR NO. 1. FARE, _8s._ ESTATE TOLLS, _1s._
Well-appointed coaches, or other conveyances, leave the Hotel
(weather permitting) at about 9.30 a.m., for a visit to the
celebrated Gap of Dunloe and the grand tour of the Lakes. The route
lies along the northern side of the Lower Lake for about six miles,
when the exquisite mountain scenery comes in full view, rapidly
assuming more interesting features until "Arbutus" Cottage is
reached. Here the party must alight, and proceed on ponies, or on
foot, at discretion, through the Pass to Lord Brandon's Cottage, at
the head of the Upper Lake, where the boats will be in readiness.
Arrangements can be made with the Manager of the Hotel, before
starting, to provide ponies for _3s._ each to this point. Some
wonderful echoes are produced in various parts of the Pass.
Luncheon will be served, before entering the boat, on one of the
adjoining islands, after which the party will proceed by the Upper
Lake and Long Range to the Eagle's Nest Mountain. The boat will
then shoot the Rapids under the rustic Old Weir Bridge; stop a
short time at the "Meeting of the Waters"; pass through the Middle
Lake, and across the Lower Lake to "Sweet Innisfallen Island," to
enable the party to view the ruins of the old Abbey, Abbot's Grave,
and Bed of Honour; thence to Ross Castle, where the party will
resume their drive to the Hotel, which is usually reached about
5.30 p.m.
TOUR NO. 2. FARE, _4s. 6d._ ESTATE TOLLS, _2s._
The conveyances leave the Hotel about 10 a.m. for the drive through
Mr. H. A. Herbert's beautiful demesne. The ancient ruins of
Muckross Abbey are soon reached, and, after a short delay to
inspect them, the party proceed by the shore of the Middle Lake,
over Brickeen Bridge, pass the Colleen Bawn Rocks for Dinis
Island; thence, passing the Torc Mountain, to the Cottage and
Waterfall of Derrycunihy (Queen's Cottage), the property of the
Earl of Kenmare, where luncheon is usually served. Returning, the
party will pass under the tunnel on the Kenmare Road, and through
fine scenery by road, mountain, and lake to Torc Cascade, where, by
an easy footpath, fine views can be obtained of the Waterfall and
Lakes; thence to the Hotel, which is usually reached about 3 p.m.
TOUR No. 3. FARE, _4s. 6d._ ESTATE TOLLS, _1s._
The conveyances leave the Hotel at about 9.30 a.m., passing through
the Earl of Kenmare's Deer Park to the Heights of Aghadoe,
obtaining grand views of the Lower Lake, Macgillicuddy's Reeks, and
Carran Tual (the highest mountain in Ireland), as also the ruins of
the round tower of Aghadoe Church, thence through the Earl of
Kenmare's beautiful West and Home Parks, which skirt the
north-eastern shores of the Lower Lake, round Ross Island, and to
the Hotel, which is usually reached about 2.30 p.m.
KENMARE AND GLENGARRIFF.
The coach drive from Killarney to Kenmare is over a fine broad mountain
road, and from Mulgrove Barrack, about half way, a splendid view of the
lake country can be obtained. Kenmare, as its name signifies in Irish,
is at the head of the sea or beautiful bay to which it gives its name on
the Roughty river. Sir William Pettie, in the seventeenth century,
founded the town on lands confiscated from the O'Sullivan More. It is a
market place of importance, and the Convent of the Poor Clares is famous
the world over for the beautiful lace made here. The town stands on the
highway between Killarney and Glengarriff, known as "The Prince of
Wales' route." The coach drives through the town past the Lansdowne
Arms' Hotel and into the beautiful spot which has been selected for the
new hotel belonging to the Southern Hotels Company. Already young groves
and plantations teem about the mansion, which is built on a natural
terrace overlooking the bay, and facing the high hills of Glenaroughty,
behind which the Red River rises, and the bare mountain slopes of
Mucksna.
No visitor should fail, if time permits, to visit the Convent of the
Poor Clares, and see the lace-makers at work. From Kenmare the train or
coach may be taken to Killarney.
DRIVING EXCURSIONS IN THE VICINITY OF KENMARE.
No. 1.--Car to Goulane on old road to Killarney, walk to summit of
mountain, from which a magnificent view is obtained, returning by
Inchamore Cross Roads, Roughty Falls, and Suspension Bridge. _6s._
No. 2.--Car to Kilgarvan, thence to the Bird Mountain, on the
Borlin Road, returning by Lounihan and Letter. Grand panoramic
views of the Mangerton Mountains and Roughty Valley. _10s._
No. 3.--Car to Windy Gap on the Killarney Road, view of Gap of
Dunloe and M'Gillicuddy Reeks, thence by Dirreenfeenlahid Lake and
Bouchill Mountain, returning by Slieveaduff and Templemore Road.
_10s._
No. 4.--Car to Blackwater Bridge and Waterfall, thence by Old
Dromore and Valley of the Blackwater, returning by old road over
Coomnakilla; magnificent sea and mountain scenery. _12s._
No. 5.--Car to Clonee Lakes and Glen of Inchiquin, thence to
cascade at head of glen; beautiful drive along the southern shore
of Kenmare Bay, affording splendid views of mountain, lake, and
river. _15s._
No. 6.--Car to Derreen by the Lansdowne Road, along the shore of
Kenmare Bay and Kilmackillogue Harbour, thence to Glanmore Lake by
road skirting Lord Lansdowne's demesne, returning by Furniss
(ancient smelting works) and Carriganine Road. _20s._
It is particularly requested that visitors requiring cars will give
not less than an hour's notice at the office.
SOUTHERN HOTEL, KENMARE.
HIRE FOR FIXED DISTANCES (Driver's fee included)
Two-horse carriage. One-horse car.
From Kenmare to Parknasilla, _20s._ _10s._
" " Killarney, _28s._ _14s._
" " Glengarriff, _28s._ _14s._
" " Caragh Lake, -- _25s._
" " Waterville, _50s._ _2s._
Fifty per cent. additional for return journey.
To Glengarriff the coach runs by very beautiful scenery, terminating in
the lovely creek of the bay at ~Eccles' Hotel~ and by the fair height
where ~Roche's Hotel~ commands the view. From Glengarriff the coach may
be continued to Bantry, and the train then taken direct to Cork, along
the East Bandon line; or the road may be taken through the beautiful
Pass of Keimaneigh--the "Pass of the Deer"--and by the lovely lake of
Gougane Barra to Macroom. Here the Cork and Macroom Railway brings the
tourist back into the City of the Lee.
The road from Kenmare leads high out of the valley up the hill sides. We
command a good view of Kenmare Sound, and having passed under a number
of tunnels through the rock we cross the mearings into county Cork.
GLENGARRIFF
[Illustration: At Glengarriff.]
[Illustration: Otter Island, Glengarriff.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ At Glengarriff.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ At Glengarriff.]
[Illustration: Glengarriff Harbour]
[Illustration: Otter Rock Glengarriff]
[Illustration: Gougane Barra. Co Cork]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Gougane Barra.]
In a fair spot above the blue waters of the Bay of Bantry,
~Glengarriff~, as a health resort, vies with its charming young rival,
Parknasilla. Its climate, too, is softened by the nearness of the Gulf
Stream, and yew and arbutus, as well as tropical cryptogamia and Alpine
plants, overgrow every available spot along the sides of the rough
defile. It is come-at-able from Cork by train to Bantry and then coach,
or by coach from Killarney or Kenmare. Apart from the beauty of the
situation and the mildness of its climate, Glengarriff possesses
splendid facilities for sea bathing and boating. There is excellent
hotel accommodation both at Eccles', on the shore of the bay, and at
Roche's, in the midst of beautiful grounds, through which the Owvane, or
"fair river," flows, making on its way a wild cascade. The drive from
Glengarriff to Gougane Barra, through the Pass of Keimaneigh, "the path
of the deer," is one of the great excursions to be made. ~Gougane
Barra~, the shrine of Saint Finbarr, is in the midst of a lonely lake
near the source of the Lee. It is still the scene of "patrons" on Saint
Finbarr's day, and Mass is celebrated in the open air in the middle of
the lake. There is good trout fishing in the Allua and other streams in
the Desmond Valley. Callaghan, the poet, has sung of it--
"There is a green island in lone Gougane Barra,
Where Allua of songs rushes forth as an arrow;
In deep-valleyed 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 bright'ning;
When the tempest flings out its red banner of lightning;
And the waters rush down, mid the thunders deep rattle,
Like clans from their hills at the voice of the battle;
And brightly the fire-crested billows are gleaming,
And wildly from Mullagh the eagles are screaming."...
The "green island" is a little over half an acre in extent. In its
centre is a quadrangle, with walls at parts fourteen feet thick, in
which are eight cells or cloisters rudely arched over. Within, on a
raised platform, is a large cross with five steps ascending to it. There
is a large flagstone here with an inscription, giving directions how
"the rounds" are to be performed on the vigil and forenoon of the feast
days of St. Finbarr and St. John the Baptist, to whom there is a
special cultos all over Munster. The road from Gougane runs through
Inchigeela and Ballingeary by a wild stretch of river inches, called the
Gearagh, to Macroom, where the old Castle and Convent are worth
visiting. In the latter the kindergarten system has been introduced with
great success. It is also here that the Gaelic Feis or Festival is held
for the locality, which contains a large percentage of Irish-speaking
people, including numbers of children. From Macroom train runs direct to
Cork. In the visitors' book at Inchigeela Hotel some vagabond rhymester
penned the following farewell:--
Sweet Inchigeela, fare thee well, to-morrow we depart
On Mrs. Brophy's outside car, for Gougane B. we start;
I add my mite of doggerel to all I have read here,
And put my X to all that's writ of this hotel's good cheer.
O charming Inchigeela, were mine the poet's pen,
How I would do the Longfellow, in praising rock and glen;
Among thy mountains, hills, and lakes, six happy days we passed,
And sigh to think the day draws near that's doomed to be the last.
We've climbed the rocky mountains, we've plodded o'er the plain,
We've bid a wild defiance to the drizzling, drenching rain;
And yielding to the influence of your coquettish weather,
We've grilled beneath the sunshine on thy "tick" infected heather.
O lovely Inchigeela! O cosy Lake Hotel!
O Hannah! best of waiting-maids, and civilest as well;
O were I not so sleepy, a great deal more I'd say,
But I must grasp my pilgrim's staff and wend my onward way.
From ~Cromwell's Bridge~, at Glengarriff, the road runs to Berehaven,
where there is an old Castle of the O'Sullivan's and some splendid
caves. Cromwell's Bridge, of which one arch only now remains intact, is
said to have been built here to facilitate the march of the Protector on
his return from Dunboy Castle, he having threatened, if the bridge was
not erected on his return, he would hang a man for every hour he was
delayed. ~Bantry~, or the White Strand, is a thriving town, a pleasant
drive from Glengarriff. Here the French fleet, with Wolfe Tone on board,
purported landing in the winter of 1797; but, like the Armada, were
scattered by a hurricane. Bantry House, the residence of the
White-Hedges family, is beautifully situated on the side of the bay.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Cromwell's Bridge,
Glengarriff.]
The Cork and Bandon Railway from Bantry is connected with most of the
towns on the Cork coast. From Skibberreen, the famous fishing village of
~Baltimore~ may be visited. The Piscatorial School is doing good work,
and is an enduring monument to the philanthropy of the Baroness
Burdett-Coutts. Innisherin Island, in Baltimore Harbour, was an old
fortress of the O'Driscolls--and in particular of "Finnen O'Driscoll,
the Rover"--of whom it is told:--
"The men of Clan-London brought over
Their strong ships to make him a slave;
He met them by Mizen's wild headlands,
And the sharks gnaw their bones 'neath the wave."
Baltimore was sacked in the early seventeenth century by Algerine
pirates, and all the able-bodied inhabitants sold into slavery. These
pirates were finally put down by the intrepidity of the Commonwealth
seamen. Kinsale, also on the coast, is a remarkable old town; there
James II. landed on his ill-fated visit to Ireland. Bandon, beautifully
situated on the broad river of that name, was long the Derry of the
South. The memory of these "good old times" only now remains, and Bandon
is the centre of many successful industries.
For information as to Sport to be had in the Killarney District,
see end of this volume, where particulars are given as to Cycling,
Fishing, &c.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Coaching in Kerry]
[Illustration]
The Lakes and Fiords of Kerry.
The Grand Atlantic Tour--Caragh, Cahirciveen, Valencia, Waterville,
Parknasilla, Kenmare, &c.
The beauty of Killarney is not without a rival, and that even "next
door" to it in its very own kingdom of Kerry. Leaving behind the
soft-swelling hills, deep-eyed lakes and dark mountains, we speed
southward and westward to other lakes and mountains kindred to what we
have already seen. It is for these lovely lands that the Gulf Stream
crosses the Atlantic to kiss, that we are making over the wide-armed
railway which clasps the most picturesque scenery in the country within
its embrace. Starting from Killarney for Valencia, we leave the train to
continue its journey northwards to Tralee, at Farranfore Junction. While
changing into the carriages for the south-west coast, where
"The mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another,"
one look round reveals the amphitheatre of hills. Westward, whither we
are going, the hills above Glenbeigh point our road to where the
Atlantic meets the shore. To the eastward, where the morn, in russet
mantle clad, walks o'er the dew, the line of far-piercing spears,
Mangerton, Torc, Glena, Toomies, and the Reeks extend. At Killorglin
(twenty-four miles rail), with a wide-spanning viaduct, we cross the
Laune, wending its way from the Lakes to Dingle Bay. Here the ruins of
an old Knights Templar Castle remain to remind us of the historic past.
For five-and-twenty miles from this place onward, the route runs over
the southern shore-line of Dingle Bay. Some five miles from Killorglin,
in a secluded nest of old trees beneath the mountains, lies ~Caragh
Lake~.
"Long, long ago, beyond the space
Of twice ten hundred years;
In Erin old there lived a race
Taller than Roman spears."
[Illustration: Fishing in Caragh River]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Caragh River and Lake.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Southern Hotel, Caragh Lake.]
And in their romances and love-songs, Caragh was tenderly mentioned, for
was it not here that Dermot sheltered Grania in the bowers of the
quicken-trees? All who have read the fine old Finnian romance, "The
Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne," which tells the iliad of their flight
across ancient Erin, will remember that here on the shores of Kerry he
met his enemies and discomfited them. In the mists westward from the
lake is the hill-summit, Seefin, where the disconsolate son of MacCool
sat. For long this little paradise has remained forgotten by
scenery-seeking men, but now that it is re-discovered, it will enthral
all comers. The lake, sheltered under the cloak of the hills, is six
miles long, and all around its coasts are things of beauty, green velvet
mosses, dark broom and heather-clad hills, with rowan trees interspersed
throughout. The grisly mountains are glistening with silver
threads--small streams that hasten to see themselves reflected in the
lake. Far from the busy haunts of men, in a sleepy hollow only five
minutes' walk from the railway station, the ~Southern Hotel~ Company
has secured a delightful site for their fine hotel. If nature has done
great things for Caragh, "filthy lucre," too, has done much, and here is
everything to help the invalid, the sportsman, or "the common or garden"
tourist to take advantage of the charming pleasure and health resort.
For the fisherman there are almost endless opportunities. There is
excellent salmon and trout fishing in the Caragh Lake, and also in the
Caragh, Carahbeg, Ougarriv, and Meelagh Rivers, while within easy reach
are Lakes Acoose, Cloon, Coomlonkir, Oulagh, Loughnakirkna, Corravoula,
and Nabrackdarrig, all of which would gladden the heart of old Izaac
Walton. Over twenty-five thousand acres of the best shooting in Kerry is
reserved for the use of guests. It comprises principally grouse,
woodcock, snipe, duck, wild goose, and plover. Both banks of the Caragh
River, which is carefully preserved, have also been secured. ~Dooks~, in
the vicinity, has been selected for an excellent nine-hole golf course,
of which guests, as honorary members, are entitled to take advantage. A
flag-station on the railway brings the links within easy walking
distance. The grand strand along the shore gives every opportunity of
bathing. Across the beautiful Dingle Bay rises Mount Brandon (3,127
feet), and Dunmore Head, out at the edge of the ocean, has the Blasket
Islands scattered around its coast, the treacherous rocks of which were
so fatal to the Spanish Armada. By car from the hotel to Blackstones
Bridge, returning by boat through the lake, is a short tour of many
attractions. Beneath, at one side, lie the bright waters of the bay; on
the other the dark waters of the lake. The Killorglin road is reached
about a mile from Acoose Lake, and then following the declivity by a
mountain stream, we get a good view of Gort-na-gloran Mountain, on the
east of the lake, and see in the distance the fishing hamlet of Glencar,
with the Glencar Hotel high up on pasture ground, surrounded by a cordon
of green fir trees. Except in the Swiss valleys and parts of Norway,
there is no scenery in Europe to compare with an inland route from
Caragh to Parknasilla. It lies across the mountains
"Where the wandering water gushes
In the hills above Glencar;
In pools among the rushes,
That scarce could bathe a star,"
through wild scenery between the gorges of the mountains, and into
Ballaghbeama Pass. Beneath, in a winding valley, lies Lough Brin,
turning from which we come into the valley of the Eskdhu, or Blackwater,
and follow it amid the beeches until it falls into the sea.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Pass of Ballaghbeama.]
Leaving Caragh Lake, the railway line follows the flow of the river, the
next station being ~Glenbeigh~, where there is a growing watering-place.
The strand is particularly fine, extending over two miles. There is a
good hotel, with golf links, beside plenty of fishing and boating.
~Coomasaharn~--the wonderful lake in the vicinity--it has been correctly
said is surrounded by precipices more awful than anything to be found
nearer home than the Alps or Pyrenees--clinging to the mountain side, at
a height of several hundred feet above the sea, with here a cutting or
embankment, and there a mountain gorge, in which a lovely waterfall is
almost lost to sight in a labyrinth of foliage.
~Mountain Stage~ and ~Kells~ are passed, and the train glides down an
incline to Cahirciveen and Valentia Harbour. ~Cahirciveen~, the
birthplace of Daniel O'Connell, is the most westerly town in the three
kingdoms. It lies with its back up against the Iveragh Mountains, and
facing the blue waters of Dingle Bay. Only since the road was cut across
the hills to Valentia in later years has it come to be of importance. In
1803 there were only fifteen houses here, and the beginning of its
uprise in the world was when O'Connell got it made a market town. But in
legends of the past it is a place of fame, and received its name from
Sive, one of the beautiful daughters of the great monarch, Owen More.
~Carhan House~, where the Liberator spent his childhood (but was not
actually born, as alleged), the ruins of which now only remain, may be
seen a short distance outside the town.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ On the Coast near Glenbeigh.]
Two charming fishing harbours under Knocktubber Mountain are worth
seeing, Councroum, "the Haven's Bend," and Coonana, which is called
after the woman who bore the great Finn. Here, the mighty fighter of the
old days, "Conn of the Hundred Battles," fought no less than thirteen of
his fields, and three pre-historic forts remain to bear testimony to the
past--Cahir-na-cahal, Cahirgal, and Castlequinn.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ At Glenbeigh.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Lake Coomasaharn.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Cahirciveen.]
Ballycarbery's ruined castle, too, deserves attention. In ancient times
it was the fortress of Carbery O'Shea, whose tide-swept tomb is still to
be seen. Then it passed into the hands of Owen More's descendants, and
from them to the O'Connells. When the Spaniards sent their "ale" over to
Erin, and the Kerry women borrowed one another's cloaks to go to Spain
to sell eggs and dulisc, Ballycarbery, commanding the harbour's mouth,
was a place frequented by mariners and merchantmen from many a Spanish
port. There is a story of Morgan of the Wine and a Spanish Captain worth
re-telling. Two O'Connells lived in Ballycarbery together, one brother,
Shawn, occupying the lower portion, and the other, Morgan, living in the
upper apartments. Both at the same moment invited a Spanish captain, who
had come into the port, to dine with them. The foreigner, embarrassed by
their hospitality, and not wishing to show an undue preference--as
neither brother would give way--agreed to give his company to whichever
gentleman had his repast cooked first. The brothers repaired with speed
to the castle, and Morgan was chagrined when he had mounted to his
rooms, to find that Shawn had barricaded the entrance behind him, to
prevent his servants from drawing water to cook the dinner. But he
was not to be foiled, for, broaching a cask of wine, he cooked in it
what he wanted, and as his dinner was first prepared, the Spaniard and
his brother Shawn were his guests! In the wars of the Commonwealth the
castle was reduced. ~Derriana Lake~, in the bed of the mountains--with
wisps of mist on its further shores--is like a dream picture. The fair
isle floating in its centre is freighted down with oak and arbutus trees
standing out in relief against the mountain, and reflected in the
mirror-faced waters. The coloured setting of the surroundings is
exquisite. The cliffs bristle crest high with rigid firs, the young oak
copse is entangled with an undergrowth of guelder rose, and in the
sedges near the heron-frequented reeds, white water lilies open their
wonderful eyes. Close by, ~Cloonaghlin Lake~, when it is dark with
mountain shadows and frowning clouds, is sufficiently desolate to awe
the least susceptible, but when auspiciously the sky is brightened, we
feel--
"Truly the light is sweet, and
A pleasant thing it is for the
Eyes to behold the sun."
