Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
The Miseries and Beauties of Ireland (Author: Jonathan Binns)
chapter 10
The Meeting of the Waters — Castle Howard — The Paradise of Wicklow — The Avondale school — Copper district — The Cronehane Mines — Wages of miners — Diseases to which they are liable — Ballyarthur — Skelton Abbey — Arklow harbour — The Castle — Wooden Bridge Inn — Rustic bower — Croghan Kinshela Mountain, and the Gold Mine — Mocha pebbles — Bones of the Elk — The agriculture of the mining district — Mode of digging potatoes — Malton, Earl Fitzwilliam's seat — Astonishing fountain — Earl Fitzwilliam's attention to agriculture — Barony of Shilelagh, why so called — Tullow — Market-people — Prices of provisions — "Dry Lodgings" — Road from Tullow to Carlow — Lunatic Asylum at Carlow — Roman Catholic Cathedral and College — Withholding the Bible from the people.
In the morning we revisited the Meeting of the Waters, rendered familiar to everybody by Moore's Melody, beginning,
- There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet
As that vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet;
The Avon and the Avonmore here meet, amidst
the most delightful scenery — the side of the river
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and the adjacent land, and the undulating hills in the immediate vicinity, being covered with varied foliage; above which rise the towers of Castle Howard, the residence of the late Colonel Howard, brother to the Earl of Wicklow. To this noble mansion we rambled, exploring the various delightful walks, now winding through embosomed brakes, and woods luxuriant in native wildness — and now emerging into the open light, with the loveliest prospect of the Avon and the Avonmore lying before us. If criticism might be hazarded in a scene like this, I should be induced to find fault with the artificial cascades, which, with every advantage of situation, resemble the formal and regular falls of mill-dams. The ornamental cottage in the grounds, also the caves and the grottos, are susceptible, I think, of improvement. This vicinity is the Paradise of Wicklow — perhaps of Ireland — for though others may possess features of wilder and more romantic character, none can be richer in the elements of loveliness and beauty. The river murmurs away through luxuriant evergreens and overhanging
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rocks, and is remarkable for the extreme transparency of its water.
We visited the Avondale School, instituted by the Rev. Mr. Webber. In winter, sixty scholars attend: in summer, one hundred. Of these, sixteen are Catholics. Scripture lessons are taught from the Protestant bible for one hour in the day, and the children are examined on them. The payment is from 1s. to 4s. per quarter, according to proficiency. The generality of the Catholics, the master informed us, scruple to send their children.
On the high ground above the Cronebane Mines and Castle Howard, is a large square block of granite; its size and prominent form on the summit of the hill, and its bleached sides, render it a conspicuous object for many miles. This high ground has the most barren surface imaginable, but is rich in mineral productions. The district on both sides the Ovoca abounds in copper; four mines were in course of active working when I visited the country — viz., at Ballygahan, Connery, Cronebane and Ballymurtagh. From Castle M'Adam parish, in
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the barony of Arklow, 50,000 tons of copper are annually exported to Swansea, the best being worth six or seven pounds per ton — the small ore fetching three or four pounds. Mr. Hodgson has extensive copper mines here. One of them extends on the south-west side of the Ovoca for 400 yards; another goes 300 yards further, towards the southwest: the dip is about six degrees by the compass south of west. In the mines in this parish, independently of carriers, no fewer than 1000 inhabitants are employed. The Cronebane Mines are on the north-east side of the Ovoca, and were first worked by the Cronebane Company in 1787. This Company was incorporated by act of Parliament in 1798, as the Associated Irish Mine Company, and Mr. Weaver was appointed the manager; they extended into the Connery and Tigrony Mountains, and their level was upwards of 1000 fathoms in length; these mines are now worked by the Messrs. Williams. A small mine to the east is worked by Mr. Salkeld. On the north-east side of the river there are five shafts; the water from the upper one, after being raised, forms a stream,
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which, in its descent, works a number of large water-wheels, one of them 50 feet in diameter. These wheels, and their spouts, have a striking appearance; some punctilious sticklers for the exclusively picturesque, would say that they spoil the valley: for my own part, fond as I am of sequestered and undisturbed scenery, I would at any time gladly submit to an interruption, for the sake of finding employment for the poor Irish. Kamack and Company get from 125 to 130 tons per week. The wages of the miners are, on an average, 15s. per week; boys of twelve years old earn 4s. The copper ore costs 23s. per ton, to make it ready for carting away; the average price, when sold, is from £3. 10s. to £4.
