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

chapter 14

Journey from Lismore to Tallow — Youghal — Myrtle Grove, Sir Walter Raleigh's — Spot where potatoes were first grown in Ireland — Tobacco — Churchyard of Youghal — Extract from Dr. Smith — The quay — Dispute between the Duke of Devonshire and the Corporation of Youghal — Trade of the town — Schools — Party-spirit — Minerals — Wages and rents — Ardmore Round Tower — Curran — Besborough — The Groves of Blarney — Blarney Castle, and its magic stone — Amethysts near Cork — Bandon — Extraordinary pits near Ross-Carberry — Bantry Bay — The town of Bantry — Coral-sand — Mines — Agriculture of the neighbourhood — Further account of Bantry — Departure for Glengariff.

The road from Lismore towards Tallow has a beech hedge on each side, and is superior to most I had met with. The land looked well, and was laid out in square fields; and the farm houses are respectable. This district, it is scarcely necessary to say, belongs to the Duke of Devonshire. The country is his, I believe, as far as the town of Tallow, whose Schools, and Alms-houses, and respectable Inn, all lately erected (the inn being rent

p.304

free), testify the advantages of a liberal and benevolent proprietor. Near Tallow are seen the ruins of Lisfining Castle, a fortress of the Earl of Desmond, and, in the distance, the majestic mountains of Knockmeledown. I recognised with pleasure, in the distance, the spire and buildings of Mount Melleray, in solitary wildness amidst the snow.

The land became more sterile as we proceeded; and instead of the furze hedges, met with elsewhere, we had now mere barren banks of earth. This district belongs, I think, to Mr. Smith, who allows the poor to have turf at 11d. per load, they being at the labour of digging and drying it. The cabins here are miserable things. The people of this part of the country speak Irish — many of them not knowing a word of English. They have an unpleasant and uncivilized appearance — many of them at least — arising from the projection of the upper gums. I here saw several instances of the old-fashioned and sociable mode of travelling on pillion; the couples jogged along very comfortably.

p.305

A hilly, tedious road, and a jaded horse, rendered the view of Youghal very agreeable; but independently of this, the view of the mouth of the Blackwater, which forms the bay of Youghal, in conjunction with the old Castle and town, and a distant glimpse of the Atlantic, and the Round Tower of Ardmore, had a fine effect, on descending the hill. My introduction here was to a highly respectable member of the Society of Friends, whom I had the pleasure of finding liberal and charitable in his opinions, political and religious. Youghal contains about sixty members of this society, who have a small and neat, though unostentatious Meeting-house.

Not by any means the least interesting object in Youghal is Myrtle Grove, formerly the residence of Sir Walter Raleigh, and now occupied by Colonel Fount, who seems to have a pleasure in keeping up the antique appearance of the abode. With the exception of the windows, which have been modernized, this venerable mansion remains pretty nearly as it was in the days of its great but unfortunate possessor: the roof consists of small

p.306

red tiles; some portion of the old entrance yet stands; and the interior of the walls, which are six feet thick, is covered with handsome oak wainscotting. In the drawing-room is an oaken mantel-piece, beautifully carved. The house is surrounded by the most luxuriant evergreens. The arbutus, myrtles, and verbena, grow here to a great size. These shrubs, and the geraniums, were all in flower on the 11th of December. The spot where the first potatoes grew in Ireland, was pointed out to me. The person, it is said, who planted them, imagining that the apples which grow on the stalks were the portions to be used, gathered them, but, not liking their taste, neglected the roots; till the ground being afterwards dug, for the purpose of sowing some other grain, potatoes were discovered therein, and to the surprise of the planter greatly increased. From those few potatoes, the produce of those introduced by Sir Walter Raleigh from Virginia, the whole country was furnished with seed. Sir Walter introduced also tobacco, which was afterwards cultivated to a considerable extent in Ireland; he brought, at the

p.307

same time, the celebrated Affane cherry, from the Canary lsles. Sir Walter received, as stated by Mr. Ryland, a grant of 42,000 acres of land in this part of Ireland, at a rent of a hundred marks sterling a year. The old town wall forms one of the garden boundaries.