The shadows recede into the depths of the water or the hollows of the
hills, the many colours of the trees show themselves; and song-birds
begin anew their music, as though a great hawk had been near, and had
passed them by scathless.
VALENCIA ISLAND
May truly be termed the "Next parish to America," and should be visited
for its noble cliffs, wild headlands, and wonderful jungle of fuschia
trees. From Valencia Harbour a ferry, manned for upwards of a century by
the O'Neills, brings passengers and mails across to Knightstown, the
principal village, and a busy port of industry during the fishing
season. Glenleam, the Knight of Kerry's residence--about one mile
inland--is surrounded by beautiful gardens, where, besides arbutus and
myrtle, many tropical exotics thrive. The fuschias form a thick glade,
and the trunks of several of them almost defy the ordinary axe or saw.
There are on the island, besides holy wells, a number of soutterains and
cairns, that
"Sit upon the ground
To tell sad stories of the death of kings."
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ At Valencia.]
[Illustration: _Photos, Cuthbert, Valencia._ Valencia Harbour. Fishing
Fleet. Entrance to Valencia Harbour.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Cliffs at Valencia.]
Irish is freely spoken on the island, and if properly introduced, the
visitor may be able to hear many old stories of Finn and his companions,
the Gabawn Saior, and other heroes of the peasants' heart. Thick as
mists at morn legends hover about the island, and beyond the great Slate
quarries may be seen many caves of great interest. There is a tradition
on the island that St. Vincent Ferrar landed there. The harbour offers a
deep and sheltered anchorage, and was formerly much frequented by
smugglers, whose cave is still shown. Paul Jones often put in here, and
on one occasion pressed into his service a number of fishermen, whom he
took from the neighbouring fishing grounds. None of them returned except
one, who had long been imprisoned in France, but he came home "with a
stocking full of doubloons," and his children's children are still known
as "The Paul Jones's."
At ~Brayhead~,
"Where the broad ocean leans against the land,"
there is a splendid view from nearly eight hundred feet above the sea.
The rocks around the coast, encircled with white foam, make a beautiful
contrast to the grey and emerald and gold of the sandy coves and green
hills.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Cliffs at Valencia.]
Dolus and Bolus Heads reach far into the ocean. The ~Skelligs~, "the
most western of Christ's fortresses in the ancient world," raise their
heads to the south, while northwards the Great Blasket, a mountainous
island, and its eleven brothers, with Innisvic Killane, may be seen. On
the 10th September, 1588, the Armada ship, _Our Lady of the Rosary_, of
1,000 tons, was wrecked in the Blasket Sound; among the many who
perished was the Prince of Askule, natural son to King Philip of Spain.
Around the coast line there have been many wrecks, and not a few are the
pathetic stories still told of them on the island.
The last wreck of importance gave another opportunity for the intrepid
islanders to show what stern stuff they were made of. Under the
captaincy of Mr. Alexander O'Driscoll, the volunteers put off to the
wreck, and despite of a sea running high, and the buffeting of a great
storm, saved the lives of the crew, and rendered full salvage. While on
the island, a visit should be paid to the Anglo-American Cable Company's
Station, care being taken beforehand to go through the formality of
applying to the Managing Director (26, Old Bond-street, London, E.C.)
for an order. Every facility is extended by the courteous local
officials.
THE SKELLIGS--ST. MICHAEL'S ROCK.
From Valencia, or from across the channel at Portmagee, where there is a
thriving fish-curing industry, the Skelligs can be reached in favourable
weather. Standing high above the green billows that encircle them with
collars of white foam, they repay every trouble taken to inspect them.
The ~Little Skellig~, a fantastic rock, with a great arch like a flying
buttress under which for centuries the seas have churned deep, is almost
inaccessible. It is a great breeding ground for gannet, with which,
during the breeding season, its sides are white as the waves below.
[Illustration: GE Skellig.]
So unused are these magnificent birds to being disturbed by intruders
that even when within oar's length of them, they remain passive and
unscared. The ~Great Skellig~ swings high its cliffs seven hundred feet
above the water. Clinging to the ridge of its impressive rocks "like
swallows' nests" are the round roofs of the beehive cells which of old
formed a citadel of Christianity. To Saint Michael the Archangel,
guardian against all the powers of darkness, the isle is dedicated. Its
history is of old date, for here Milesius buried the beloved son, Ir,
that the thieving waters robbed of his soul. Here "the slanting,
full-sailing ships" of Daire, on their way to the great battle of Ventry
Harbour, paused in their march along the deep. Here, too, in recording
times, was the great hero-king of the Norse, Olaf Iryggveson, baptized.
A little cove, deep in the recess of a cavern, makes a landing stage,
only to be attempted at favourable times. An easy path leads halfway
round the island; then, mounting a flight of steps, the visitor beholds,
spread before him, a green valley, the one patch of richness on the
desolate rock. This is Christ's Saddle, from which, with reverent
hearts, the "Way of the Cross" may be traversed, ending in the heart of
Skellig-Michael. Each of the fourteen Stations have descriptive Gaelic
names, such as "The Stone of Pain," where our Saviour falls the first
time; "The Rock of the Woman's Piercing Caoine," where His Mother and
the Holy Women have met. Lonely and deserted, none should enter these
hallowed places but with feelings of reverence.
WATERVILLE.
The morning stillness, broken by the clear blast of the postillion's
horn, reminds the visitor lingering lovingly over the shores at
Cahirciveen that the coach for the coast tour is ready. With a crack of
the whip that would do credit to Will Goldfinch, in the coaching days
of old, the driver urges on his team, and the blooded four-in-hand cut
their way clear of the town. The tour along the Atlantic between
Cahirciveen and Kenmare is nearly fifty miles, and passes through the
most diversified country. The eleven miles as far as Waterville is first
inland, passing through dreary stretches of moorland, where the small
black Kerry cattle manage to thrive, until Ballinskelligs Bay suddenly
comes in sight. Bolus Head reaches out its great arm into the sea, to
shelter the Bay from the winds. At one side may be seen the little town
of Ballinskelligs, with its white Cable Station; and in at the head of
the waters, beyond where the Inny river joins the sea, Waterville
spreads itself out around the long shore. Here it lies on the little
streak of land which protects Lough Currane from the embrace of the
ocean. Coming down the hill, out of the town, the delusion is that this
great fresh-water lake is but itself a bay, the mouth of which is
concealed from view, but not so, for its waters run clear and fresh, and
as fishful as the Erne. It is the best free fishing lake in Ireland.
Just outside Waterville the Commercial Cable Company (Mackay-Bennett
system) have their extensive offices.
[Illustration: _Photos, Cuthbert, Valencia._ Gannets on Little Skelligs.]
[Illustration: Southern Hotel, Waterville.]
The road leads across the Inny, and we enter the little town by the
pleasantly-situated Butler Arms Hotel. On going further, fronting the
shore line, we pass the Bay View Hotel, and, following a bend in the
hill, come suddenly in view of the beautiful Lough Currane, beside
which, in the midst of plantations, more like a home than a
well-equipped hostelry, which it is, the ~Southern Hotel~ is built.
Lough Currane is eight miles in circumference, and its shores are
fretted with thousands of inlets. Through the windows of the Hotel, a
charming view is had of the mountains which encircle the lake. On one
side green slopes and pleasantly wooded heights meet the eye, and on the
other, old familiar grey-faced mountains, with their heads raised on
high among the clouds, shining, changing, and fading in the silver
mists. The surface of the lake, calm-faced and deep-welled, here and
there lifts up to be admired beautiful islands. Here a saint made his
temporal home, and in Church Island is the beehive cell where St. Finian
prayed, "in whose orisons were all our sins remembered." The ruins of
the sixth century church deserve the attention of the antiquary. Away at
the head of Lough Currane is Coppal, where sea trout and small brown
trout abound. It, too, has charms all its own, in parts wild and
untamed, but again, calm as the race of a sleeping child. Full
information as to the flies suitable for the lake, and the places well
to troll, may be had from the best known angler in Kerry, Teigue
M'Carthy. Like Sir Roger de Coverley's friend, Will Wimble, he can tie
a fly "to a miracle," and he is an enthusiastic devotee of the "gentle
art." Besides the attractions for fishermen, there are thousands of
acres of shooting in the vicinity. There is plenty of opportunity and
accommodation for bathing by the bay, and a new Golf Links, laid out
under the best professional advice, affords a further source of
healthful amusement. Over the hills from Waterville the pre-historic
remains of Staigue Fort may be visited. It is the best example of
cyclopean stone forts that remains in Ireland, and by authoritative
antiquaries is said to be at least 2,000 years old.
[Illustration: _Photo, Cuthbert, Valencia._ Lake Currane.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Cuthbert, Valencia._ Raheen, Lake Currane.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Cuthbert, Valencia._ Arbutus Rock, Lake Currane.]
EXCURSIONS IN THE VICINITY OF WATERVILLE.
TOUR 1.--The conveyance will leave the Hotel at 11 a.m. for a
drive to Derrynane, the historic home of the Liberator, On reaching
Coomakista Pass--the highest point of the road--a gradual descent brings
the party to Derrynane House, and further on to Derrynane Hotel, close
to the remains of the old Abbey. Those who wish to walk can get off the
car at Coomakista, and walk one and-a-half miles to Lord Dunraven's
cottage, where they can meet the cars. The path winds along the shore of
Derrynane Bay, and well repays those who follow it on their way to the
Abbey, The party can lunch at Derrynane Hotel, and may return by the
path, and meet the car at Coomakista, or drive the whole way back to
Waterville. Fare for four persons, _12s._
TOUR 2.--The conveyance will leave the Hotel at 11 a.m., and
drive along the northern shore of Lough Currane. Crossing the Coomeragh
by the Ivy Bridge, the road leads us as far as Isknamaclery Lake. At
this point a unique view is obtained of Isknamaclery Lake and Lough
Nabrackderrag on the right, and Loughs Namona and Cloonaghlin on the
left. The party can have the option of proceeding on foot to Derriana
Lake, or returning and driving along the Coomeragh to Derriana Lodge,
and from thence returning to Waterville, or they can cross the Dromad
Hills, and return by the river Inny. Fare for four persons, _12s._
TOUR 3.--The conveyance leaves the Hotel at 11 a.m. for Saint
Finan's Glen. Before entering the Glen, a fine view is obtained of the
Iveragh Mountains, and even the M'Gillicuddy Reeks, and later, the Lemon
Rock and the Skelligs. After luncheon in the Glen, the party will return
by Bolus Head, visiting the old Abbey of Saint Michael's and
Ballinskellias Castle, and (with the permission of the Superintendent)
the Atlantic Cable Station. For sea and mountain combined this view
cannot be surpassed. Fare for four persons, _16s._
TOUR No. 4.--The conveyance will leave the Hotel at about 11
a.m., for the remarkable fort of Staigue-an-or. The route lies along the
southern shore of Lough Currane for about six miles, (passing the
Waterfall) as far as Isknagahenny (Coppal) Lake, and good views are
obtained of both lakes. At Isknagahenny Lake the party alights, and
proceeds on foot for about four miles to the fort. When the highest
point of the ascent is reached, a magnificent view is obtained of
Kenmare river and the islands off the coast of Beara Peninsula. The
descent to the foot is easy. After luncheon the party may return either
by West Cove and Derrynane to Waterville, or again ascend the mountain
and return by Lake Road. Fare for four persons, _16s._
Shorter excursions can be arranged.
HIRE OF BOATS
Boat and one man, _1s._ per hour, _5s._ per day. Boat and two men, _2s._
per hour, _10s._ per day.
In no case will the charge be for less than two hours.
POSTING ARRANGEMENTS.
Hire by Time (Driver's Fee included).
Two-horse carriage. One-horse car.
For the first hour, _7s. 0d._ _3s. 6d._
For two hours, _14s. 0d._ _7s. 0d._
For each additional hour or
fraction of an hour _3s. 6d._ _2s. 0d._
Hire for Fixed Distances (Driver's Fee included).
Two-horse One-horse car.
carriage.
Waterville to Caragh Lake, -- _25s. 0d._
" " Caherciveen, _15s. 0d._ _8s. 0d._
" " Valentia, _15s. 0d._ _8s. 0d._
" " Portmagee, _18s. 0d._ _10s. 0d._
" " Derrynane, _15s. 0d._ _8s. 0d._
" " Parknasilla, _30s. 0d._ _16s. 0d._
Fifty per cent. additional for return journey.
[Illustration: Coomakisteen Hill.]
The coach road from Waterville, following the outskirts of
Ballinskelligs Bay, insinuates itself up a dizzy height. Looking
backwards, Waterville, "standing with reluctant feet" between the sea
and the lake, seems to wonder which is more bewitching. Forging ahead
through the mountain gaps, we pass under ~Coomakiska~, 1,500 feet, and
~Beenarourke~, 1,000 feet above the sea level. Clearing the gates of the
mountains, we come into the open highlands above ~Derrynane~, watching
out from its post over the sea. Truly the home for a chief. Here
O'Connell spent his happiest days, within the roar of the Atlantic
billows, but far from the turmoil and stress of the great agitation in
which his figure looms large as a giant form. Here his hospitable door
flew open wide to the passing stranger, and across the hills, with the
fleet-footed hound, he enjoyed the most delightful of sports, coursing!
Several interesting relics of the Liberator are shown at the house of
his descendant, the present proprietor. The ruins of ~Derrynane Abbey~,
in the vicinity of O'Connell's home, stand on a small peninsula, at some
seasons transformed into an island by the divorcing rush of the high
tides. It was a foundation of the monks of St. Finbarr, called
Aghermore, such a place as that described in the life of St. Brendan,
who, first of the old-world mariners, discovered the great Land of the
West.
I grew to manhood by the western wave,
Among the mighty mountains on the shore;
My bed, the rock within some natural cave,
My food, whate'er the sea or seasons bore.
And there I saw the mighty sea expand,
Like Time's unmeasured and unfathomed waves;
One with its tide-marks on the ridgy strand,
The other with its line of weedy graves.
And, as beyond the outstretched waves of Time,
The eye of Faith a brighter land may meet;
So did I dream of some more sunny clime,
Beyond the waste of waters at my feet.
From Cahirdaniel village, the site of a Danish fort, the route extends
directly along the Kenmare Fiord, under the foot of Crohan Mountain. The
Slieve Misk and Cahar Mountains separate themselves out to win our
admiration the better. They recall Lady Dufferin's words, addressed
to other sweet mountains, where
"The sunlight sleeping
On your green banks is a picture rare,
You crowd around me like young girls peeping,
And puzzling me to say which is most fair;
As though you'd see your own sweet faces
Reflected in that smooth and silver sea
O! my blessing on those lovely places,
Though no one cares how dear they are to me."
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Sneem.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ At Sneem.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ At Sneem.]
On the road beneath Crohan, a mile north from Coad Church is St.
Kiernan's Cell, eaten into the face of the sheer rock. In this district
formerly the mines were worked and copper smelted. As the road winds
along we can see Staigue-an-or, with its cyclopean mounds, lying low and
dwarfed on the hillside. By the high mountains, where the coach-horn
sounds sweet and awakens echoes, the road comes down into the lowlands,
and from the bridge is seen beautiful landscape, with ~Sneem~ spread out
in the foreground. Under lovely beechen boughs, and through a glade of
oak and first we are ushered into
PARKNASILLA,
An ideal residence, hidden from the summer sun by a variegated veil of
the rocky garden foliage; sheltered from the winter's blast by the
Askeve Mountains and the kind shores that button themselves around its
inlet sea, of which Mr. A. P. Graves has written:
"Ocean before, the summer sky above
Who could pourtray the mountains' purple smiles--
And all the opal hues of earth and heaven,
Foam fringing forests, heather-tufted Isles;
The roseate dawn--purpureal pomps of even--
And young Atlantic's petulant, shifting wiles?
Who could do aught but mar the true expression
Where all is change? Then why a record shape
Of scenes whose nature glories in succession
From wood to wave--from wave to distant cape--
Like the young poet's dream, fair beyond all possession."
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ At Parknasilla.]
Here in the demesne lands of a Bishop's Old Palace, the ~Southern Hotel~
new palace has been built. The green turf of its lawn extends down to
the water's edge. It is a land of arbutus and myrtle, of glades laden
with the pink and white blossoms of oleander and rhododendron, and thick
with bells of fuschias, the fair daffodils of Shakespeare and Herrick,
that fade away too soon:
"Daffodils that come
Before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty."
Derreen, away in the lap of the landscape, found favour of Froude, and
at Kilmackilloge he found material for his novel. The beautiful
~Garinish~ Island is like a little paradise, lost in a land where all is
lovely. Around the shores, and in the sandy caves, the beautiful seals
cluster, and at times are so tame as to answer the shrill whistle of the
boatman, and show their lovely forms on the water's surface near at
hand. We live in sceptical times, when
"The powder, the beauty, and the majesty,
That had their haunts in dale, or piney mountain,
Or forests by slow stream, or pebbly spring,
Or chasms and watery depths--all these have vanished.
They live no longer in the faith of reason."
But still here, along the old-world shores, where daylight dies, the
superstitions and traditions of the pagan past still linger among them,
and there is none more interesting than that which teaches the fishermen
to regard these beautiful-eyed, plaintive-voiced creatures with
tenderness. The souls of the dead, drowned at sea, who die out of
friendship with God, go into the bodies of the seals, and there through
the ages await the Trump of the Archangel to call them before the Great
White Throne.
[Illustration: Southern Hotel, Parknasilla.]
"Parknasilla is situated on the northern shore of Kenmare Bay, a bay
rich in beauty, and with singularly-indented coast lines. Its
well-sheltered position amidst a number of islets, thickly wooded down
to the water's edge, has endowed it with unique advantages. This
protective area gives to Parknasilla claims of a special character, and
prevents the access to it of all winds except those coming from the
warmer points, viz., south and south-west; these winds, before reaching
the southern coast of Ireland, having travelled over the Gulf Stream,
and being thus subjected to its moderating and balmy influence. We all
recognise what elevation of the land will do for any place, particularly
if it shelters that place from winds blowing from the cold quarters.
Thus, mountain protection is of supreme importance in the choice of a
health resort, more especially in the winter and spring seasons of the
year. In this regard Parknasilla is exceptionally favoured, a
mountainous range closely guarding and protecting it from the northerly
and easterly winds. The combination of mountain, wood, and water gives a
special charm to this locality; and a convincing evidence of the
mildness of the winter and early spring here is the forward character of
the vegetation, the early budding of the trees, shrubs, and flowers--all
bearing testimony to the mildness of the climate. Temperature rapidly
tells its tale on the vegetable world, and there can be no more
reassuring proof of the equable and balmy character of the climate of a
district than the early growth of flowering shrubs, plants, and table
produce. The position of this favoured and sheltered sea inlet upon the
isothermal map shows it to have a mean annual temperature of 52 degrees,
being similar in this regard to its neighbour, Glengarriff, and
registering a higher mean annual temperature than Ventnor or Torquay.
The mildness of the climate in the earlier spring months is of such a
character that exercise can be freely partaken of in the open air daily,
without risk of chill; and this to the invalid is of paramount
importance. No record has, as yet, been regularly taken of the daily
sunshine, or of the rainfall, but so far as could be ascertained, the
rainfall does not appear to be excessive. To sufferers from chronic or
recurrent affections of the respiratory organs, Parknasilla, in the
winter and early spring months, would appear to be indicated as a most
desirable place of residence. I have had the advantage of two recent
visits to this district, and feel convinced that, when it becomes better
known, Parknasilla will prove a veritable haven of health and rest to
the chronic invalid and the convalescent, as well as a delightful
retreat to the busy man of the 'world's mart,' who may need a temporary
repose from the worries and cares of daily life. Parknasilla is about a
two hours' drive or thereabouts from Kenmare, the drive being one of
exceptional beauty and interest."--_Dublin Journal of Medical Science_,
May, 1896.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Garinish Island, Parknasilla.]
DRIVING AND BOATING EXCURSIONS IN THE VICINITY OF PARKNASILLA.
No. 1--Car to Sneem, and by Killarney Road to Letterfinish; thence
to Tahilla Chapel, and return by Dunquilla (ancient fort), or
direct. _8s._
No. 2.--Car to Sneem and Letterfinish; on to Geragh Bridge, and by
Blackwater Valley and Coast Road to Tahilla, returning by
Dunquilla, or direct, _12s._
No. 3.--Car to Sneem and Coomyauna Bridge, pony (cost _5s._, to top
and back not included), or walk to summit of Beoun Mountain, view
of Glencar and M'Gillicuddy Reeks, Cloon, Lakes, and Coomlumina
Glen with Dingle Bay in the distance. Return same way. _12s._
No. 4.--Car to Sneem and Glorah, pony (cost _5s._, to top and back
not included), or walk to summit of Finnavagough, view of
Foylenagearough, Cloonaghlin, Derriana, and Waterville Lakes.