Near the Ovoca I observed several cisterns, where the water from the mines, which is impregnated with sulphate of copper, is retained, and the copper is precipitated by the mixture of scrap iron. By this discovery, the water, which formerly was of no value, is a source of considerable profit.
Mr. Nicholson, an intelligent surgeon who attends the mines, informed us that the workmen
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are very subject to accidents and disease; the latter arises, partly from the unwholesomeness of the mines, and partly from the potato diet on which, in consequence of their abundant use of whiskey, they are forced mainly to subsist. Some plan for the supply of medical assistance was accordingly rendered necessary, and the men subscribed sixpence a week to raise a fund for that purpose.
In our way to Arklow we passed Ballyarthur, the seat of the Rev. H. Bayley, a truly lovely spot, and alighted at Skelton Abbey, the residence of the Earl of Wicklow, which is seated in the beautiful vale of Ovoca. We walked round the gardens and pleasure-grounds, which abound in arbutus, bay, holly, and other luxuriant trees and shrubs. The Abbey is a square building, richly pinnacled, designed by W. R. Morrison. Skelton has long been the residence of the Howards, who were originally of English extraction. King James, after the battle of the Boyne, rested here, in his flight to Waterford. We passed through the domain, having the mausoleum of the Howard family on a hill to our left, along a flat
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and swampy tract of land, and crossed the old bridge of Arklow, consisting of nineteen arches, over the mouth of the Ovoca.
The harbour of Arklow appears extensive, but is reported to be unsafe, in consequence of the number of sand-banks. Upwards of one hundred boats are here engaged in the herring and oyster fishery. We ascended the partially ruined tower o f the Castle, which affords a good view of the town and harbour. The castle anciently belonged to the Earls of Ormond, and was the scene of frequent contests and bloodshed. In 1798, the rebel army, consisting of 20,000 men, were defeated here with great loss, by General Needham, whose force did not exceed 2000.
From Arklow we returned up the west side of the beautiful Ovoca, having Skelton on the right, and the picturesque grounds of Glenart, belonging to the Earl of Carysfort, on our left. This ride, which possesses great beauty, brought us to the Wooden Bridge Inn (so called from a wooden bridge which formerly crossed the river), at the foot of Knock-na-Moel. The
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union of the Ovoca and Aughrim rivers, which takes place here, gives to the place the name of the Second Meeting of the Waters. A winding path up the hill, behind the inn, leads to a rustic bower, from which a delightful prospect down the wooded valley of the Ovoca, with Arklow, its dark castle, and the sea, in the distance, is commanded. This most favoured spot ought by no means to be neglected, as it combines some of the richest and most pleasing landscape scenery.
After a night's rest at this comfortable inn, we set off to explore the Gold Mine, situated under Croghan Kinshela Mountain, about three miles distant. The road lay through a winding valley amongst the hills, the sides of which were almost entirely barren of trees. If planted, this would be a beautiful walk. We continued to ascend the banks of the Gold Mine River, a stream of remarkable clearness, till we reached the workings, which had taken place at the side of the stream. We saw, also, the excavation made by Government in the mountain side, in their search for the precious metal, which is supposed to have
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been discovered by accident about the year 1775, and for many years confined to the neighbouring peasantry. In 1796, a piece of gold, weighing about half an ounce, was found. This caused such a degree of infatuation, that Government thought it necessary to station a party of militia on the spot. In about two months, according to Mr. Wright's account, the country people are reported to have obtained, by washing the sands of the stream, no less than 2666 ounces of gold, worth £10,000. Government took the management of the mines, and appointed Mr. Weaver, Mr. Mills, and Mr. King, the Directors, under an act of Parliament. In 1801 the Directors explored the mountain, and although for some time the produce of the mine more than repaid the expense, yet Government, seeing but little encouragement in the prospects before them, abandoned the undertaking. The quantity of gold found by Government is said to be much less than that discovered by the peasantry; the value of it, as stated by Mr. Wright, being only £3675. 7s. 11 1/2d. The late Mr. Hume, of
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Humewood, representative in Parliament for the county of Wicklow, was possessed of a watch made of this gold. "It is generally believed in the adjacent country," continues Mr. Wright, "that the native gold was found here centuries ago; and it is an acknowledged fact, that the ancient Irish wore ornaments of gold before this precious metal had been found on the European continent." We were not successful in our search, although we groped about a considerable time; nor was it very likely we should find even a small cabinet specimen. The gold is obtained by collecting the sand from the bottom of the stream, and washing it carefully in some vessel; after which process, the gold is easily discovered glittering at the bottom. Our guide said, that if the smallest piece were dropped into the river amongst the sand and gravel, he could readily find it by this method. We purchased a few small specimens of great purity. Mr. Weaver observes, that "there are eleven metallic substances found in the clay slate breast of the Gold Mine Mountain — viz., gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, zinc,
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tin, tungsten, manganese, arsenic, and antimony." The county of Wicklow is rich in mineral treasures, which I have reason to believe are very imperfectly explored; the mining operations, too, are pursued to a very limited extent, compared with what they are susceptible of.
