Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
The Miseries and Beauties of Ireland (Author: Jonathan Binns)

chapter 8

Armagh — Archbishop's Palace — Fair at Market Hill — Basalt — Slieve Guillien — Belleek — Protestant Schools — Cairn on Slieve Guillien — Cabin near the mountain — Native Irish language — Monaghan — Tydavnet — Mr. Skelton, and cruelties arising out of a distraint — Examination of the barony of Monaghan — Want of Employment — Wages — Employment of women — Priest's dues — Spirit-shops — Sobriety of the people — Clothing of the labourers — Pawnbrokers — Remarks on the Irish people — Disturbance at the Examination — Threatening notices — Resident agents — Mr. Rose's Improvement Fund — Breed of cattle — Manure — County cess — Orchards — Emigration.

After inspecting, in company with Mr. Blacker, several additional farms belonging to Lord Gosford, we proceeded to Armagh, and visited the ancient cathedral, which stands on the summit of the hill. It was undergoing repair, and receiving embellishment. The tower and spire were temporarily supported on wooden props, while fresh foundations were being laid; and it is extraordinary that they had only shrunk one inch during

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the progress of this singular operation. Several curious relics were shewn to us — among the rest, a very ancient stone, with rude figures, representing St. Patrick receiving the keys from St. Peter, sculptured upon it. This cathedral was founded in the year 445 by St. Patrick, the first bishop, and is said to have been originally constructed of willows or wattles, like most of the primitive churches before stone and mortar buildings were in use. History informs us that Armagh was the most celebrated school for learning and theology, and was much resorted to by the Anglo-Saxons. Sir James Ware states the students at one time to have amounted to 7000.

The city stands on the river Callen; its population now is about 9200. The buildings are handsome, and the environs beautiful. The Observatory, Library, and many other public buildings (which I unfortunately had not time to visit) are highly spoken of. In some old parts of the town the streets are narrow, and the houses nothing better than filthy hovels. Beautiful marble, of various colours, and susceptible of a fine

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polish, is obtained near Armagh. I was disappointed in my wish to see the Archbishop's Palace, for the grounds are so effectually surrounded by high walls and closed doors, as to prevent the possibility of even a passing glimpse from the public road. Every civility, however, is shewn to strangers, and had I solicited admission, I should have had no difficulty in obtaining it. Within the episcopal domain is an obelisk of marble, 114 feet high, erected by Archbishop Robinson for the purpose of employing the poor. He also built the palace, three churches, and the parish school, and endowed the Observatory at his own expense.

At a fair at Market Hill, held on the 21st of August, we saw a young bull (the best in the fair), a year and a half old, with a cross of long horn, which was priced at £2. 4s! Cows, nearly all of the Irish breed, are valued at from three to £6. Lord Gosford possesses a fine young bull of the Durham breed, which is likely to improve the stock. On Lord Gosford's estate we inspected some Italian rye-grass, the stalks of

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which were four feet long, very succulent and leafy, and likely to be of abundant produce.

In the course of my walk through Lord Gosford's grounds, I was surprised to find a bed of basalt of curious formation; the labourers were breaking it for the roads. The upper strata resembled cannon balls, or soldiers' loaves of various sizes, enveloped in a softer mass of a burned appearance, and seemed to have been in a state of fusion, corroborating the opinion as to the igneous origin of basalt; below them was the more solid rock; and lower still, Mr. Blacker informed me, the stones were similar to the pillars and joints of the Giant's Causeway, which he believed crossed the island here. A man began to clear away the superincumbent matter, for our inspection of that beneath, but we had not time to wait the result. The stone is mixed with trap, resembling large hailstones.