Return same way. _12s._
No. 5.--Car to Staigue Fort and back. This ancient round stone
Fort, in a wonderful state of preservation, is well worth a visit.
_16s._
No. 6.--Car to Blackwater Bridge and Waterfall; along the
Blackwater Valley to Lough Erin, view of Ballaghbeama Pass,
returning by Geragh Bridge, Sneem Road, and Tahilla. _16s._
No. 7.--By boat to Reenkilla, car to Glanmore Lake, and by Furniss
to Killmakillogue, skirting Derreen, Lord Lansdowne's demesne (fare
_5s._, not included). Return by boat (four-oared). _20s._
No. 8.--By boat to Ormonde's Island; car along shore of Clonea Lake
to Inchiquin, Glen and Cascade, thence by Derreen or coast road.
(Fare, _10s._, not included.) Return by boat (four-oared). _20s._
No. 9.--By boat to the Caves, and into Ardgroom Harbour; car by
Eyeries to Castletown-Bere, Dunboy Castle, and back (fare _10s._,
not included). Return by boat (four-oared). _20s._
Excursions by Steam Launch will also be organised to the Caves,
Ardgroom, Derrynane, and other places of interest on the Kenmare
River.
[Illustration: Cycling at Parknasilla.]
[Illustration]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Blackwater at Kenmare.]
The demesne around the hotel comprises one hundred acres of beautiful
land, where tropical flora flourish all the year round. The meadows
trim, with daisies pied, there are on every mossy bank the dewy lips of
_"Violets dim, But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes, Or Cytherea's
breath."_
The road to Kenmare lies high above the sea. Ardgroom is hiding under
the Caha mountains, with Glenbeg Lake behind, in the little valley.
Beneath Derrenamackan the lashing seas wage perpetual warfare against
the rocks. By the Eskdhu, or Blackwater Bridge, amid the dense foliage
of the trees, a waterfall bleats from the thicket with plaintive murmur.
Then it breaks itself free, and amid rocks, and briars, and tangled
underwood, rushes wildly towards the sea. Between us and the ocean is
Dromore Castle, the residence of one of the heads of a sept of the
O'Mahony clan. In the demesne are the ruins of Cappacross, a stronghold
of the O'Sullivans. Dunkerron Castle, on the shore, gives its name to
the islands in the bay.
[Illustration]
County Clare.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Dromoland Castle.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Ennistymon.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Lisdoonvarna Spa.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Kilkee.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Amphitheatre at Kilkee.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Look-out Cliff, Kilkee.]
[Illustration: Golfing at Lahinch]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Golfing, Lahinch.]
Clare County possesses the finest cliff scenery in Ireland. From
Limerick or Galway the county may be explored. On the journey by rail
from Limerick, beyond Long Pavement, we come on a fine view of Cratloe
woods. An ancient saint referred to Cratloe as "a pleasant seclusion
from sin"; but in later times it became a haunt of rapparees, and its
thick foliage provided what Spenser would call "a meet house for
rebels." In later times Freney, a noted highwayman, whose exploits
delighted the Irish peasant, here found a refuge. Bunratty Castle was a
strong place in feudal times. Here Rinuccini, the Papal Legate to
Ireland in 1641, sojourned, and his papers contain many references to
the picturesqueness of the surrounding country, and its herds of wild
deer. Between Newmarket and Ardsollus is Dromoland, the seat of Lord
Inchiquin, and the birthplace of William Smith O'Brien, the aristocratic
leader of the revolutionists of 1848. Crossing the Ardsollus river, we
are near Quin Abbey, an old Franciscan Priory, and Clare Castle, which
took its name from an old watch tower in the river Fergus. ~Ennis~ is
the chief town in the County Clare. It is more quaint than important. It
is pleasantly placed on the river Fergus, and is a clean town, doing a
thriving business with the country. The principal monument in the
town is to Daniel O'Connell, who was returned for Clare in the famous
election of 1828. The ashes of the controversy that raged around
O'Connell in his lifetime are long since dead, and if one wanted proof
of this it is in the recent biography of the great agitator which
appears in the "Heroes of the Nation" series. In that, the famous Clare
election is treated with true historic discrimination by the writer, who
compares the bravery of the Clare peasants at Ennis to the gallant
Covenanters standing up against Claverhouse's Dragoons at Bothwell
Bridge. From Ennis, by car and light railway, Ennistymon, Lehinch,
Lisdoonvarna, and Ballyvaughan may be reached. At Ennistymon there is a
splendid cascade on the Innagh river. ~Lisdoonvarna~ possesses the
best known Spa in Ireland. It is come-at-able from Milltown-Malbay or
Ennistymon. Its friends have called it "The Cheltenham of Ireland." It
cannot be pretended that the immediate scenery is attractive, but there
are many interesting drives in the vicinity. The hotels and lodgings are
good. The sixth century Church of Saint Cronan, pleasantly placed in an
ash-grove, will give those of an antiquarian taste opportunity of
beguiling their time during a stay at the beneficial chalybeate and
sulphurous springs. The drives from Lisdoonvarna may include tours to
Ballyvaughan and the Cliffs of Moher. The drive by Black Head, the
north-eastern promontory of county Clare, gives one a fine view as far
north as the Arran; then we approach Ballyvaughan, in Galway Bay, an
out-of-the-way old world village. Its approach is by a spiral hill, over
two miles in length, called "The Corkscrew-road." The sides of the stony
hills are interspersed with the most delicate maiden-hair fern, growing
wild. There are two small but neat hotels in Ballyvaughan. From this
little town Galway might be visited by steamer and the Arran Isles by
hooker. ~Kilkee~ is admittedly the best bathing-place in these islands.
It is dashed into with the full force of the Atlantic, but with the
countless nooks fitted into the rocky coast-line, there are numbers of
sandy strands suitable for bathing. Here, situated in the very outpost
of the West of Ireland, it is as up-to-date and as go-a-head as some of
its more fashionable rivals, while in natural advantages it excels them
all. It is easy of access by land and sea. The town is protected by a
long reef of rock, called "Duggerna." The cliff scenery is very
beautiful. The spots to visit are The Puffing Hole, Saint Senanus' Holy
Well, Bishop's Island, with its beehive cells and Green Rock. A tour to
Loophead will bring one in sight of a long line of cliff scenery.
~Lehinch~ and Liscanor Bay promise to become the best patronised golf
links in Ireland. Right in front of the little town is a splendid
strand, and local enterprise has been auxiliary to nature in making the
spot attractive. ~Spanish Point~ also possesses splendid strands, where
sea-bathing may be enjoyed with safety. Two miles away is
~Milltown-Malbay~. The town is business-like, and the coast-line in the
vicinity is associated with weird tales of wreckers; there some of the
unfortunate Spaniards came to grief in 1588. The ~Cliffs of Moher~ may
be visited from Milltown, Lehinch, or Lisdoonvarna. Going up the road
from Lehinch to ~Liscanor~ we pass a Holy Well dedicated to Saint
Brigid. The only cliff scenery in the British Isles to compare with that
of Moher is at the Orkney islands. They make a magnificent embroidery
into the red sandstone along the coast-line for four miles, rising in
heights varying from 440 to 700 feet. From their height on a clear day
the distant Isles of Arran may be seen, and the whole surroundings make
as gorgeous a seascape as is to be found anywhere in the world. An
observer will readily recognise that the quaint craft which the
fishermen still use in the vicinity of Moher, as indeed elsewhere in
Clare, is the ancient coracle. ~Kilrush~, on the Lower Shannon, is
chiefly of interest to the antiquary. It can be reached from Limerick,
by the Shannon, as pointed out already, and from Kilkee by Rail. By a
ferry from a slip at the foot of the little town, the holy island,
Scattery, the shrine of Saint Senanus, may be reached. The Round Tower
is in good preservation, and the remains of the Seven Churches can
still be traced. Saint Senanus' bed is still pointed out. No peasant
woman who wishes to be a mother will ever enter this hallowed spot. The
legend of Saint Senanus is similar to that of Saint Kevin. He was
haunted by the love of a woman from whom he flew. Thomas Moore in verse
tells us the hard-heartedness of both the anchorites:--
"Oh! haste, and leave this sacred isle,
Unholy bark, e'er morning smile,
For on thy deck, though dark it be,
A female form I see.
And I have sworn this sainted sod
Shall ne'er by woman's feet be trod."
"Oh! Father, send not hence my bark,
Through wintry winds and billows dark;
I come with humble heart to share
Thy morn and evening-prayer;
Nor mine the feet, oh! holy Saint,
The brightness of thy sod to taint."
The lady's prayer Senanus spurned,
The wind blew fresh, the bark returned;
But legends hint that had the maid
Till morning's light delay'd,
And given the Saint one rosy smile,
She ne'er had left his lonely isle.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Cliffs of Moher.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Kilrush.]
[Illustration: Country Car.]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Galway and District.
Leaving the County Clare by rail we cross into Galway, between Crusheen
and Tubber. Beyond the marshy country on the right, away in the
woodlands, nestles Loughcootra Castle. The great lake from which the
place takes its name covers eight square miles. The hundreds of islets
here scattered about its surface are the homes of thousands of herons.
The country people have a belief that this bird is a messenger of good
omen, and never interfere with it or its young. There is a beautiful
legend in Irish of a heron which visited St. Columba, at Iona, a
traveller from his own country. This story is recorded in the
interesting life of the saint written in the seventh century by Adamnan,
one of his successors; a beautiful version in English tells of the saint
rising at dawn of day after a dream of the coming of the bird:--
"He looked out over the dreary moor,
Over the hill so bleak and hoar--
'A bird from the land I revisit no more
Has come to visit me,
Dear Innisfail from thy fragrant shore--
Land of my own I shall see no more--
Across the driving sea.'
Then he left his prayer, and 'Brother,' he said,
'Take to thee corn, and oil, and bread,
A bird has alit--half frozen, half dead--
Upon our southern strand.
Then warm him and feed him with gentle care,
And chafe his wing's and anoint him there,
He comes from my own loved land--
From my own loved land,' and the old Saint wept;
But the Monk arose, while the others slept,
And warmed the heron, and fed and kept
The bird for a day and night.
So Columb feeling, though far away,
For Ireland's soil--like the Gael to-day--
One favour in heaven's sight."
The magnificent residence was designed and erected similarly to East
Comer Castle (by Nash, who remodelled Windsor) for Lord Gort, the head
of the Vereker family, at a cost of £70,000. The black hand of the
famine of 1847 fed on this property, like many another in Ireland, and
it passed from its owners under the Encumbered Estates Act. Cove Park,
the residence of Lady Gregory, is just outside Gort. Her Ladyship has
found a way to the hearts of the country people by her sympathy with the
Irish language movement. Her volume, "Mr. Gregory's Letter Box," is a
valuable contribution to the history of Ireland in the first three
decades of the nineteenth century. Sir William Gregory's Memoirs it is
that contain the circumstantial version of the Cabinet scandal, in which
the name of the Hon. Mrs. Norton (George Meredith's "Diana of the
Crossways") figures. The story of the leakage of the State secret is as
follows:--
"When Sir Robert Peel determined to repeal the Corn Laws he
consulted a portion of his Cabinet. They were Sidney Herbert, Lord
Lincoln, Sir Jas. Graham, and Lord Aberdeen, all of whom determined
that the repeal of the Corn Laws should be kept a profound secret
until the whole of the Cabinet had assembled. That same evening
Sidney Herbert dined _tête-à-tête_ with Mrs. Norton, the well-known
object of his attachment, and with whom he was infatuated. Before
dinner was over she wormed out of him the secret of the Cabinet.
After dinner she pretended to go to see a sick friend for a short
time, and returned in half-an-hour. In the meantime she had taken a
cab and driven down to the _Times_ Office, and saw Barnes, the
Editor, and told him the Government were going to repeal the Corn
Laws. Barnes said to her, "If you have no proof I shall not detain
you, but if you have you shall have £500." She gave him the chapter
and verse, and returned to poor Sidney Herbert with the cheque in
her pocket. The next day the announcement was made in the _Times_
which astounded all England. This was on the 5th December, 1845.
The other papers disbelieved it. Lord Derby and the Duke of
Richmond left the Government."
In the heart of a stony country beset with high fences and rough copple
stones, stands the little town of ~Gort~, The military stationed there
now add to its importance. Kilmacduagh, at the base of the Burren Hills,
contains a church (seventh century) of St. Colman, the Blue-eyed, and a
Round Tower leaning out of the perpendicular. In pre-historic times all
this country side at the foot of Burren, from Gort to Loughrea, and for
miles apart, is said to have been the favourite hunting-ground of Queen
Maev. ~Kinvara~, away on an inlet of Galway Bay, is a fishing village,
and the locality is celebrated for the "succulent oysters"--which in the
season are to be found in every restaurant in Dublin. The antiquary will
find his way easily to Corcomroe Abbey--the church is still in a good
state of preservation. Donald More O'Brien, King of Limerick, is
commonly believed to have built it in the twelfth century. It
subsequently became subject to Furness, in Lancashire. Donough O'Brien,
King of Thomond--killed in battle in 1267--is buried here; his monument
discloses the rude magnificence of his attire. The effigy is looked upon
by scientists as an example of the attire of an Irish King of the
thirteenth century.
~Athenry~, as its name, the "Ford of the Kings," signifies, and its
ruins testify, was of old a place of renown. The tower is entered by a
small gate tower; before it stands the quaint market cross, on one side
is the Virgin and Child, on the other the figure of the Crucified. The
base is relieved with deer and wolf hounds, and at the corner an angel
holds a scroll, the legend of which is defaced. The Franciscan Priory
(1464), despite the attempt to modernise it, has still two thirteenth
century windows, and the south transept has the remains of a very
beautiful window. The Dominican Priory is said to have been erected at
the personal request of St. Dominick in 1241. So late as 1644 it was the
seat of a university acknowledged by Rome.
~Tuam~ is now of little importance. It is to ecclesiastics, however, of
interest, as the centre of an Archiepiscopal See. The statue to John
MacHale is worth seeing. He was well known in the first part of the
nineteenth century as "John of Tuam." An uncompromising Ultramontane, he
translated Homer into Gaelic, and O'Connell in one of his speeches
called this great patriot bishop "The Lion of the Fold of Judah." The
ancient cross in the square is a good specimen of the Irish stone
crosses.
~Galway~ still possesses the evidence of its former greatness. To-day it
is simply an old world city in the midst of a sporting county. Of old it
was a strong-walled town, ever on the alert against alarm and foray,
with its harbour crowded with the warships of Spain and the merchantmen
of many a foreign port. There is a famous map of the city, dating back
to 1651, when the then Lord Deputy Clanricarde pledged the town to the
Duke of Lorraine. It shows a walled-in town with fourteen gates, each
guarded by a watch-tower.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ At Galway.]
In the twelfth century, when De Burgo conquered O'Connor, he made Galway
the citadel of his western possessions. During the next century there
gathered into the prosperous town from far and near adventurers and
merchants--the Blakes and the Bodkins, the Lynches, the Morrises, the
Martins, the Joyces, &c.; founders of the great families, whose names
have since been inseparable from Galway. In after times the clanship and
attachment of these families to their members and each other, drew from
the Scripture-loving Puritans the scornful appellation--"The Tribes of
Galway"; but the expression was afterwards adopted by the Galway men as
an honourable mark of distinction between themselves and their cruel
oppressors. In old times the merchant princes of the place were renowned
for their hospitality, which they carried to such an excess that the
civil authorities interfered with it, in 1518, with a law to the effect
that
"No man of this town shall oste or receive into their houses at
Christmas, Easter, nor no feaste elles, any of the Burkes,
MacWilliams, the Kellies, nor no cepte elles without license of
the Mayor and Councill, on payn to forfeit £5; that neither O nor
Mac shall strutte nor swaggere through the street of Gallway."
Indeed, the O's and Mac's seem to have made their history by more than
enjoying the hospitality of their neighbours, and what was not given
them willingly they at times took by the strength of their right hands.
Over the western gate of the city was the following meaningful
inscription:--
"From the fury of the O'Flaherties, good Lord, deliver us."
The trade with Spain was for centuries a source of great prosperity to
the town, and those familiar with the characteristics of Spanish
architecture will see much in Galway to remind them of it. The sympathy
of the townspeople seems always to have been with the leaders of forlorn
hopes in Irish history. It was almost destroyed by Ludlow for its
fidelity to the King in 1652, and having been rebuilt, it again fell
before the siege trains of the victorious Ginckle in 1691 after the
battle of Aughrim, the Culloden of Ireland. With the fall of the
Jacobite standard in that battle, the hopes of the western Irish
declined. The surviving sons of most of the old families sought service
abroad in the armies of France, Spain, and Austria. There are many love
songs of the time in Irish, which have been translated, such as--
AFTER AUGHRIM.
Do you remember long-ago,
Kathaleen!
When your lover whispered low--
"Shall I stay or shall I go,
Kathaleen?"
And you answered proudly, "Go,
And join King James and strike a blow
For the Green."
Mavrone! your hair is white as snow,
Kathaleen,
Your heart is sad and full of woe--
Do you repent you bade him go,
Kathaleen?
But still you answer proudly, "No,
Far better die with Sarsfield so,
Than live a slave without a blow
For the Green."
Many of the old houses remain. Far and away the most interesting is
Lynch's mansion at the corner of Abbey Gate-street. On the walls are the
arms of the Lynches and their crest, a lynx, which it is said was given
them for the watchfulness with which they guarded a besieged Austrian
town in the middle ages. Behind Saint Nicholas' Church, in
Market-street, is the Lynch stone, inscribed with a skull and
crossbones, and "Vanity of vanity, and all is but vanity," above which
is an inscription:--
"This memorial of the stern and unbending justice of the Chief
Magistrate of this city, James Lynch Fitzstephen, elected Mayor,
A.D. 1493, who condemned and executed his own guilty son, Walter,
on this spot, has been restored to its ancient site A.D. 1854, with
the approval of the Town Commissioners, by their Chairman, Very
Rev. Peter Daly, P.P., and Vicar of Saint Nicholas."
The stern and unbending justice relates to the Mayor's execution of his
own son. The story tells how a young Spaniard, who was the Mayor's
guest, crossed in love the Mayor's son. One night, heated with wine and
inflamed with jealousy, young Lynch drove a stiletto through the heart
of his rival. His father tried and condemned him for the crime. His
mother roused the sympathy of the townspeople to such an extent that
none could be found to act as executioner, but the old Mayor was
even-handed with them, and hanged the unfortunate culprit with his own
hands.
No visitor to Galway will fail to find out the Claddagh. It is the most
conservative community in Ireland, and with them neither old times are
changed nor old manners gone. The colony inhabit a number of
low-thatched cottages apart from the town. They live mostly by fishing.
The Claddagh women dress in blue cloaks and red petticoats, and their
rings, which visitors procure as keepsakes, represent two hands holding
a harp. Hardman, in his "Rare History of Galway," wrote of them as
follows:--
"The colony, from time immemorial, has been ruled by one of their
own body, periodically elected, who is dignified with the title of
Mayor, regulates the community according to their own peculiar laws
and customs, and settles all their fishery disputes. His decisions
are so decisive and so much respected that the parties are seldom
known to carry their differences before a legal tribunal or to
trouble the civil magistrates."
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Arran Island. Claddagh.]
Salthill, to the west of the town, is a well-sheltered bathing-place,
with pleasant villas for visitors. The Queen's College will repay a
visit. At the bridge in the town excellent salmon fishing is to be had.
When the fish are making up the river for Corrib or Lough Mask the
sight is very interesting. From Galway the old Franciscan Monastery at
Claregalway may be driven to, or an excursion made down the bay to the
Arran Islands. They are twenty-seven miles from the harbour. There are
three principal islands, Innismore, Innismaan, and Innisheen, and
several small isles. Two centuries ago they were described as paved over
with stones, with wide openings between them for cattle to break their
legs, and the modern description by Hon. Emily Lawless does not far
differ.
The dress of the people is mostly white, homespun flannel "bawneens,"
and sandals of cowhide, fastened across the instep, which they call
"pampooties."
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Queen's College, Galway.]
[Illustration]
Connemara and Sligo.
The Great Southern and Western Railway line runs northward from Tuam to
Sligo. To the westward lies Iar Connaught and Connemara, the capital of
which is Clifden, standing high above Ardhear Bay. If we go direct from
Galway to Clifden we pass Oughterard and the ruins of Aughnanure Castle,
formerly the stronghold of "The furious O'Flahertys." From its Tower we
can get a view of Lough Corrib, with its famous Caislean-no-Circe, long
the lair of Grace O'Malley, of whom the western peasant may say she
"Fought, and sailed, and ruled,
And loved, and made our world."
Oughterard nowadays is given over to fishermen instead of the fighting
followers of the western chieftains. The Connaught Glendalough differs
much from its Leinster namesake, but the Maamturk Mountains and the Glen
of Innagh have a panorama of scenes difficult, indeed, to rival. Clifden
is an excellent centre from which to make excursions. Wherever we look
the Twelve Bens of Bumabeola spring up like uplifted lances. The
coast-line is beautiful, and from the promontories we see distant Slyne
Head and the Isles of the West. Mountain climbers will find on the
summit of Urrisbeg a curious plateau. The district is a good one for
lake and sea fishing.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Achill Head Mayo.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Diamond Mountain, Letterfrack.]
