Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
The Miseries and Beauties of Ireland (Author: Jonathan Binns)
chapter 7
Journey from Killarney to Millstreet — The Cloghreen Mountain — The Paps — Irish funeral procession — Singular defence of absenteeism — The Kerry sheep and pigs — Macroom — The River Lee — Journey to Cork — Cork — Black Rock Castle — Picturesque banks of the Lee — Trade of Cork — Lloyd's Hotel — Kilcolman Castle — Spenser and the Fairie Queene — The meeting between Sir Walter Raleigh and Spenser — Fair-day at Mitchellstown — Wages and Rents — The Kingston caves — The Knockmeledown Mountains — Cave of Oonakareaglisha — Lord Glengall's estates — Ride from Rathcormack.
From Killarney to Millstreet, in the county of Cork, I travelled in an open car with the elderly gentleman before mentioned, whom I discovered to be, not a clergyman, but a landowner going to receive the rents of his estates in the county of Tipperary. I found him, notwithstanding the infirmity of deafness with which he was afflicted, an agreeable, communicative companion, and well acquainted with the country through which we passed.
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After leaving Killarney, the character of the country for a few miles is very fruitful and pleasing. To the south of the road, the river Flesk passes through a valley of good land, and, receiving the mountain waters for about ten miles east of Killarney, flows into the lower lake near Ross Island. Several old churches and castles adorn and diversify the scenery. The Cloghreen Mountain is an interesting object. It seemed to be a series of immense steps or right angled indentures, ascending as far as the mist, which enveloped the upper part of this and the Killarney range of hills, allowed us to see. The Paps, also, two finely rounded hills meeting at the bases, are seen to the right, having each a cairn at the summit.
Before reaching Millstreet I met a regular Irish funeral procession, the first I had seen. The horse which drew the car containing the coffin, was led by a man. The vehicle had the appearance of a triumphal car. The canopy was painted in gaudy colours, and decorated with curtains; one female mourner sat at the head, and another at the foot of the coffin, venting their real
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or fictitious sorrow in loud lamentations. The car was followed by several women on foot, with handkerchiefs in their hands, "keening" as they went along — their faces expressive of agony and grief, which, by the way, the great exertion necessary to effect the discordant wail, would be sufficient to produce. Several cars, and from twenty to thirty horsemen, completed the procession. I did not observe any suits of black, nor is it a general custom to put on mourning in following a corpse to the grave; even in Dublin, funerals are frequently attended by as many as twenty cars, the only persons in mourning being those in the coach immediately following the coffin, and sometimes not even those. The spectacle was new to me and extremely interesting, as the peculiar customs of different countries cannot fail to be; but though interesting, the loud and dismal cries which form an indispensable and prominent part of the ceremony, were productive of a degree of horror which I shall not attempt to describe. They were so thoroughly inconsistent with the silence and the gravity which I have always felt
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to be due, not merely to the inanimate relics of man, but to the abstract and solemn idea of death. The "consummate kingliness" of this vast power should not be profaned by the shrill yellings of hired mourners. The custom, however, has the sanction of antiquity to recommend it. "The antiquity of this custom," says Mr. Wright, in his Scenes in Ireland, "not only in Ireland, but amongst the Romans, Greeks, and Hebrews, is indisputable. 'The mourners go about the streets,' has an obvious reference to persons analogous to the professional keeners of Ireland. The Romans had their 'praeficae mulieres,' who, 'with dishevelled locks,' led on the melancholy parade of death; and Homer frequently alludes to this ceremony, in describing the last rites of his most conspicuous heroes: —
- The pious maids their mingled sorrows shed,
And mourn the living Hector as the dead.
"And again
- Alternately they sing, alternate flow
The obedient tears, melodious in their woe.
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"The funeral oration, or song, was anciently composed by the bard who dwelt in the hall of the chieftains, and contained in its elegiac numbers a catalogue of the virtues of the deceased: 'O why did he die, who had so many sons and fair daughters? O why did he die, who was lord of the hill, and the dale, and the golden valley?' &c.; such wild effusions formerly, and even now, constitute the verbal portion of the elegiac lamentation, called 'The Irish cry.'"
