§0i EXCURSIONS IN IRELAND DURING 1844 AND 1850. WITH A VISIT TO THE LATE DANIEL CTCONNELL, M.P. BY CATHERINE M. O'CONNELL. LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 1852. .mnvr nOT .LEGE LIBBA1 LONDON; Printed by Samuel Bentley and Co. Bangor House, Shoe Lane. ZDAW 018 INSCRIBED TO A. M. O'R. D. WITH AN EARNEST GRATEFUL AFFECTION. 1 8 1 4 urfcTOH COLLEGE VS CONTENTS. PAGE Introductory . . . 1 CHAPTER I. Voyage from England to Ireland. — Arrival at Kings- town. — Description of Kingstown Harbour. — Irish Cars. — Drive from Kingstown. — Dalkey Obelisk. — Village of Bray. — Excursion to the Dargle. — Picturesque Country. — " Uncivilized Irish." — Beggars. — Powerscourt Water- Fall 3 CHAPTER II. The Scalp. — Lough Bray. — Enter Dublin. — Dublin Beggars. — Stephen's Green. — Foundation of Dublin. — Contrast between London and Dublin. — Irish Improvi- dence. — Trinity College. — Bank of Ireland. — Royal Dublin Society's House. — St. Vincent's Hospital. — Sisters of Charity. — Viceroy of Ireland . . .12 CHAPTER III. State Trials. — History of the famous Proclamation and Prosecutions. — Monster Meeting. — Clontarf Meet- ing. — Imprisonment of Mr. O'Connell.— Richmond Peni- tentiary. — Visit to Mr. O'Connell in Prison. — " Honest Tom Steele." — Gaiety of Dinner Parties at the Prison. — " Seditious Poetry." — Mr. O'Connell's Declarations on the State Trials. — Visit to Conciliation Hall . . 20 Vlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. Journey from Dublin to Limerick. — Curragh of Kil- dare. — Scene at a Munster Hamlet. — Limerick Belles and Bells. — Legend of the Bells. — Siege of Limerick. — Voyage to Tarbert. — Deep Green of the Fields. — De- scription of " Kingdom of Kerry." — Lislaghlin Abbey. — " Funerals Performed.*' — A Country Funeral. — Keeners . . . . . .30 CHAPTER V. History of Kerry. — Abundance of Game and Fish. — Mines. — Marble. — Diamonds. — Pearls. — Description of Ballybunian and Scenery. — Legend of the Circular Hole near Doon. — The Devil's Castle. — Volcanoes. — Nivage. — Soiree Dansante in a Cave. — Horse-race. — Fatal Fac- tion Fight. — View from Knockanure . . ,40 CHAPTER VI. Ride to Tralee. — Notions regarding Round Towers. — Ruins of Ancient Buildings. — Policy of the English Invaders. — Legend of Ball yh eigne. — Ardfert Cathedral and Abbey. — Tralee. — Description of the Arrangements in the Poor-house at Tralee . . . .51 CHAPTER VII. Temperance Society Concert in Tralee. — Chalybeate Spa near Tralee. — View from Cahirconrigh. — Danish- like Entrenchment. — Dingle. — Danish Forts. — Raths. — Most Westerly Point of Europe. — Blasquet Islands. — Drenched with Rain. — Religious Zeal. — Cure for Effects of Mountain Showers. — Ogham Characters. — Return to Tralee ...... 65 CONTENTS. IX CHAPTER VIII. First View of Romantic Killarney. — (c Sweet Innis- fallen. , '— Innisfallen Abbey.— O'Sullivan's Cascade.— Glenaa.— Dinis Island. — The Arbutus of Killarney. — Tore Lake. — Muckross Demesne. — Musical Echoes on the Lakes ...... CHAPTER IX. The Lakes revisited. — O'Donoghue's Prison. — Old Weir Bridge. — Echoes of Killarney. — Effect of the Sin- gle Bugle on the Echoes. — Lady Mulgrave and the Wortleberries. — Long Range. — The Priest's Leap. — Beautiful and Romantic Scenery. — Ronayne's Island. — Preparations for a Fox-hunt. — Gap of Dunloe. — Melo- dious Fox-hunt in the Gap. — Dinner in the Gap Hotel . 85 CHAPTER X. Visit to Aghadoe Church and its populous Cemetery. — Foundation of Aghadoe.— Ascent of Mangerton. — Beautiful prospect. — Annoyance of Mountaineer Guides. — Lough Kittane. — Peculiar Brown Trout.— Muckross Abbey. — Tombs of the MacCarthy More and the O'Dono- ghue More. — ''Drake, the Pilgrim." — Foundation of Muckross Abbey. — Family of present Possessors. — Muckross Demesne. — Revisit Muckross Abbey . 95 CHAPTER XI. Stag-hunt in Loch Lein. — Red Deer. — Capture of the Stag. — Ludicrous Close of the Hunt. — Revisit Glenaa. — Peculiar Fashion of roasting Salmon. — Mirth and Music. — Stag-hunt of other Days . . . 106 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XII. PAGE Excursion to Kenmare. — Druidical Circle at Lissa- vigeen. — The Robber's Cave.— Kenmare Hotel. — Cas- tellated Police Station. — Charming Scenery. — Bonfires and Rejoicings for Mr. O'Connell's Liberation. — A Mountain Excursion. — Tradition respecting Killalee Church.— Hag's Glen. — Ascent of Carran Tual Moun- tain. — Perdition Pass. — Scene from the Mountain-top. — Ross Island. — Ross Castle.— Rural Rambles. — Thun- der-storm among the Mountains . . .117 CHAPTER XIII. The Wild-strawberry Girl of Killarney . .129 CHAPTER XIV. The Wild-strawberry Girl of Killarney, continued . 137 CHAPTER XV. Mr. O'Connell's Triumphant Entry into Killarney. — Church of Killeegy. — Enthusiastic Reception of Mr. O'Connell in Killarney. — Lakes of Carra. — Al Fresco Dinner. — Lord Headley's Improvements. — The Parson and the Priest. — The Road to Cahirciveen. — Birthplace of Mr. O'Connell. — Ancient Battle-axes found. — Bally- carbery Castle. — Dowlas Head Cave. — Valencia Island. — Valencia Harbour. — The Skellig Islands. — Village of Waterville. — Lake of Currane. — Wild Scenery near Waterville. — Hare-hunt .... 146 CHAPTER XVI. The Romance of a Day. — The Happy Family . 155 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER XVII. PAGE The Romance of a Day. — The Happy Family, con- tinued . . . . . .164 CHAPTER XVIII. Journey to Darrynane. — Superb Sea- view. — Perfect Druid's Altar.— Situation of Darrynane.