Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
The Miseries and Beauties of Ireland (Author: Jonathan Binns)
chapter 13
Ride from Carrick to Clonmel — Whiskey-drinking in Clonmel — Public buildings — Roads — Corruption in the revenue department — Scarcity of birds in Ireland — Introduction to Mr. Bianconi — Account of that gentleman — His opinion of tithes — Birth-place of Sterne — Ride to Clogheen — From thence to Lismore — Pass in the Knockmeledown Mountains — General Blakeney and Mr. Eeles — Civility of the car-drivers — Approach to Lismore — Woody and picturesque dell — Lismore Castle — Anecdote of James II — Ancient Lismore — The Duke of Devonshire — Visit to an experimental farm belonging to the Duke — Want of employment about Lismore — Geology of the district — Visit to Mount Melleray.
The ride from Carrick to Clonmel is full of beauty; and that I might the more freely enjoy it, I took my place on the outside of a caravan, resembling an omnibus, which carried twelve inside. My fare was 1s. 6d. for fifteen miles.
The land between Carrick and Clonmel is of excellent quality, and produces from eight to twelve barrels of wheat per acre; the rent being 30s. The labourers are employed only half their
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time. The population of Clonmel is about 16,000.
Whiskey drinking prevails to a great extent in Clonmel, and in the opinion of some judicious persons with whom I conversed, had increased in consequence of the reduction of the duty. The inhabitants of the towns drink much more than those of the country; and, accordingly, a labourer earning six or seven shillings a week, may be considered better off than a mechanic who gets twenty. It was the opinion of the same gentlemen, that the police, if properly conducted, might effectually check illicit distillation in every part of Ireland. With the laudable view of abating the nuisance of dram-drinking, a Temperance Society was established in Clonmel, but the violence of political partisanship caused it to be speedily abandoned. Clonmel contains neither a public school nor a public library; indeed, the nobility and gentry seem to care but little for the prosperity of the place, and party-feeling runs so high as to oppose serious obstacles to its improvement.
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A considerable portion of the old wall and towers of Clonmel still remain, adjoining the church in Mary-street. The appearance of the church, a fine Gothic building, has been very materially injured by the insertion of ugly modern sash windows. These alterations, by some considered improvements, are, in my opinion, conceived in exceedingly bad taste.
The Jail is a splendid building, and contained, when I visited Clonmel, upwards of four hundred prisoners — charged, for the most part, with minor offences.
According to the opinion of an intelligent gentleman of Clonmel, with whom I had an opportunity of conversing, the grand jury of Wexford are an example to the county as regards their management of the roads, whilst in the county of Tipperary the very reverse is the case. A road, by the way, from Clonmel, through Cashel and Thurles, would be a great convenience. The same gentleman, in allusion to the subject of poor laws, thought that the general opinion was against the administration of them by the grand-jury:
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for his own part, he should like to see them under the control of a Board of Commissioners composed of Englishmen. This gentleman, I should add, was a conservative. He admitted, in the course of conversation, that nothing could exceed the corruption that prevailed, under former governments, in the revenue department. Even men in authority were in the habit of giving the distillers notice of the approach of the officers; and at Thurles, public notice was given, by the ringing of the market bell!
In consequence of the scarcity of wood, Ireland does not possess one half the number of birds that are to be met with in England; — among others, the nightingale and the woodpecker are never found, except in the vicinity of Cork, where the latter is occasionally seen; indeed, I saw one there. The golden eagle and the penguin falcon frequent the cliffs on the lakes, five or six miles to the south of Clonmel; and the cinerious shearwater may be occasionally met with on the coast. Some beautiful wavellite, found near Clonmel, was shewn to me. A few years since, some
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specimens of wavellite or hydrargillite, probably the most splendid that were ever presented to the eye of the mineralogist, were found near Clonmel. They were of a deep green colour, and were discovered in searching for coal; some of them sold for several pounds each. The colour of the Clonmel wavellite is much superior to that of Germany and Cornwall. In the limestone of Clonmel, the geologist may obtain fine specimens of the cardium Hibernicum, and the other fossils peculiar to this formation.