Not having seen what are here termed the mountain-farms, we travelled up the high grounds beyond Belleek, near the Tully Galleon and Fork Hill Mountains, with the intention of examining

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several of Lord Gosford's farms in that neighbourhood, as well as some belonging to other proprietors. The famous mountain Slieve Guillien, near Belleek, is too interesting an object to go unnoticed. Belleek, I may observe en passant, is a small town of one street, situated at the base of the mountains, and was once a place of consequence. A large fair was formerly held there, but the "country boys" evinced such a boisterous disposition, and fought so desperately, that it was obliged to be discontinued. Having passed the mountain house and Leslea Chapel, we put up our horse at Mullabran School-house, the master of which appeared a superior man. He informed me that four Protestant schools were established in the neighbourhood, free to all parties, but that the priests objected to the Catholic children attending them. Here we engaged a guide (who, according to custom, professed to know every thing relating to the mountains), and commenced our ascent by a very rugged path — enlivened, however, by innumerable plants of the heather (the flowers of both the

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tetralix and the cineria being perfectly white) and refreshed by the fruit of the bleaberry, which grew there in great abundance.

On gaining the summit of this mountain I was indeed richly rewarded. The cairn which renders it so celebrated, instead of being a mere rude heap of stones, as I had expected to find it, contained a circular chamber, with which a passage under long flat stones communicated; but of what length this passage has originally been, it is difficult now to ascertain, as it is filled up with earth and stones, which obstruct any further progress to what is supposed to be a large apartment. The entrance, which is now filled with rubbish, appears to have been covered with a roof of large stones, capable of supporting a great weight. The cairn of stones, which has covered the chamber, is nearly 40 feet in diameter at the base. A little lower down the hill, and in front of this cairn, is a flat stone supported by many uprights' and has the appearance of a cromlech. The mountain is of primitive formation, and composed of granite argillite. Its summit commands a

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most extensive view. Newtown Hamilton, Rathfriland, Rostrevor, the Bay of Dundalk, Castle Blaney, Ravensdale, Jonesborough, Forkhill, and old Barracks, Lough Neagh, Camloch, and several of the Monaghan Lakes, were visible; and the county of Armagh seemed almost one continuous patchwork of corn fields, ripe for the harvest.

The mountain is cultivated as near its summit as food for man will grow; and the potato and corn fields are in some places so steep, and apparently so perpendicular, as to resemble, when viewed from the road, pictures in square frames hanging against the walls of a room. Slieve Guillien, and the lake near the summit, afford fruitful materials for the romantic tales of which the Irish are so passionately fond. On the side of the hill are bold rocky cliffs and caverns, formerly the safe retreat of robbers, who plundered the surrounding country at their pleasure. Of these, Redman O'Hanlan was pre-eminently distinguished for his nightly maraudings, and was long the terror of the neighbourhood.

On returning from Slieve Guillien I visited a

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humble cottage in which were a woman and her children; the woman stated that her husband was gone to reap the harvest in the fens of Lincolnshire, from whence she expected he would bring something to pay the rent. She kindly invited me to a potato, which I as willingly accepted; seats, however, there were none. The cabin had neither window nor chimney; a small hole served the purpose of the latter, but the smoke, after filling the cabin, for the most part issued from the door. So sensibly were my eyes affected by this obscure and unusual atmosphere, that I could not for some time see the objects around me. At length, however, I discovered that the room was about 12 feet square; and on inquiring where they slept, a corner of this confined place was pointed out to me, in which I saw a few rags that served as bed-clothes. On the opposite side of the fire was a row of stones, intended to mark out the extent of the heifer's bed. These poor people rent one acre and a half (Irish measure) of mountain land, and a like quantity of bog from Major Barrett (to whom the west side of the mountain belongs)

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at a rent of 10s. 6d. per acre. This little farm was lately in the hands of a middleman, to whom they paid at the rate of £1. 11s. 6d. per acre for the mountain land. During my conversation with this poor woman, a large party of women and children, attracted by the novelty of a stranger's appearance, had good-naturedly collected round the cabin, and I had the satisfaction of hearing, for the first time, the Irish language spoken by natives. Some animated discussions were carried on — many of the speakers not knowing a word of English. Notwithstanding the privations which these poor creatures endured, it was delightful to see them as cheerful and as happy as if they were living in the midst of English plenty, and I felt with what truth the poet had spoken when he said —
    1. Still to ourselves in every place consign'd,
      Our own felicity we make or find.