The coast drive to Leenane should not be missed. Leenane itself is on
the outer flank of "Joyce's County," as a fiord of Killery Bay.
Letterfrack is but ten miles from Clifden. The mountain scenery in the
immediate vicinity of the town is delightful. Within easy reach is
Little Killery Bay and the beautiful valley, The Pass of Kylemore, near
which is Kylemore Castle, where Mitchell Henry started his model farm in
1864. The mountain pass of Lehinch cuts through the hills to the sea. A
journey by Ballinakill brings the adventuresome to Renvyle Bay, where
there is a comfortable hotel. Leenane is the best starting ground for an
expedition up the Twelve Bens; from it also a tour may be made to Cong.
About eight miles beyond Leenane is Errig Bridge, from which the best
view of Croagh Patrick Mountain may be had. But an ascent of the
mountain is best made from Murrisk Abbey, six miles outside Westport.
From the mountain side the expansive country from island-set Clew Bay to
Nephin and Slievemore, in Achill, spreads out to best advantage. The
famous coach road from Clifden cuts into Westport from the south. The
Quay and Mall and the Marquis of Sligo's demesne are the "sights" of the
town. It is a convenient centre from which to visit Achill Island. The
drive through Newport, Mallaranny, and Achill Sound to Dingort, although
across an exposed country, on a fine day will more than repay the
tourist.
The views of Clew Bay are like the changing scenes in a panorama.
Newport will clamour for the attention of fishermen; and lavish on them
opportunities for sport. The Glens on the way to Mallaranny will tempt
excursions, and beyond Burrishoole Bridge the antiquary will deviate
to Carrighooley Castle, and lend his ears to the peasant tales of Grace
O'Malley and her husband, the MacWilliam.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Glendalough.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Lough Corrib.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Killery Bay.]
Mallaranny is a home of rest. It hides beside a promontory in the bay,
and its splendid strand faces the south. The direct way to Achill is
through Dingort. For scenery and sport few places in the west surpass
the island. The mountain cliff scenery is superb. The seals breed in the
cliffs, and the rocks are the homes of countless seabirds. At Meenawn,
the eagles on the island mostly nest. The great horned wild goats offer
good sport to the marksman, and the deep-sea fisher will delight in the
shoals and "schools" of herring and mackerel which in the seasons strike
the coast and into the bays of the island. Did Izaac Walton but live in
our days he would be sure to find his way to Ballina, because of the Moy
River and the salmon which "most do congregate there." Loughs Conn and
Cullin are open free fishing, and on the preserves the terms are most
liberal. Foxford, beside Lough Conn, will gladden the hearts of those
interested in philanthropic schemes for the benefit of "the very poor"
in rural Ireland. Within a few years, enterprises well directed, has
transformed the district from being a "most distressful country" into a
thriving, self-respecting, self-advancing locality. Killala, six miles
from Ballina, is of interest as the point at which General Humbert and
1,100 Frenchmen invaded Ireland in 1798. Sligo is the most thriving town
in the west of Ireland. Its public buildings, its commerce, and its
picturesque position, are one and all notable. Sligo Abbey, a structure
of the thirteenth century, is a very remarkable pile of ruins. Lough
Gill contains most beautiful sylvan and sea pictures. There is sea,
lake, and river fishing _galore_, and mostly free. The point from which
to see Lough Gill in all its glory is Dooine Rock. Excursions may be
made to Hazelwood, Glencar, and even to Bundoran, the most deservedly
patronised watering-place in the north-west of Ireland. Those who
desire an exquisite souvenir of a visit to Ireland, should not fail to
procure a piece of Belleek ware, remarkable for its elegance and
delicacy; and if in the vicinity of Belleek village, permission may be
obtained to visit the interesting pottery.
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Kylemore.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Lough Gill.]
For information as to Sport to be had in the Sligo District, see end
of this volume, where particulars are given as to Golf, Fishing,
Shooting, Cycling, &c.
[Illustration]
Summer and Winter Resorts
The health resorts of Ireland are so many, their attractions and
advantages so varied, that one wonders why it is that they are
comparatively so little patronised. The explanation is not far to seek.
Hitherto they have been but little known, one cause and another have
helped to keep Ireland a _terra incognita_. The "faculty," however, has
been for long acquainted with the benefits which the Green Isle
possesses, and many an insular invalid, consumed with the desire to
visit some continental resort, has taken the common sense advice of the
family physician and learned to appreciate the advantages Providence has
bestowed nearer home.
Winter quarters we have a good store, and beauty spots abound on the
coast, where summer delights can be enjoyed _galore_, to use an Irish
expression.
Most of the places referred to beneath have already been described in
the foregoing pages, but it will, perhaps, be convenient for those in
search of particular information as to health resorts and seaside
watering places, to have them collected in one chapter and listed
alphabetically--
~ARDMORE.~--Fishing village, five miles from Youghal, growing as a
watering place. Beautifully situated on southern shore of Bay.
Splendid strand, good opportunities for bathing. Deep-sea fishing,
mackerel, and herring "schools," plenty of lobsters. Cliff scenery
in vicinity; the bay is frequented by seals. Gaelic-speaking
peasantry. Round tower and ancient church. Good cottage
accommodation.
~ARRAN ISLANDS.~--Three in number--Innismore, Innismaan,
Innisheer--standing out in the Atlantic, a sort of long harbour bar
to Galway Bay. Scenery cannot pretend to be attractive. Bathing and
deep-sea fishing. Splendid views of cliff scenery on Clare Coast.
Steam trip up Galway Bay delightful. An enjoyable inn at Kilronan.
BALLYBUNION.--Good watering place, splendid strand, fine cliff
scenery, sheer on Atlantic Ocean, plenty bathing accommodation.
Castle Hotel is comfortable, lodgings clean and cheap. Eight miles
from Listowel.
BLARNEY.--Hydro, at St. Ann's Hill, on the side of pleasant uplands
overlooking old castle. Nicely wooded, with lake and trout stream.
Cottage homes, within grounds which are between six and seven
hundred acres in extent. Sandy soil and pine forests. The
residences well sheltered. Six miles from City Cork and Muskerry
tram; two miles G. S. W. Railway. Terms and particulars of
treatment, &c., to be had from the medical officer, Dr. Altdorfer.
CAHIRCIVEEN.--An inlet of Valencia Harbour, well sheltered, mild
winters. Coach drives through mountain scenery or along coast to
Waterville. Valencia three miles.
CASTLECONNELL.--Fishing village on the Shannon, outside Limerick,
six miles. Possesses chalybeate spring. Beautiful river scenery,
and splendid fishing. The Shannon Hotel can be recommended.
DUNMORE EAST.--Pleasant, quiet, and select seaside resort, eleven
miles from Waterford, at the mouth of the River Suir. Good strand,
well sheltered. Splendid sea fishing and exceptionally good harbour
for yachting or boating. Plenty of villa and lodging-accommodation,
demand for same on increase in season. Good bathing; good hotel.
GLENGARRIFF.--Coach from Kenmare or Bantry. Beautiful scenery.
Inlet of Bantry Bay. Well wooded, mild climate, winter resort
beyond compare. Gulf Stream strikes coast in vicinity. Excellent
hotel accommodation. Good cottage accommodation. Plenty coaching
and boating facilities in summer; splendid sea bathing. Arbutus
grows wild.
KENMARE.--One of the starting-points for the Grand Atlantic Coast
Drive. Thriving pleasant town at the head of the fiord.
Macgillicuddy Reeks stand out behind the town. Mountain climbers
will make ascent best from point beyond Sohaleen Bridge. Both the
Cork and Kerry sides of the bay are very beautiful and worthy of
investigation. The Southern Hotels Company has one of its branches
outside the railway station. The Lansdowne Arms is an old coaching
inn, famed for its mountain mutton and good claret.
~KILKEE.~--The best bathing-resort in the three kingdoms. Splendid
facilities. The cliff scenery and coast walks attractive. Good
villa and cottage accommodation. Modern hotels on esplanade.
~KILLARNEY~, see page 136.
~LEHINCH.~--Bracing air from Atlantic. Good bathing. Bold coast
line. New hotel, fine golf links. Promises to be the most
up-to-date watering place in Clare.
~LEENANE.~--The pleasant place on Killary Harbour. It has the
Mweelrea mountains behind it and the sea in front. The bay is
remarkable for sea fishing, while the salmon and trout angler will
have his heart's desire in Errif Lake. The Leenane Hotel stands
close to the shore, and the Aasleagh Hotel, high above the Errif,
is surrounded by demesne lands. The mountain scenery is remarkable.
~LISDOONVARNA.~--Inland watering place. An old favourite health
resort now more easy of access than hitherto. The spas are
sulphurous and chalybeate. The hotel accommodation is unusually
good, but still insufficient for the summer and early autumn
visitors. The driving tours in the locality take in the most
delightful scenery in county Clare.
~LUCAN.~--A very old spa. Beautiful sylvan retreat within nine
miles of Dublin. Scenery on upper Liffey and drives in vicinity
through charming country. The Hydro, equipped with every modern
advantage.
~PARKNASILLA.~--THE PREMIER WINTER RESORT OF IRELAND. Hotel well
sheltered on fiord of Kenmare Bay. The grounds around beautifully
wooded and planted with luxuriant shrubs. Absolutely free from
winter cold. This country side the pride of Kerry. The seascape and
islands in vicinity delightful. Admirable arrangements for boating,
fishing, and coaching.
~POULAPHOUCA.~--Approached from Harristown on the Tullow branch. The
upper Liffey winds here through a beautiful glen with a splendid
fall beyond Poulaphouca bridge. Splendid facilities for shooting and
fishing are afforded in the surrounding mountain country.
Convenient centre for pedestrian and cycle tours. Hotel immediately
above the Fall, also good hotel at Blessington: and four miles
higher up in the Wicklow Highlands, at Lacken, excellent hotel.
~QUEENSTOWN.~--"The Paradise of Pensioners." The port of Cork
Harbour. Centre of American tourist traffic. Well sheltered. Long
the winter quarters of invalids. Every facility for visitors.
Within easy reach of Cork city. Excellent train service. In summer
steamer trips on beautiful river. Several good hotels; splendid
villa accommodation. A bright cheerful town, full of life and
change of colour. A well known specialist (Dr. A. Thomson), in his
"Physician's Note Book," puts the query--"Where should a
consumptive patient pass the winter months if he can't go abroad?"
and answers himself, "There is no place within Great Britain and
Ireland so well adapted for the residence of a consumptive patient
as Queenstown."
~RECESS.~--Midway between Clifden and Kylemore, on the edge of the
western Glendalough, guarded behind by mountain scenery, secluded,
but all the more attractive to those weary of the busy haunts of
men. The lake and mountain scenery exceptionally wild. It is an
ideal resort for sportsmen.
~TRAMORE.~--One of the most attractive watering places in Ireland.
Its name in English signifies "the great strand," and it is no
misnomer. The bathing facilities are the best on southern coast,
and are not, indeed, surpassed on any other coast. Splendid new
hotel up-to-date in every respect, and other hotels to suit all
classes, with fine race-course, plenty of lodgings and houses to be
had in the season. Twenty minutes run from Waterford by train.
Military bands in the summer. Exceptionally good place for
families. Tramore is a delightful seaside resort, built on a
gradual incline, with a southerly aspect, on the shores of the
broad Atlantic. The air is almost proverbial for its restorative
qualities, not only in popular but also in scientific opinion. It
is beyond all doubt that Tramore has as many hours of sunshine,
less rainfall, and more even temperature than any other seaside
town in the United Kingdom.
~VALENCIA.~--The next parish to America, the home of Atlantic cable
stations. The island remarkable for the number of tropical plants
which grow in the open. Climate unusually mild. Boating, sailing,
and bathing in the season. Deep-sea fishing with islanders. Good
hotel, comfortable, clean, and cheap. Other accommodation difficult
to obtain.
~WATERFORD~, see page 112.
~WATERVILLE.~--Principal posting place on Atlantic coast tour.
Splendid watering place, beautifully situated on strip of land
dividing mountain lake from sea. Fine strand. Sea and lake fishing.
The station for Mackey Bennet cable system. Three good hotels,
M'Elligott's and Galvin's, on the coast, and the Southern Hotel on
the shore of the picturesque Lough Currane, within a stone's throw
of the sea. Very good cottage accommodation in summer season.
[Illustration]
Natural History of the South and West of Ireland.
By R. LLOYD PRAEGER, B.A., B.E., &c.
The Natural History of the South and West of Ireland possesses a special
and peculiar interest in the occurrence in this region of a number of
plants and animals which are rare in or absent from Great Britain and
the adjoining portions of Europe. Let us first consider the general
geographical features of this area, and the geological characters which
have produced those features. Ireland has often been likened to a
saucer, consisting as it does of a great central plain, fringed with
mountain groups disposed around the coast. The plain has a slightly
undulating floor of Carboniferous limestone; the groups of hills are
mostly formed of older rocks, which break through the level limestones.
On our journey from Dublin to Athlone, or from Dublin to Mallow, we pass
across typical portions of the central plain; and the brown ridges of
Slieve Bloom and Devil's Bit, and the greener heights of the Galtees,
furnish good examples of the masses of older rocks that rise out of the
plain.
In considering the features and natural history of this wide area, it
will be convenient to divide it into districts, which we shall treat of
in the following order:--
1. Wicklow and Wexford.
2. Waterford and East Cork.
3. West Cork and Kerry.
4. Clare and East Galway.
5. West Galway and West Mayo.
6. Sligo.
7. The Central Plain and River Shannon.
1. ~WICKLOW AND WEXFORD.~--Here we are on the East Coast, looking across
St. George's Channel towards the shores of Wales. The lovely county of
Wicklow is the most mountainous in Ireland, having 180 square miles over
1,000 feet elevation, and 25 square miles over 2,000. Wexford is lower
and more fertile. The coasts of both counties are in great measure flat
and sandy, and are the home of many rare plants. A number of species of
light soils and of gravelly shores have here their Irish headquarters,
such as the Round-headed Trefoil (_Trifolium glomeratum_) the Sea-Stock
(_Matthiola sinuata_), the rare Sea-Cudweed (_Diotis candidissima_), and
the Wild Asparagus (_A. officinalis_). The Murrough, a great gravel
beach backed by salt marshes which extends from Greystones to Wicklow,
and the marshes of the River Slaney, may be specially recommended to the
naturalist. These coasts are the only Irish locality for the handsome
ground-beetle, _Nebria complanata_, a typical South European animal. The
Wicklow mountains, which reach in Lugnaquilla a height of 3,039 feet,
are the main portion of the Leinster highlands, formed by a great mass
of granite which stretches from Dublin into county Kilkenny. Considering
their elevation this range is singularly devoid of alpine plants and
animals, but many interesting species inhabit the lower grounds, famous
on account of the beauty of the scenery.
Among the Lepidoptera several rare species are characteristic of the
district, such as the "Bath White" butterfly (_Pontia daplidice_), and
the "Four-spotted Footman" moth (_OEnistis quadra_).
2. ~WATERFORD AND EAST CORK.~--This is a picturesque district, formed
largely of slates and sandstones of Old Red Sandstone age. The coast
is mostly of very bold character, with towering cliff ranges. The
country is generally undulating and fertile, with occasional mountain
ranges, of which the Comeraghs are rendered especially interesting and
picturesque by the deep "cooms," embosoming tarns, which give them their
name. The Comeraghs and the lovely valley of the Blackwater furnish
particularly attractive ground for the naturalist. The flora and fauna
of this area are intermediate in character between that of the district
last considered and of the surpassingly interesting country that lies to
the westward, and which will next claim attention. Thus, the coasts
yield several of the rare plants mentioned in the last paragraph--for
instance, _Diotis_ and _Asparagus_ grow at Tramore; while at the same
time we first meet in this area with some of the most famous plants of
the south-west--London Pride (_Saxifraga umbrosa_), Kidney-leaved
Saxifrage (_S. Geum_), Great Butterwort (_Pinguicula grandiflora_),
Irish Spurge (_Euphorbia hiberna_). Two rare butterflies of this
district are _Dianthæcia cæsia_ and _D. luteago_ var. _Barrettii_; and
the largest of the British leaf-beetles, _Timarcha lævigata_, has been
taken near Waterford, and at Tipperary.
[Illustration: _Drawing, J. St. J. Phillips._ Geological Section from
Bantry Bay to Killarney.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Welch, Belfast._ A Kerry ditchbank showing
Pennywort two feet in height.]
3. ~WEST CORK AND KERRY.~--This is one of the most beautiful and
interesting districts in the British Isles, and indeed in Europe. The
ancient Devonian rocks which prevail have been folded into a grand
series of simple arches and troughs, the axes running north-east and
south-west. The arches form noble mountain ranges, which on the coast
project far into the Atlantic in a series of grand promontories, and
inland form picturesque highlands, of which Macgillicuddy's Reeks, which
rise to 3,404, constitute the highest land in Ireland. The valleys in
their lower portions are occupied by the sea, in the form of long
island-studded fiords; their upper parts are often filled with
Carboniferous limestone, and offer a pleasant contrast of tillage and
green pasture between the gaunt brown mountain-ribs. Here we stand on
the most western outpost of the European Continent, with the Atlantic on
three sides. The effect of the encompassing ocean, and the western winds
which constantly blow in from it, is to produce here and along the whole
western coast the most uniform annual temperature to be found in Europe.
Frosts are almost unknown, and great heat and drought likewise. These
peculiar climatic conditions have resulted in the acquisition and
preservation of a fauna and flora which spread here from more southern
latitudes at some time now long gone by, and which in these favoured
spots still remain to remind us of a period when a state of things
prevailed very different from what obtains at present. For naturalists
tell us that there can be no doubt that these southern plants and
animals migrated to Ireland over land-surfaces now destroyed, having
spread along the old-time coast line which long ago extended from the
Pyrenean highlands to Ireland; and as a relic of their march, we find
some of the species still surviving in the south-west of England, while
all of them are absent from the rest of England and from the adjoining
parts of continental Europe.
An enumeration of a few of the most remarkable of the plants, with a
definition of their range, will make clearer this peculiar feature of
the natural history of the West of Ireland:--
[Illustration: Saxifraga umbrosa.]
London Pride (_Saxifraga umbrosa_). In Ireland along the west and south
coasts. Absent from England. On the Continent it is found only in the
south.
Kidney-leaved Saxifrage (_S. Geum_). In Ireland in the south-west.
Unknown in England. On the Continent confined to the Pyrenean district
Strawberry-tree (_Arbutus unedo_). In Ireland in the south-west. Unknown
in England. On the Continent it grows all along the Mediterranean.
Great Butter wort (_Pinguicula grandiflora_). In Ireland in the
south-west. Unknown in England. On the Continent it grows on the Alps
and in the south-west.
Irish Spurge (_Euphorbia hiberna_). In Ireland along the south and west
coasts. In England it is confined to Devonshire. On the Continent it
occurs only in the south-west.
[Illustration: _Photo, J. St. J. Phillips._ Among the Arbutus, Cloonee
Lakes.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Welch, Belfast._ Arbutus Islands, Killarney.]
Going for a moment further north, we find in Connemara, and there only,
a group of three kinds of Heath with the same peculiar distribution:--
[Illustration: _Photo, Welch, Belfast._ The Irish Spurge.]
St. Dabeoc's Heath (_Dabeocia polifolia_). In Ireland
in Connemara. Unknown in England. On the
Continent confined to the south-west.
Mediterranean Heath (_Erica mediterranea_). In
Ireland in Connemara. Unknown in England.
On the Continent confined to the south-west.
Mackay's Heath (_E. Mackaiana_). In Ireland in
Connemara. Unknown in England. On the
Continent in Spain only.
Nor is it the plants alone that exhibit the peculiar relation existing
between the Natural History of Ireland and of the Pyrenean region.
Among the animals the same features may be observed, the most striking
instance being the peculiar Kerry Slug (_Geomalacus maculosus_), which
is abundant in many parts of the extreme south-west of Ireland, and is
elsewhere found only in Portugal.
[Illustration: _Drawing, Dr. R. F. Scharff._ The Kerry Slug.]
Mixed with these southern forms in the West of Ireland we find another
group of still stranger affinities. In pools and lakes from Kerry to
Donegal grows the curious Pipe-wort (_Eriocaulon septangulare_). It may
be also found in the Island of Skye, in the West of Scotland, but
nowhere else in Europe; to see it again we must go to the northern
regions of North America, where it flourishes under conditions much more
rigorous than those which obtain in its mild Irish home. The deliciously
fragrant orchid, _Spiranthes Romanzoviana_, grows in the counties of
Cork, Armagh, Antrim, and Londonderry; elsewhere only in sub-arctic
America and the portion of Asia which most nearly approaches the Alaskan
shores. The "Blue-eyed Grass" of Canada (_Sisyrinchium angustifolium_)
is likewise confined to the West of Ireland and to North America; and
further instances might be quoted. In the animal kingdom, too, parallel
cases have been noted, the most interesting being the discovery of no
less than three American species of fresh-water sponge, which are
unknown in the rest of Europe.