— Seclusion of Darrynane. — Meet Mr.O'Connell. — Large mixed Dinner Party. — Description of House of Darrynane. — Awakened to go Hunting. — Two Hares Started. — Breakfast with the {i Liberator." — Anecdote of Spanish hidden Trea- sure. — Arrival of Post-bags. — Hunting resumed. — A Fox-hunt. — Old Abbey of Darrynane. — Epitaph on the Uncle of Mr. O'Connell.— Letter from Mr. O'Connell, describing his Mountain-home . . .173 CHAPTER XIX. Merry Parties at Darrynane. — Mr. O'Connell's Love of Children. — Reflections in Darrynane Abbey. — Ruined Church of Kilcrohane. — Gigantic Ash-tree. — Staigne Fort. — Use of these Forts. — General Vallancey's and Mr. Nimmo's Opinions. — Visit to Scariff Island. — Ancient Hermitage. — Private Theatricals. — Prologue to il She Stoops to Conquer." — Autograph refused to Emperor of Russia. — Autographs granted to Others . 185 CHAPTER XX. Mr.O'Connell invited to Limerick. — Farewell to Darrynane. — Mr. O'Connell's Address to the People on Cahirconrigh. — Mr. O'Connell's numerous Visitors. — Anniversary of his Imprisonment. — Monster Meeting in Killarney. — Procession of Trades. — Mr. O'Connell's enthusiastic Reception. — Public Dinner. — Verses on Mr. O'Connell 195 Xli CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXI. Blackwater Bridge.— Demesne of Dromore. — Glengar- riff. — Esk Mountain Tunnel. — French Invasions at Ban- try Bay. — Lord Bantry's Cottage.— Drive to Castletown. — Cromwell's Bridge. — Allihies Mines. — Tragedy at Dunboy Castle. — The Wishing-rock on Dursey Island. — Natural Advantages of Berehaven Harbour. — View from Hungry Hill. — Legend of the Mountain Lakes. — O'Sulli van's Possessions. — Town of Bantry. — Gongane- Barra.— Mr. O'Connell's Popularity . . .203 CHAPTER XXII. Brief Memoir of Daniel O'Connell . . .212 CHAPTER XXIII. Brief Memoir of Daniel O'Connell, continued . 221 CHAPTER XXIV. Voyage to Cork. — The Queen's Visit to Cork. — Con- fusion on her unexpected Arrival. — The Beggars and Vagrants could not be kept out of Sight. — The Shandon Bells.— Cork, " the beautiful City."— Queen's College, Cork. — Reflections on the " Godless Colleges." — Quays of Cork. — Emigrating Vessels — Lamentations at leaving Home . . • . . . .235 CHAPTER XXV. Poverty in Ireland. — The Rich become Poor. — Melan- choly Effects of the Potato Blight. — Fate of many Farmers and Landed Proprietors. — Irish Want of Fore- thought. — Instances. — Ireland now in a Transition State. — Charitable Institutions in Cork. — Ladies' Clothing Society. — Instances of its Benefits. — The Poor Weaver ... ... 244 CONTENTS. Xlll CHAPTER XXVI. Neighbourhood of Cork. — Passage Railway. — Result of late Failures in Cork.— Ursuline Convent. — Castle of Blackrock. — Queenstovvn. — Carlisle Fort. — Rosstellan Castle. — Family Record of Lady Thomond. — Inspection of Queenstown. — Carrigrohane Castle. — Owner of Blar- ney. — Blarney Castle. — Kissing the " Blarney Stone." — Cold-water Cure Establishment. — Barryscourt Castle. — King James II. — Footy. — Castle-martyr. — Round Tower and Cathedral at Cloyne . . 252 CHAPTER XXVII. Mesmeric Scayice. — Phreno-mesmerism. — Number of Churches and Chapels in Cork. — Father Mathew's Chapel. — Inscription to the Memory of Mr. O'Connell. — Father Mathew's Cemetery. — Natural Advantages of Cork. — Exports of Cork . . . .261 CHAPTER XXVIII. The union of Charity . . . .269 CHAPTER XXIX. Mallow. — Excellent Management of its Union Work- house. — Youghal. — Cappoquin. — Visit to Mount Mel- laray. — A Protestant Horse. — Monastery on Mount Mellaray. — Arrangements of the Establishment . 282 CHAPTER XXX. Lismore. — Fermoy. — Return to Dublin. — Falling off in Trade. — Supposed Consequences of Abolishing the Viceroyship. — Decrease in Population. — Emigration the chief Cause. — Emigration likely to continue. — Love of Fatherland. — Reflections on Emigration. . . 290 EXCURSIONS IN IRELAND DURING 1844 AND 1850. VOYAGE FROM ENGLAND TO IRELAND. 3 CHAPTER I. VOYAGE FROM ENGLAND TO IRELAND. ARRIVAL AT KINGSTOWN. DESCRIPTION OF KINGSTOWN HARBOUR. IRISH CARS. DRIVE FROM KINGSTOWN. PALKEY OBELISK. VILLAGE OF BRAY. EXCURSION TO THE DARGLE. PICTURESQUE COUNTRY. — "UNCIVILIZED IRISH." BEGGARS. POWERSCOURT WATER- FALL. July, 1844. The evening was most beautiful, calm and clear ; the sea around the steamer breaking into tiny waves sparkling in the beams of the glorious setting sun. And now we turn to look on the receding shores of Wales, and now on the still distant hills of the Irish coast, coming more and more clearly into view, and as we approach them, beautifully defined against the cloudless western horizon ; for a brief space an unbroken mass of gold, and now fading into the soberer hues of twilight, and then deepening into night. It was a beauteous picture, and was likely to call up varied thoughts of the past and the present, of the two lands separated by that little span of water; the one which we had left so singularly B 2 4 ARRIVAL AT KINGSTOWN. favoured by a prosperous fate ; the other we were coming to, so bountifully blessed by nature, and so tried by adversity ; both united by laws, as yet by nothing more. We pass the Kingstown light-house, and in a few minutes are alongside the pier, and we touch Irish ground near the spot where George IV. embarked in 1821. Such a chorus of voices greet our arrival, the strongly marked Dublin accent forcibly striking the stranger's ear. " Shall we take supper in Kingstown, or go on at once to Dublin ! " asked a pallid-looking traveller of his companion, both having been invisible during our little voyage. 