Another object of considerable interest is the churchyard at Youghal — a steep, undulating bank of considerable elevation, ornamented with trees, and walks tastefully laid out. This picturesque grave-yard, which contains several ancient tombstones, commands extensive views of the surrounding country. The church, a large and massive structure, has been spoilt by the wretched taste displayed in the modern additions. The ancient part, however, in some degree compensates — particularly a large window, which is indeed beautiful. Youghal abounds in ruins — relics of time and turbidence. It suffered severely, we are told, from the wars of the Desmonds in 1579, and was left quite desolate, not a man staying in it, except one poor friar. The Earl of Cork shut himself up in it in the rebellion of

p.308

1641, and, suffering great hardship, he died in the castle during those troubles. Youghal was selected by Cromwell for his residence in 1649. When he was in this part of the country, and saw the great improvements made in it by the first Earl of Cork, he said that if there had been such a nobleman in each province of the kingdom, the Irish could never have rebelled.

The large expanded strand of Youghal, says Dr. Smith, in his History of Cork, as far as the lowest ebbs uncover it, and probably much further, is no other than a common turf bog covered over with sand and pebbles, from whence not only good turf is dug every season, but also great trees, as fir, hazel, &c, are found. Some years ago, the sand and pebbles were washed away, and discovered great quantities of roots of various trees.23 The same author also mentions, that at Clay Castle, about a mile south-west of the town

p.309

of Youghal, is a small promontory composed of a loose sandy clay. The pieces of bank which break off and are washed down by the sea, are by degrees petrified into a very hard firm grit, as solid as any stone. He also states, that the same kind of petrifaction has been observed at Harwich in England. This formation appears to be similar to that which I have elsewhere described as having witnessed at Lough Neagh, and at Conishead Priory in Lancashire, only at the latter places the stone formed is calcareous.

The quay of Youghal, at present in very bad order, might, at a moderate expense, be greatly improved; and a comparatively small outlay of capital, in building houses of accommodation for strangers, might be the source of great advantage to the town, by converting it into a sea-bathing place. The beach is a beautiful one; and, in the immediate neighbourhood, are many eligible sites for building upon. A lighthouse also is much wanted near the entrance to the harbours — not only for vessels coming into it, but for those bound westward.

p.310

The town belongs to the Duke of Devonshire, and I was informed that its improvement had been considerably retarded by an unfortunate dispute and law-suit between the Duke and the Corporation — arising out of some question of a political nature. The renewal of leases was refused; and many of the houses, of which the leases had expired, presented a ruinous appearance. After the expenditure of much money, the Corporation gave way. But little, if any, good, however, has attended these unhappy disagreements — both parties having lost much of their former influence, and the borough being now represented independently of either. It does not appear that the Duke is partial to Youghal; for, notwithstanding the adjustment of the differences alluded to, he has done but little, nor does he show a disposition to do much more, for the benefit of the place. In many respects, money might be laid out in profitable speculations; but the occasions are either unnoticed or disregarded. Yet, under all these disadvantages, Youghal is decidedly an improving town. The flour trade

p.311

and the timber trade have increased of late; and the prosperity of the place might be still further promoted, by the establishment of a steam-vessel to Liverpool — a project of peculiar moment to the agriculturists — and one that might readily be accomplished, I understand, provided the Duke would take shares to the amount of a few thousand pounds. Although this wealthy nobleman has not done all that the inhabitants of Youghal could have wished, it ought, in justice to him, to be mentioned, that he has built a good inn — given ground, at nominal rents, for some useful public buildings, amongst which are two school-houses — and constantly subscribes to most of the Charities of the town. One large school is attached to the National Board of Education, and, as the Protestant clergy have declined to co-operate, it is left entirely to the control of the Roman Catholics. Another establishment exists, which has been for many years under the Kildare Place Society; it is held in a building which was formerly a barrack, and for which £30 a year is paid to Government;

p.312

but as the place is used exclusively for charitable purposes, the rent, which is a paltry one to receive, but a large one to contribute, might be remitted. This establishment consists of a Boys' and Girls' Schools, in distinct buildings, and an Infant School; all well attended to by a committee, annually elected from the subscribers. There is also a repository for enabling the poor to purchase clothing on low terms; and a straw-plat school, and a public Library.