At Clonmel I had the pleasure of being introduced to Mr. Bianconi, to whom Ireland is greatly indebted for his spirited and extensive improvements in the mode of communication by travelling. Mr. Bianconi is an Italian, and was respectably connected. Many reasons have been assigned for his departure from his native country, but the true one, probably, is that given by Inglis, who says that he was intrusted by his parents to the care of an individual who was then setting out on a commercial journey to Britain, and was employed by him to carry small
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prints round the country for sale. "It was while trudging, as he was often accustomed,"' continues the same pleasant writer, "between Waterford and Clonmel, that it first occurred to him, how agreeable it would be if any cheap conveyance passed along the road, to carry himself and his burden; and some indistinct project then began to be entertained, respecting the establishment of such a conveyance; but it has been erroneously stated, in some memoirs of Mr. Bianconi, that have from time to time appeared, that he set up a car to assist himself as an itinerant print merchant. Gradually he amassed a little money; but it was not until after he had taken advantage of then existing circumstances, to enter into the bullion trade, and had realized a little capital, that he started his first car. For some little time he met with but indifferent success: but gradually the public began to appreciate the convenience; and at length the success of the first car induced him to start a second, and to persevere, until he has become what he now is, one of the largest proprietors of horses and vehicles in
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Europe." This enterprising individual has no fewer than eight hundred horses employed on the road in public cars, throughout all the south, and a considerable part of the west of Ireland. The fares are exceedingly moderate, and the accommodation invariably good. Mr. Bianconi stated to me his conviction that the country, generally, was improving — that the moral condition of the population was becoming gradually elevated — and added his belief, that mills or manufactories might be safely erected even in the very worst part of the island. The penal laws, he remarked, had excited a suspicious disposition in the people, and had been attended with great persecution and suffering. Tithes he spoke of as a great nuisance; when the tithe-collector visited him, he told him he might take the car standing at his door, but peremptorily refused to pay anything.
Clonmel possesses manufactures both in cotton and woollen; and the trade upon the Suire, which is navigable no higher than Clonmel, is principally in corn and flour. Clonmel, I must not omit to mention, is famous as being the birth-place of
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Sterne. I went to look for the house where he was born, in an obscure part of the town, but much doubt hangs about its identity.
The ride from Clonmel to Clogheen lies, first along the rich valley on the east side of the river Suire, and afterwards on more elevated ground, interspersed with the ruins of ancient castles and churches. About six miles from the former place, after crossing a bridge of fourteen arches over the Suire, we passed through the village of Ardfinane, in the county of Tipperary. Here are the ruins of two castles, one of them in a picturesque situation on a prominent grey limestone rock near the river, commanding the town, the river, and the bridge. This castle was built by King John in 1184, and has both a round and a square tower; it did not escape the battery of Cromwell. After passing the bridge, and winding up the opposite bank, a fine view is to be had of this wide and majestic river, with its verdant valley inclosed within romantic rocks. The land, too, of this district is excellent, and very suitable for green crops; few, however, are to be seen. The fences are merely
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mounds of earth, and the country, after leaving the valley, is bare, having scarcely a tree or shrub to break its monotony, until we begin to descend towards Clogheen; the country then becomes beautiful.
From this neat village, seated on the banks of a stream which joins the river Suire, I travelled in the mail-car to Lismore, and was the only passenger. After leaving the town, we ascended for several miles, by a pass through the Knockmeledown Mountains, having Clogheen and the valley of the Suire below, and the rock of Cashel, boldly displayed in the distance. As we advanced up this pass, new beauties opened upon us, not the least of which was Shanbally Castle, with the richly wooded domain of Lord Lismore. From Clogheen, the mountain ground is extremely barren, and continues so till within two or three miles of Lismore. The present improved road is of comparatively easy ascent, and the horse broke trot for only a short distance. On reaching the summit, a splendid view was presented of the Galtee and other mountains, the
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most elevated points being clothed with sheets of snow, whose whiteness, covered with sunshine, contrasted finely with the dark clouds behind. Looking towards Lismore, an extraordinarily bleak and barren prospect lay before us; nothing to be seen but range after range of brown wild moor, stretching out and losing its distinctness in the distance, without either field, or tree, or building, or an animal of any description. I looked in vain for the sort of country in which I had imagined the beautiful and romantic Lismore to be situated.
The mountains above alluded to are thus described by the Rev. R. H. Ryland; "Those wild and lonely mountains, enveloped during a great portion of the year in mist and fog, and seldom visited except by the sportsman and summer tourist, were for a long period the retreat of General Blakeney, an eccentric being who 'loved not man, nor woman either.' After a continuance of some years in the gaieties of the world, and while still in the prime of life, this gentleman constructed a dwelling on one of the hills which
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compose this range; and with a single male attendant, for he never admitted females into his residence, retired to live in solitude. He continued in the mountain until his death, and, according to his own wish, was buried near his residence, with his dog and gun." This taste for being buried in mountain solitudes was not peculiar to General Blakeney. The driver pointed out the summit of the highest of the Knockmeledown Mountains (2,700 feet high) where a Mr. Eeles was buried, along with his horse and dog. He was placed, according to his own request, in an erect position, with his head downwards. Ryland confirms the former part of this information. Mr. Eeles published many papers on electricity, and Letters from Lismore.
