Lord Kenmare and Mr. Herbert of Mucruss are the two great proprietors of the Lakes and the country about them. All the islands, with the exception of Dinis, Brickeen, and the Devil's Island, in Turk Lake, belong to Lord Kenmare; the three latter are the property of Mr. Herbert. There are more than thirty in the Upper and Lower Lake that have names; many of these, however, are mere small rocks; and there are many more yet unnamed. The form of the Lower Lake is so extremely irregular, that it is somewhat difficult to say in what direction it runs; it is rather from the north-west to the south-east. Its utmost length is reckoned at seven miles, its utmost breadth at three. From the Laune river to the head of the Upper Lake forms a sweep, which may not improperly be termed a bay of mountains; and the greater part of the coasts of the lakes, with this district, belong to Lord Kenmare, continuing round nearly the whole of the Upper Lake as far as Cromiglaun, or Newfoundland, as it is sometimes called. From hence, the range of mountains running along the south-eastern side of the channel which unites the lakes, with the whole borders of Turk Lake, and those of the Lower Lake, from Dinis Island to Cahirnane, are the property of Mr. Herbert; — from the beginning of Cahirnane to the Flesk is the property of Mr. Herbert of Cahirnane; and then again, Lord Kenmare is proprietor of the lands from the north side of the Flesk to Prospect-Hall, the utmost point of the Lower Lake to the north-east. The remainder of the shores of the lake from Prospect-Hall, round again to the river Laune, is
Lord Kenmare's house is at the entrance of the town of Killarney from the Kenmare road; that is, the shortest road to Kenmare over the mountains, not that which I came, through Glan-Flesk. It is most extraordinary that the houses of both these proprietors, each of whom had such choice of lovely spots, should be fixed in a part of their respective domains the most unfavourable for seeing the beauties that surround them. Lord Kenmare's house stands on a perfect flat, having nothing in front but an avenue of trees, running in a contrary direction to the lake. The house makes very little show as to its exterior, nor is there, as I am informed, any aim at splendour within; it is a comfortable gentleman's house, and no more. I did not go into it. His Lordship has a very fine collection of engravings of Irish scenery from every part of the island, but he does not permit their being shown when he is absent; and he was at this time at Brussels with his brother, who had been dangerously wounded in the battle of Waterloo. That the house should be placed in such a situation is the more extraordinary, since there are many spots in the grounds whence it would have commanded a fine view over the lake. The deer-park is half a mile out of the town, in a contrary direction, on the road to Castle Island; and here also fine views over the lakes might have been obtained. Some parts of this park are well wooded, and through a fine rocky glen runs the river Deanagh, whence it pursues its course to the lake through the grounds about Lord Kenmare's house. Walks are made about this glen; and in a grove at the end of it are some of the tallest and most erect fir-trees I ever saw; squeezed too closely together to admit of their having branches, these trees stand like so many masts of ships ready prepared. The dell and grove are the most striking features of the deer-park: it was of a very large extent, but a part has been let off of late years to Mr. Cronan, who has an estate contiguous to it. This park and the ruins of Aghadoe were the last two objects that I visited before I bade adieu to Killarney.
The abbey and cathedral of Aghadoe were among the most celebrated of ancient days. The ruins of them stand upon the highest ground north of the lake, and are conspicuous objects from many points in rowing about it. Here was once, as the cathedral denotes, a bishop's see; and it is now distinguished
Very near the church stands a small fragment of a round-tower, scarcely twenty feet in height, and appearing in such a state of decay that it will probably soon be entirely mouldered away. At a little distance, in a field, is part of another tower, called by the people of the country The Pulpit; but, though round, of a very different description from the round-tower properly so called. It is very similar to what are to be seen in such places of antiquity in England as have any remains of their ancient walls. Round Norwich many of these towers are still standing, and many more were so within a few years. As Aghadoe was certainly a place of great importance in ancient days, might it not be walled round, and might not this be a tower of defence in the walls? From the hill which is the site of these ruins, there is a good view over the Lower Lake and its shores; many people reckon it the best within the circuit: with this I do not agree. The hill itself is ugly, having no wood about it, while the sides are broken into small inclosures surrounded with stone fences; and over this viewless kind of view the eye is first carried before it reaches the lake. As a bird's-eye view, none appears to me so good as the spot in Lord Kenmare's grounds, whence I had first an actual survey of those scenes, till then only spread before me in imagination.
In visiting Lord Kenmare's deer-park and the ruins of Aghadoe, I completed the range of all the leading objects which claim attention in this celebrated spot.