On the 25th of August we left Market Hill, and again passed through Armagh, Pat driving tandem. That part of the county of Monaghan through which we travelled, was very inferior to Armagh,

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and contained a considerable quantity of bogland. On our arrival at the county town of Monaghan, we took up our quarters at the Westenra Arras, kept by Mr. Curran, and called, by way of distinction, the Hotel. Here we stopped, and found very comfortable accommodation. The Jail, as usual, is an enormous building, and cost £20,000. It is truly horrifying to come within view of these terrible buildings; they are rendered doubly terrific in appearance, from having a sort of iron cage in front, from which are suspended a long iron bar with figures of a death's head and cross-bones, rendered still more conspicuous by being painted black and white.

Tydavnet was decided upon for the place of examination, and a room was obtained in a house occupied by a Mr. Skelton. On entering it I observed a brace of pistols lying on the desk, and found on enquiry that the family durst not either remain in the house or go out of it unarmed. The windows, too, were barricaded with iron bars, and the police were in plentiful attendance, a police station having been appointed

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hard by, for the special protection of this family.

In the course of examination the following facts were stated, viz. that Skelton was the land agent of Henry Mitchell, Esq., and that the animosity excited towards him arose out of some proceedings taken by him against a farmer named Woods, who was six years in arrear for a rent of £10 10s. per annum. Skelton offered to give him £10. if he would leave the farm, but the man refused, alleging that if he did he must beg. Skelton then lent him money, on his own account, to enable him to put in the next crop, but Woods let it to cottier-tenants who would have taken the produce away, had not Skelton, in order to secure himself, distrained it. The farm was afterwards let to another tenant of the name of Cragill, who had not resided there more than a few months before a party of men came to his house, and beat both him and his wife in a most unmerciful manner. The scoundrels afterwards returned, and beat Cragill so severely that he was left apparently dead, and did not survive more than a fortnight.

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During his illness he told Skelton who the men were, and Skelton, as well as his son, had to give evidence against them at the assizes. The men were tried several times. At the third trial they pleaded guilty of manslaughter, though twenty witnesses swore that they had nothing to do with the affair.

One of the Roman Catholic priests present said that when either party, Protestant or Roman Catholic (it mattered not which) considered that they were oppressed and injured, and that justice was refused them, they thought they were acting conscientiously in using every means, even false swearing, to prevent the conviction of the accused.

Skelton afterwards exasperated the people by advertising a reward for mischiefs done in the neighbourhood. His house was accordingly set on fire, and he, his wife, and seven children, very narrowly escaped; his cow was injured, his dog killed, and if his son had not been removed out of the way he would most assuredly have been murdered. Although the magistrates have afforded him every protection, he and his wife live in constant

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fear, and consider themselves in imminent danger.

The criminals were Catholics, their victim a Protestant; but Skelton said that religion had nothing to do with the affair: under similar circumstances they had equally abused a Catholic. Notwithstanding the terrific jails, with their deaths' heads and cross-bones, no man dare take a farm in this neighbourhood from which another has been ejected.

Mr. Skelton informed us that a rule exists that any person taking land over another shall be punished. They throw down houses, and send threatening notices. "It is to protect themselves against destitution that the people resort to these crimes." Barney Conner said that "it generally arose out of oppression." Mr. Mitchell was a good landlord, but not resident. One of the priests said that Mr. Mitchell himself was a kind man, and that the discontent was the fault of the agents. The priest had told the people they were taking a wrong course.

A magistrate present observed that there have

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been parishes in a state of constant disturbance for ten years; that the people are knocked down, and dare not work at the building of Barracks. The priest replied that the evils were exaggerated; this was done to conceal the real cause of complaint.