To account for the presence of this American group naturalists are
driven, as in the case of the southern species, to the conclusion that
these represent one of the very oldest components of our existing fauna
and flora, and point to a period when the edge of Europe was prolonged
far to the north-west, forming a continuous land area, presumably by way
of Iceland and Greenland, to America. And here on the wild western coast
of Ireland these last inhabitants of the lost lands of Europe still
survive.
[Illustration: The Kerry Slug, showing the manner in which its
coloration mimics clusters of lichen among which it lives.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Welch, Belfast._ Nest of Wood Ant at Killarney]
4. ~CLARE AND EAST GALWAY.~--Our last district--West Cork and Kerry--was
characterised by great ribs of slate and sandstone, and by an absence of
limestone and the numerous plants which follow in its train. The present
district forms a marked contrast, being largely composed of
Carboniferous limestone. And the remarkable thing about these limestones
is that they are over many miles totally devoid of any covering of soil
or clay; the grey gnarled rock, fantastically carved and crevassed by
the action of rain and weather, lies naked and bare. But in the crevices
of the rock a wonderful variety of rare and beautiful plants abound. One
or two of these have their home in the far south, like the plants we
have lately considered, notably the little Close-flowered Orchid,
_Neotinea intacta_, whose nearest station is about Nice. But the
majority of the interesting species of these limestones are alpine
plants, usually found at high elevations on mountains, which here form
sheets of verdure down to the very edge of the sea. The Mountain Dryas
(_D. octopetala_), the Bearberry (_Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi_), the lovely
Spring Gentian (_G. verna_), and the Blue Moor-grass (_Sesleria
cærulea_) are good examples, all of them growing in great abundance from
the hill-tops down to the shore. It is this strange mingling of plants
from the far south, from the far north, and from the mountains, which
renders the West of Ireland so fascinating a field for the botanist. In
the barren district of Clare, and in the adjoining Isles of Arran and
south-west portion of county Galway, this peculiar flora may be seen in
its greatest perfection. Some very rare insects have been taken in
eastern Galway, including the Lepidoptera _Nallia ancilla_ and _Lycæna
artexerus_.
[Illustration: _Photo, Welch, Belfast._ Wolf Spider (_Pisaura
mirabilis_) spinning nest for young.]
5. ~WEST GALWAY AND WEST MAYO~.--In this district we have again a
complete change of geology and of scenery. The grey limestones with rich
grass and rare flowers filling every crevice are gone, and we are in a
wild region of ancient metamorphic rocks--schists, quartzites, gneisses,
and granites--which form wide moorlands, dotted with innumerable
lakelets, with noble mountain groups rising over the wild boggy
lowlands. To the student of metamorphism the geology of this area is of
very high interest. The botanist finds himself once again, as in Kerry,
in a focus of the southern flora already discussed. As stated above,
Connemara contributes to the list of Pyrenean plants three Heaths, of
which St. Dabeoc's Heath is the loveliest of the British representatives
of the order. Here we may also meet again our old Kerry friends the
London Pride, and on Inisbofin the Irish Spurge--plants which strictly
avoid the limestone, as do the Heaths. The American element is
represented by the Pipe-wort, which is common, and the little water
plant, _Naias flexilis_, which grows near Roundstone. Of the three
famous Heaths, St. Dabeoc's is abundant throughout Connemara, becoming
rarer in Mayo. The Mediterranean Heath grows near Roundstone, and in
immense abundance on the north side of Clew Bay, and again near the
north-west corner of Mayo, extending inland as far as Lough Conn.
Mackay's Heath is the rarest, being confined to the neighbourhood of
Roundstone. As regards its fauna, Connemara and West Mayo yield fewer
peculiar species than the south-west; but much remains to be done before
it can be said that the zoology of this area is thoroughly known, and it
offers a most promising field for the explorer.
6. ~SLIGO.~--The visitor who makes Sligo his headquarters finds himself
in a district of much variety and interest. This is a district that
cannot be too highly recommended to the naturalist. To the geologist the
fossiliferous limestones and the metamorphic rocks are alike of
interest. The botanist naturally turns to the Ben Bulben Mountains,
which harbour the richest group of alpine plants to be found in Ireland,
including the pretty _Arenaria ciliata_, which does not grow elsewhere
in the British Isles. To the zoologist a rich field lies waiting. A
recent exploration of the limestone glens by a party of English and
Irish conchologists has shown that in variety of land mollusca this
district surpasses almost any other in these islands; and good results
may be confidently expected in other invertebrate groups.
7. ~THE CENTRE.~--The area comprised in the field of operations of the
Great Southern and Western Railway Company include the southern half of
the great Central Plain of Ireland and the lower course of the Shannon,
the largest river in the British Isles. Towards the east the counties of
Carlow and Kilkenny include much picturesque ground, especially along
the courses of the rivers Nore and Barrow; and as picturesque ground
implies the existence of hill and valley, wood and rock, the naturalist
will find himself at home here. The flora is rich, though without any
very marked features; the Nettle-leaved Bell-flower (_Campanula
Trachelium_) being the most characteristic species. Regarding the fauna
much has still to be learned. In Tipperary, Queen's County, and King's
County we are in typical central plain country--great tracts of slightly
undulating drift-covered Carboniferous limestone, the surface including
wide pastures, cultivated ridges, and large areas of peat bog and marsh.
The bogs, which form so peculiar a feature of the surface of Ireland,
may be studied here over many miles of country. The noble Shannon, which
winds slowly southward across the plain, widens at intervals into great
lake-like expanses, of which Lough Derg is the largest, a place of much
interest to the student of natural history. One plant which grows here,
the Willow-leaved Inula (_I. salicina_), is found nowhere else in the
British Isles; other characteristic Shannon plants are the Water
Germander (_Teucrium Scordium_) and the rare Stone wort _Chara
tomentosa_. Further west, in Limerick, a more varied surface prevails.
Like Waterford and Cork, Limerick is a great centre for animals of the
"Southern" distributional type, such as the Wood White Butterfly
(_Leptidia sinapis_) the Brimstone Butterfly (_Gonapteryx rhamm_), and
the Purple Hair-streak (_Thecla quercus_). The small but handsome
Ground-beetle, _Panogæus crux-major_, is known in Ireland only from
Finlough. This species has a typically "germanic" distribution in Great
Britain. The Water-beetle _Pelobius Hermanni_, a very rare species, and
the only British member of its family, occurs near Limerick and Cork.
Cratloe Wood, by the Shannon near Limerick, may be specially recommended
as a hunting-ground.
[Illustration]
SPORT.
For sportsmen Ireland is a happy land, ready to supply their every want.
Royal Meath, Kildare, Waterford, Tipperary, and Cork County are hunted
by several good packs during-each season, and "the meets" are duly
published in the local newspapers.
In the large tracts of bog, moorland, river reaches, and mountain lands
there is splendid shooting; in Kerry especially, where poaching is put
down with a heavy hand, there are plenty of opportunities for sport.
In most cases the hosts of the hotels have secured the shooting of many
thousands of acres in their vicinity.
When the weather is "hard," excellent sport can be had along the
southern districts.
The gentry most usually preserve their estates with great vigilance, but
they are generous in giving permission to bona-fide sportsmen.
[Illustration: CYCLING]
GENERAL HINTS
(FROM MECREDY'S ROAD BOOK OF IRELAND.)
June and September are the driest months in Ireland. Tourists will find
the Royal Irish Constabulary the best source of information, and they
cannot do better than inquire at the various police barracks on the way
for advice as to places of interest to be visited, and the condition of
the roads. In unfrequented country districts the footpaths as a rule may
be taken with impunity, but it is never absolutely safe to do so. It is
always well to enquire of other cyclists met _en route_. The roads are
very variable, some being grand and others very bad. Intercourse with
the peasantry will be found interesting and amusing. Nothing can exceed
their civility and courtesy; and for those who are not too particular it
will be found an excellent plan to lunch in their cottages, excellent
tea, home-made bread, butter and eggs being procurable for 1/-per head.
There is little use questioning them as to distances, however. They are
nearly always wrong, and in any case they calculate in Irish miles--11
Irish equal 14 English. The police, however, are reliable, and give the
distances in statute miles. Repairers are few and far between, but the
local blacksmiths are often clever and handy men. The by-roads are
generally better than the main roads, and the surface is better at the
edge than in the middle. The mountain roads are as a rule very good, and
not nearly so hilly as one would expect. The country people are rather
stupid about getting out of one's way, and live stock on the road are a
frequent source of danger, especially pigs, sheep, donkeys, and Kerry
cows. Mountain passes should be negotiated carefully, as mountain
torrents sometimes sweep away short stretches of otherwise excellent
roads, and one comes on these spots unexpectedly. The corners, too, are
excessively sharp, and steep pitches occur unexpectedly.
In most small Provincial towns the Hotels are not good, but in tourists'
districts, such as Kerry, they are really excellent and the charges are
reasonable. Where lodgings are required it is a good plan to ask the
local Head Constable for advice.
~CORK DISTRICT.~
Cork is an excellent centre for cycling. The roads are in fair order and
the inclines moderate. There is abundance of fine scenery, and notably
in the extreme south and south-west where there are some entrancing
tit-bits. Magnificent tracts of inland mountain scenery are to be found,
and many important historical and archæological ruins. There are hotels
nearly everywhere within easy reach, many of them very good, and in most
cases affording fair accommodation at reasonable cost.
~One Day Tours from Cork.~
No. 1.--To Queenstown, road 14 miles or rail 12 miles. Thence to East
Ferry, 5 miles, cross the Ballinacurragh River by ferry. Thence by road
to Midleton, 4 miles, back to Cork, road or rail, 12 miles. Fine views
of the River Lee, Lough Mahon, the lovely Harbour of Queenstown,
Ballinacurragh River, &c.
No. 2.--To Youghal, road or rail, 27 miles. Thence by road to Ardmore, 6
miles--a watering place with a ruined chapel where there are some
curious carvings in stone, and a fine and perfect specimen of the old
Irish round tower, Return same road.
No. 3.--To Midleton, 12 miles, road or rail. Thence to Cloyne, 6 miles,
where there is an ancient Cathedral still in use. Thence to Ballycotton,
6 miles, a small watering place. Back by Cloyne and Aghada, on
Queenstown Harbour, 12 miles. Thence by steamer to Queenstown, or across
the East Ferry by road to Queenstown, 6 miles. Back by road or rail, 12
miles.
Hotels at Midleton, Cloyne, and Ballycotton.
No. 4.--To Queenstown, road or rail, then by steamer, 20 minutes across
the harbour to Crosshaven. Thence by road, 2 miles, to Church Bay. Fine
view of mouth of the harbour and open Atlantic. Thence by Carrigaline
and Douglas, back to Cork, 12 miles.
Good hotels at Crosshaven and Church Bay.
No. 5.--Cork to Blarney, by the Valley of the Lee and Carrigrohane, 9
miles. Famous Castle of Blarney with the "Kissing Stone." The Groves of
Blarney round the Castle may be seen, also St. Ann's Hydropathic
establishment. Return by Rathpeacon and Blackpool to Cork, 6 miles.
No. 6.--Cork to Dunkettle, 3 miles, road or rail, thence along the
Glanmire River to Glanmire, 2 miles. Thence by Sallybrook and Kilcully,
back to Cork, 6 miles.
~Two Day Tours from Cork.~
No. 1.--Cork to Macroom, road or rail, 25 miles. Thence to Inchigeela,
10 miles, and Gougane Barra, 10 miles. Beautiful lake scenery, and the
hermitage at Gougane Barra; a chapel on the Holy Lake is well worth
seeing. The Pass of Keimaneigh is 3 miles further. From this point the
traveller can return to sleep at Inchigeela or Macroom, where, at both
places, there are good hotels; or may continue his journey to
Glengarriff, Kenmare, or Killarney. If returning to Cork from Macroom,
the journey may be made by Coachford and Dripsey, distance about 25
miles.
No. 2.--Cork to Bandon, 20 miles by rail or road. Thence to
Courtmacsherry and the Old Head of Kinsale, each about 7 miles by road.
The tourist can sleep at either place, and return to Cork by Kinsale and
Innishannon, or continue his journey to Bantry, 37-1/2 miles by road or
rail. Thence to Glengarriff, Killarney, &c.
~Tours for Three or more Days from Cork.~
No. 1.--Cork to Youghal, 28 miles by road or rail. Thence to Temple
Michael, 3 miles along left bank of the River Blackwater, through
Dromana to Cappoquin, 11 miles. From Cappoquin the Trappist Monastery of
Mount Melleray, 3-1/2 miles, can be visited. Returning to Cappoquin the
tourist can take either bank of the Blackwater, along a beautiful and
level road to Lismore, 3-1/2 miles. The distance from Lismore to Fermoy
is 16 miles by road or rail; the road along the Valley of the Blackwater
being very fine throughout, and most picturesque. At Lismore the
beautiful castle belonging to the Duke of Devonshire can be seen. The
tourist can return from Fermoy to Mallow 16 miles, and thence to Cork,
21 miles. Good hotels at Youghal, Lismore, Fermoy, and Mallow.
No. 2.--Two day tour, No. 1, can be extended to three or more days, by
proceeding from Inchigeela to Glengarriff, 23 miles, and Killarney, 39
miles. Good hotels at Inchigeela, Glengarriff, Kenmare, and Killarney.
Two day tour, No. 2, can be similarly extended to three or more days, by
continuing the journey from Bandon to Bantry, 37-1/2 miles. Thence 10
miles by road to Glengarriff, thence to Killarney, 39 miles. Good hotels
at Bantry, Glengarriff, Kenmare, and Killarney. Or from Kenmare, 20
miles, or from Glengarriff the tourist can ride to Parknasilla, 16 miles
from Kenmare, where there is an excellent modern hotel and some of the
loveliest scenery in Ireland.
~LIMERICK DISTRICT.~
To the cyclist on tour, Limerick and the surrounding districts offer
many scenic attractions in wood, lake, and river. The roads are not good
as a rule, owing in a great measure, to the fact that the city is the
centre of a large agricultural district. The hotels in the city are
good, and in the surrounding towns and villages the tourist will find
good accommodation in hotels and otherwise.
~One Day Tours from Limerick.~
No. 1.--Perhaps the easiest one day tour which the cyclist can enjoy
from Limerick, as his head quarters, is to Doonass Falls _via_ Clonlara.
Five miles thence by O'Brien's Bridge, 7 miles, to Killaloe, where an
excellent lunch can be had. The return home can be made by
Castleconnell, the popular resort of the devotees of "Izaak Walton,"
where an excellent tea can be had at the Shannon Hotel.
No. 2.--Castleconnell and Clare Glens, and lengthened visit to
Castleconnell to view the waterfalls, "The World's End"--a remarkably
fine reach of the River Shannon. There is much to interest the visitor
in the gigantic eel fishery, and here also is the renowned Enright,
whose fishing rods are used all over the world. The Clare Glen, situated
by the way in Limerick county, is not far from Castleconnell; and if
liberty is obtained beforehand, the Glenstal Demesne, seat of the
Barrington family, can be visited. Sir Charles Barrington, the present
baronet, has never yet refused permission to the cycling tourist to view
the charming scenery surrounding the Glenstal Castle.
No. 3.--Askeaton, 16-1/2 miles, splendid road, one of the best from
Limerick; famous old abbey to be visited, with excellent fishing on the
Deel, granted that the tourist has obtained the requisite permission.
No. 4.--Adare, 9 miles; roads pretty good. Mr. P. Fitzgerald, J.P.,
Agent to Lord Dunraven, should be written to beforehand for a permit to
visit the demesne, where some fine old ruins are in an excellent state
of preservation. The Manor House is a magnificent building, but
visitors are only allowed to enter when the family are away. This is
well known as the district which inspired Gerald Griffin to write one of
his famous poems. Lunch can be had at very moderate terms at the
Dunraven Arms Hotel. The demesne wall turns eastward to Croom. The name
of this village is derived from the old war cry of the Geraldines,
"Munster Branch "--_Crom-a-boo_. To Limerick, from Croom, _via_
Patrick's Well, there is a pretty good road, 10 miles.
~Two Days Tours from Limerick.~
Ballybunion. Good roads generally, but slightly up-hill when the Kingdom
is reached. This charming seaside resort is rapidly coming to rival
Kilkee. It has splendid bathing accommodation, and the coast scenery and
caves equal to those of any other watering place in Ireland. The visitor
for the first time makes his acquaintance with the Lartique, or "Single
Line," Railway--the only one in the United Kingdom--from Listowel to
Ballybunion, a distance of 8 miles.
Returning to Limerick, a digression can be made to Shanid Castle, near
Shanagolden. This towering mass of masonry, perched high on a
hill--three sides of which are precipitous--is almost ignored by
tourists. It was one of the strongholds of the Desmonds. The other spots
on the Shannon--homeward bound--are Glinn, where the hereditary Knight
of Glin has his seat, and where Gerald Griffin resided in his young
days, near the pretty little village of Loughill. Foynes and Foynes
Island, seat of Sir Aubrey de Vere, will repay a visit. Hotels are good
on this line, also roads.
No. 2.--Waterford and Tramore. Decent roads and accommodation, as good
as can be got once outside Limerick county, border at the Limerick
Junction, a distance of 20 miles from the Treaty Stone. Splendid views
of the Galtee ranges can be had, and on towards Clonmel the wooded
slopes of the minor ranges and hills are a delightful picture. If time
affords, the tourist can digress from the main road and visit the famous
Glen of Aherlow. Back to Tipperary for lunch, good hotels, and splendid
roads. Visit the Kickham monument, and then on to Clonmel. Excellent
accommodation to be had at Clonmel. Next day Waterford and Tramore, and
back.
~Tours for Three or more Days from Limerick.~
Ballybunion, Tarbert, Kilrush, Kilkee, Lisdoonvarna, from Ballybunion.
See "No. 1 Day Tours." Tarbert is only a few miles from Ballybunion.
There is a steamboat service across the Shannon estuary to Kilrush.
Thence to Kilkee by road, where first night out can be had. Next day to
Spanish Point, Milltownmalbay, Lisdoonvarna, to the famous "Spa"; home
_via_ Ennis, splendid roads.
No. 2.--Killaloe, Scariff, Portumna, and Upper Shannon. A most enjoyable
trip can be had from Killaloe. See "No. 1 Day Tour." There is a constant
steamboat service on Lough Derg, which will take a cyclist and his
machine, and land him at Scariff--on the Clare side--or Portumna,
"Galway." From either of these towns a tourist can have his chance of
the most diversified lake and river scenery to be had in the kingdom.
Without doubt the praises of Lough Derg and the Upper Shannon have not
been sung sufficiently. From Portumna to Dromineer, on the Tipperary
shore, by lake steamer, thence to Nenagh on bike; splendid roads home to
Limerick, 27 miles.
~KILLARNEY DISTRICT.~
Killarney is an ideal centre for the cyclist. Good roads proceed in
every direction, and mounted on his favourite machine the wheelman will
be able to discover and investigate scenic treasures unknown to the
ordinary tourist.
~One Day Tours from Killarney.~
No. 1.--Killarney to Gap of Dunloe, 10 miles; Owenreagh Glen, 18 miles;
Windy Gap, 30 miles. Killarney, total, 36 miles. Care should be taken to
keep on the proper road through the Glen; there are many crossings. Any
of the local folk will point out the road.
No. 2.--Killarney to Torc Waterfall, 3 miles; return to Muckross Hotel,
4 miles; enter demesne at Dinis, 10 miles; on to Kenmare road and home
to Killarney, 17 miles. The road through Muckross Demesne is in some
places dangerous owing to its steep and winding character.
No. 3.--Killarney to Ross Castle, 1-1/2 miles; through demesne to
Library Point, 2-1/2 miles. Back through Ross Island and demesne to
Mahony's Point, 9-1/2 miles; Killarney, 12-1/2 miles. This road is
perfectly safe and good, except two descents in Ross Island. Returning
from Mahony's Point to Killarney by Aghadoe, about 15 miles, splendid
view of Lower Lake and mountains can be had from the old ruins of
Aghadoe.
No. 4.--Killarney to Glenflesk _via_ Lough Guittane. Visit Robbers' Den,
9 miles, home _via_ Headford and Barraduff, 26 miles. Roads good,
scenery wild and romantic. There are many short and beautiful trips
which can be made in and about the neighbourhood.
~Two Day Tours from Killarney.~
No. 1.--Killarney to Windy Gap, 16 miles; thence to Parknasilla across
mountain. Total, 30 miles. Remain for night at Southern Hotel,
Parknasilla. Parknasilla to Kenmare, 14 miles, and back to Killarney
_via_ Kilgarvan. Total, 35 miles. Roads fairly good, but in places very
steep, so that riders must keep a careful watch.
No. 2.--Killarney to Beaufort, 6 miles; thence to Glencar, 19 miles, and
on to Caragh Lake Hotel, 27 miles. Remain at Caragh Lake Hotel for the
night. Return to Killarney _via_ Windy Gap and Gerah Cross. There are
some sharp turns and steep descents requiring care.