'Tm thinking, sir, you 11 have more mind for it after the drive,'" said a merry-faced porter, as he appropriated the querist's huge portmanteau for his share. A very short transit brought us to an excellent hotel, and the traveller who could find fault with it must be most fastidious. The morning sun shone a welcome to us, and from the windows of the hotel the view was delightful. Below the harbour, quite full of shipping, here a merchant vessel, and here a pretty yacht, with their sails unfurled — one for business, the other for pleasure — while combining both is the steamer smoking away at the quay. IRISH CARS. 5 Kingstown harbour was formed by the erection of two piers, the eastern one said to be over 5000 feet long, and the western over 3000 ; the first -named is the fashionable promenade, and a walk in the early morning to the light-house brought us to a lovely view ; the bay of Dublin, at this hour, at least, like the far-famed bay of Naples, to which it has so often been likened, in the deep clear blue of its waters, stretching across to the hill of Howth, still capped with a fleecy morning cloud ; and returning towards Kingstown the pretty town lies before us, the church, as it ought to do, showing distinctly among the buildings around it, and backed by the mountains, all look- ing bright in the summer sunshine. It is unanimously agreed that the day is too fine to think of a dusty city, and instead of taking the rail for Dublin, we order cars for Bray ; the real Irish car, said to be so characteristic of the soil, where the one view of the question guides the parties that unfortunately divide the country. Alas ! that each party should adhere so pertina- ciously to its own side, and not turn round in a friendly spirit to see the good that springs amid the evil on every side of our paths through life! In the best dispositions towards mankind in general, we mounted our cars ; and the word is 6 DALKEY OBELISK. not misplaced, so high were the seats ; and we re- warded our driver's first attempt at agreeability by a hearty laugh, though the story was an old one. " Perhaps the ladies don't know the difference between an inside and an outside car ?" said Jem ; " an Englishman once asked the question, and he was tould that the inside car has the wheels outside, and an outside car has the wheels in- side: 1 The drive from Kingstown to Bray was through a very pretty country dotted over with villas in every variety of suburban taste, and names rather misplaced ; here a — Hall, judging by the house, I should decide the so-called apartment could con- tain two chairs, a hat, and perhaps umbrella- stand ; and here we pass a — Park, of about four acres in extent, from which a notice nailed to a tree warns off all trespassers, or else " They will be prosecuted with the utmost rigor of the law." The obelisk that we see on the hill over Dalkey was erected many years ago by a benevolent in- dividual to give relief and work at a time of dire distress. " Why did he not build something use- ful ?" asks the Joseph Hume of our party : " what thoughtless and useless benevolence ! but it was quite Irish." Bray is a straggling village ; being near some EXCURSION TO THE DARGLE. of the beautiful scenery of the county Wicklow, it is much frequented during the summer months, and the drive from Kingstown to it is very agree- able, the road now bringing us glimpses of the blue sea, and sweet mountain views. Our first excursion was to the Dargle, and we loitered through it, enjoying the coolness of its shade, the more adventurous amongst us climbing down the steep sides to catch new views of the noisy river, enclosed by such luxuriant woods, the full rich sunshine streaming through them on the glancing waters, and on the perpendicular cliffs. The effect was beautiful. On one side of this magnificent ravine is the demesne of Tinnahinch, bought by the nation for its independent orator, the late Henry Grattan. From the Dargle to Powerscourt waterfall, we came through a most picturesque country, admir- able in its native beauty, but far more so in the rural comfort of its little homesteads; save for the mountains, we could fancy ourselves among the " cottage homes" of southern England. There was no appearance of poverty, and all around, from the woman knitting by her cabin-door, to the strong-looking workmen so diligently earthing their fields of early potatoes, showed the content- ment of industry, which I have vainly sought in other parts of Ireland. 8 " UNCIVILIZED IRISH." We entered one cottage, and its pretty exterior covered with woodbines, roses, and ivy, corre- sponded with the neatness within ; the only in- mate received us with a ready smile, and dusting the straw-bottomed chairs asked us to be seated ; she looked a picture of the cheerful happiness she acknowledged she felt ; her husband had plenty of work, was a " dacent, quiet boy," her children were at school, and they had a good lease of their " little place. 1 '* She brought a cup of milk for an English lady of our party, and stoutly refused any remuneration — telling us with a tact which I gave her great credit for, that she had a sister in Lon- don married to an Englishman, and that "his people were very kind to Mary." I have often heard the "uncivilized Irish" spoken unkindly of, and very unfavourable con- trasts drawn between their mode of life, and that of their wealthier neighbours. Poor Paddy gladly takes the simplest food, and if he have enough of it is a happy man ; and his neighbour John prospers on his three good meals ; and the French peasant contents himself with his poiage and vege- table diet. In the matter of food surely we shall not decide their relative degree of civilization. I have attentively studied the Irish character. I know all its national virtues, and, too, its national faults; and totally uneducated as the poorest "UNCIVILIZED IRISH." 