Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
The Miseries and Beauties of Ireland (Author: Jonathan Binns)
chapter 8
Approach to Cahir — The Castle — Lord Glengall's cottage at Kilcommon — Cahir — Tipperary — Mr. Bolton, Lord Stanley's agent — Description of his lordship's estates — Peaceable disposition of the people — Lord Stanley's character as a landlord — Produce and prices — Burial of the dead — Outrages — Unwholesome potatoes — "Driving" — Conacre — Withdrawal of capital — Dairy farms — Agriculture of the district — Golden Bridge — Thomastown — Lady Malpeson — Ancient Castles — Arrival at Cashel — Land-agent of Sir John Fitzgerald — Obsequious manners of the tenants — Visit to the ruins.
The immediate approach to Cahir is distinguished by immense barracks, so large, indeed, that I mistook them for the town itself. The most remarkable object on entering the town, is Cahir Castle, the property of Lord Glengall. This ruin is exceedingly interesting, and of great antiquity, having been originally built, I believe, in the year 600, by Conan, king of Thomond, and monarch of Ireland. It rises from the rocky bed
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of the river Suire, which flows through his lordship's estate. Its grey towers are wreathed with ivy, and its portcullis and dungeon-keep still remain as mementos of periods of ferocity and bloodshed. A neat cottage, and garden abounding with rhododendrons and other beautiful shrubs, adjoins the castle, and, along with part of the holme land, is occupied by Captain Brogden.
At Kilcommon, about two miles down the river, Lord Glengall has an ornamental cottage, situated on a knoll covered with arbutus, laurels, and a variety of choice shrubs and plants, interspersed with lawns and bowers. This enchanting spot is close to the river, across which I was ferried by an ancient dame. The cottage is very tastefully decorated with ivy, woodbine, and roses, the roof being of the neatest thatch, and the floors inlaid with walnut, intermixed with other woods of various colours. As a display of ingenuity and skilful workmanship,this cottage merits the highest encomiums; but its chief interest is attributable to the extreme beauty of the surrounding country — being planted in an ever verdant valley, watered
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by the Suire, whose banks are celebrated for the variety, as well as the uniform picturesqueness, of the scenery they exhibit. I cannot help thinking that the present cottage obtrudes too distinctly upon the quiet and secluded character of the adjacent country, disturbing the otherwise perfect harmony that prevails in this delightful spot. Probably, something in the shape of a hermitage, hollowed out of the rock, and all but entirely hidden from view by the wild plants about its roof and entrance, would have been least at variance with the sequestered place.
Cahir is a prettily situated town. Some extensive flour mills upon the river are conspicuous objects, and give an air of importance to the place. The people, however, are poor, and the labourers not fully employed. Wages, in harvest and potato time, for about a fortnight, amount to 10d. or 1s. per day, at other times employment is not easily obtained. The best white wheat was selling at 1s. per stone, and oats at 7 3/4d. The produce of an acre of wheat was stated to be 5 1/2 barrels of 20 stones, and of oats 7 barrels.
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The rent of the best holme land by the side of the river is 50s., and of the average arable land 20s. per acre.
At Tipperary, the population of which is from seven to eight thousand, I took up my abode at Barry's Hotel, and the next morning proceeded in an old gig, driven by a man with little more than half a coat, to the residence of Mr. Bolton, Lord Stanley's agent at Ballykisteen or Goaterstown, three or four miles from the county town. Mr. Bolton, whom I was fortunate in finding at home, supplied me with a horse, and accompanied me round the estates. The land is of excellent quality, being part of the golden vein of Ireland — a district reaching from Tipperary towards Limerick. The extent of the golden vein is about fourteen miles long, by six or seven wide, and the soil varies in depth. In the particular spot which I examined, and which was stated by Mr. Bolton to be equal to any in fertility, it was fourteen inches deep, and of fine free garden mould, of a dark brown colour, upon a subsoil of lighter coloured loam, mixed with fragments of limestone. In many parts, the same
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kind of soil rests upon limestone rock, and is covered with the richest verdure imaginable. The grasses of which it is composed are the dactylis glomerata, festuca pratensis, lolium perenne, and a mixture of poas. The rent is from 30s. to 40s. per acre. Great improvements had taken place on Lord Stanley's estate; by the erection of several new houses of a respectable description, and by the encouragement of the growth of turnips and clover, and the alternate system of corn and green crops. His lordship offers premiums for cattle, drains, hawthorn hedges, clean offices, potatoes in the drill, clover, garden vegetables, and bees. In 1835, the value of the premiums presented, amounted to upwards of £60. The premiums are given either in money or agricultural implements, at the option of the receiver. If implements are taken, 20s. per cent additional is allowed upon the cost prices. Lord Stanley extends his liberality beyond his own farmers; any person, not being a tenant of his, but resident within ten miles of Tipperary, on payment of a small sum, is privileged to become a candidate.