On the strand at Wicklow are found very beautiful Mocha pebbles, fit for jewellery; the finest are but little inferior to those brought from the East Indies. In several parts of the county of Wicklow, the bones of the elk have been discovered, but the skeletons were much less complete than that in the collection of the Dublin Society, which was obtained in the county of Limerick. The agriculture in this mining district we found, as it is found in other mining districts, in a backward state. At the same time, the county may be considered in a thriving condition, and, in consequence of the labour required for the several mines, the people are in general well employed, though an agricultural labourer receives only sixpence per day, with diet, and tenpence without.
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On leaving the Wooden Bridge Inn for Carlow, the road lay along the north side of Aughrim River for about four miles. After crossing the river near Aughrim, the country became exceedingly uninteresting. We left Kilpipe and Tinehely on our right, and had the Croghan Mountain on our left. The land in this district is indifferently cultivated. There are no green crops of any kind except potatoes; much of the land is in want of draining; and the hedges consist, invariably, of whin or furze. The people were digging potatoes with their long spades. Whilst working, they are nearly in a perpendicular posture; and such is their spirit of curiosity on the appearance of a car or carriage, that labour is instantly suspended, and no more work is done as long as the vehicle remains in view. Clay slate with mica prevails for a great part of the way from the Wooden Bridge Inn.
The estates of Earl Fitzwilliam extend through most part of the barony of Shilelagh; Malton, the noble earl's seat, being occupied by his brother-in-law, Mr. Chaloner. We called here, but
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did not find Mr. Chaloner at home. The house, which is far from being beautiful, stands on a commanding eminence, affording a fine view of the neighbouring mountains and valleys. The peculiar whiteness of the garden walks, arising from the broken quartz with which they are covered, particularly attracted our attention. They had the appearance of the whitest marble. Our conductor informed us that a fountain, which, fortunately for his character as a veracious relator, was not playing, "sent up the water quite out of sight!" Both Earl Fitzwilliam and Mr. Chaloner devote great attention to agriculture, and promote improvements by awarding premiums to the tenants, and supporting an Agricultural Society. At the meetings of this society, the Earl makes a point of dining with his tenants. The meritorious are encouraged by suitable rewards, and no expense is spared in attempts to stimulate the energies of all in the direction of a superior management of the land allotted to them. Among other sources of benefit, the tenants derive great advantage from his lordship's introduction of cattle from
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England, supplied by some of the most eminent breeders. Earl Fitzwilliam's income from his Irish estates is said to be £35,000 a year; of this he generously devotes a considerable share to their improvement, and to the advancement of the interests and comforts of his tenantry. He is justly accounted one of the best landlords in Ireland. Considering the example and encouragement so abundantly afforded, I was surprised to find the agriculture in the barony of Shilelagh in general, in so unpromising a condition. Upon one occasion, the Earl, I was told, presented a farmer with £100, for pursuing a system which his lordship was anxious to promote.
The barony of Shilelagh derives its name from the celebrated oak forests which formerly occupied so much of the district. Great quantities of the timber were exported to foreign countries, for roofing public buildings; part of Westminster Hall is said to be formed of it. At the village of Shilelagh a church has lately been erected on a green hill. The building possesses considerable
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beauty, and is surrounded by a few oaks that have survived the general destruction; they add greatly to its picturesque effect.
Having passed over a disgracefully bad and dangerous road, occupied by large heaps of stones, we reached Tullow, twenty-six miles from the Wooden Bridge Inn.