9 among Ireland's very poor classes may be, I main- tain there is, in that peasant's nature, in the wildest district of the country, a civilization which prompts respect and politeness to a stranger, that you may unsuccessfully seek for in the peasantry of happier England. I know, and knowing regret it deeply, that in many parts the national character has been de- moralized, and the thirst of gain has replaced an open-hearted generosity. I will instance Kil- larney, where in late years the vast influx of strangers, the greater portion of them rich and carelessly-generous Englishmen, has taught the poor mountaineer how easy it is to earn a shilling, and how much more agreeable to get it for a song, a jig, " a plate of wild fruits," " a taste of potheen, 11 or even for attending your honour, than to toil for the half of it during a long summer's day. The path to this cottage was through a pretty garden, abundance of common flowers blooming in the borders, and the little gate in un-Irish style, in good repair. There was no poverty here, the flowers plainly said so, and I have ever found that the very poor do not cultivate flowers ; theirs is a struggle through a life of hopeless apathy ; to gain the bare necessaries of life is with them the only object ; the country child will cull that pretty B 5 10 BEGGARS. field-flowers, and string together a daisy-chain, the various tints of the " modest tipped flower " tastefully blended together. In some of our rambles we came upon a group of beggars ; there was the mother, hunger plainly showing in her pinched features, and in the pallid face of the baby in her arms, and some sturdy children of various ages followed her ; two of them had lingered behind, and one had a bunch of hedge-flowers, and the other held exultingly in her hand a daisy-chain she had just finished : from the first the mother snatched the flowers, and scattered them about, telling her in the ex- pressive idiom of her native language, u that there were no flowers for such. 1 '' It was painfully true ; and it would have required the gentle earnestness of a Mrs. Fry to reason the poor woman into better feelings. Those pretty lines of Mrs. Howitt on flowers came to my mind. " Wherefore, wherefore were they made All tinged with golden light, All fashion'd with supremest grace^ Upspringing day and night ? " To comfort man, to whisper hope, Whensoe'er his faith is dim, For whoso careth much for flowers Will much more care for Him ! " Under the shade of a spreading tree, close to POWERSCOURT WATERFALL. 11 Powerscourt waterfall, was a gay picnic party, whose merry peals of laughter made, to my ears, a pleasanter accompaniment to the falling waters, than the rather discordant music of a piper and two fiddlers who played away in a business-like manner. The fall has nothing grand about it; it is a very pretty fall, and foaming down the steep ledge of rock, its spray dashing on us as we stood directly in front of it, brought a most refreshing coolness after the pleasant fatigues of the morning. Homewards bound towards Bray, we drove through the Glen of the Downs, and then saw the evening shades falling around from Bray head, looking on the magnificent view from its summit, combining sea and mountains, and cultivated val- leys, and our good night to the Sugar-loaf showed its cone all gilded by the sun's last rays, meriting for it its native name of the " golden spear." 12 THE SCALP. CHAPTER II. the scalp. — lough bray. enter dublin. — dublin beggars. — Stephen's green. — foundation of dublin. — contrast between london and dublin. irish improvidence. trinity college. bank of ireland. royal dublin society's house. st. vincent's hospital. sisters of charity. — viceroy of ireland. A great deal of rain had fallen during the early morning, and some dark heavy clouds still threatened us with occasional showers, but the tourist in Ireland will soon learn not to fear them, and in defiance of more than one prognostic that the day would be dreadfully wet, we left Bray. The bright rain-drops glistened on the hedges, and the meadow-flowers sent forth such sweet per- fumes, and the clear atmosphere bringing distant objects into view, made us gratefully acknowledge the benefit of summer showers. We passed through the Scalp, a narrow pass between two steep rocks, apparently rent asunder in some convulsion of nature, and coming, by un- frequented mountain-roads, to Lough Bray, we stopped often in our ascent to take in the full DUBLIN BEGGARS. 13 beauty of the lovely panoramic view before us ; below was the bay, river, and city of Dublin, with its numerous environs, and, looming up in the back- ground, the lofty mountains of Down. A contrast to this landscape is wild, secluded Lough Bray, now dark in the deep shade of the mountain above it. Here is a large military police- barrack, and we ask is it possible that such is needed in this sequestered spot, and we are told that the police are well paid, and have little else to do than to fish, and that they are " civil, well- spoken, humane men.'" Descending the mountains, we pass through several villages, and by innumerable villas, and, late in the afternoon, we enter Dublin ; the streets are crowded with well-dressed ladies and gentle- men, and with vehicles in every variety, the " out- side car " far preponderating. Ah ! there by a pastrycook's, and again by a baker's, are several beggars ; there is no mistaking the wretched rags, the feet without shoe or stocking ; but, look at them ; on their merry faces there are no traces of a consciousness of past or present misery ; they seem enjoying life in their own way, and now, with a cringing tone, they beg a trifle, and now