In this barony the labourers are increasing in number, and scarcely one twentieth of the population have anything to do except working some little spot of land of their own. "If a man had not conacre," said one of the witnesses, "he might wander about to eat haws and blackberries half his time." Being asked how the labourer usually spends his time when unemployed, Michael Phillips said — "Walking about, and dragging sorrow after his heels."

The wages of the country are 10d. a day without diet, or 6d. with; sometimes, in winter, 4d. and diet. Very little money is paid for labour. A horse and car are occasionally lent to bring home turf, and the return is made in labour. "Very little money," said Mr. Wright, "passes between the farmers and labourers."

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With regard to the employment of women, one of the witnesses observed, that if a woman had nothing else to do, she might make a penny a day by spinning; but the Rev. Mr. Duffy, P.P., added that "it would take a half year's work to keep the wheel in repair." The Rev. Mr. Mahon, P.P., stated that he had never seen more than three women weaving in his life. To this, Bess Hughes, a labourer's wife, replied — "It is often we lament that we leave the whole burthen of supporting the children on the poor men. There is no work for women, nor for children, till they are old enough to go to service. I have a lump of a chap, and he gets a day now and then at weeding; he gets 3d. for the day, without diet."

The priest's dues here are a shilling at Christmas, and another at Easter; "and if the family are in distress, which is too often the case," said the Rev. Mr. Mahon, "of course I cannot expect anything."

The number of retail spirit-shops has greatly increased. In Monaghan, which formerly contained only twenty, there are now no fewer than

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thirty, although the town has undergone but little increase. The magistrates present all stated that drinking had become excessive, most of the cases that came before them arising out of drunken squabbles. Besides the increased number of licensed houses, there are also very many shebeen houses in the country, and they are the source and scene of the greatest immorality. Being in remote and secret places, they are under no control, and young people steal flax and potatoes or meal from their parents, and pledge them in such houses for drink. From my own observations, however, I have been induced to believe that there is less drunkenness in Ireland than in England. One evening twenty-three men were placed against a wall in the yard of the Westenra Arms in Monaghan, in order that the overlooker, after having identified them, might pay to each his shilling for his day's harvest work. They went, one by one, into an adjoining spirit shop; and, concluding that they were going for the purpose of drinking whiskey, I walked to the door to inspect their proceedings, and was agreeably surprised to find

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that they merely wanted to examine their money by the light. Not one of the twenty-three got a drop. This minute examination of the money is necessary, I suppose, in Ireland; many of the labourers appear to place no dependence on the honesty of their employers.

The state of the clothing of the labourers in this barony is wretched. One of them informed us that he wore two pairs of shoes and about five shillings worth of clothes in a year; and another stated that he knew a man who had worn a coat thirty-five years, but that he kept constantly patching it. The accommodation of the poor creatures in respect of beds, is equally wretched. Most of the cabins possess something in the shape of bedsteads, but, in very many instances, straw is shaken down as a substitute for bedding. "It would deprive you, gentlemen, of your rest at night," said Alice Kelly, "if you saw the way we are lying." A bedstead frequently contains five or six people. Some of the cabins have two bays or rooms, others only one; the bay is 12 feet square and 7 or 8 feet high; they are built of stone

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and mud; the ground on which the house is built is dug up and trampled to form the floor; sometimes lime is mixed with it, but not often — the chimneys are of sticks and clay — "you'll see many an old firkin stuck up for a chimney," said Connolly. The Rev. Mr. Young stated, that most of the windows (which are about a foot square) are without glass; "you may see an old coat or some rag stuffed in the aperture." The cost of erection is from four to five pounds. The rent was thus stated by Connolly — "a day in every week is what myself and my neighbours pay, but we have no rood-land, only a little bit of garden."