So lamentable has been the effect of party spirit in Youghal, that a benevolent institution, supported by all parties, which supplied coal and meal to the poor, without distinction of sect, was obliged to be abandoned, one of the parties, the Roman Catholics, after a contested election, having withdrawn their accustomed subscriptions. The principal subscribers were Protestants, and the greater part of the relief had been applied to the Roman Catholics. The Protestants, accordingly, established a similar benevolent society, called "The Protestant Relief Society," and restricted its application to the assistance of the

p.313

Protestant poor. They divided the town into districts, and to each district appointed a male and a female visitor, whose duty was to visit the poor in their own dwellings, and to bring the particulars of each case before a general meeting of the society. This is decidedly a more humane system than the workhouse plan, and probably more economical; because a man, or any part of his family, who cannot entirely support themselves by employment, are not obliged to give up what they have; and it is found that a very small pittance of relief is sufficient to enable a man to struggle through difficulties, till he gets better employed. On a large scale, however, it is not practicable; even in the small town of Youghal, the violence of party-feeling has injuriously affected its utility.

In the minerals of the district there appears to be a vast source of profitable employment for capital and labour; and an arrangement, I understood, had just been completed with an English Company for beginning to work a rich vein of lead, discovered near the bank of the Blackwater,

p.314

about twelve miles up the river, on the estate of Mr. Ussher, of Camphire. Within a few miles of Youghal, both in the Dungarvon Mountains and near Cappoquin, iron ore abounds.

The labourers in the town get from tenpence to a shilling per day, and, in the country, eightpence, without diet. The rent of land within a mile of the town is from £3. to £3. 10s. per acre, and ranges down from that to 30s., further in the country. Land still nearer the mountains lets at from twenty to ten shillings. Potatoes produce about 60 barrels, and wheat, five barrels of twenty stones per acre; barley, eight barrels of sixteen stones; and oats, ten barrels of fourteen stones. In and near the town are the brown-ware potteries.

About five miles from Youghal, stands the Round Tower of Ardmore (which may be seen from elevated parts close to Youghal), composed, according to the statements of some historians, of "cut stones" accurately fitted and cemented together. The height is ninety feet, the diameter, at the base, fifteen. It is divided into four stories, having bands on the outside. Each story contains a

p.315

window, and the entrance is sixteen feet from the ground. The Church adjoining the Tower was once a magnificent building.

My journey from Youghal to Cork, a distance of twenty-eight miles, lay through Castle Martyr, the property of the Earl of Shannon, and the beautiful and well-wooded domain of that nobleman. We passed also through Middleton, where Curran is said to have received the rudiments of learning. The immediate approach to Cork lies along the shores of the fantastically branching inlets of the sea or harbour, and is exceedingly beautiful. The evening, however, was too far advanced to permit of my seeing its beauties in perfection; besides, I was travelling by a heavy jolting coach, and over bad roads.

I took up my abode for two or three days at Besborough, with a friend who resides in a delightful spot on the side of one of the numerous bays; luxuriant cypresses and evergreens enriching the grounds. My friend kindly accompanied me to the far-famed Blarney, five or six miles from Cork. We took the Mallow road, approaching

p.316

Blarney from the eastward, and had to pass over a poor, high country. The celebrated "Groves of Blarney" are indeed beautiful, and I had the pleasure of passing beneath the shade of the long-spreading branches of ancient laurels and yews which compose them; as for the Castle — Blarney Castle — though once a famous fortress, and a noble seat of the Earls of Clancarty, who forfeited a large estate in this county for adhering to King James — it retains but little of its former size or grandeur, being reduced to one massive square tower, the walls of which are matted with long grass, ivy, and wild flowers. Nature has adopted the ruins of man's pomp and strength, and has covered them with a garment of greater beauty than ever they wore in the days of their proudest prosperity. But besides the castle and the groves, this celebrated spot has other attractions. Natural caverns in the rocks lead the way, by steps called the "The Witches' Stairs," to the river; and, on emerging from the obscure passage, the glassy stream, with its quiet accompaniments of wood and crag, bursts suddenly upon the view.

p.317

Beautiful as is the scenery that embosoms this ancient ruin, and numerous as are the historical associations connected with it, the distinction it has obtained may be attributed to the prevalence of a strange and ridiculous superstition. "In the highest part of the castle wall," says one who is learned in the fabulous records of Ireland, "a stone is pointed out to visitors, which is supposed to give to whoever kisses it the peculiar privilege of deviating from veracity, with unblushing countenance, whenever it may be convenient. Hence the well-known phrase of "BLARNEY." I indulged my curiosity by ascending the tower to see the magic stone, as well as the surrounding country.