Tullow, a market town of Carlow, contains 2000 inhabitants, and is seated on the river Slaney, which flows by Wexford into St. George's Channel. Near the bridge that crosses the Slaney are the ruins of an Augustine Abbey, the east end of which, though in a tottering condition, still stands. Close to it, within an ancient building, is a well of beautifully clear water, which has doubtless been the holy well. A burial-ground, still used as a place of interment, stretches around the abbey. These ruins with the adjoining grounds, and a considerable part of the town, belong to Robert Doyne, Esq., who for the most part resides in England. Tullow was once a walled town; an old castle, captured by Cromwell, has been pulled down, the materials being
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used for the erection of barracks. The Roman Catholic chapel here possesses an elegant spire; the Protestant church, though nothing very remarkable, is a neat building. Several flour-mills on the river seemed to be in active employment.
We walked through the market, and were soon surrounded by about forty labourers, thin, wan, half-starved creatures, anxious for employment, but unable to obtain it. They stated that they were only employed during a part of their time, and that their wages were tenpence a day, without diet. The average of their earnings throughout the year, did not, however, exceed threepence a day; and on my doubting the possibility of their families being supported on that sum, they informed me that occasionally others of the family earned a trifle, but that very frequently they could not get salt to their potatoes, and sometimes were even short of potatoes.
The price of oats was from 13s. 6d. to 14s. per barrel of 14 stones. This grain was very late, and not properly ripened. The crop, moreover, was so deficient, that although the price was nearly
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double that of last year, the farmers said that they should be no better paid. Potatoes sold at from 2£d. to 3d. per stone. Beef 4d., mutton 5d., veal from 6d. to 7d., bacon 7d., some beef, very bad, 2 1/2d. per lb. We observed a quantity of disgusting meat offered for sale in dirty cars. It consisted of the tails and back-bones of pigs, the flesh being carefully cut off. Numbers were sold for 6d. each. Several interesting women, the wives of farmers, stood in the higher part of the market-place, some having a few eggs, or a fowl or two, under their cloaks — others a turkey or two, or a small quantity of butter, which people purchase by pennyworths, guessing the weight.
The signs displayed by numbers of low, miserable hovels, are ludicrous enough. "Entertainment," "Good Beds," and "Dry Lodgings," are offered to the traveller by cabins which cannot certainly supply any one of the desiderata they profess to abound in. If, however, damp green walls, roofs of thatch, full of holes, wet clay floors, and abundant dirt, may be considered as sources of entertainment, these houses do no less than
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properly represent the capabilities they are possessed of. "Dry Lodgings," I should observe, merely signifies lodging without food.
From Tullow to Carlow better cultivation prevails. Respectable farm-houses are distributed over the face of the country, and the farms are more extensive, containing as much as from 150 to 200 acres, and upwards, each. We passed through about three miles of the estate of the Earl of Besborough, the father of Lord Duncannon. A mile and a half east of Carlow is the extensive domain of Browne Hill, belonging to Mr. Browne, walled round and well wooded. We passed also two important Raths on our left, one of them about two miles from Tullow, the other opposite Browne Hill. The land near Carlow is excellent, and the country is ornamented by gentlemen's seats, rivers, and wood.
To Thomas Haughton, the first Dissenter appointed to the magistracy since the days of Charles the First, I was indebted, on my arrival at Carlow, for much polite and friendly attention. He obligingly accompanied us through the Lunatic
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Asylum and County Jail, and not only supplied every information in his power, but introduced us to other sources from which we might obtain what he himself was unable to furnish. The Asylum is a handsome new building of granite, appropriated to the use of the counties of Carlow, Wicklow, Kilkenny, Wexford, and Queen's County, and contained, when we visited it, 125 patients, the annual cost of each being £17. 10s. It is surrounded by fourteen acres of ground, inclosed within a wall. The more healthy of the lunatics are employed in trenching the ground, and had succeeded in making it very productive. The only punishments resorted to in this well-conducted establishment, are the shower-bath and the strait-waistcoat. The diet of the patients is stirabout, made of oatmeal and water, and sometimes of milk; potatoes and soup, and bread and milk. On this diet they get fat. By weaving, and other work, they raise about £70 a year for the institution. The original cost of the Asylum, including the land on which it stands, was £24,000. The salary of the governor is £200 per annum.
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The County Jail, also lately erected, is a neat structure, with a large portico of two rows of Ionic columns, each row consisting of eight. The effect of the building disappointed me. The Courts of Justice appeared to me to be small and inconvenient, though I understood that in the neighbourhood they were considered to be of a superior description.