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His lordship's estate, on which there are only two or three middlemen, contains 7250 acres, and lets for £6500 per annum. I was much gratified to hear from Mr. Bolton, that the people were docile and easily managed, and that although he was living in the heart of what is considered the most turbulent part of the kingdom, and had occasion to travel at all hours, he had never been disturbed or intimidated, and did not feel the slightest apprehension. This is a strong additional proof, if any further proof were needed, that if a conciliatory policy, in unison with the great principles of Christianity, were uniformly adopted, both by the legislature and by individuals, towards the people of Ireland, disturbances would in a great measure cease to alarm the country, and extensive police and military establishments be rendered unnecessary.
Lord Stanley has the character of a good and kind landlord; some years ago he remitted the rent of several of his tenants, and gave them money to enable them to go to America. He also endeavours to compensate for his unavoidable
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absence during the sitting of Parliament, by residing in Ireland during a considerable part of the recess; this residence he devotes to the improvements of the country, by attending the Agricultural Meeting which he has established — by promulgating, in every practicable way, an improved system of agriculture — and by encouraging cleanliness, morality, and good feeling amongst the people. If all absentees were like Lord Stanley, Ireland would speedily be restored to prosperity and peace.
It is not many years, Mr. Bolton informed me, since some of the farmers considered manure in the light of a nuisance; all, however, have now discovered their mistake, and admit its utility. The produce of grain in this district is equal to that of any land in Ireland; of wheat, it is eight barrels per acre; oats, from ten to twelve. Garden ground near Tipperary lets for eight guineas per acre. Farms of fifty or a hundred acres, six miles from the town, are worth 40s. per acre: arable land, beyond that distance, lets for from 25s. to 30s. per acre. For a plot of bog,
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or fuel, seven yards long and three wide, and as deep as the taker pleases, the sum of 20s. is sometimes given. Most of the farms in this county are in the hands of middlemen. Wheat was selling at 10d., oats 7d., and potatoes 2d. per stone. The general price of coal was from 15s. to 20s. per ton; it is sometimes 25s. For the rood-ground, or conacre, when it is manured stubble, the labourer pays five guineas per acre, and eight guineas when it is manured pasture; but when the labourer manures it, he pays from three to four pounds per acre only. These are considered good bargains for the farmers. They are, at the same time, frequently good bargains also for the labourer or taker. For instance, on Lord Stanley's estate, a field of grass land was let for conacre potatoes, by a farmer in 1835, at the rate of £12 the Irish acre. The farmer provided neither manure nor labour; and yet the taker, after paying rent and every expense, cleared £16 per Irish acre.
Many instances of great destitution and misery were related to me. Mr. Bolton mentioned a
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distressing circumstance that had come within his own experience a short time before. A poor widow, a Roman Catholic, having lost her son, applied to him for the loan of five shillings to pay the priest for blessing the clay, as she could not bear the idea of burying her son without this benediction. The desired sum was of course willingly supplied, and the poor creature's heart leapt for joy as she exclaimed — "I can now bury my dear son." Poverty is felt to be indeed a terrible power, when it is the means of withholding from the dead the respectful tribute of surviving friends.
Only two outrages, I learnt, had been committed for a considerable time: one was upon Mr. Banner, of Banshaw, a Protestant Rector, whose servant was suspected of assaulting him; the other, upon the person of Mr. White of Goulden, near Cashel, because he had pressed for tithes; several shots were fired in at the window, and he had a narrow escape.
In the examination of the barony of Middlethird, which lies nearly equi-distant from Cahir, Cashel, and Tipperary, it was given in evidence,
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that the principal food of the labourers is white potatoes or lumpers, and that in periods of distress, they find the greatest difficulty in procuring provisions on credit. Solvent security is demanded, and one or two days' work is to be given to the person who secures. The labourer is generally obliged to agree to pay double the market price. In this barony, as well as in many others, great injury results from the use of potatoes that are unfit for consumption. The Rev. Mr. Molony had known a great number of deaths in consequence of this unwholesome food. In the last season of scarcity, the distress was so great, that subscriptions, for the purpose of buying oatmeal, were made among the farmers and landlords. The greater landlords being absentees, nothing, except in one instance, was contributed by any of them.