My companion and I parted at Millstreet, where I learned that his name was Hodgson, that he lived at Bantry, and had estates there as well as in Limerick. One advantage attributed by him to absenteeism, struck me as somewhat ingenious: he said that proprietors, by living away from their estates, see the improvements of other countries, and import them to their own districts. This would be a valid defence of absenteeism, provided absenteeism were merely temporary, or that the majority of the absentees, which is certainly not the case, feel the interest ascribed to them by Mr. Hodgson, and exert themselves, as he implied,
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in improving the condition of their country and its inhabitants. Some of the bog near Bantry Bay, he told me, let for only fourpence an acre. Bad landlords, he observed, were the means of making bad tenants; the former considering themselves every thing, the tenants nothing. The system (he added) pursued by too many of them, tends directly to the destruction of their tenants, being often actually the cause of their death. A wiser policy — the inculcation of an improved agriculture — would be found to operate as beneficially for the landlord as for the tenant. The property of the one would be augmented — perhaps not always nominally, but invariably in reality; — and both the physical and the moral condition of the other would be ameliorated.
The Kerry sheep are curious-looking animals; many of them having been very lately shorn (though late in December), had no wool except a large tuft on each cheek. I observed sheep in a similar condition on the mountains of Lough Conn, and learnt that it was a common practice in those parts of the country to shear them twice a year. They
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are greatly inferior to the breeds on most of the mountains of England and Scotland. It is for the sake of the wool that farmers keep a few sheep: the fleece weighs about 2lb., and sells for 1s. per lb. As we proceeded, we frequently passed droves of fat pigs on their way for embarkation at Cork; some men were driving two or three, others a score or two of these animals. The pigs in Kerry have not been improved, as in most parts of Ireland; they still remain a long-eared, narrow-backed, long-legged race, probably as bad a breed as any in the world. The expense of an Irishman travelling forty or fifty miles with his pigs is a mere trifle: a pennyworth or two of bread, and a draught of buttermilk, is all he requires, by way of food; and as for lodging, he is glad to creep into an outhouse of any kind with his pig, which has long been his cabin-companion. He can make no better use of his time and talents than in accompanying his favourite to Cork. The animal, having been so well tutored at home, is no trouble on the road.
The country around Millstreet is romantic and
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pleasant, and, if time had allowed, I should have enjoyed a day's ramble in the vicinity. The road passes through the rugged hills of Carrigugulla, famous alike for slate-quarries, and as the scene of dreadful encounters of the White Boys in 1822 and 1823; and thence through the hills of Muskerry to Macroom on the Shullane river. The population of Macroom is about 2000. Near the town stands an ivied castle, originally erected in the reign of King John, and rebuilt in 1641. It is stated by some to have been the birth-place of Sir William Penn. This ancient structure has been degraded by the insertion of modern sash-windows, and other equally preposterous anomalies.
The rent of land in the vicinity of Macroom, is from 15s. to 20s. per acre; the cess 3s.; lime, which is of excellent quality, is from 1s. 2d. to 1s. 8d. per barrel, of rather more than 2 bushels.
About four miles from Macroom we crossed the river Lee which runs through Cork, and is indebted for its waters to the mountains of Muskerry and the lake of Inchegelagh. We afterwards had it
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meandering along the valley on our right, through rocky and romantic banks. The machine which conveyed me was a sort of Dennett with very stiff springs, and I was unmercifully worked about with a violent motion which had the effect of repeatedly bringing my knees and my chin in very close neighbourhood. This journey of twenty-four miles (which occupied no less than five long hours and a half) was one of severe suffering to me, both on my own account and on the horse's. As usual, I could not induce the driver to stop, for the purpose of giving the animal a mouthful of anything, not even a drop of water. In the course of conversation he told me that a labourer consumes a pennyworth of tobacco daily — that it is considered an absolute necessary — and that if a man were asked whether he would go without tobacco or bread for twenty-four hours, he would decide to go without the bread.
The country between Macroom and Cork is uneven and rocky, and bog prevails in the valleys. Lime is much used; and by the road-side I observed large depots of finely-veined limestone, a
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species of marble used for burning into lime, and brought from a considerable distance. As Cork is approached, the land is richer, and the Lee expands to a great breadth.