Mr. Weld thinks that Spenser the poet must have been a frequent visitant at the Lakes of Killarney while he was writing his Faerie Queene, and have had its scenery impressed on his imagination in many of the beautiful descriptions with which that poem abounds. He was then resident at Kilcoleman, a castle in the county of Cork belonging to the Earls of Desmond, only forty miles from Killarney, so that the idea seems extremely probable. That Spenser was very fond of Ireland is shown by the motto given in the title-page of this work. Dr. Smith thinks the scenery about the castle in which he wrote was sufficient to inspire him. He says: "Two miles north-west of Doneraile is Kilcoleman, a ruined castle of the Earls of Desmond, but more celebrated for being the residence of the immortal Spenser, where he composed his divine poem The Faerie Queene. The castle, now almost level with the ground, was situated on the side of a fine lake in the midst of a vast plain, terminated by the Waterford mountains to the east, by Ballyhowra hills, or as Spenser terms them the mountains of Mole to the north, by the Nagle mountains to the south, and to the west by the mountains of Kerry; so that the view extended half the breadth of Ireland. When the adjacent uplands were wooded, it must have been a most pleasant and romantic situation, and no doubt Spenser drew from it several parts of the scenery of his poem." It is most likely that his descriptions were not borrowed from either solely, but that he was furnished with ideas alike from both.
If it may appear extraordinary that of scenery which presents so many beautiful pictures, of which almost every spot is a beautiful picture, I have not given a single sketch — I have many reasons to adduce for the omission. In the first place, it has rather been my aim to place before the reader, views of objects less known, and which have not been so often made subjects for the pencil. In the second place, it is not by views of single detached parts that any idea can be formed of the Lakes of Killarney as a whole; and it is in contemplating them as a whole that their beauties appear the most striking; in considering how much variety of beauty is comprehended within, comparatively speaking, so small a space. In the third place, every thing that the pencil
Having taken my last look over the lake from the hill of Aghadoe, about three o'clock I set out for Tralee. Three roads go from Killarney to Limerick, not varying much in distance; my only doubt respecting which I should take was between the most eastern and the most western; the middle road was left entirely out of the question. It runs through Castle Island, Abbeyfeale, and Newcastle, over a mountainous country presenting no striking or marked features, the inns on the road being very bad. The most eastern passes through the town of Kilmallock, a place of great curiosity to travellers from the vestiges of former greatness which it exhibits, and which have given occasion to its being frequently called the Balbec of Ireland. Of this town an ample account is given in Sir Richard Colt Hoare's Journal, and to that I refer the reader, since he saw and examined the ruins, and I did not. A friend of mine, when I was coming this second time to Ireland, said to me, "I charge you do not omit seeing the ruins of Kilmallock, there is scarcely any thing in Ireland so interesting." I pondered, therefore, much upon taking this route: but I have said that the striking works of nature in this country, its fine scenery and mineralogical productions, were much rather the objects of my researches, than the productions of art either ancient or modern, and this it was which now determined my choice. In taking the most westerly road I thought I could include a visit to Kerry Head, the southern point at the mouth of the Shannon, where a noble scene presents itself. The river is here eight miles over, having fine bold rocks at each point of the channel, where it unites with the ocean. The force of the waves has excavated vast caverns in the rocks about Kerry Head, into which, in stormy weather, the sea beats with such tremendous force, that the noise may be heard for some miles. One cave in particular is more remarkable than the rest for the amazing roar which the waters make in rushing in, and to this is given again the name of Poll-a-Phuca or the Daemon's Cave. Among the rocks about Kerry Head are found abundance of the crystallizations which are celebrated as Kerry amethysts. Such objects were more attractive to me than the ruins of Kilmallock, and I resolved to devote a day to them,
I had been upon the whole exceedingly favoured by the weather while at Killarney, and left it in as fine an afternoon as could be seen. On arriving at Tralee, I made my arrangements for the proposed excursion, not having then the least idea of the weather interposing to baffle a scheme on which I had fixed my mind rather eagerly. But on the morrow when I awoke, I found the rain pouring down in torrents, and the atmosphere so loaded with clouds that little hope could be entertained but of its continuance. In deep sadness did I contemplate this very unexpected transition. What was to be done? — To go on an excursion, in which the principal object was to see a noble view, under circumstances when any object a quarter of a mile distant was completely shut out, would be a downright absurdity; and though I was eager to see Kerry Head, I did not wish to do a thing very absurd. Should I then wait at Tralee that day in hopes of better fortune the next? — this was a day in every way completely lost, and I did not wish to waste my time. I waited till ten o'clock, I saw no chance of amendment in the weather, and I then determined to give up Kerry Head, and proceed on the way to Limerick.
The road from Killarney to Tralee is dull and dreary till very near the latter town, when the view of it, with the bay on which it stands, gives a little variety to the scene. The bay is a very indifferent one, shoaly, and will not admit vessels of any size. Vast numbers of herrings are taken in it in the fishing season.