~Tours for Three or more Days from Killarney.~
No. 1.--Killarney to Kenmare, 20 miles. Thence by Glengarriff, 40 miles,
to Macroom, _via_ Inchigeela, Pass of Keimaneigh to Millstreet, and back
to Killarney. Hotels at Kenmare (Southern Hotel), Glengarriff,
Inchigeela, Macroom, and Millstreet.
No. 2.--Killarney to Killorglin. Caragh Lake, Cahirciveen, visit
Valentia, Waterville, Parknasilla, Kenmare, and back to Killarney by
either rail or road.
~WATERFORD DISTRICT.~
Waterford can be recommended as a cycling centre, as the scenery in many
districts of the South-east of Ireland is beautiful in the extreme, and
can compare favourably with any in the country, and the roads are first
rate. The hotels, too, are generally very good, and have been improved
wonderfully of late, and the tariffs have been so arranged by the
South-eastern Branch of the Irish Cyclist Association, that all
requirements of the most slender purse can be satisfactorily arranged.
Below we sketch out a few very enjoyable Tours which can be made, taking
Waterford as the starting point:--
~First Tour from Waterford.~
Leaving-Waterford by the Newtown-road, we pass the house in which Lord
Roberts spent his early days, and where his father and mother lived for
many years. This is actually in the Borough and, from the grounds
surrounding it, a capital view of the river and part of the City can be
had. After passing by Newtown we keep along to the left until Parkswood
is reached, when we run under a bridge and up a hill to Checkpoint, and
here a magnificent view can be obtained. From the hill overlooking this
pretty little village seven counties can be seen. Dunbrody Abbey, one of
the most famous ecclesiastical ruins in Ireland, is situated immediately
opposite on the other side of the river. Duncannon Fort, a short
distance from here, comes into view, and we are enabled to see the
joining of the three rivers--Suir, Nore, and Barrow. We pass from
Checkpoint, and we reach Passage, a famous fishing station since the
herring industry has become so prosperous in this part of Ireland. A
little further on is Woodstown, and right opposite on the far side of
the river can be seen Duncannon Fort, a fortified place in the days of
old. Turning to the right by Ballyglan, we mount a steep incline, and we
then come in view of Hook Tower, a beacon light which is said to be the
oldest in the kingdom. Dunmore, about five miles from Woodstown, is one
of the most picturesque, beautiful, and delightful resorts in the whole
of Ireland. Here there is a magnificent pier, and boating and fishing
can be enjoyed to one's heart's content. Wheeling back in the Waterford
direction we make for Tramore, ten miles away. It is beautifully
situated, and the visitor here can spend several hours in viewing the
most attractive scenery. Close to the town are the Golf Links and the
Race Course.
From Tramore to Waterford the run is over a splendid level road, and the
distance seven miles.
The full distance of this run is 33 miles, and at all the principal
points capital hotel accommodation can be had.
~Tour Two, from Waterford.~
The first part of this run is to Passage. At the Half-way House take the
turn over the bridge, up the hill and down a steep decline to Passage.
At the latter place the ordinary ferryboat can be taken to Ballyhack,
which is directly opposite. The run from Ballyhack to Duncannon is over
a fairly surfaced road. At the latter place M'Gonnigal's hotel is well
appointed. From Duncannon the run to the famous Hook Tower is about
seven miles, and the surface of the road generally is very good. Along
this run a splendid view of the Harbour can be obtained, and on the way
there are several places of interest--Loftus Hall, the Irish seat of the
Marquis of Ely, stands on the edge of the river unprotected by a single
tree. It was modernised within the last 25 years, and is now a
splendidly appointed mansion. Bag-an-Bun, a little distance off, will
well repay a visit--the coast line at this point being the principal
attraction. From Hook we run to Fethard, 6 miles to the left, and here
a very pleasant hour can be spent. Tintern Abbey is the next point to be
visited. This is one of the most famous Abbeys in the country. From
Tintern to Dunbrody the distance is 8 miles, and here we can spend a
considerable time in viewing the great historical ruin, said to be one
of the finest in the whole of Ireland. Leaving Dunbrody we come to the
ferry of Ballinlaw, and crossing here ride by Snow-hill and Bellview
into Waterford. The full distance of this ride is 41 miles.
~Tour Three from Waterford.~
Proceeding up the Cork road we ride up Ballyaneeshagh Hill, and on the
left see Butlerstown Castle, an ancient building: which, in the days of
Cromwell, held out for sometime against his forces. At the Sweep we turn
round to the right and run to the bottom of the hill. A little way from
the end of the hill the right turn is to be taken again to Kilmeaden, 8
miles. The ride then is to Portlaw four miles away. Some fifty years ago
this town was the seat of a great cotton industry. It has since fallen
into decay, and the place looks like Goldsmith's "Deserted Village."
Just outside the town is the magnificent demesne of Curraghmore, said to
be the finest in the three kingdoms. The variety of scenery here is
almost unsurpassed. Curraghmore is the property of the Marquis of
Waterford. It is one of the great points of vantage to tourists and
pic-nic parties. Passing through the demesne we come to the house
itself, a modern and rather unpretentious structure. The court-yard is,
however, very large, and is said to be capable of accommodating close
upon 100 horses. Clonegam Church, where Lord William Beresford, uncle to
the present Marquis of Waterford, was laid to rest, can be seen on the
right glistening in the trees on the hill side. Through Curraghmore we
ride to Clonea, about 5 miles further on, and then to the foot of the
Comeragh Mountains, which occupy a centre of the county, and which are
to be seen from all parts, as well as from a considerable portion of
Tipperary. The greatest natural curiosity in this range is the
appearance and site of an almost circular lake, by name Coomshinawin.
From Coomshinawin to Kilmacthomas the distance is about 8 miles.
Kilmacthomas Woollen Factory may be visited, and a good hotel
accommodation can be had at Walsh's. From Kilmacthomas to Waterford is
16-1/2 miles over a good road, the full distance being 45 miles.
~Tour Four, from Waterford.~
Our next tour will be from Waterford, _via_ the Sweep, to Knockaderry, 9
miles away. At the latter place there is a very fine lake which amply
supplies the City. Leaving Knockaderry we reach Dunhill, close to which
place is the Castle of Donile, still distinguished for its peculiar and
romantic situation, and in ancient times the property of De-La-Poer,
from whom the present Marquis is descended. The village of Annestown,
distant about one mile, is on the sea coast, and from it a magnificent
view of rock and ocean scenery can be had. The run from Annestown to
Tramore is over a beautiful road, and many pretty views of the coast can
be seen. The spin to Waterford completes this tour, which is one of
nearly thirty miles.
~Two Day Tours from Waterford. No. 1.~
Waterford, Dunmore, Annestown, Bonmahon, Stradbally, and Dungarvan.
FIRST DAY.
This is rather a long run of 47 miles, but as the roads are generally
good and the scenery delightful it should be most enjoyable to the
Cyclist who may feel in good form. We have already spoken of Annestown.
From Annestown to Bonmahon the distance is over 5 miles. The road is
very hilly, but the surface is splendid. At Bonmahon the once famous
Knockmahon Mines are situated. These mines were the most valuable in the
country about fifty years ago, but when the value of the metal (copper)
fell operations were discontinued. Stradbally, 4 miles further on, is a
delightful little village, said to be the most health-restoring place on
the south-eastern coast. Here Whelan's Hotel is recommended. Dungarvan
is 8 miles further on, and the road by the sea is well surfaced and very
picturesque. At Dungarvan Lawlor's Hotel will be found very comfortable.
SECOND DAY.
A good run can be taken through Ardmore, Youghal, Lismore, and
Cappoquin, part of which tour embraces the delightful Valley of the
Blackwater. This complete run will tot about 50 miles.
At Ardmore a very comfortable hotel is kept by Miss Prendergast. At
Youghal, the Greenpark Hotel is a capital one. In Lismore, the
Devonshire Arms and Blackwater Vale Hotels are recommended; and Kenny's
at Cappoquin is also a good one.
~Two Day Tours from Waterford. No. 2.~
FIRST DAY.
Piltown to Curraghmore, round by Coomshinawin. This complete run will be
about 40 miles. The roads generally are capital, and the scenery as fine
as can be seen in this part of the country.
SECOND DAY.
From Dungarvan, round by Ballymacarbery, Newcastle, Ardfinan, Clogheen,
Melleray Abbey, to Dungarvan. This ride runs close upon 60 miles, and
to undertake it the tourist must have been in cycling form for a
considerable time. The roads, however, are generally very good.
Ballymacarbery is 15 miles from Dungarvan; Ardfinan, about 26; then from
Ardfinan to Clogheen the ride is 6 miles, and from that to Melleray
about 13. At Melleray, from the Abbey, a grand view can be had of some
of the most beautiful scenery in the whole of the county.
The following are the best places of refreshment _en
route_:--Ballymacarbery (Miss Power's), Newcastle, and Ardfinan. Two
good licensed houses. Clogheen--The Hotel. Melleray--The traveller will
always be hospitably received here.
~Three or more Day Tours from Waterford. No. 1.~
Waterford, Dunmore, 11; Tramore, 22; Dunhill, 27; Annestown, 28;
Bonmahon, 34; Stradbally, 38; and Dungarvan, 47 miles.
SECOND AND THIRD DAYS
To Dungarvan--have been previously referred to.
Instead of returning to Waterford by rail, the tourist on the
fourth day may enjoy a most entertaining tour, _via_ the Pike,
Coomshinawin--previously referred to--Curraghmore, Piltown, and
Waterford. This run measures something like 40 miles.
~Three or more Day Tours from Waterford, No. 2.~
Waterford, Mullinavat, 8; Ballyhack, 16; Stoneyford, 21; Danesfort, 25;
Kilkenny, 30; Thomastown, 40; and Inistioge, 47-1/2 miles.
SECOND DAY.
New Ross, 10; Waterford, 33; and Rosslare, 42 miles.
THIRD DAY.
Lady's Island, 4; Kilmore, 11; Fethard, 20; Hooktower, 26; Duncannon,
35; and Waterford, 46 miles.
This latter tour embraces some of the finest scenery on the
south-eastern coast, and the inland scenery at Inistioge is equal to any
to be seen in any part of Ireland.
_IMPORTANT NOTE._
The tariffs for Members of the Irish Cyclists' Association and Cyclists'
Touring-Club are at most of the hotels in the south-eastern districts:--
Breakfast.--Tea, coffee, or cocoa, with bread and butter, toast and
preserve, ham and eggs, chops, steaks, cold meat, or fish, _2s._
Substantial Luncheon, _1s. 6d._ Table d'Hote Dinner, 2_s._ 6_d._ Bed,
_2s. 6d._
[Illustration: CYCLING]
~SLIGO DISTRICT.~
(FROM MECREDY'S ROAD BOOK).
~One Day Tour from Sligo. No. 1.~
Sligo, Dromahaire, 12; Ballysadare, 24; Knockanree Glen, 28; Sligo, 33.
Keeping along the north shore of the lake, Hazlewood Park, 2 miles from
Sligo, is well worth visiting. The public are admitted, and the tourist
should ride right down to the shore, which is here very beautiful. The
road now winds over the hills, and is undulating with fairly good but
rather loose surface, and it is some miles until the lake is reached
again. The scene here is indescribably beautiful, and reminds one
forcibly of Killarney. The lake is studded with islands, and the shores
are densely wooded, whilst northwards extends one of the most
fascinating districts we have ever toured in. It consists of a regular
jumble of mountains, densely wooded, and often most precipitous. The
gapes of the hills are extremely picturesque, and the scene can be
revisited time and again without its palling. Those who would like to
thoroughly explore this lovely neighbourhood should stop at Dromahaire,
where they will find a most excellent hotel, remarkable alike for
moderate charges and a cuisine which could not be surpassed. There is
also an ancient abbey here, well worthy of inspection. Dromahaire is
some little distance from the lake, and on leaving it the road, now
excellent, winds round a mountain, and a few miles farther, after taking
a sharp turn to the right, reaches the lake shore again at its
southern-most point. Farther on it branches inland again, and at a point
2 miles from Sligo a sharp turn to the left has to be taken for
Ballysadare, and if time permits the tourist might proceed on through
Collooney to Mackree Castle (3 miles), which will mean an addition of 6
miles to the day's ride. At Ballysadare there are some really beautiful
waterfalls. Retracing your steps towards Sligo for a short distance,
proceed along the north shore of Ballysadare Bay. The road is good.
Presently it begins to ascend a spur of Knockanree Hill, and a narrow
lane and gate to the right admit to the Glen of the same name. It should
on no account be missed. It is one of the most extraordinary natural
phenomenon we have ever seen, and is exceedingly beautiful besides. It
is very narrow, densely wooded, and the sides are quite precipitous. The
path wanders through a wealth of undergrowth, and in most places we
fancy the Glen is not forty feet wide, while here and there it is much
narrower. In some of these spots the foliage actually meets overhead,
and we noticed in one place a fallen tree had made a natural bridge
across. Just at the beginning of the Glen there is a little glade where
a house once stood.
Keeping-round Knockanree Hill the road comes out on the shore of Sligo
Bay. The surface is excellent, and the scenery pretty right into Sligo.
~One Day Tour from Sligo. No. 2.~
Sligo, Drumcliff, 5; Carney, 7; Lissadill House, 9; Carney, 11;
Drumcliff, 13; Rathcormack Chapel, 14; Glencar, 18-1/2; Manorhamilton,
27, Sligo, 41.
The road is indifferent for some miles, but gradually improves. At
Drumcliff there is an interesting round tower. Lissadill House is
delightfully situated on the seashore. The grounds are open to the
public, and it is a very pleasant ride through on the well-kept avenues.
Retracing your steps to the main road, after passing Rathcormack Chapel,
turn off to the left for Glencar, along a fairly level by-road, with
fast, but stony, surface. After 2 miles turn to the left again. In due
course Glencar is reached. Keeping along the north shore of the lake an
extraordinary waterfall will be seen on the left. A thin sheet of water
falls from the top of the cliff, and when the wind is from a particular
quarter it catches the falling water every few minutes, and scattering
it in minute particles makes it have the appearance of being suddenly
cut off. Then all of a sudden it comes with a rush again, and apparently
with renewed vigour. It is a very strange phenomenon, and fascinating
withal.
Wheeling along the shores of the lake we come to a larger waterfall at
the extreme extremity, to which our measurement of 18-1/2 miles is
taken. There is a fine volume of water here, and the neighbourhood being
well wooded, gives a pretty effect. A cup of tea can be had at Mr.
Siberry's, hard by.
From this on to Manorhamilton the road, though good, is uninteresting,
but if time presses the cyclist can ride direct back to Sligo, round
Glencar Lake. By adopting this route, however, some beautiful scenery
will be missed, and we should strongly advise following what is known as
the old road from Manorhamilton to Sligo (14). Unless a meal is required
it is better not to go as far as Manorhamilton, but to turn to the
right, 1-1/2 miles out. This will reduce the day's journey by 3 miles.
From this turn there is a stiff climb of 2 miles, but the surface is
good the entire way. At the top of this incline a grand prospect bursts
on the view. A confusion of miniature mountains, densely wooded, extend
in every direction, while, as we descend, the waters of Lough Gill come
into view beneath.
A short distance from the summit the road forks. To the right leads to
Sligo, while the turn to the left runs direct to the lake's shores, and
then joins the other road some miles farther on. Both routes lead
through beautiful scenery. The first is the shortest, but the second the
prettiest.
[Illustration: GOLFING]
~DUBLIN DISTRICT.~
There are a number of splendid Golf Courses round Dublin, but on the
Dublin District lines of the Great Southern and Western Railway the only
courses open to visitors are the following:--
~Tullamore.~
The course is of the inland description, and the period of play is from
October to June. The hazards consist of hedges, ditches, and whins, &c.,
which are well distributed. Visitors, _5s._ per month.
~Athlone.~
Visitors, _2s. 6d._ per week, _5s._ per month, 9 holes; Par score, 74.
The length of the course is about 1-1/2 miles, and the grass is never
long. The greens are not large, and the lies are somewhat heavy.
Straight play is necessary to avoid heavy punishment. The course is
beautifully situated and commands fine views of the Shannon and Lough
Ree.
~Banagher.~
The course is situated 1/2 a mile out of the Town, and commands fine
views of the distant hills. The distance round is about 1 mile. The
grass is short, and the hazards consist of ruins, walls, and fences.
Number of holes, 9.
~Birr.~
Visitors, _2s. 6d._ per week. Number of holes, 9.
The course is situated 2-1/2 miles from Birr. The holes are of a very
sporting character, the hazards being numerous and varied, consisting of
rocks, hedges, walls, and running water. The grass is short and wiry,
and good lies are obtained.
~LIMERICK DISTRICT.~
~Lehinch.~
Visitors, _5s._ per week, or _1s. 6d._ per day. Number of holes 18. Par
score, 81.
The course is laid over fine natural Golfing country. The lies are good,
as the soil is sandy with very short sea grass. The hazards consist of
natural sand bunkers and sandhills with bent, and are ideal. The greens
are excellent, and there probably is not in the United Kingdom a finer
natural Golf Links.
Accommodation at Lehinch Golf Links Hotel and Aberdeen Arms. There are
some lodges to be had, capable of accommodating small families. Golfers'
cheap tickets are issued to Members and Visitors at Kingsbridge, Dublin,
Limerick, and other stations.
~Adare Manor Club.~
Play on this course is confined to Members. Members can introduce a
Visitor for a few days, but the Links are not open to paying Visitors.
Number of holes, 9.
This is a very nice course, laid out in the demesne at Adare; the lies
are perfect, and the greens small and well kept.
~Killaloe.~
Number of holes, 9.
Accommodation, the Lakeside Hotel. The Links are situated about 1 mile
from the Lakeside Hotel, and comprise a very nice sporting course. The
hazards are varied, and the lies excellent.
~WATERFORD DISTRICT.~
Tramore.
Visitors, _2s. 6d._ per week. Number of holes, 18.
The course is a seaside one, and commands magnificent views of the bay.
The grass is crisp and short, and the soil sandy.
Accommodation at Grand Hotel and Hibernian Hotel.
~Lismore.~
Visitors, _2s. 6d._ per week; _5s._ per month. Number of holes, 9.
High pastures interspersed with natural bunkers consisting of quarries,
gorse, ridges, and roads. The greens are moderate, but the play through
the course is very sporting.
Accommodation at Devonshire Arms Hotel and Blackwater Vale Hotel.
~CORK DISTRICT.~
~Littleisland (on G.S. & W.R., 4-3/4 miles from Cork).~
Visitors, _1s._ per day; or _5s._ per week, on application to Secretary.
Par score, 74 for 18 holes.
Fine grass of a down nature. Hazards, banks, roads, etc., requiring
skilled play. Greens in first-rate order. Beautiful scenery. Handsome
pavilion, with every accommodation. Professional attendant.
~Youghal (on G.S. & W R., 27 miles from Cork).~
Visitors, easy Terms by week or month.
Number of holes, 6 at present.
Seaside course. Good turf. Hazards, water, land, peat banks. Owing to
inroads of the sea, ground has been greatly limited; but will be
extended, when works now in progress are completed.
~Mallow (on G.S, & W.R., 21 miles from Cork).~
Visitors staying with Members free for one week; _2s. 6d._ weekly
afterwards. Living at hotels, _5s._ first week; _2s. 6d._ afterwards.
Number of holes, 9; Par score, 36.
Pasture land, limestone bed. Hazards: fences, ditches, roads, a large
quarry, grass grown. Greens in first-rate order. Good pavilion. Tea
three times a week free. Grass grows too long for summer play.
~Bandon (on C.B. and S.C.R., 20 miles from Cork).~
Visitors free, if introduced by a Member.
Number of holes, 9.
The turf is composed of short grass. The distance between the holes
varies from 120 to 360 yards, and the hazards are stone walls, etc.
~Clonakilty (on C.B. and S.C.R., 29-1/4 miles from Cork).~
Visitors, _2s. 6d._ per month; or _10s._ per annum.
Number of holes, 9.
Finely situated; commanding extensive views of surrounding: landscape.
The course is all grass; rather long-for summer play, but first-rate
from October to May. The hazards are stone walls and ditches.
~Rushbrooke (on G.S. & W.R., 10-1/2 miles from Cork).~
Visitors residing with Members free for fourteen days. Committee can
elect temporary Members for a month, on payment of _5s._ Number of
holes, 9.
Grass on hill, fine view, good pavilion. Greens in good order. Long
hazards.
~SLIGO DISTRICT.~
~Bundoran.~
Station--Bundoran, on G.N.R.
Hotels--The Great Northern Railway, Sweeney's, Hamilton's, etc.
Visitors--_10s._ per month, _5s._ per week. Ladies half price.
Number of holes--9. Par score--75.
The course is partly sandy, and partly inland in character. It is finely
situated, and commands views of the Atlantic and the mountain ranges.
The distance round is about 1-1/2 miles, and the holes vary in length
from 100 to 250 yards. The hazards consist of a cliff, sandbanks, pits,
stone walls, and water.
~Sligo.~
Station--Sligo, thence by car or steamer. During the season public cars
and a steamer run four times daily between Sligo and the course; fare,
_6d._ each way.