There are two pawnbrokers in Monaghan. On the question being put as to whether the people were generally in favour of them, one of the witnesses, Bess Hughes, replied, "Well, I'll tell you; if a person is pressed for a breakfast, and the pawnbroker would not give the money, you'd want the breakfast. At first, some years ago, we used to go in the dusk to the pawnbroker's, but now I would not care if all the people on the

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Market-cross saw me; they know it is a weighty pressure makes us do it." The quickness, the humour, the unfailing gaiety of these poor women, who, though they have scarcely a rag to cover them, and cannot with certainty calculate upon a single meal in prospect, seem to take a pleasure in laughing at sorrow, has a tendency, if not to blunt the keen edge of pity, at least to reconcile one's feelings in some degree to the destiny which imposes so light a burden. Ireland is a good school for the humanities; it is a good school, too, for those who take a low, and narrow, and disparaging view of the noble nature we possess.

The accounts given of their circumstances by the labourers residing in Monaghan, prove them to be in a worse condition than the country labourers. Though they get a greater number of days' work, they cannot so easily obtain conacre; their food is accordingly more precarious.

The desire to possess land gives rise to great and violent competition (the labourer being wholly thrown upon the hire of land for a subsistence), and it was the opinion of several present that a

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great many outrages, and those of the worst description, are attributable to this cause. In endeavouring to ascertain whether Mr. Skelton, by his treatment of the tenantry, had given occasion for the outrages that had lately occurred, the passions of the contending parties became so violent, each wishing to support his own friends, that the Assistant Commissioners deemed it prudent, for the sake of the peace of the district, to give up the investigation on that subject. Had this step not been taken, a serious disturbance would doubtless have been the consequence. This shocking state of things might be remedied, if owners would reside on their estates, for at least a portion of the year, and pay more attention than they do to the management of their properties. The landlords who do reside, feel no apprehension. Major Richardson, for instance, Mr. Hamilton, and others, are perfectly safe, ride about the country anywhere, unattended, and are treated with marked respect. Here is another proof that the people will only injure those whom they think are desirous to oppress them; and here too is

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another strong argument in favour of the application of a system of general education.

The average size of farms was stated to be from eight to ten Irish acres; few above fifty, and none exceeding eighty. The gentlemen are desirous of consolidating the small farms, but they have not yet done anything towards carrying their wishes into effect. From the year 1827 to 1833, no fewer than 230 ejectment decrees were issued, and the ejected tenantry, as in all similar cases, were scattered about the country. Nothing whatever was done for them by the landlords, and of course those who had no means of getting in somewhere, must have suffered extreme privation. The peasantry generally resist ejectment, and the ejected tenantry threaten those who are substituted for them. The following is a copy of a threatening notice handed in by one of the witnesses: — "Take notice, do not offer to proceed any further; stop in time, or if you don't, by the powers above, to heaven or hell, your souls from you we will expel, and send them down to the regions of hell. D—n your souls, go where you

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came from, or you will repent it." "To John M'Mahon and John Cush." These are some of the difficulties to which the English farmer is happily a stranger. Not having to lay out the whole of his capital in obtaining possession of a farm, he experiences comparatively little hardship in leaving it for another. When we hear of the Irish violently resenting the conduct of an agent who has ejected them, although we cannot justify the outrages they commit, we ought certainly to regard them with some degree of indulgence, remembering the interest they have in the property by purchase, and seeing that when thus ejected they go homeless, houseless, and pennyless, wanderers and beggars on the face of the earth. If we may not vindicate the savage excesses in which they too frequently indulge, we are bound to consider whether their legalized oppressors do not merit at least a portion of our condemnation.

Almost the whole of this barony is in the hands of proprietors in fee; there are no middlemen. The county of Monaghan is generally the property of absentees, but they have resident agents

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who manage the property; and as to any complaint preferred by the tenants, the witnesses observed that it is not attended to by the principal. Farms are not generally held under lease, but it was considered better to have them, as they encourage the farmers to make improvements.