In the month of July it is customary for the "driver" to go round, and take a list of pigs and stock of the tenant. The tenant must account to the landlord for the sale of the pigs, and further give up to the driver the ticket of his corn. It is
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usual for the driver to accompany the tenant to market, and, when the corn is sold, to receive the payment instead of the tenant.
Many of the farmers are in the habit of paying their servants by letting them conacre. The average produce of an acre of potatoes is 60 barrels of 21 stones (14 lbs. to the stone), and the greatest usual crop is 80 barrels, without calculating the small potatoes reserved for seed and pigs. When the produce of the conacre is not worth the rent, starvation or begging is the necessary consequence. The labourer is not allowed to surrender his crop in lieu of rent, though he should thereby forfeit seed and labour.
It did not appear that any instances of the withdrawal of capital had occurred in consequence of the dreadful outrages which were detailed; though, according to the testimony of Mr. Clarke, a magistrate, there were several who would be glad to do so, provided they could get what they had expended on their lands. The same gentleman declared, that if he could sell his own property for the capital which he had invested
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in it, he would most assuredly leave the country and go to England. Land still sells as it did twenty years ago — from 20 to 25 years' purchase.
In confirmation of the opinion that many of the outrages committed are attributable to want of employment, one of the witnesses stated, that some years ago the parish of Dullymaine Fethard was very much disturbed, but that since a gentleman, who employs from forty to fifty labourers daily, has settled there, it has become one of the most peaceable places in the county.
But few labourers are employed by the dairy farmers. They employ a woman to every ten cows. The quality of the butter is good; it is always packed up after each churning, and is sold at Clonmell. The common Irish cow being considered the most hardy, is the favourite. Stall-feeding is not practiced in the district. Rent has been reduced of late years, to the amount of 20 or 30 per cent; many landlords have made reductions, and those who have not, dare not receive the whole stipulated rent.
A large part of the barony of Middlethird is a
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rich loam, lying on a rocky limestone substratum, and is equally adapted to tillage or pasture, but the greater part of it is now under the plough. The quantity of bog or waste land is very inconsiderable. This scarcity and consequently high price for fuel, is severely felt by labourers and farmers in the southern part of the barony. The Bog of Allen extends along the northern edge, and presents an inexhaustible supply of fuel to all the district within reach of it.
The course of cropping is uniformly severe. Potatoes, wheat, and oats, form the series, and it is repeated, if the land will bear it. Potatoes are manured, and perhaps limed; want of manure forms the great deficiency of all farmers, and this chiefly arises from the quantity of ground annually set with potatoes. The farmers state that they employ a man to every eight or ten statute acres ploughed. The warm and moist climate of Tipperary is favourable to the production of a superabundance of luxuriant grass, and causes the meadows and pastures to appear superior in quality to what they probably
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are, and the grass may yield proportionally less nutritive matter than that produced in a drier climate. An English farmer would consider the hay here to be very much overgrown. It stands till the top is one uniform dead brown, and is not generally cut till August. Very little labour is bestowed in the throwing it about, or opening it to the air or sun. It is made rather by a series of gentle fermentations than by the sun and air; being put in small stacks in the field, to remain several weeks. From the moist nature of the grass, it is necessary to give the hay more time before it is put together in large quantities, yet great waste is the consequence of these small stacks being left so long in the wet meadows.
Being desirous of reaching Cashel during daylight, I was obliged to leave Mr. Bolton's much sooner than either his hospitality or my own inclination would have suggested. I returned in the same old, rattling, dirty gig in which I went; it was tied together with cords, and conducted by the tattered driver; but the horse now presented the rare disposition of cheerfulness; and the grotesque
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appearance of the conveyance, which in some of our English towns would have occasioned more fun and merriment than the richest exhibition of the mountebank, was in Ireland not sufficiently removed from the ordinary course of things to attract attention. We again passed through the town of Tipperary, on our way to Cashel. On Kilfeakle Hill, to the right, is a considerable Rath, in a very commanding situation, close to the road, and, on the left, is an old Roman Catholic chapel and grave-yard. The grave-stones are covered with various devices and emblems of the crucifixion — the ladder, nails, hammer, and other tools.