Hotels--In Sligo there are good hotels, and good accommodation at
Ross's.
Visitors--_1s._ per day, _2s. 6d._ per week (if introduced); not
introduced _5s._ per week, _15s._ per month.
Number of holes, 9. Amateur record, 84.
The air and scenery at the Links are splendid. The grass is ideal turf.
The distance round is 1-1/2 miles. The hazards are natural sand bunkers,
broken ground, bent, walls, etc. The lies are good.
~GALWAY~
~Galway.~
Visitors, _5s._ per week. Number of holes, 9.
Accommodation at the Railway, Mack's, and Leane's Hotels.
The Salt Hill tram brings the golfer within a mile of the Links, which
are situated on a hill running out into the sea.
[Illustration: FISHING]
DUBLIN DISTRICT.
River.--Liffey. Station.--Lucan, on Great Southern and Western Railway,
6-3/4 miles from Dublin. Accommodation at Spa Hotel. Salmon and trout
free.
River.--Liffey. Station.--Hazelhatch, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 10 miles from Dublin. Hotel accommodation good. Salmon and
trout free.
River.--Liffey. Station.--Sallins, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 18 miles from Dublin. Accommodation at Healy's Hotel. Splendid
trout fishing free.
River.--Liffey. Station.--Harristown, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 25-1/2 miles from Dublin. Hotel accommodation at Ballymore
Eustace and Poulaphouca. Splendid trout fishing at Kilcullen: at
Ballymore Eustace by permission of Mr. John Royce, Stonebrooke House.
River.--Slaney. Station.--Rathvilly, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 47 miles from Dublin. Hotel accommodation moderate. Trout
fishing free.
River.--Barrow. Station.--Bagnalstown, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 66 miles from Dublin. Accommodation at Ward's Hotel. Salmon and
trout free.
River.--Slaney. Station.--Baltinglass, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 42 miles from Dublin. Accommodation good. Trout fishing free.
River.--Shannon. Station.--Banagher, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 84 miles from Dublin. Accommodation good. Splendid salmon and
trout fishing free.
River.--Barrow. Station.--Monasterevan, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 37 miles from Dublin. Trout, perch, and pike free.
River.--Shannon. Station--Athlone on Great Southern and Western Railway,
80 miles from Dublin. Hotel accommodation good. Salmon, trout, pike, and
perch free.
~LIMERICK DISTRICT.~
River.--Maigue. Station.--Croom, on Great Southern and Western Railway.
Accommodation at Croom Hotel and Maigue View Hotel. Salmon, trout, and
pike fishing by permission of the owners.
River.--Mulcair. Station.--Dromkeen, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 11 miles from Limerick. Accommodation good. Salmon and trout in
abundance, free.
Rivers.--Shannon, Maigue, Camoge. Station.--Patrickswell, on the Great
Southern and Western Railway, 6 miles from the Shannon, 1-1/2 miles from
the Maigue, and 4 miles from the Camoge. Accommodation.--Good lodgings
and small hotel. Salmon and trout in the Maigue, and in Shannon and
Camoge very fine trout. There are small tributaries which afford very
good trout fishing free.
River.--Shannon. Station.--Killaloe, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 15 miles from Limerick. Accommodation at Lakeside Hotel, Royal
Hotel, Shannon View Hotel, Grace's Hotel, Lough Derg Hotel, and Hurley's
Hotel. Salmon and trout. The fishing is excellent. During the past few
seasons salmon varying from 20 to 40 lbs. have been taken by anglers.
About 400 yards below and 20 yards above the bridge is a free stretch of
salmon and trout water, where the catches compare favourably with those
on preserved waters. Fishings may be hired for a month or longer.
River.--Shannon. Station.--Castleconnell, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 9 miles from Limerick. Accommodation good. Castleconnell has a
high reputation as an angling centre. Salmon fishing may be rented by
the month, fortnight, week, or day, and the district is noted for the
heavy fish taken. Trout, pike, and perch fishing is free.
River.--Deel. Station.--Rathkeale, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 19 miles from Limerick. Accommodation at Pigott Arms, Eagle
Hotel, and Hibernian Hotel. Good brown trout fishing, particularly in
early months of the season--April, May, and June. Also salmon fishing
by payment of ordinary licence.
River.--Maigue. Station--Adare, on Great Southern and Western Railway.
Accommodation at Dunraven Arms Hotel. Trout and salmon, permission from
Mr. P. Fitzgerald, Agent, Adare.
Rivers.--Brosna and Shannon. Station.--Birr, on Great Southern and
Western Railway. Accommodation at Dooley's and Mathew's Hotels. Other
private lodgings to be had in the town. Trout and salmon free.
River.--Shannon. Station.--Nenagh, on the Great Southern and Western
Railway. Good hotels at Dromineer and Nenagh. Splendid salmon and trout
fishing.
River.--Mulcair. Station.--Boher, on the Great Southern and Western
Railway. Good salmon and trout fishing free.
~CORK DISTRICT.~
Salmon fishing is as a rule strictly preserved.
Trout fishing is everywhere plentiful, and as a rule free.
Rivers.--Lee, Sullane, Bride, &c. Station.--Macroom, on Cork and Macroom
Railway, 25 miles from Cork. Accommodation at four or five small hotels;
moderate. Salmon and trout.
River.--Blackwater. Station.--Mallow, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 21 miles from Cork. Hotel accommodation good at the Royal
Hotel, Central Hotel, and others. Salmon and trout.
River.--Bandon. Station.--Bandon, on Cork, Bandon, and South Coast
Railway, 20 miles from Cork. Accommodation.--Moderate; Angel Hotel,
Railway Hotel, and Devonshire Arms. Good salmon and trout.
River.--Dripsey. Station.--Dripsey, on Muskerry Railway, 10 miles from
Cork. Accommodation.--None nearer than St. Ann's Hydropathic, Blarney,
or Cork. Salmon and trout.
River.--Bandon. Upton, on Cork, Bandon, and South Coast Railway, 15-1/2
miles from Cork. Accommodation.--None nearer than Bandon. Good salmon
and trout.
River.--Ballylechy. Station.--Bantry, on Cork, Bandon, and South Coast
Railway, 57-3/4 miles from Cork. Good accommodation at Vickery's,
Railway, and Terminus Hotels. Salmon and trout.
~WATERFORD DISTRICT.~
River.--Blackwater. Station.--Kilmacow, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 4-1/2 miles from Waterford. Accommodation at Farmell's Hotel.
Trout fishing free.
River.--Blackwater. Station.--Mullinavat, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 7-3/4 miles from Waterford. Accommodation at M'Donald's and
Healy's Hotels. Trout free.
Rivers.--Nore, Arigilla, Jerpoint Brook. Station--Thomastown, on Great
Southern and Western Railway, 20 miles from Waterford. Accommodation at
Globe Hotel, Commercial Hotel, Hibernian Hotel. Small portion of Nore
free. Arigilla River and Jerpoint Brook free.
River.--Nore. Station.--Bennettsbridge on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 25 miles from Waterford. Accommodation.--None nearer than
Kilkenny or Thomastown. Salmon and trout; partly free.
River--Blackwater. Station.--Lismore, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 43 miles from Waterford. Accommodation at Devonshire Arms Hotel
and Blackwater View Hotel. Salmon and trout. Charges for salmon rod
fishing.--For season, _£2_; for one week, _15s._; for one day, _5s._
River.--Blackwater. Station--Cappoquin, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 39 miles from Waterford. Accommodation at three hotels, also
private accommodation. Salmon and trout.
River.--Mahon. Station.--Kilmacthomas, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 15 miles from Waterford. Accommodation at E. J. Walsh's and P.
Cullinan's. Salmon and trout, free.
~KILLARNEY DISTRICT.~
River.--Flesk. Station.--Killarney. Accommodation at Killarney. Trout
and salmon free by permission of Lord Kenmare.
River.--Eirk. Station.--Killarney; thence by car 7 miles. Accommodation
at Killarney. Brown trout free.
River.--Erhagh. Station.--Killarney; thence by car 6-1/2 miles.
Accommodation at Killarney. Brown trout; permission required.
~SLIGO DISTRICT.~
River.--Ballysadare. Station.--Ballysadare, on Midland Great Western
Railway. Hotels at Sligo and Ballysadare. Salmon and sea trout
preserved, also brown trout, for which permission can be had.
[Illustration: LAKE FISHING]
~DUBLIN DISTRICT.~
Lake.--Lough Ree, Station.--Athlone, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 80 miles from Dublin. Hotel accommodation good. Salmon, trout,
pike, and perch free.
~LIMERICK DISTRICT.~
Lake.--Lough Derg. Station.--Nenagh, on the Great Southern and Western
Railway. Accommodation at Lough Derg Hotel, Miss Mill's Private Hotel,
O'Meara's Hotel, Nenagh, and Hibernian Hotels. Some good trout and
salmon fishing; some by permission, and some fishings may be hired.
Lake.--Inchiquin Lake. Station.--Corofin, on West Clare Railway, 33
miles from Limerick. Accommodation at Lake Hotel. Famous for trout
fishing.
Station.--Croom, on Great Southern and Western Railway. Lakes.--Tony
Hill Lake, 1-1/2 miles from Croom, and Loughgor Lake, 7 miles from
Croom. Accommodation at Croom Hotel and Maigue View Hotel. Pike free by
permission of owners.
Lake.--Lough Derg. Station.--Killaloe, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 15 miles from Limerick. Hotel accommodation excellent. Lough
Derg is one of the prettiest pieces of water in Ireland, it is within
ten minutes row of Killaloe, and the trout fishing is about the best in
the United Kingdom. In favourable weather large baskets of trout are
taken, and the fish weigh from 1 lb. to 7 lbs. Pike and perch also
abound in the lake, the former grows very large.
~CORK DISTRICT.~
There is a chain of lakes near Inchigeela (Lake Allan and Gougane Barra)
where some salmon and pike fishing may be had. There is also a small
lake near Bruff (Loch Ghur) where trout, pike, etc., may be killed; also
there are small lakes near Bantry well stocked with trout, &c.
Lake.--Inchigeela. Station.--Macroom, on Cork and Macroom Railway, 25
miles from Cork. Good hotel, provided with boats, fishermen, etc. Pike
and trout free.
Lake.--Loch Ghur. Station.--Kilmallock, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, 42 miles from Cork. Good accommodation at O'Sullivan's Hotel.
Pike and trout free.
~KILLARNEY DISTRICT.~
Killarney for the Angler is a paradise. He can fish a different stream
or lake every day for a month or longer. The best fishing season is
March, April, May, and September. Close season, November to February.
Lakes.--Lakes of Killarney, Lough Leane, Muckross Lake, the Long Range,
Upper Lake. Station.--Killarney, thence by car. Accommodation at
Killarney. Trout and salmon. Licence required for salmon, cost 20s.
Lake.--Guitane. Station.--Killarney, thence by car 5 miles.
Accommodation at Killarney. Brown and red trout free.
Lake.--Looscannagh. Station.--Killarney, thence by car 10-1/2 miles.
Accommodation at Killarney. Brown trout, etc., free.
Lake.--Glas Lake. Station.--Killarney, thence by car 5 miles.
Accommodation at Killarney. Brown trout, etc., free.
Lake.--Gourggh. Station.--Killarney, thence by car 9 miles, walk two
more. Accommodation at Killarney. Brown trout free.
Lake.--Cushvalley. Station.--Killarney, thence by car about 8 miles.
Accommodation at Killarney. Brown trout free.
Lake.--Garagarry. Station.--Killarney, thence by car 6 miles.
Accommodation at Killarney. Brown trout free.
Lake.--Cummeenduff. Station.--Killarney, thence by car 13 miles through
Gap of Dunloe. Accommodation at Killarney. Amply stocked with trout
free.
Lake.--Curraghmore. Station.--Killarney, thence by car 15 miles.
Accommodation at Killarney. Brown trout free.
Lake.--Augur. Station.--Killarney, thence by car 9 miles. Brown trout
free.
Lake.--Callee. Station.--Killarney, thence by car 8 miles. Accommodation
at Killarney. Fine stock of trout free.
Lake.--Managh. Station.--Killarney, thence by car 6 miles. Accommodation
at Killarney. Brown trout free.
~SLIGO DISTRICT.~
Lake.--Lough Gill. Station.--Sligo, on Great Southern and Western
Railway, thence by car 3 miles. Good hotel accommodation at Sligo.
Salmon, white and brown trout and pike free, by permission, which may be
obtained without difficulty.
[Illustration: SHOOTING]
~DUBLIN DISTRICT.~
Station.--Lucan, on Great Southern and Western Railway, 6-3/4 miles from
Dublin. Accommodation at Spa hotel. Rough shooting by permission of
owners.
Station.--Athlone, on Great Southern and Western Railway. 80 miles from
Dublin. Good hotels. Wild fowl shooting on River Shannon and Lough Ree
free.
Station.--Monasterevan, on Great Southern and Western Railway, 37 miles
from Dublin. Good hotels. Rough shooting free along the River Barrow.
Station.--Banagher, on Great Southern and Western Railway, 84 miles from
Dublin. Good hotel. Wild fowl very plentiful along Rivers Shannon and
Brosna, free.
Station.--Dunlavin, on Great Southern and Western Railway, 32 miles from
Dublin. Good hotel. Rough shooting free.
Station.--Rathvilly, on Great Southern and Western Railway, 47 miles
from Dublin. Good hotel. Snipe and duck fairly abundant, free.
~LIMERICK DISTRICT.~
Station.--Croom, on Great Southern and Western Railway, 11 English miles
from Limerick. Accommodation at Croom Hotel and Murgue View Hotel.
Rabbits, plover, snipe, duck, at Tory Hill, by permission of owner of
land.
Station.--Dromkeen, on Great Southern and Western Railway, 11 miles from
Limerick. Accommodation good. Snipe, duck, plover; free.
Station.--Castleconnell, on Great Southern and Western Railway, 9 miles
from Limerick. Accommodation good. Wild fowl; shooting on the river.
Station.--Patrickswell, on Great Southern and Western Railway, 7 miles
from Limerick. Accommodation at Patrickswell Hotel or Dunraven Arms,
Adare. Geese, duck, widgeon, teal, snipe, and cock; by permission of Mr.
Peter Fitzgerald, J.P., Mondela House.
Station.--Rathkeale, on Great Southern and Western Railway, 19 miles
from Limerick. Accommodation at Pigott Arms and Eagle Hotel. Good duck
shooting; free.
Station.--- Killaloe, on Great Southern and Western Railway, 15 miles
from Limerick. Accommodation excellent. In winter Lough Derg is visited
by large quantities of wild fowl, which afford capital sport; and the
bogs and marshes around Killaloe hold snipe in fair numbers.
~CORK DISTRICT.~
There is excellent wild fowl shooting all along the sea coasts, and
along the rivers for a few miles from the sea. The Youghal coast, the
Lower Lee, Blackwater, and Bandon Rivers, afford excellent sport of this
kind; also the deeply indented coasts of Kinsale, Courtmacsherry,
Skibbereen, and Baltimore.
Station.--Bandon, 20 miles from Cork, on South Coast Railway.
Accommodation fair at the Angel and Devonshire Arms. Snipe, wild fowl,
and plover; free.
Station.--Blarney, 5 miles from Cork, on Great Southern and Western
Railway. Accommodation excellent at St. Ann's Hydropathic Establishment.
Snipe and plover fairly abundant; free.
Station.--Clonakilty, 33 miles from Cork, on Cork, Bandon, and South
Coast Railway. Accommodation fairly good at Imperial or Shannon Arms.
Snipe and plover; free.
Station.--Mitchelstown, miles from Cork, on Great Southern and Western
Railway. Accommodation fair at Ahearn's or Fitzgerald's. Snipe and
plover may be had on the slopes of Kilworth Hills, by permission of
Officer Commanding Kilworth Camp.
Station.--Kinsale, 24 miles from Cork, on Cork, Bandon, and South Coast
Railway. Accommodation good at Kinsale Arms or Sea View Hotels. Wild
fowl mostly preserved, but permission may be had.
Station.--Skibbereen, 53-3/4 miles from Cork, on Cork, Bandon, and South
Coast Railway. Accommodation fair at Commercial, Eldon, and Ilen Valley
Hotels. Duck, teal, widgeon, snipe, and plover; free.
Station.--Youghal, 26-3/4 miles from Cork, on Great Southern and Western
Railway. Accommodation good at Adelphi, Devonshire Arms, Green Park,
Imperial, and Strand Hotels. Wild fowl very plentiful along the sea
coast and at mouth of Blackwater; free.
~WATERFORD DISTRICT.~
Station.--Horse and Jockey, on Great Southern and Western Railway, 48
miles from Waterford. Accommodation at Thurles, about 4 miles distant.
Grouse, hares, duck, &c., &c., in Liskeveen Bogs, by permission of D. J.
Mansergh, Esq., Grallagh Castle, Thurles.
Station.--Ballyhale, on Great Southern and Western Railway, 15 miles
from Waterford. Accommodation at Mrs. Hayes, Knocktopher Hotel,
Thomastown. Rough shooting to be had at Courisk and Castlecasker Bogs,
about 1 mile from the station, in the direction of Innistiogue, but game
not plenty, being a common; this would be free. A preserve at
Knocktopher. For permission apply to Captain Langrishe. A preserve at
Castlemorris. For permission apply to Rev. Wm. D'Montmorency,
Castlemorris. Applications as to payment and otherwise should be made to
above-mentioned gentlemen.
Station.--Attanagh, on Great Southern and Western Railway, 45 miles from
Waterford. Accommodation at Griffith's Hotel, Durrow. About 1,000 acres,
almost adjoining station; duck, rabbit, snipe, woodcock; free, if with
permission of occupiers (tenant farmers).
Station.--Kilmacthomas, on Great Southern and Western Railway, 15 miles
from Waterford. Accommodation at E. J. Walsh's Hotel. There is no
preserved ground in this vicinity, on which permission is given to
shoot; snipe are fairly plentiful on surrounding bogs, and this is about
all the shooting there is. By permission of Charles Mansfield,
Kilmacthomas, and P. Power, Faithlegg, Waterford.
Station.--Durrow, on Great Southern and Western Railway, 22 miles from
Waterford. Accommodation at Whelan's and Riley's Hotels. Waterfowl;
grey and green plover; also duck and snipe, rabbits, &c., by permission
of farmers.
Station.--Lismore, on Great Southern and Western Railway. Accommodation
at Devonshire Arms Hotel and Blackwater Vale Hotel. Partridge, grouse,
woodcock. Permission to be obtained from James Penrose, Esq., Lismore
Castle.
Station.--Carrick, on Great Southern and Western Railway. Accommodation
at Bessborough Arms and Kirwan's Hotels. Duck, rabbits, rooks. Free, and
by permission.
Station.--Mullinavat, on Great Southern and Western Railway, 7-3/4 miles
from Waterford. Accommodation at M'Donald's Hotel and Hely's Hotel.
Duck, widgeon, teal, and snipe; shooting free on Bishop's Mountain and
Moenrin. By permission.
~SLIGO DISTRICT.~
Station.--Sligo, on Great Southern and Western Railway, thence by car.
Place, Rosse's Point. Accommodation--Hotels good. Shooting--free below
high water mark.
[Illustration]
INDEX.
Achill Head, 246.
Adare, 59.
Adare Abbey, 60.
Adare Manor, 61.
Adare Manor Golf Links, 292.
Aghada, 95.
Aghadoe, 156.
Among the Arbutus, 266.
Arbutus Island, Killarney, 267.
Arbutus Rock, Lake Currane, 202.
Ardfert, 62.
Ardmore, 105, 256.
Arran Islands, 243, 256.
Athenry, 237.
Athlone, 39.
Athlone Golf Links, 291.
Ballincollig, 89.
Ballingrane, 62.
Ballybunion, 62, 65, 257.
Ballycotton, 96.
Baltimore, 172.
Banagher Golf Links, 291.
Bandon Golf Links, 293.
Bank of Ireland, 17.
Bantry, 172.
Beenarourke, 204.
Birr Castle, 39.
Birr Golf Links, 292.
Black Abbey, 36.
Blackrock, 89.
Blackrock Castle, Cork, 89.
Blackwater River, 101, 107.
Blackwater River, Youghal, &c., 98.
Blackwater at Kenmare, 219.
Blarney, 77, 257.
Blarney Castle, 86.
Boating at Killarney, 135.
Boher, 46.
Brayhead, 192.
Bundoran Golf Links, 294.
Bunratty Castle, 221.
Buttevant, 98.
Cahirciveen, 182, 187, 257.
Caragh Lake, 178.
Caragh Lake, Southern Hotel, 178.
Carlow, 33.
Carrantual, Killarney, 146.
Carrick-on-Suir, 127.
Carton House, Maynooth, 28.
Cashel, 130.
Castleconnell, 53, 257.
Castletown, 27.
Castletown House, 27.
Caves of Mitchelstown, 131.
Charleville, 134.
Christ Church Cathedral, 20.
Claddagh, 243.
Clare and East Galway Natural History, 272.
Clew Bay, 248.