The Irish car-drivers are so civil, that if a leading question be asked them, and they believe you wish it to be answered in the affirmative, they are certain to agree with you. A snow storm having assailed us in going over these dreary mountains, I inquired of the driver, "if the snow had not come earlier in the season than usual?"
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"By gad," he answered, "it is a grate dale." Of the next driver I asked "if the snow did not generally come sooner than it had this season?" and he also answered in the affirmative. Their language is generally poetical and figurative, to which their emphatic and animated manner of delivery adds considerable effect. As we were ascending this inclined plane, with a vast extent of country exhibited below — "Now," said the driver, "the country looks barren and bare, but it is beautiful when the corn is in its bloom."
As we descended the moor, the dreary monotony became a little relieved by two or three miserable, half-starved sheep, which were endeavouring to pick a scanty morsel of vegetable food, not worth the name of grass, and were far too hungry and too poor to notice the car as it passed close to them. The next evidences of civilization appeared as we approached Lismore, in the shape of several neat cottages, built at intervals at a short distance from the road, and surrounded by small patches of cultivated ground, part of the moory black soil of the mountain. These little
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settlements belong to the Duke of Devonshire, and are occupied by those who have been dislodged from more favoured situations, near the Castle of Lismore. The land around them was wet, and not likely to produce potatoes of good quality. A considerable extent of land in this district, belonging also to the Duke, has lately been planted, but it requires draining, and the trees cannot be expected to thrive till this is more effectually accomplished.
We at length dropt suddenly into a woody dell, by the side of a rapid and noisy stream, which rushed through the wood. Our course now lay through woody and rocky scenery of great beauty — the road winding along a narrow and romantic vale, which continued till we reached Lismore, and here and there approaching the brooks that fell in picturesque and pleasant cascades.
I lost no time in visiting the castle. In the first gateway, on entering the purlieus, are two spaces beneath the archway, formerly occupied, as at the Horse Guards in London, by two horsemen. This passed, an avenue of fine trees,
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enclosed by high walls, leads to the second gateway, which forms the entrance to the court, or square yard, of the castle. Here I was surprised by the servant, when he opened the door, addressing me by name; I found that he had formerly lived in the town where I reside. Colonel Curry, to whom I carried a note of introduction, obligingly conducted me over the castle, and accompanied me through the pleasure-grounds and gardens. Lismore is indeed an interesting place: far more beautiful than I had anticipated, and perhaps rendered still more so by the dreary country through which we approached it. One thing, and only one, disappointed me. The town encroaches on one side of the castle, and for this I was not prepared — the drawings of Lismore invariably presenting us with its most beautiful aspect — its park, its deep groves, its rocky and varied scenery. The castle stands on the side of a bank, which rises abruptly from the Blackwater River; the towers, indeed, seem to be a portion of the bank, so perfectly is the slope continued by the gradual tapering of the walls
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upwards. Except on a very close inspection, the base of the building is concealed from view, by beautiful arbutus, and evergreens of every variety, oaks, and laurels of great luxuriance. Higher up the river is a very beautiful grove, in which walks, cut out of the rugged banks, afford many admirable stations for viewing the Blackwater, in its course to Cappoquin. In the distance lies Belmont, the seat of Sir Richard Keane. Here, beneath these romantic pathways, the river expands to a considerable breadth, gliding along serenely in narrow wavy lines, with scarce perceptible motion. The opposite bank is exceedingly rich and beautiful, and was ornamented by the late Dean Scott, in unison with the surrounding landscape. In the valley, and on the sides of the distant hills, are plantations of large extent, belonging to the Duke of Devonshire.
The views from the various windows of the castle, which are raised an extraordinary height above the Blackwater, are surpassingly beautiful. It is told of James II., says Ryland, that when he dined at the castle, "the agitated monarch, on
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looking out of the window, was so struck at perceiving the vast height at which he stood, and the rapid river running beneath him, that he started back with evident dismay." The interior of the noble structure was rebuilt about twenty years ago, and is elegantly furnished. There are some splendid paintings, and excellent tapestry.