Except in the vicinity of towns, the Irish acre is used. The barony is altogether a tillage district, with the exception of some rough grazing on the mountains, only fit for rearing young dry stock. Clover and vetches are very commonly cultivated, but few turnips and mangel wurzel are yet to be found. Mr. Hazlett, a tenant of Mr. Rose, who bears the highest character as a landlord, and is decidedly one of Ireland's benefactors, informed us that three years ago, that gentleman appointed a committee of his respectable tenants to manage a fund, amounting to £400, for the improvement of his estate. The committee supply good cows at an annual rate of sixteen shillings, to such of the tenants as are unable to purchase them. The cow never becomes the property of the tenant, consequently he cannot be deprived of

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her for the payment of his debts. The annual charge of sixteen shillings is to meet the difference between the cows sold and new ones purchased, as a good milker is always supplied in case of a failure. When a cow dies, the loss is sustained by the fund, and a new one is provided, unless the death arises from neglect, in which case a fine is imposed. Pigs are also supplied to the poorer tenants, and the price is re-paid when the farmer sells the pig. The committee furnish the seed of clover, vetches, mangel wurzel, and turnips, to the small tenants, assist them in sowing them, and afterwards give premiums for the best crops. This judicious and praiseworthy plan has induced some of the tenants to adopt the green crop system, of which they gave an encouraging account, declaring that they were much better for it, and could feed more cattle than before. Captain Lewis also stated that on the Rossmore Estate he gave premiums for clover, and that there has in consequence been a wonderfully increasing growth. I was happy to find that there existed a farming society which gives premiums for the best kept

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dairies, for ploughing, for the best cattle, and for general improvement. The breed of cattle has accordingly been very much improved. The Devon, Durham, and Hereford, are mixed here in all varieties. I endeavoured to point out to the gentlemen and farmers assembled, the advantage of keeping more sheep, but Mr. Hamilton contended that the land was too light, and that to grow rape, to be eaten off by them, would not answer. The land, he said, was much lighter than in England. They do indeed ornament the grounds of the gentlemen, but I should be glad, I must confess, to see two or three on the small farmer's premises. They might be advantageously kept on the green crops, and it is to be hoped that the farmer would have the use of the wool, should he not be able to taste the mutton.

On the question being asked whether bones, salt, soot, rape-cake, &c, were ever used as manures, an answer was given in the negative, when a voice in the crowd exclaimed, "We are very well off if we have salt with our potatoes, for nine times out of ten we can't get it — not to talk

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of manuring land with it." The gaiety and good humour of the people under their numerous privations almost exceeds belief.

The soil of the barony is mostly a good brown loam of sufficient depth, upon a firm subsoil of clay, mixed with limestone, gravel, or sand. In the elevated parts it is of a moory or peaty nature, the subsoil frequently clayey. Monaghan and Glennan, near Glassburgh, supply the barony with limestone; the price of lime at the kilns is 10d. for four bushels. The pasture land, in many parts of the barony, in which their cattle ramble at large, and pick up a scanty subsistence, is excessively weedy, being left to spontaneous production, after years of exhausting grain crops.

The inferiority of the grain in this district is caused principally by the number of weeds which grow up in the crops, and the want of proper machinery for winnowing and skreening the grain. Flax is grown to a great extent, and is most valuable as a source of industry and profit; the quality, however, is not so fine as in the county of Armagh.

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The county cess here is very unequal, having been applotted in William and Mary's time. It is generally the same sum per acre, whatever the quality of the land may be. There is no parish cess.

The value of orchards is very much underrated, and the planting of them lamentably neglected. Some of the gentlemen and landlords, as well as the farmers present at the examination, alleged that the farmers have no room for orchards; forgetting, or being ignorant, that an orchard, sheltered with fruit trees and good hedges, produces the earliest and perhaps the most abundant crops of grass of any land of similar extent on a farm. Bees are also rare; they would be a valuable addition to the gardens of the farmers and cottagers.

Within the last few years great numbers of the population have emigrated to America. Many farmers have sold their farms and gone, and several instances were mentioned in which they had been successful. Upon the question being put, whether, if a free passage to America were

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offered, many would accept it, there was a general exclamation —" We would all go; there would be more work there than workers."

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