Clifden, 245.
Cliffs of Moher, 231.
Cliffs at Valencia, 191.
Clock Tower, Youghal, 102.
Clonakilty Golf Links, 293.
Clondalkin, 26.
Clonmacnoise, 44.
Clonmel, 127.
Cloonaghlin Lake, 188.
Cloyne, 95.
Connemara and Sligo, 245.
Coomakista, 204.
Coomakisteen Hill, 205.
Coomasaharn, 182.
Cork, 73.
Cork District, 85.
Cork District--
Cycling, 279.
Fishing, 297, 300.
Shooting, 303.
Cork Exhibition, 84.
County Clare, 221.
Cratloe Woods, 221.
Cromwell's Bridge, 171.
Crosshaven, 95.
Curragh Camp, 31, 32.
Curraghmore Ho., 118.
Custom Ho., Dublin, 21.
Cycling, 278.
Dame St., Dublin, 18.
Derriana Lake, 188.
Derrynane, 206.
Derrynane Abbey, 206.
Diamond Mountain, 247.
Dinish Island, Killarney, 144.
Dooks, 180.
Dromod, 67.
Dromoland Castle, 222.
Dublin Castle, 19.
Dublin and District, 15.
Dublin District--
Fishing, 295, 299.
Golfing, 291.
Shooting, 302.
Duke of York Route, 67.
Dungarvan, 132.
Dunmore, 122.
Dunmore East, 257.
Eagle's Nest, Killarney, 145.
Eccles' Hotel, Glengarriff, 166.
Emly, 133.
Ennis, 221.
Ennistymon, 223.
Falls of Doonass, 54.
Fenit, 66.
Fethard, 128.
Fishing, 295.
Four Courts, Dublin, 23.
Foynes, 62.
Galteemore, 132.
Galway, 238.
Galway and Dist., 235.
Galway Golf Links, 294.
Galway, Queen's College, 244.
Gannets on Little Skellig, 197.
Gap of Dunloe, 157.
Garinish Island, 212, 215.
Geological Section, Bantry to Killarney, 263.
Glenbeigh, 182.
Glenbrook, 92.
Glendalough, 249.
Glengarriff, 166, 257.
Golfing, 291.
Golfing at Lehinch, 229.
Gort, 237.
Gougane Barra, 169.
Grattan, 17.
Great Cross of the Scriptures, 45.
Guest House, Mount Melleray, 111.
Harristown, 29.
Headford, 134.
Holy Cross Abbey, 129.
Imperial Hotel, Waterford, 117.
Inchigeela, 171.
Innisfallen, Killarney, 146.
Irish Spurge, 268.
Kells, 38, 182.
Kenmare, 257.
Kenmare and Glengarriff, 164.
Kenmare, Southern Hotel, 166, 218.
Kerry Ditchbank, 264.
Kerry Slug, 269.
Kildare, 31.
Kilkee, 225, 228, 258.
Kilkenny, 33, 34.
Kilkenny Castle, 35.
Killaloe, 58, 67.
Killaloe Golf Links, 292.
Killery Bay, 251.
Killarney, 136, 258.
Killarney, Arbutus Island, 267.
Killarney, Carrantual, 146.
Killarney, Dinish, 144.
Killarney, Eagle's Nest, 145.
Killarney, Gap of Dunloe, 157.
Killarney, Innisfallen, 146.
Killarney, Meeting of the Waters, 149.
Killarney, Muckross Abbey, 151.
Killarney, Shooting the Rapids, 143.
Killarney, Torc, 153.
Killarney, Up. Lake, 139.
Killarney District, Cycling, 283.
Killarney District, Fishing, 298, 300.
Killarney and Glengarriff, 133.
Killarney, Southern Hotel, 136.
Killorglin, 178.
Kilmallock, 133.
Kilrush, 232.
Kincora, 69.
Kinvara, 237.
Kylemore, 253.
Lake Coomasaharn, 186.
Lake Currane, 200.
Lakes and Fjords of Kerry, 175.
Lartigue Railway, 63.
Leenane, 248, 258.
Lehinch, 258.
Lehinch Golf Links, 292.
Letterfrack, 248.
Limerick, 47.
Limerick District, Cycling, 281.
Limerick District, Fishing, 296, 299.
Limerick District, Golf Links, 292.
Limerick District, Shooting, 303.
Limerick Junction, 46.
Liscanor, 232.
Lisdoonvarna, 224, 258.
Lismore, 110.
Lismore Golf Links, 293.
Littleisland Golf Links, 293.
Look-out Cliff, Kilkee, 227.
Lough Corrib, 245, 250.
Lough Gill, 252, 254.
Lough Gur, 134.
Lough Ree, 71.
Lucan, 26, 258.
Mallaranny, 252.
Mallow, 99.
Mallow Castle, 100.
Mallow Golf Links, 293.
Mangerton, 160.
Marina, Cork, 75.
Maryborough, 39.
Meeting of the Waters, Killarney, 149.
Midleton, 105.
Milltown Malbay, 232.
Mitchelstown, 131.
Monasterevan, 38.
Monkstown, 92.
Mount Melleray, 109.
Mount Melleray, Guest House, 111.
Mountain Stage, 182.
Muckross Abbey, 151.
Myrtle Grove, 104.
Naas, 28.
National Library, Dublin, 23.
Natural History, 260.
Nest of Wood Ant, 271.
Newcastle, 62.
Newbridge, 31.
Newport, 248.
North Kerry, 59.
Oughterard, 245.
Oratory of Gallerius,66.
Parknasilla, 210, 258.
Parknasilla, Southern Hotel, 212, 213.
Passage (East), 126.
Passage (West), 90.
Pass of Ballaghbeama, 181.
Patrick Street, Cork, 74.
Pennywort, 264.
Portarlington, 38.
Portumna, 67.
Poulaphouca, 258.
Poulaphouca Waterfall, 30.
Purple Mountain, Killarney, 159.
Queen's College, Cork, 79.
Queen's College, Galway, 244.
Queenstown, 92, 258.
Queenst'n Harbour, 91.
Raheen Lake, Currane, 201.
Rathkeale, 62.
Rathmore, 134.
Recess, 259.
Roche's Hotel, Glengarriff, 166.
Roscrea, 39.
Ross Castle, Killarney, 155, 158.
Round Tower, Clondalkin, 25.
Rushbrook Golf Links, 294.
Salmon Leap, Lucan, 26.
Salthill, Galway, 242.
Sarsfield Statue, Limerick, 50.
Saxifraga umbrosa, 265.
Scariff, 67.
Shandon Church, Cork, 82.
Shannon Development Company, 67.
Shannon Steamer, 70.
Shooting, 302.
Shooting the Rapids, Killarney, 143.
Sir Walter Raleigh's House, 103.
Skelligs, 194.
Slea Head, 66.
Sligo District--
Cycling, 289.
Fishing, 298, 301.
Shooting, 305.
Sligo Golf Links, 294.
Sligo, Nat. History, 274.
Smerwick, 66.
Southern Hotel, Caragh Lake, 178.
Southern Hotel, Kenmare, 166, 218.
Southern Hotel, Killarney, 136.
Southern Hotel, Parknasilla, 212, 213.
Southern Hotel, Waterville, 198.
Spa, 66.
Spanish Point, 232.
Spike Island, 92.
Sport, 277.
Staigue Fort, 202.
St. Canice's Cathedral, 36.
St. Finbarr's Cathedral, 80.
St. Michael's Rock, 194.
St. Patrick's Cathedral, 20.
Straffan, 28.
Strancally Castle, 106.
St. Stephen's Green, 17.
Sneem, 207.
Suir, 116.
Summer and Winter Resort, 256.
Thomastown, 38.
Three Sisters, 66.
Thurles, 128.
Torc, 153.
Tralee, 66.
Tramore, 119, 259.
Tramore Golf Links, 292.
Treaty Stone, Lim'k. 48.
Trinity College, 18.
Tuam, 238.
Tullamore Golf Links, 291.
Tullow, 29.
Twelve Bens, 245.
Upper Lake, Killarney, 139.
Valencia, 259.
Valencia Harbour, 190.
Valencia Island, 188.
Waterford, 112, 259.
Waterford and District, 112.
Waterford District--
Cycling, 284.
Fishing, 297.
Golf Links, 292.
Shooting, 304.
Waterford and East Cork, Natural History, 262.
Waterford, The Quays, 115.
Waterville, 196, 259.
Waterville, Southern Hotel, 199.
West Cork, &c., Natural History, 262.
West Galway and West Mayo, Natural History, 272.
Westport, 248.
Wicklow and Wexford, Natural History, 261.
Wolf Spider, 273.
Youghal, 101.
Youghal Golf Links, 293.
* * * * *
Advertisements.
~Gresham Hotel, DUBLIN.~
[Illustration]
This Old Established and First Class Hotel is situate in
Sackville-street, one of the finest thoroughfares in the world. Many
improvements have of late been made--Electric Light, &c. Visitors to
Dublin will find their Requirements catered for at the Gresham in a
manner unsurpassed by any Hotel in the City. No efforts are spared to
ensure in every possible way the comfort of its Patrons.
~120 BEDROOMS.~
~Spacious Saloons and Ball Room on Ground Floor.~
~FIRST CLASS CUISINE.~ ~MODERATE CHARGES.~
~JAMES FARRELLY, Manager.~
* * * * *
~DUBLIN SHELBOURNE HOTEL~
Charmingly situated facing the beautiful St. Stephen's Green Park.
FIRST CLASS
WITH
MODERATE CHARGES
CHOICEST WINES
AND
FRENCH CUISINE.
HYDRAULIC LIFT,
ELECTRIC LIGHT,
TELEPHONE NO. 150.
EVERY MODERN CONVENIENCE.
* * * * *
~The "Hammam" Hotel~ AND ~Turkish Baths~,
SACKVILLE ST. DUBLIN,
[Illustration]
"Three Days' Guide to Dublin" free on application.
Daily Terms from 8/6.
* * * * *
_By Special Permission of Her late Most Gracious Majesty Queen
Victoria._
~The ROYAL VICTORIA Hotel,~
PATRONISED BY _His Majesty King Edward VII., H.R.H. the Duke of
Connaught, the Royal Families of France and Belgium, the Nobility and
Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, and leading American Families._
[Illustration]
MAGNIFICENTLY situated on Lower Lake, facing Innisfallen. Highly
recommended for its superior comfort. The only Hotel in Killarney at
which King Edward VII. stayed when Prince of Wales.
JOHN O'LEARY, PROPRIETOR.
* * * * *
~LAKE HOTEL, KILLARNEY LAKES.~
_Patronised by HIS MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY THE KING._
~Under New Management. Standing in its own Grounds upwards of 60 acres
on the Shore of the Lower Lake.~
Unrivalled in situation, concentrating in one view all that is
picturesque and sublime in the scenery.
[Illustration]
NEWLY FURNISHED; Electric Light throughout (Bedrooms included). Boating,
Fishing, and Shooting. Conveyances Daily for Local Tours at fixed rates
for each Person, also for Private Hiring. Billiards, Tennis.
THE ONLY HOTEL IN THE DISTRICT DIRECTLY ON THE LAKE SHORE.
Hotel Omnibus meets all Trains. The Glengarriff Coach stops at Entrance
Gates to take up and set down Passengers.
The Railway Company allow only the Porters of their own Hotel on the
Arrival Platform. The Lake Hotel Porters will be found at the Station
Entrance.
~Address THE MANAGER.~
* * * * *
~WEST END HOTEL, KILKEE.~
~First-Class Accommodation.~
Beautifully Situated. Overlooking Bay. Magnificent Coast Scenery.
Nearest Bathing Resorts.
Recently Furnished. Board per Week or per Day.
'Bus and Porter await arrival of all Trains.
Coupons of The Irish Railway Companies Tourist Office, 2, Charing Cross,
London.
* * * * *
~KILKEE, CO. CLARE.~
~Royal Marine Hotel.~
Extensive additions have been made for the coming season. It is the most
central Hotel in Kilkee, commanding full view of Bay and Cliffs. Is
within two minutes' walk of Railway Station, principal Bathing Resorts,
Post Office, and places of Worship. This Hotel contains all facilities
and convenience of a First-Class Hotel, with the quiet and comforts of
home. Tourists and Visitors will find it to their advantage to patronise
the above Hotel.
~Arrangements made for Private Families.~
_The Hotel Omnibus attends the trains._
OWN DAIRY.
~Address: PROPRIETOR.~
* * * * *
~Castleconnell, CO. LIMERICK.~
"One of Ireland's beauty spots." Seven miles from Limerick.
[Illustration]
~SHANNON HOTEL.~
(Mrs. K. Enright, Proprietress.)
_ANGLERS' AND TOURIST RESORT._
Head-Quarters C.T.C.
Five miles walk along the banks of the Shannon. MAGNIFICENT RIVER
SCENERY, Including "FAR-FAMED RAPIDS OF DOONASS."
~Cycling.~ ~Boating.~ ~Driving.~ ~Pretty Walks.~
~Castleconnell~ can be reached from
London in 13-1/2 hours.
Liverpool under 11 "
Leeds 13 "
Manchester 11-1/4 "
Birmingham 12 "
York 14 hours, 20 mins.
Bristol 15 hours.
Dublin 3 "
Cork 2 hours, 55 mins.
Killarney under 4 hours.
Waterford 3 hours, 20 mins.
Killaloe -- 20 minutes.
N.B.--Salmon Fishing by arrangement; Trout Fishing FREE; also
good Pike, Perch, and Roach Fishing FREE.
Telephone 502, Limerick.
* * * * *
[Illustration]
ROYAL HOTEL,
VALENCIA ISLAND, CO. KERRY.
This Hotel has been patronised by H. M. The KING And Their
Royal Highnesses The PRINCE and PRINCESS OF WALES.
~It is now considered the Most Comfortable and Up-to-Date Hotel in
Ireland.~
~HOT AND COLD SEA WATER BATHS.~
CHARGES FIXED AND MODERATE.
* * * * *
CUNARD LINE,
INAUGURATED JULY 4th, 1840.
NOTICE.--The Steamers of this Line come alongside the Prince's Stage,
Liverpool, to land or embark Passengers without the intervention of
Tenders, and London Passengers depart from or arrive at the Riverside
Railway Station on the Quay adjoining.
[Illustration]
FLEET.
CAMPANIA.
LUCANIA.
ETRURIA.
UMBRIA.
AURANIA.
IVERNIA.
SAXONIA.
ULTONIA.
SYLVANIA.
VERIA.
CYPRIA.
PAVIA.
TYRIA.
SAMARIA.
SARAGOSSA.
ALEPPO.
CHERBOURG.
CARPATHIA, Building
~Sailings to and from New York and Boston on Saturdays and Tuesdays.~
~FASTEST SHIPS BETWEEN LIVERPOOL AND NEW YORK.~
~LARGEST SHIPS BETWEEN LIVERPOOL AND BOSTON.~
~Fitted with Marconi's System of Wireless Telegraphy.~
The Twin-Screw Ships "IVERNIA" and "SAXONIA," which sail between
Liverpool and Boston, are among the largest Ships afloat, and their
remarkable steadiness makes sea-sickness practically impossible.
UNSURPASSED ACCOMMODATION AT MODERATE FARES FOR ALL CLASSES AND FOR ALL
STEAMERS.
* * * * *
~MEDITERRANEAN SERVICE.~
FREQUENT FREIGHT SAILINGS FROM LIVERPOOL
~For Syria, Smyrna, Constantinople, Malta, Genoa, Leghorn, Naples,
Brindisi, Trieste, Venice, Fiume, Bari, Ancona, Palermo, Messina,
Catania, Patras, and Corfu.~
* * * * *
HAVRE SERVICE.
~Freight Steamers from Liverpool and Havre weekly.~
* * * * *
* * * For full particulars apply at the Company's Offices: in New York, at
29, Broadway; in Boston, at 99, State-street; in Havre, at 28, Quai
d'Orleans; in Paris, at 2, bis Rue Scribe; in London, at 32,
Cockspur-street, S.W., and 93, Bishopsgate-street, E.C.; in Manchester,
at 18, Brazennose-street; in Glasgow, at 30, Jamaica-street; in Leith,
at Exchange Buildings; in Belfast, at 49, Queen's-square; in Queenstown,
at Cunard Wharf; or to
~THE CUNARD STEAM SHIP COMPANY, LIMITED~,
8, WATER-STREET, LIVERPOOL.
* * * * *
Great Western Railway of England.
SHORTEST ROUTE
BETWEEN
~ENGLAND~
AND THE
SOUTH AND WEST OF IRELAND.
FAST AND COMFORTABLE NEW STEAMERS
SAIL REGULARLY BETWEEN
~WATERFORD AND CORK~
AND
~NEW MILFORD~.
~OPEN SEA PASSAGE~
BETWEEN
Waterford and New Milford.
Under 5 Hours.
~THE BOAT TRAINS~
RUNNING BETWEEN
NEW MILFORD AND PADDINGTON
In connection with the Steamers are provided with
~Central Corridors.~
~Lighted by Electricity.~
~Lavatory Accommodation.~
_Direct Communication with Guard._
REFRESHMENTS may be obtained in the trains by First, Second, and Third
Class Passengers.
For further information as to train service, fares, &c., see the
Company's time tables.
Full particulars will be supplied on application to Mr. H. J. NICHOLLS,
Great Western Railway Company's Offices, Waterford; Mr. A. W. PERKS,
Adelphi Wharf, Waterford; Mr. E. FOGG, Railway Chambers, King Street,
Cork; Mr. ALFRED DODD, Great Western Agent, Limerick Terminus; Messrs.
COOK & SON, Main Street, Killarney; or to Mr. T. I. ALLEN,
Superintendent of the Line, Paddington Station, London.
~J. L. WILKINSON, General Manager.~
_July, 1902._
* * * * *
~WATERFORD.~
~_IMPERIAL HOTEL._~
~FIRST CLASS HOTEL,~
Patronised by the Aristocracy, Tourists and Commercial Gentlemen.
~Spacious Drawing,
Coffee, Commercial,
Billiard and Bath Rooms.
Smoking, Stock, and Rent Rooms.~
Sanitation Certified. The Hotel has been recently enlarged,
re-furnished, and decorated.
~TARIFF MODERATE.~
~_COMMERCIAL ROOM DINNER_~ from 1.45 to 3.30 daily.
~Table d'Hote at 7.30 daily.~
_Omnibus meets all Trains and Steamers._
Telephone, No. 22. Telegrams--"IMPERIAL," Waterford.
~W. A. MURRAY, Proprietor.~
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Permission to visit Adare Manor may be obtained (on application)
from the Head Steward, Adare.
[2] The other places of worship in Cork are as follows:--_Roman
Catholic:_ St. Mary's Cathedral, Clarence-street; SS. Peter and Paul's,
Patrick-street (designed by Pugin); St. Patrick's, King-street (Military
Mass); St. Finbarr's, Dunbar-street (here Hogan's masterpiece, "The Dead
Christ," may be seen under High Altar); St. Joseph's, Mayfield; St.
Finbarr's, West, Lough-road; St. Augustine's Priory (Augustinians),
Great George-street; St. Mary's (Dominicans), Pope's-quay; St. Francis'
(Franciscans), Liberty-street; Holy Trinity (Friars Minors Capuchins),
Charlotte-quay; St. Vincent's (Congregation of the Mission), Sunday's
Well; and Chapel of Convent of St. Mary's of the Isle, Fitton-street.
_Church of Ireland:_ Christ Church, South Main-street; St. Ann's,
Church-street; St. Luke's, Summer Hill; St. Mary's, Shanakiel-road; St.
Nicholas', Cove-street; St. Paul's, Paul-street; St. Peter's, North
Main-street; Cork Episcopal Free Church, Langford-row; St. Michael's,
Blackrock; and Frankfield Church. _Other Denominations:_ Baptist Church,
King-street; Congregational Church, George-street; Patrick-street
Methodist Chapel; Society of Friends, Grattan-street; Presbyterian,
Summer Hill; Plymouth Brethren, Prince's-street; and Cork Hebrews, 10,
South Terrace.
[3] "Amber water." It recently passed from the representatives of the
late Sir John Pope Hennessy into the possession of Sir Henry Blake.
Permission to visit the house may be obtained on application to Mr.
French, Land Agent, South Mall, Cork.
[4] To be seen in the National Gallery, Dublin.
[5] Heights of the Principal Mountains, According to the Ordnance
Survey.
Carrantual, 3,414 feet.
Mangerton, 2,756 "
Purple Mount, 2,739 "
Toomies, 2,413 "
Torc, 1,764 "
Eagle's Nest, 1,103 "
Elevation of Loughs above the Sea.
Devil's Punch Bowl, 2,206 feet.
Gum-Meem-Na-Copasta 2,156 "
Gouragh, 1,226 "
Callee, 1,096 "
Black Lough, 587 "
Cush Valley, 337 "
Kittane, 256 "
Coom-a-Dhuv, 197 "
Upper Lake, 70 "
Lower Lake, 66 "
PRINTED BY ALEX. THOM & CO., LIMITED,
87, 88, & 89, ABBEY STREET,
DUBLIN.
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