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.

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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.

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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 Pictorial Map of Clare District 220

CONTENTS.

  Page Introduction 8 Dublin and District—   Dublin 15 Dublin District 24 Limerick and District—

align="right">  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

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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 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."

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G. S. & W. R. Corridor Train.

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.

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.

Photo—Lawrence, Dublin.

Sackville-street, Dublin.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

Photo—Lawrence, Dublin.

National Library and Four Courts, Dublin.

The cemeteries of Dublin are small, except Glasnevin. A drive through the Phœnix 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 Phœnix 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 Phœnix 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.

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."

Photo—Roche, Dublin.

Salmon Leap, Lucan.

Photo—Roche, Dublin.

Castletown House.

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."