A castle still remains at Tralee which was the ancient possession of the Earls of Desmond: during the troubles in which that family were involved in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and which ended in their final extinction, the town suffered very severely. It had originally four strong castles; three have been entirely demolished. There was also an abbey here for Dominican friars, founded in the thirteenth century, of which no traces remain. The Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem had moreover an establishment here. The town suffered very severely in the Great Rebellion, and again in the wars of James the Second, so that in rising from so much ruin and devastation little appearance has been left of the real antiquity which it boasts. Many new houses have recently been erected, and I found an extremely good inn, as far as clean and
The road continued dull and uninteresting, or at least the heavy rain made it appear so. Listowel is the first stage, a town on the Feal, having a handsome bridge over that river. It is rather remarkably situated upon a steep eminence, rising on a sudden from a wide-extended flat; and the remains of an old castle frowning over the brow of the height give it a striking appearance in approaching it. This castle once extended a considerable way; the principal part that remains is a gateway, a lofty circular arch, between two lofty round-towers. From hence we proceeded to Glynn on the Shannon, where were to be our night quarters. For a long way beyond Listowel there is a dismal dreary bog without an object of any kind to excite interest. At length at Tarbert we came upon the bank of the Shannon; the rain had by this time ceased, and a gleam of tolerable weather afforded an opportunity of seeing the really fine view presented. The village is neat and pretty, and opposite to it in the Shannon, which is here a great width, is a pretty wooded island. The road continues close by the river side from hence to Glynn: this is rather a pretty town, sloping up from the river side; close by it is the castle of the Knight of Glynn. An old castle once occupied the spot, but now, though retaining the name of a castle, it is a modern-built house.
The weather was not such the next morning as to give me any occasion for regret that I had not stopped the day before at Tralee to take my chance of a more propitious moment for Kerry Head. I set out again from Glynn in a heavy rain, which continued the greater part of the way till we got to Adair, a long stage of sixteen miles. Having then ceased, I had an opportunity of going over some of the numerous ruins for which the place is celebrated. The country here is somewhat improved, and just about Adair is well wooded. This town was in former times of great note, and was among the very large possessions of the Desmond family; it is now the property of Lord Adair, who has here a house and very extensive park, but it is much more to the vestiges of former grandeur
The abbey is supposed to have been founded in the year 1315, for Augustine friars. Of this there were very large remains, and Lord Adair has generously given the whole pile to the use of the parish. The church, of which the greatest part was left standing, has been fitted up as a parish church; every thing that was wanting has been restored in a style perfectly to correspond with the ancient work, and the pews are all of fine old oak. All Ireland can hardly boast so handsome a village church. Another part of the building which joined to the cloisters is fitted up for a school-room; the cloisters are in good preservation, and are not to be touched. Such is the durable nature of the stone, a hard gray limestone, and of the work, that wherever any part of the wall is to be pulled down, which is done as sparingly as possible, it is a task of labour and difficulty. Over a gateway going into the building converted into a school-room, the master workman, who as well as the parish clerk walked about with me, putting aside a long pendant mass of ivy, showed me the Fitzgerald arms with the crest, a monkey, and the supporters, monkeys, and then proceeded to relate the origin of this crest and these supporters; to which I listened attentively, though indeed I had heard it before. He said that many years ago, a castle belonging to the family being on fire, the people were hurrying about in great confusion, endeavouring to save what was most valuable. Among these valuables, however, the heir of the family, a child in a cradle, was not thought of, and he had been left to perish in the flames but for the greater attention of a monkey. He took the child from the cradle and ran up with it upon the battlements; the fire had then got such complete possession of the interior that it was scarcely any longer safe to venture within,
In the centre of the village are the remains of another abbey, the church of which Lord Adair, with a truly liberal spirit, has given to the Catholics for their use; it is all covered in, but the Catholics are poor, and have not the means of bestowing much money on their churches, so that the new work is mere common masonry; the side to the street and the door of entrance are, however, in good preservation, and make a handsome appearance. It were much to be wished that Lord Adair's example may be followed in more than one point of view; in rising superior to the distinction of Catholic and Protestant, and seeing in all around him fellow-creatures and fellow-christians, though not exactly agreeing in all points of religious belief; — while it is equally desirable to see these ancient remains restored as much as possible to their primitive state, and rendered alike objects of ornament and utility in the country. Where there are remains wanting so little to restore them as has been found necessary at Adair, 'tis pity they should not be restored; the objection to touching them is, when some vile ordinary piece of patchwork is to be added to them in a style wholly foreign to the original building, to employ them perhaps for some very vile purpose. The town of Adair suffered severely in common with all the possessions of the Earl of Desmond in the conflicts which he
From hence to Limerick the country is well cultivated, but affords no object of particular interest or deserving of remark. At Glynn the road takes a direction distant from the Shannon, and that river is seen no more till near Limerick. The approach to the town presented nothing striking.