I arrived at Lloyd's Hotel in Cork too late to see anything of the city that evening; in the morning, however, I rose early, perambulated the streets in several directions, and walked to the Barracks, situated on an eminence from which an extensive view of the city is commanded. After paying a visit to the marble quarries, I proceeded along the Mardike, a celebrated promenade, a mile in length, lined on both sides with elms, and crossed the river by a ferry to the north-west part of the town. In the street opposite the ferry is an ancient stone well called Sunday's Well. From hence I mounted the hill to Blair's Castle, from the top of which I had an extensive view of the city, the river, and the adjacent scenery. Cork is admirably situated, and is a picturesque city. The banks of the river are formed into gently swelling hills, well wooded, and interspersed with buildings, gardens, lawns, and pleasure grounds. The old part of the city
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near the river is flat, but the greater part ascends the steep sides of the hills, and presents an outline somewhat different and infinitely superior to the generality of towns. Amongst the public buildings in Cork, a new Catholic chapel, not completed when I saw it, and the Court-house, claim particular notice. The former of these edifices stands in King-street, and is built in the Grecian style of architecture. Eight Corinthian columns support the pediment and entablature. The Courthouse, situated in Old George-street, and designed by Mr. George Pain, is a splendid building; and so far as external appearance is concerned (and I had no opportunity of inspecting the inside), pleased me better than any public building I had seen in Ireland. It is constructed of beautifully veined limestone, or marble, has a flight of, I think, twelve steps, and a pediment supported by noble columns with Corinthian capitals. Cork now resembles a modern English city; its various canals or streams, formerly open, are covered or diverted, and the ancient abbeys have been demolished without mercy. Instead of being very narrow,
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as formerly, the streets are now spacious, and lined with excellent shops.
This splendid city is not without that which every Irish town possesses — its numerous company of wretched cabins; but, unlike the rest of Irish towns, which generally have these miserable dwellings in the suburbs, Cork has collected them in the very centre of her populous community, but in a part through which there is no very public thoroughfare; and it is quite possible that a stranger, unless in search of the abodes of the poor, might miss them altogether, and leave Cork with an impression that it contained proportionably a smaller share of misery than other places. Nay, indeed, a person might reside here for months, and even years, without suspecting that Cork was not, in every part, a peculiarly neat, comfortable, and prosperous city. I, however, forced myself among these narrow filthy streets, and equally filthy habitations, the broken windows and doors of which, together with a variety of other infallible evidences of wretchedness and destitution, too plainly informed me that Cork, though she made
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less display of her miseries than some towns which I had visited, was far from being exempt from the appalling horrors of poverty. Begging is practised here without shame; women, both young and old, well-dressed and ragged, are importunate in their solicitations. But what can be said in denunciation of a custom which seems to be obliged by the absence of any legal provision for the aged, the infirm, and the deserving needy?
In one of the cars, here, appropriately enough, called "jingles," I visited Black Rock Castle, from whose battlements I had a fine view of the broad river, upon which vessels of various sizes moved to and fro, giving the interest of life and activity to a scene that could not fail to be charming under any circumstances. As far as the eye can reach, the banks of the Lee preserve their picturesqueness, and are studded with mansions of different degrees of pretension and beauty, surrounded with richly wooded parks, or smaller, but scarcely less attractive pleasure-grounds. I counted no fewer than thirty of these mansions. It was indeed a rich and gratifying prospect. On
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one hand, Cork, with its vast population, and its river, loaded with commerce — on the other, the infallible signs of wealth and mercantile prosperity, villas and their ornamental environs. So different was the scene from anything I had witnessed in Ireland, that I had some difficulty in persuading myself that I was actually across the channel. The road, nearly all the way to Black Rock Castle, is lined with villas, grounds richly adorned, and hanging gardens, sloping to the river. An extensive Nunnery and a new Church are conspicuous objects on the same road. The Church is built of veined marble, and had a very elegant spire, which, not long after I saw it, was shattered by lightning.