they turn with a jest to their companions. An elderly lady has just left the baker's, and, from a basket, she takes a loaf, and 14 CONTRAST BETWEEN gives it between two young children ; blessings on her benevolence ! I hope it will not teach them how sweet is the bread of idleness ! Our hotel windows look on Stephen's Green, the largest square in Europe, and pleasing, I think, in the want of uniformity of its houses. A knock at the door, and in comes a dear friend, resident in Dublin, full of hospitable and kind plans, and bent on our taking away with us pleasant recollections of his city. We place our- selves under his guidance, and he proves to be " The finest guide that ever you see, For he knows every place of curiosity." To begin then at the beginning, he tells us that Dublin was founded by the Danes about the Christian era, and whoever were its founders, they showed, certainly, great taste in their choice of a situation. How small it is in comparison with London, but nothing so strongly shows a contrast between the two cities as a drive in Hyde Park, and a drive in the Phoenix Park ; in the latter so " few and far between " are the equipages of the rich, that you have full leisure to admire the really sweet view ; and if you see a fair equestrian cantering, you will notice with what grace she sits her horse ; but all has a deserted absentee- look coming from gay, rich, crowded London. LONDON AND DUBLIN. 15 We met cars in abundance, and these belong to the tradespeople of the city. Yes ! they like leaving their business ; they fail lamentably in persevering industry ; and so it is that in several of the larger towns in Ireland, the principal houses of business are conducted by Scotchmen. The Irish are the creatures of impulse, thinking of the present, forgetting the future ; of course I heard many examples of the contrary, and I know that away from their country, they seem to need neither the plodding perseverance of the English, nor the thrifty forethought of the Scotch. And the tears of many a mother saddened by bitter poverty, have been dried up by a hand- some remittance from America, from the son that had barely scraped together the " passage money " of the cheap winter's season, and had landed, poor fellow, on a strange shore with but a few shillings in his pocket. How diligently he must have laboured, for a few months brought money enough to give comfort in his cabin-home, and enabled another brother to join him. I could multiply such instances — I need not ; yet I will express my regret that in Ireland the poorer classes are deficient in hearty industry; theirs is a passive endurance of their lot, a care- lessness of improving their condition ; their wants are few, and they barely seek to supply them. 16 TRINITY COLLEGE. Is their apathy indigenous to the soil, or the effects of early education and example ? At any rate the warm Irish heart conquers all difficulties when moved from home. To illustrate the Irish want of forethought, a friend told me of a shopkeeper that had cleared over his business 500/. ; he thereupon sent his daughters to a boarding-school, particularly re- questing that they should be taught French and the piano, and he set up a car for his wife. As may be supposed, the little capital diminished rapidly, and he soon ended by becoming a bank- rupt, and emigrating with his family to New York ; he lived then as well as any man could ; and yet how differently an Englishman would have acted ! A trader in " the city," so called par excellence, having made this little sum, unlike thoughtless Paddy, would still try to add to it, and probably after a life of close application to business, would end his days in affluence, leaving a large fortune to his family. Our first visit in sight-seeing was to Trinity College, founded by Queen Elizabeth in 1592, on the site of a suppressed monastery, the benefits of its education so long denied to the Catholic ; but more liberal, more enlightened days have come upon us, and let us heartily hope that in our gentle Queen's Colleges, now rising in the BANK OF IRELAND. 17 island, the mixed education will drive bigotry from the Catholic's heart, and plant toleration in that of the Protestant or Dissenter, and that all striving in the faith taught them by a mother, for the one great home, shall be united in their onward journey by the bond of brotherly charity. Such thoughts came forcibly upon me, as we paused in the chapel of the College, and from thence we were shown through the library and museum. Leaving Trinity College, we came out on the Bank of Ireland, the old Parliament-house, the scene of so many fiery debates, when Irish elo- quence pleaded in vain. " We shall again have our parliament in College Green, ,n is the well known prophecy of Mr. CConnell, and who that has listened to his earnest hopes on this subject, can refuse to sympathise in them, or to give him full credit for heartfelt sincerity ? The Bank is a magnificent building, with a noble colonnade of Ionic pillars round the centre, above, the figures of Hibernia, with Commerce and Fidelity; the last-named surely misplaced on the site of so much faithlessness, as the history of the days previous to the Union records against some of the members of the then houses of par- liament. On the eastern side is a portico with 18 ST. VINCENT'S HOSPITAL. Corinthian columns, and over it the figures of Justice, Fortitude, and Liberty. From the forsaken Parliament-house, we wended our way to the forsaken mansion of Ireland's only duke, sold by the late Duke of Leinster in 1815 for 20,000/., and now the Royal Dublin Society house, said to be the oldest society of the