In the morning we visited the Roman Catholic Cathedral, a handsome and spacious Gothic building, after a design by Cobden. This splendid temple contains the tomb of the late learned and pious Dr. Doyle, who spent on the Cathedral the sum of £12,000, the result of voluntary contributions. Dr. Fitzgerald, the superintendant of the adjoining Roman Catholic College, who had also spent a similar sum, similarly obtained, in its improvement, accompanied us through the various parts of that establishment, and was particularly polite and communicative. The library is extensive, and consists of works of History, Theology, Natural Philosophy, the Classics, Church History, the Canon Law, and the Fathers.
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The lecture-room is well supplied with philosophical apparatus. The students, of whom there were 140, pay from £27 to £30 per annum. Though all the scholars, at the time of our visit, were Catholics, occasionally Protestants receive their education here. The College was instituted in 1793.
In reply to a question of mine, Dr. Fitzgerald declared that it was a mistake to imagine that the Roman Catholic Priests oppose the diffusion of the Holy Scriptures; the fact was, the people were too poor to pay for them; but if the societies, he added, through whose instrumentality bibles are distributed gratuitously in foreign countries, would bestow part of their funds upon their Roman Catholic brethren, they (the priests) would be thankful to have an opportunity of extending the knowledge of the Word of God among the poor. Considering the ignorance of the people, Dr. Fitzgerald concurred with the majority of the clergy of the church of Rome, in thinking that the scriptures should be expounded by the priesthood; "for instance," said he, "it would be difficult for
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an ignorant man to interpret properly such a text as the following — 'God hardened the heart of Pharaoh,' which of course implies, if correctly understood, that God permitted the corrupt nature and dispositions of the Egyptian monarch. Pharaoh was accordingly a moral agent." Dr. Fitzgerald very naturally considered the Roman Catholic version of the bible to be fairer and more true to the original than that in use among the majority of Protestant churches.
In the course of our conversation I took the liberty of observing, that if the Roman Catholics were so poor as to be unable to purchase bibles, it seemed a little extraordinary that they could erect such splendid cathedrals and colleges as are to be met with up and down the country. The Doctor answered my objection by remarking that a considerable part of the funds arise from money left by the priests; that according to the Canon Law they cannot apply their property to any private purposes, or will it to their relatives, but are obliged to leave it to charitable objects. In some instances they act in direct contravention of the
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law; the bishop, however, at his visitations, interrogates them respecting the disposition of their property, and, if detected in misappropriation, they are liable to the penalty of suspension. A priest in the parish of Bagnalstown, who died lately, worth £4000, left it all to the bishop, for building schools. Hence the accumulation of Catholic property in various instances, and the building of chapels and schools. During the last thirty years, a sum of £500,000 has been expended by the Roman Catholics in the building of churches. Dr. Fitzgerald further informed me, that it was intended to establish a convent of nuns in Carlow, of the Order of the Sisters of Charity, whose duty would be to visit the sick and attend upon the poor. All the nuns in Ireland, he added, either conducted schools or were usefully employed in the fulfilment of charitable duties. On the subject of tithes, the doctor reverted to the original object of their institution, and contended that as they were designed for the use of those who administered to the spiritual comforts of the people, they were applied in
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opposition to the principle which gave rise to them, in being bestowed upon the clergy of a minority of the population. After the manner, he added emphatically, in which the clergy of the Established Church had persecuted the people with the sword, they never could be tolerated.
Notwithstanding Dr. Fitzgerald's information, it is notorious that the blessings that are ever found to result from a free and unmolested perusal of the bible, are often denied to the poor and unlearned members of the Roman Catholic communion. Except in the company of their priests, or when attending divine worship in their chapels, they are forbidden to consult the written oracles of God; thus being excluded from one of the richest sources of instruction and comfort. Besides, apart from the evil of interdicting the popular use of the scriptures, in a spiritual point of view, the prohibition seems to be objectionable on another ground. It imposes upon those who submit to it, a yoke of mental slavery. As long as a people submit to a dictation of this sort, they are unfit for the successful execution of
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great enterprises. But in spite of the interdiction of the priests, the Catholics, I believe, will not be prevented from reading the scriptures. In one place which I visited, I was told by a most respectable gentleman, that such had been the anxiety of several poor Catholic families, in his neighbourhood, to "search the scriptures," in consequence of relations from their children of passages which they had read at the schools of the Board, that, in defiance of the risk they ran, they had actually obtained bibles; and Mr. Blacker, at the conclusion of his "Claims of the Landed Interests," gives the following information: — "I have been lately assured, by a Protestant clergyman, that he had it from good authority, that Roman Catholics were now meeting by stealth, at night, to read the scriptures, in a district where popery seemed thoroughly to predominate."
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