Lismore was once a celebrated city, and ranked amongst the most nourishing places in Ireland. It is celebrated as having been the birth-place of the dramatist Congreve; the ingenious and eccentric Henry Eeles (of whom mention is made in a previous page); and of Robert Boyle, one of the most distinguished of philosophers. Here, also, Alfred is supposed to have derived much of the knowledge which has since immortalized his name. In the year 636, Lismore was a Bishop's see,and is said to have consisted chiefly of the habitations of the most learned monks, of royal abbots, and of saints and hermits. "Lessmor," says an old writer, "is a famous and Holy City, half of which is an asylum into which no woman dares enter; but it is full of cells and holy monasteries: and religious
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men, in great numbers, abide there; and thither holy men flock together from all parts of Ireland: and not only from Ireland, but also from England and Britain, being desirous to remove from thence to Christ." Ryland states that "there were many, some say twenty, churches in Lismore, of which the ruins of seven were discernible a few years since; but all the ancient buildings of this ungallant city are now entirely removed, except the Cathedral and the Castle."
The population is now only about 3,000, and there is only one church. The castle was built by King John in the year 1185, on the site of an ancient abbey; it was afterwards taken by the Irish, and was for many years the episcopal residence, until Miler Magrath, Archbishop of Cashel, and Bishop of this see, granted it, together with the manor of Lismore, to Sir Walter Raleigh, from whom this and other property was purchased by the celebrated Sir Richard Boyle, afterwards Earl of Cork. From Youghal, Tallow, Dungarvon, and Lismore, the present Duke of Devonshire derives an income of nearly £40,000
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per annum, and the leases are fast dropping in. I have been told that from his Irish property altogether, he receives £60,000 per annum. He has expended large sums of money in improving and beautifying the town and precincts; and evinces the most liberal disposition towards his numerous tenantry. I have pleasure in confirming, as far as my observation extended, the favourable statements made by both Inglis and Ryland respecting this great proprietor; though there are some in the neighbourhood of Youghal, who, whilst they willingly bear witness to his liberality, are of opinion that it scarcely corresponds with the amazing extent of his Irish revenues.
An experimental farm of 360 acres is kept by the Duke's agent, who has a clever agriculturist in Mr. Ferguson, a Scotchman. The farm buildings are excellent, and the implements and horses well adapted to successful husbandry. I saw 25 acres of very good turnips, well managed, and free from weeds; some of them were manured with bones — but the peculiarity of the season prevented the comparison of bones with other manures, from
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being decisive. I was not a little surprised to see a field of oats growing luxuriantly in December; they had been sown late in autumn, at which season, in that climate, they succeed well. Oats generally yield from ten to fourteen barrels per acre; barley ten; and wheat eight barrels. The farms are let upon a corn rent. Land that yields the produce above stated, lets for from 30s. to 35s. per acre. The mountain land may be had at from 5s. to 10s. Lime is cheap, costing from 8 1/2d. to 9d. per barrel; but if the farmer burns it himself, it will be only from 6d. to 7d. Limestone prevails on both sides the river. Coals, at the time I visited the farm, were from 28s. to 30s. per ton — a much higher price than usual. At this farm I saw a complete little thrashing machine, composed of iron; the space which it occupied is but trifling, and it requires only two horses. They walk over the tumbling shaft, which is within the ground. The price of this machine, when set up, is from forty to fifty pounds; it is made by McCarthy of Old Crummock. The turnip harrows, though equal to any in the country, or
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perhaps in Scotland, were less effective than they might be. With respect to the several crops produced here, potatoes were stated to be only a moderate crop throughout the country. Clover is sometimes sown in June, after a crop of rye-grass has been mown; the land is then ploughed, and sown with clover. Sometimes rye-grass is sown in the autumn, without clover, after a crop of oats or wheat has been taken off the ground. It is mown in May, and given to horses or cattle in the house. Previously to sowing grain, the land is ploughed with the Scotch plough, and well harrowed; then a small wooden plough, without iron on the mould-board, is used for the purpose of ploughing in the seed. Under this process, the ground, not being left smooth, is less liable to become hard and stiff.
The labourers in the neighbourhood, except those employed by Colonel Curry, are engaged only about one-fourth of their time. "Men come two, three, and even five miles," said Mr. Bible, the innkeeper at Lismore, "and wait about my steps, slapping their feet to keep some warmth
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in them. It would break the heart of any gentleman to see them. They come at five and six in the morning, and dozens often go away, wet through and discouraged, after finding no work." Tithe is paid by the Duke's tenants; the rent, indeed, would not be taken without it. With these exceptions, not a farthing of tithe is paid in the neighbourhood.