The Quay, which can be reached by vessels of 150 tons burthen, presented a busy and animated scene. Several vessels lay near it, and, in the adjacent warehouses, great activity prevailed. The exports of Cork are, linens, butter, pork, beef, flour, cattle, and eggs — 50 tons of the latter being frequently put on board one steamer at a time, and from 1000 to 1200 pigs exported in one
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day. The manufactures are sail-cloth, leather, glass, coarse woollen cloths, and whiskey, for which Cork is famous; there are large distilleries, six or seven miles west of the city. Near the river Lee are also gunpowder-works, belonging to Sir John Tobin of Liverpool. This is the only manufactory of the kind in Ireland. There was formerly a sugar-refining establishment, occupying the place of an Augustine Priory, called Red Abbey, but it has been given up. The flour mills are on a most extensive scale, and the machinery most complete; it is said that although the wheat of the county of Cork is inferior to that of Tipperary, the superiority of the Cork mills produces finer flour. Furniture comprises an article of considerable import. The price of provisions I found to be reasonable; beef from 4 1/2d. to 6d.; mutton 6d.; pork 3 1/2d. per lb.; Turkeys 2s. 6d. each; fowls 11d. a couple; cheese from 10d. to 1s. per lb.; potatoes 3d. per stone.
At Ringabella, near the harbour's mouth, lead mines are worked; and within a quarter of a mile from Cloghnakilty, 24 miles to the south-west of
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Cork, are slate quarries, and mines of copper and manganese. Many ores are said to exist in that part of the county, as well as in Ireland generally, which only require the application of labour and capital to be made abundant sources of profit.
Cork is certainly a splendid city. Its situation, the general picturesqueness of its appearance from a distance, its streets, shops, inhabitants, and trade, surpassed, in my estimation, any other city or town in Ireland, not excepting Dublin. Delighted as I was with what I saw, much yet remained for me to see. Among other things of interest, Cork contains a Royal Literary Institution, with Library, Museum of Minerals, and Agricultural Implements; a Society of Arts, and a well-conducted county Jail. On leaving Lloyd's Hotel, I found at the bottom of my bill an invitation in these words, "Please come again." I have not an opportunity of giving an opinion of the inns in Cork generally; but if Lloyd's may be taken as a favourable specimen of the rest, I should have no hesitation whatever in recommending
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any of them. The charges were — for breakfast and bed 1s. 6d. each, and for dinner 2s.
At a short distance from Fermoy, on the right of the road to Cahir, are the ruins of the Carrickabrick Castle, and Cloughleagh Castle in Moor Park estate; the latter of these belongs to Lord Mountcashell.
Between Kilworth and Mitchellstown the land is exceedingly poor, and as badly managed as it is poor. A few miles from the former place, on the left of the road, are the ruins of Kilcolman Castle, celebrated as the residence of Edmund Edmund Spenser. This great poet first visited Ireland in the summer of 1580, as Secretary to Lord Grey, on his being appointed Lord Lieutenant; but two years afterwards, Lord Grey being recalled, Spenser returned with him to England. In the year 1586, the poet received from Queen Elizabeth a grant of 3028 acres of the forfeited lands of the Earl of Desmond, and returned to Ireland to cultivate them — this being one of the conditions of the grant. He took up his residence at Kilcolman Castle, where he composed several of his poems; among others,
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Colin Clout's come home again, which bears the following date — "from my house of Kilcolman, the 27th of December, 1591." The three first books of the Faerie Queene, were completed at this delightful residence. It has been generally supposed that the whole of this great poem was composed here, but this is manifestly an error; for on the 10th of April, 1580, we find him requesting his friend Gabriel Harvey to return it, with his long-expected judgment on it. The river Mulla, which flows through the grounds of Kilcolman, is mentioned by Spenser in several places. The rebellion of Tyrone, which broke out in 1598, drove him and his family from this picturesque and now classical spot; the house was burnt by the rebels; and, in the confusion incident to a precipitate flight, one of the poet's children, an infant, was left behind, and perished in the flames. Spenser, it is well known, died in London soon afterwards, at the age of forty-five.