kind in Europe, the library and museum well worthy of the visitor's attention. Our next visit proved a most interesting one ; it was to St. Vincent's Hospital, Stephen's Green, once the Earl of Meath's residence, and changed to its present benevolent destination in 1835. I cannot speak too praisingly of the admirably ar- ranged system of this hospital ; it is under the care of sisters of charity, and one of them showed us through the wards ; that appropriated to the children, is carried on exactly on the plan of the Hospital des Enfans Malades in Paris. A few years since some of the sisterhood went over to that city, and studied the system and treatment in the hospitals there. In the consumption ward I loitered after the party, to speak to a poor woman whose brilliant eye and hectic cheek told her dis- ease. Every thing about her was beautifully clean and neat, and her own words spoke eloquently to my heart. " I have been here for two months, and many a person in the world with thousands a VICEROY OF IRELAND. 19 year, hasn't the care and kindness that I have had." The gentle unceasing attentions of the sisters, guided by holier feelings than even the blessed dictates of humanity, make this hospital an enviable abode for the infirm poor. How noisy, how very terrestrial, seemed the gay world, as the convent-gate closed upon us, making the contrast between the peaceful stillness we had just left; it was from "grave to gay. 1 ' Dublin is unusually empty, I am told, for all the citizens that can leave the city, are gone in search of health and amusement to the sea-side ; but, it is the " fashion," (and how entirely the magic word regulates a certain would-be fashionable class in Dublin,) to meet some days during the week to listen to a military band which plays in some of the squares; and I thought those the very slaves of fashion who could leave the fresh country air, for a fashionable lounge under a summer's sun, in a heated city. It felt to us anything but pleasure, though it was pleasant to see so much youth and beauty met together. The present viceroy of Ireland is very unpopular, and many witty stories are told at his expense. He is said to be peculiarly unsuited to his position as head of Irish affairs, and he passes unnoticed through the people, without one voice to greet him, unlike the enthusiastic reception given to some of his popular predecessors. MONSTER MEETING. CHAPTER III. STATE TRIALS. HISTORY OF THE FAMOUS PROCLAMATION AND PROSECUTIONS. MONSTER MEETING. CLONTARF MEETING. — IMPRISONMENT OF MR. o'cONNELL. RICHMOND PENITEN- TIARY. — VISIT TO MR. O'CONNELL IN PRISON. " HONEST TOM STEELE." GAIETY OF DINNER PARTIES AT THE PRISON. " SEDITIOUS POETRY." — MR. o'cONNELl's DECLARATIONS ON THE STATE TRIALS. — VISIT TO CONCILIATION HALL. The state trials had terminated some weeks, and Mr. O'Connell and his fellow "martyrs 1 ' were inmates of Richmond penitentiary. To attempt even a sketch of the history of the repeal agitation would be here out of place, but a few explanatory words of the famous proclamation, and the prosecutions which followed, may be acceptable. On the 1st of October, 1843, the monster meet- ing at Mullaghmast was held, and on the day before it an advertisement was published in the Dublin papers, announcing another monster meet- ing at Clontarf, on the 8th of October, and as it was drawn up with evident military knowledge, CLONTARF MEETING. 21 and a correct application of the terms of military- discipline, it caused much excitement. It was at first supposed to have been written by- some authorized member of the Repeal Associa- tion, but this was denied in a vote from that body; it was condemned by Mr. O'Connell, ridiculed by the Irish press, and credulously believed in En- gland to be only the precursor of a general rising throughout Ireland. But the author of it gene- rously came forward, and avowed his readiness to take upon him the entire responsibility of the pro- duction. Days wore on, and reports of all kinds were in circulation ; and it was the general opinion that the Clontarf meeting would not be permitted to go on, at least without a struggle involving much bloodshed. Troops and ammunition poured in, and the rumour ran that a privy council on the 6th had agreed to a proclamation, putting clown the meet- ing ; but until half-past three o'clock on Saturday afternoon (the 7th) it did not appear, — and within one half hour afterwards, the counter-proclamation signed by Daniel O'Connell as chairman of the committee, was in extensive circulation preventing that meeting. It would be necessary to know the thousands and tens of thousands, who were all moving 22 IMPRISONMENT OF towards Clontarf on the morning of the 8th of October, to judge accurately of the immense diffi- culty of avoiding any collision between the troops and the people. Steamers had come bringing ardent repealers from Liverpool, from Belfast, from Wex- ford; but the myriads dispersed tranquilly — the one voice governed them, as they never can be governed again, and Mr, O'Connell preserved the peace. The " informations" were perfected on the 8th of November ; the bills were found, and the trials came on, and lasted twenty-five days, the verdict being found on February 12, 1844, and the 30th of May began the imprisonment of Mr. O'Connell and the six other " conspirators,"" John O'Connell, Thomas Steele, T. M. Ray, R. Barrett, J. Gray, and C. Gavan Duffy. The prison is a very large building in a health- ful situation, on the front this inscription, "cease to do evil, learn to do well," and over the gate- way the arms of the city, with the motto, " Obe- dientia civium urbis Felicitas," So numerous were the visitors thronging to see the state-prisoners, that they had little leisure to muse on their cap- tivity. On our first visit we found Mr. O'Connell walk- ing in the garden, surrounded by several members of his family, and by several friends; and con- MR. O'CONNELL. 