Near to Golden Bridge, over which we crossed the Suire, is Athassel Abbey. Thomastown, a small village composed of many neat cottages, and gardens, with climbing shrubs in front, pleased me greatly. This village owes most of its advantages to the benevolence of Lady Elizabeth Malpeson (sister to the Earl of Llandaff), whose unceasing attention to the wants and comforts of the poor, entitles her to be ranked among the
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most distinguished of the benefactresses of Ireland. She has the satisfaction of residing among a grateful people, who respect and love her. Contiguous to the village is her ladyship's mansion, surrounded by an extensive park, which contains what is certainly a rarity in Ireland, a number of fine trees. The ground is rich and undulating, and contains upwards of 2000 acres. Lady Malpeson is fond of planting and improving the grounds.
Close to the road are the ruins of two ancient castles. Ireland is indeed the land of castles, whose ruined walls but too well correspond with the devastation that man has caused his brother man in this most interesting but harrassed country.
It was night before I arrived at Cashel, but the moon, mingling with a sweet twilight, showed to great advantage the magnificent ruins of the Abbey, the Cathedral, the Pillar Tower, and Chapel, that are piled upon its celebrated rock.
On reaching the inn, I was conducted to an apartment where a gentleman, a land-agent, was receiving rents for Sir John Fitzgerald. He
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kindly over-ruled my apology, and insisted upon my remaining in the room. This invitation suited my views precisely, and was in fact a greater favour than he could be aware of. One tenant after another made his appearance, with humble bow and reverential demeanour; — some paid, others only promised to pay, and one or two had actually the courage to declare that the rent was too high. The manners of this agent impressed me with the conviction that he was haughty and tyrannical, and deficient in the milk of human kindness: and, under the sort of treatment which they received at his hands, the tenants were servile and dispirited, crouching and mean. One of them, on entering, said, "You're welcome, your honour, and long may your honour want trouble, your honour." — Another exclaimed, "Please your honour, I'll pay at Candlemas, your honour, please God." One, who prided himself upon prompt payment, said, "Long may your honour live; I hope to see you often." The bailiff attended with great solemnity and importance, and on receiving his several orders, replied, "Yes, please
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your honour; I will, please God." I thought of what the venerable Mr. Hodgson had said, that "the landlords were everything, and the tenants nothing."
The business of the agent being concluded, we became better acquainted, and I found him to be an agreeable and affable gentleman. We dined and spent the evening together, and as I had not visited the ruins on the hill, and, having to leave Cashel at two o'clock in the morning, we engaged guides with lights for the purpose of inspecting the interior.
Our way lay through dark passages and cloistered aisles — among Saxon and Norman arches, perfect and ruined, and of every variety of size — and over fragments of sacred architecture, now prostrate on the ground. Cormac's Chapel, so called from the founder, Cormac-Mac-Culinan, King of Munster, and Archbishop of Cashel in the tenth century, is the most ancient of this venerable group of ruins, and is an exceedingly interesting place. Some of the stone-work is elaborately and very beautifully executed, and
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exhibits, among other things, grotesque heads and effigies carved out of black marble. Some of the arches, pillars, canopies, and monuments, have been formerly gilt, and parts of the gilding still remain. One large square tower, at the west end of the pile, seemed to be the favourite abode of owls, numbers of which, startled by our presence, forsook their secure abodes amongst the ivy, and filled the air with discordant screams. We did not leave the ruins till after one o'clock; and, before we departed, made our way to the summit of the tower, from which an extensive and beautiful view is commanded. To us, however, it was denied; yet I know not whether the loss of richly cultivated valley land, picturesque mountains, streams, and pleasure-grounds, was not compensated by the indistinct, soft, and silvery landscape we beheld, with its dim and visionary distance.
Donald O'Brien, brother of Morough O'Moore, King of Munster, was the founder of the present Cathedral, A.D. 1169. St. Patrick is said to have founded the first church: it is also said
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that the Lia Fail, or coronation-stone of the Kings of Munster, was sent from Cashel to Scotland, and thence to Westminster Abbey, and placed under the coronation chair by Edward the first. One side of the rock on which the ruins of Cashel stand, is almost inaccessible.
The Episcopal Palace is said to contain the celebrated Psalter of Cashel, in the Irish tongue, compiled about the year 900, by the previously-mentioned Corinac-Mac-Culinan, King and Archbishop of Cashel.
A short distance from the rock, are the remarkably fine ruins of Hore Abbey. The town (formerly the city) of Cashel lies round one side of this remarkable rock. In 1320 it was inclosed by a wall, and was an important and populous place. The town now contains only 7000 inhabitants, and retains but little of its former importance.
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