At Kilcolman Castle, this illustrious man was visited by one of the most distinguished of his contemporaries, Sir Walter Raleigh
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in Mr. Campbell's biography of the author of the Faerie Queene, relating to this interesting interview, may be inserted here. It puts an obvious reflection in a striking light. "When we conceive Spenser," says Mr. Campbell, "reciting his compositions to Raleigh, in a scene so beautifully appropriate, the mind casts a pleasing retrospect over that influence which the enterprise of the discoverer of Virginia, and the genius of the author of the Fairy Queen, have respectively produced on the fortune and language of England. The fancy might even be pardoned for a momentary superstition, that the Genius of their country hovered, unseen, over their meeting, casting her first look of regard on the poet, that was destined to inspire her future Milton, and the other on the maritime hero, who paved the way for colonizing distant regions of the earth, where the language of England was to be spoken, and the poetry of Spenser to be admired."
It was the fair-day at Mitchellstown when we passed through it, and we had an opportunity accordingly of seeing great numbers of the country
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people. Here, as elsewhere, their countenances and general conduct indicated the greatest vivacity, cheerfulness, and good humour. The town belongs to the Earl of Kingston, whose castle, of which we caught a glimpse through the trees that surround it, seemed to be a splendid building. It was erected in 1823. The grounds are very beautiful, and the public are liberally allowed free access.
The labourers here, when employed, have sixpence per day and diet. The single men go to Mitchellstown on a Sunday to hire for the week, and get 1s. 6d. or 2s. and diet, per week. For a house and garden they pay from thirty to five-and-thirty shillings; for conacre-ground, £5 per acre. The ready-money price of potatoes is 3d., the credit price 5d. per stone; the price of pork is 2 3/4d. per lb.
Nearly opposite Clogheen are the remarkable Kingston Caves, which were discovered five or six years ago by a labourer who was getting stone on the surface. These caverns are extremely curious; the principal one is reached by a descent
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of some difficulty — by creeping, sliding, and passing through some minor and dark caves — and ultimately by the assistance of a ladder. Here the lights, which of course are indispensable on such an expedition, produce a brilliant effect, the whole interior of the cavern being covered with spars and glittering rocks; from the centre rises a huge mass of spar, which ascends towards the top, and joins the sparkling stalactites which depend from the roof. From this inner chamber, several passages, low and dark and narrow, diverge, and conduct to subsidiary recesses of equal brilliancy. There are some cairns about a mile or two from these natural curiosities.
This part of the country, though barren and wild, is rendered interesting by the Knockmeledown Mountains, on the border of the county of Waterford on the right, and the magnificent Galtee Mountains on the left. Shanbally Castle (the property of Lord Lismore), surrounded by noble hills, their slopes ornamented with wood, is seen on a beautiful bank on the right: and near this delightful spot, and not more than
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a quarter of a mile from the newly-discovered Kingston Caverns, is the Cave of Oonakareaglisha, or a natural vaulted cavern, 100 feet long, and 70 feet in height. This cave, and the passages that conduct to it, are, like those previously mentioned, abundantly ornamented with sparry stalactites. To the right also are seen the ruins of Burnt Court, the property of Lord Lismore, but anciently belonging to the Everard family. This mansion was destroyed in Cromwell's wars.
The land adjoining the left of the road is moory and badly cultivated; no little green patches of turnips, rape, or clover, greet the eye; no small allotments of land, as in Armagh and Tyrone. The want of these blessings is evident; for although Lord Glengall, who is the owner, and a resident, has built respectable cottages for labourers, they have every appearance of misery; and hoards of ragged children turned out as we passed, and followed our car for a long way, in hopes of obtaining a few half-pence. Under its present culture, the ground barely returns the seed potatoes; if managed according
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to Mr. Blacker's plans, it would, I am satisfied, yield treble the produce, and the time of the children would be profitably engaged. The formation, which for some distance from Mitchellstown, is limestone, is here sandstone or grit. After heavy rains, rapid torrents cross the roads, and frequently sweep away the bridges.
The whole of the ride from Rathcormack affords great variety and interest; abounding in gloomy ruins of ancient castles, and in mountains of curious and picturesque appearance.
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