23 spicuous among the latter in his odd-looking military dress, his faithful friend "honest Tom Steele," and none can know Mr. Steele intimately, without fully appreciating the true-heartedness of his devotion to his "illustrious leader," as he styles Mr. O'Connell. It was a scene to he long- remembered ; the old man so surrounded, the sunny garden, and children's laughter, as they merrily played among the flowers, pealing cheerily above the animated conversation of many eager voices. How unlike a prison ! and yet Mr. O'Connell felt it to be one, and despite the exertions of his family and friends, his spirits drooped at times to the lowest state of despon- dency. A dinner at the prison was a very gay affair, and the diet anything but prison-like, for every day some rarities of the season appeared at table ; offerings from absent friends, and it seemed very difficult to fancy the large pleasant party of ladies and gentlemen around us, the laugh and jest going on, to be a prison re-union. Speaking of the state trials, the Attorney- General's opening speech was commented on, and his strictures on what he called " seditious poetry" freely discussed, and as the most inflammable specimen, he quoted in court those verses, — " The memory of the dead," which had appeared in the 24 "SEDITIOUS POETRY." 11 Nation" the previous year, and which I think so pretty, that I give them a place here. THE MEMORY OF THE DEAD. " Who fears to speak of ninety-eight ? Who blushes at the name ? When cowards mock the patriot's fate, Who hangs his head for shame ? He 's all a knave, or half a slave, Who slights his country thus ; But a true man, like you, man, Will fill your glass with us. " We '11 drink the memory of the brave, The faithful and the few : Some lie far off beyond the wave, Some sleep in Ireland, too. All, all are gone, — but still lives on The fame of those who died ; All true men, like you, men, Remember them with pride. " Some on the shores of distant lands Their weary hearts have laid, And by the stranger's heedless hands Their lonely graves were made. But though their clay be far away Beyond the Atlantic foam, In true men, like you, men, Their spirit 's still at home. " The dust of some is Irish earth ; Among their own they rest, And the same land that gave them birth Has caught them to her breast : " SEDITIOUS POETRY.'" 25 And we will pray that from their clay Full many a race may start Of true men, like you, men, To act as brave a part. " They rose in dark and evil days To right their native land ; They kindled here a living blaze That nothing shall withstand. Alas ! that might can vanquish right — They fell, and passed away ; But true men, like you, men, Are plenty here to-day. " Then here *s their memory — may it be For us a guiding light, To cheer our strife for liberty, And teach us to unite. Through good and ill, be Ireland's still, Though sad as theirs your fate ; And true men, be you, men, Like those of ninety-eight." Among the guests were five young lads whose story interested me greatly ; they were from Mr. O'ConnelFs native county, Kerry, and two of them, remarkably fine youths, were the sons of an eminent physician in Tralee, a staunch repealer and a Protestant. They loved O'Connell ; they lamented his imprisonment, and with the frank fresh feeling of youth, they longed to show they sympathized in the wrong that had been done him ; they would visit him, but how? the journey c 26 MR. o'connell's declaration was a long and an expensive one. Happy, cou- rageous youth ! not to be easily daunted. They possessed a boat, and in it they actually accom- plished a visit to Dublin; it was a small four- oared gig, and manned by the five boys, left Blennerville, a seaport, a short distance from Tralee, came down Tralee bay, and across a very rough sea round Kerry-head to the Shannon ; up the Shannon by Limerick, through Lough Derg, and to the junction of the Grand Canal, and by this canal to Dublin. And their honest, boyish love met a most kind, affectionate return from their imprisoned countryman. They had rowed nearly 200 miles to see him. At a meeting of the Corn Exchange the month before the imprisonment, Mr. O'Connell, in speak- ing of the state trials, made the following decla- ration, for which I am indebted to a friend who was present on the occasion. " They may," said he, " fine us. Well, we will pay the fine. They may imprison us. Well,- we will go to prison. We shall not be the less patriots, or the more disposed to compromise, be- • cause we are within the walls of a prison. Nay, so help me, Heaven ! if there were possibly any measure of acquiescence to which I would, when abroad, agree ; if there were any terms to be made with the enemies of freedom and of Ireland ON THE STATE TRIALS. 