Opposite the castle is an excellent salmon fishery, at which as many as eight hundred fish are sometimes taken at one time, and sent to England. In the neighbourhood of Lismore, slate quarries have been successfully worked. The bed of roof slate, which is not of any great thickness, (Ryland informs us) rests upon a coarse grey slate; above the roof slate is a rock of a silicious nature; higher up is a bed of conglomerate; and above these is sandstone, varying from a fine building material, resembling Portland stone, to a coarse soft rock having the appearance of indurated sand. The river may be considered the boundary of these formations; and the component parts of the hills, in this portion of the county of
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Waterford, may generally be classed according to the foregoing description. In some places the silicious slate is wanting, and in others the sandstone is red. The rocks are rich in minerals; iron, lead, and copper ore, are of frequent occurrence, and have, at remote periods, engaged the attention of the proprietors of the soil. Lead ore is found at the Bridge of Lismore.
Being provided, by the kindness of Colonel Curry, not only with a note of introduction to the Rev. Mr. Ryan, the superintendant of the Trappist Settlement at Mount Melleray, but with a horse and servant to convey and accompany me thither, I set off to inspect that interesting and singular establishment. Mount Melleray (a name given by the monks themselves) is situated near Cappoquin, in the midst of a vast tract of barren heath, on the side of the Knockmeledown Mountains, which were covered with snow. The buildings are of immense magnitude, and though certainly striking from the loneliness of their position, and interesting from the associations connected with the history of their inhabitants,
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have nothing to recommend them as specimens of architectural beauty. They strongly reminded me of the drawings of the Hospices on the Alps. Mr. Ryan received me with great politeness, and shewed every disposition to communicate information on the subject which had induced me to obtrude upon his privacy. In 1831, it appears, seventy-eight monks, who, during the previous fifteen years, had lived happy and contented under the direction of M. Saulmer, employing themselves in cultivating the barren lands of Brittany, were forcibly expelled from the Monastery of La Trappe of Melleraye — their expulsion being attended with acts of brutal violence, ''accompanied" (to use the words of Mr. Ryan) "by many atrocious circumstances, based upon accusations the most stupid and calumnious." On arriving in Ireland, Sir Richard Keane granted them, at a nominal rent, six hundred statute acres of moor and bog land, on a lease of a hundred years. This they instantly began to cultivate; they at the same time began to raise their extensive buildings: and it is a remarkable fact — a
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fact, by the way, which speaks with singular emphasis against the indispensableness of a compulsory church — that though possessed of only one sixpence on their arrival at Mount Melleray, they raised, within the short space of three years, a series of structures that would have cost, if paid for at the usual value of work, not less than £ 10,000. They were, however, gratuitously assisted in their stupendous undertakings (for such they may indeed be called), by the people on every side. In a country where tithe has nearly ceased to be collected, a small company of religious men (sixty in number), have succeeded, though pennyless, in converting a wilderness into a fertile place, and in planting in that wilderness an immense and costly habitation. This can only be accounted for by the fact, that the religion they professed was the religion of the people, and that the people honoured and respected them for the virtues that adorned it. The monks of Mount Melleray, when I visited their establishment, had 120 acres under cultivation, yielding fine crops of rye, oats, turnips, and potatoes. Their gardens,
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too, abound in every variety of vegetables. They have planted, moreover, 120,000 forest trees; so that in a few years, the face of the country, so lately brown, and bare of beauty, will be covered with verdure. Besides the land granted to the Trappists, Sir Richard Keane had 5000 acres of bog, all of which was untenanted and uncultivated: since the settlement of the monks, however, the whole of it has become tenanted, and is now undergoing cultivation. Buildings are springing up on every side, and the barren waste is gradually changing into a fruitful and smiling land.
The Trappists are of the Cistercian order, and their object is to educate the poor, to promote agriculture, and to improve the general condition of the people. They observe the strictest silence — no one being allowed to speak, except to his superior; and live in the most exact conformity to rigid rules. All rise at two o'clock in the morning, both summer and winter, and engage in the exercise of devotion from that hour till six. Seven in the evening is their time for retiring to
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rest. The dormitories are very large — the chapel was lighted with tapers, dimly and gloomily. Some of the monks whom I saw, wore woollen dresses, of the natural colour, having large hoods. Before leaving Mount Melleray I partook of the hospitality of the superior, who supplied me with some excellent bread and butter, both of them the produce of the land belonging to the brotherhood. The bread contained a considerable portion of rye. The inmates of Mount Melleray live exclusively on vegetable diet; and never touch wine or fermented liquor, except as medicine.
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