27 which I might not think obnoxious, if I were at large, I would reject them with indignation and contempt from the moment a prison's walls en- closed me. By imprisoning me, they say they may shorten my life. That does not affect me much. In the first place, I don't believe it. I may have come to that time of life when the affections are less soothing, and there is less of reciprocity to meet them ; my heart may be aged and widowed, and its tenderest ties may be de- stroyed ; but I am still like the scathed oak, not less firm against the fury of the storm than I would have been in the days of my green and buoyant youth. As to my health, I proclaim to the Irish people that I believe it is capable of sustaining any length of imprisonment they can inflict upon me." In this idea his friends said he was mistaken, and, unfortunately, they were right, for the im- prisonment seriously injured him, and the germ of his weakening health first took root in Richmond Penitentiary. Conciliation Hall was now an attractive object to all strangers in Dublin, and we attended a weekly meeting there. The building was erected by the subscriptions of the repealers, and opened last year, and, certainly, for all purposes of hearing and seeing, it is well designed. c 2 28 VISIT TO CONCILIATION HALL. There was this day a very dense crowd, and most unmistakable earnestness shown to hear the reports from the prison read to the meeting by Daniel CTConnell, Jun. The business of the day began with these reports, and then several letters were read from different parts of the world, all expressive of sympathy and good wishes with the Association. Then came the speeches, some excellent practical speeches, some flowery, rather unmeaning ones, and some even very indifferent, but all listened to with wondrous patience and good humour, and enlivened by occasional cheers. The speech that struck me most, the speech of the day in fact, gave promise of great talent, the speaker being quite a young man ; he spoke tenderly of his country, feelingly of her wrongs, and proudly of her rights, and his eye kindled, and his cheek glowed, as he told how many years of his long life his imprisoned leader had devoted to the cause of Ireland, how all loved, honoured, and trusted him, and how all would unite now in rallying round their aged chief.* The finale of the meeting was the announcement of the weekly rent, — this week over 2,000/. * And this same speaker was one of those " Young Ire- landers " who in 1845 forgot all Mr. O'Connell's efforts, and who turned upon him, slandered his actions, vilified his name. So much for political friendship ! . VISIT TO CONCILIATION HALL. 29 " What is done with all the money ?" I asked, of an intelligent member of the Repeal Association, one actively engaged in its working management ; he told me there was a very large staff employed, now numbering about forty-eight persons, with salaries varying from ten to thirty shillings per week, that all movements tending to improve the cause of the people, in any part of the kingdom, were under the care of the Association, and that the necessary money was freely disbursed from it, to obtain justice for every case of hardship reported as endured for political opinions. Then there were newspapers supplied to various reading-rooms. Every penny received and given out was noted down carefully, and every member admitted, every letter received, were likewise entered on the books of the Association. I was assured that the whole mechanical working of the Association is directed by a very able and zealous secretary. Of any amount of ultimate good this Repeal agitation may bring about, it is difficult to surmise ; of course it has its enemies as it has its friends, both parties in true national style, equally decided in its own opinions ; but among Mr. O'Connell's supporters there now seems to exist harmony, a steady, straightforward, attention to business, and an eager desire, in his forced absence, to carry out fully his plans at Conciliation Hall. SO CURRAGH OF KILDARE. CHAPTER IV. JOURNEY FROM DUBLIN TO LIMERICK. CURRAGH OF KILDARE. SCENE AT A MUNSTER HAMLET. LIMERICK BELLES AND BELLS. LEGEND OF THE BELLS. SIEGE OF LIMERICK. VOYAGE TO TARBERT. — DEEP GREEN OF THE FIELDS. DE- SCRIPTION OF " KINGDOM OF KERRY." LISLAGHLIN ABBEY. " FUNERALS PERFORMED." — A COUNTRY FUNERAL. KEENERS. We left Dublin, by the mail-coach, for Limerick, at a very matinal hour, and arrived at the last named city for a late dinner; an extremely tedious journey, the first part of it through such a well cultivated country that the stranger looking out for contrasts will not find one between it and England, but, advancing farther, Ireland will be recognized by the mud- cabins, the barefooted women and children, and the famed green of the " Emerald Isle, 11 showing here and there pleasantly on the pasture lands. Coming to the town of Kildare, we crossed the Curragh, famous as a race-course, and making a very fine one in its extent of 3000 acres : in many SCENE AT A MUNSTER HAMLET. 31 places it presents remains of the Druidical raths, and is made mention of in the old national ballad of the Insurgents of 1798. " Where shall we pitch our tents .?" Says the Shan Van Vocht ; " Where shall we pitch our tents ? " Says the Shan Van Vocht ; " On the Curragh of Kildare, And the boys they will be there With their pikes in good repair," Says the Shan Van Vocht. The country was in its summer bloom, potato- fields now purple, now white with blossoms, hay- makers at their pleasant labour, now pausing to gaze idly at the coach; ripening fields of corn, with " the poppy so royally robed in red, 1 '' peeping out here and there, the blessed promise of abund- ance all about us. We stop to change horses at a country hamlet, and out of the cabins come a swarm of women and children, and our guard has a word and a jest with them, and they talk merrily together in their native tongue, for we are in Munster. This is a very un-English scene. Among the group there was a young woman, she looks scarcely twenty-five, and from the infant in her arms, to the child holding a very little boy's hand, she has four children of different 32 LIMERICK BELLES AND BELLS. ages. On being questioned as to her own age, she smilingly says,