Very fine amethysts, richly coloured, have been found in considerable abundance in a limestone quarry on the Black Rock road, about two miles from Cork; some sufficiently fine to become articles of jewellery. But as the ground on which the quarry is situated, had been for many years the subject of a law-suit, there has not been an opportunity of ascertaining how far the amethyst

p.318

veins extended. I collected in the quarry a few small specimens; the crystals are hexagonal prisms, surmounted by hexagonal pyramids. Wavellite has also been found in this vicinity.

From Cork to Bandon, the country is somewhat mountainous for several miles. The Duke of Devonshire has considerable property about the latter place, and nearly the whole of the town belongs to him. The farm houses in the neighbourhood are respectable in appearance, and two, at least, of the resident gentry, Mr. Swanston and Mr. Connor, have contributed not only to the improvement of agriculture, but to the amelioration of the condition of those engaged in it. From Bandon we passed through Clonakilty and Ross-Carberry, formerly called Ross-Alithri (that is, the Field of Pilgrimage.) Ancient writers state that this was once a walled town and a bishop's see, and that the cathedral was founded in the sixth century. There was here, too, a famous university, much resorted to by the inhabitants of the south-west of Ireland. A mile

p.319

from the town are two extraordinary pits, eighty yards in depth, into which the sea enters by a subterraneous opening.

Skibbereen, a manufacturing town of nearly 5000 inhabitants, is at the head of Baltimore Harbour. From hence we took a direction almost northerly, and, at a right angle to our road from Cork, across a barren, rocky country, to Bantry, formerly called Ballygobbin, which stands at the head of Bantry Bay, nearly twenty miles in length, and considered to be one of the noblest in the world, and said to be capable of containing all the shipping of Europe. The hills that encircle it are partially wooded, and, in many parts, cultivated to a considerable extent. Parallel with Bantry Bay runs another, Dunmanus Bay, thirteen miles long, and separated from it by a pointed and narrow cape; numerous islands cluster in the distance. Cape Clear, seen from near Bantry, is the most southerly part of Ireland.

At Bantry I found a comfortable inn — an excellent room, well carpeted — and newspapers and books; though, according to general custom, the

p.320

entrance and lobby were exceedingly dirty, being without either mats or scrapers. The door, too, was broken.

Bantry is celebrated for its coral-sand, of which I collected a quantity. It is a species of small coral, in branched clusters of from one to two inches in diameter, and of various colours — the small particles being apparently sand — but, when magnified, innumerable minute shells are discovered. This coral-sand is carried as far as twenty miles into the country, and used as manure for heavy land — a purpose which it is said to answer better than any other sort of manure: it is particularly valuable in reclaiming bog-lands. Mr. O'Sullivan, a nephew of Mr. O'Connell, whom I met at the hotel, informed me that it contained from 80 to 85 per cent of lime; from its branched texture I apprehend that it acts also mechanically, and lightens the soil. Fourteen car-loads are used to the acre. Black limestone occurs on the strand, and on the road to Glengariff, but is not much used; lime being obtained from Muskerry, or Macroom, and costing, with the carriage,

p.321

2s. 6d. per barrel; a few years ago it cost 4a. This reduction in price is a consequence of improved roads. Coals, when I was at Bantry, were 24s. a ton, but the usual price is 18s.

On Mr. Hutchinson's property, a mile and a quarter from Bantry, lead ore has been found, but is not worked. The mountains, indeed, are admitted to abound in minerals, and, at the time of my visit, Mr. Bakewell and Captain Powell from Cornwall were engaged in surveying them; with what success I know not, but the most favourable report might reasonably be anticipated. At Beerhaven, on the north side of the bay — one of the points aimed at in the projected railway across the island from Dublin — copper mines are spiritedly worked by Mr. Puxley; and on Lord Audley's property near Ballydehob, thirty miles south of Glengariff, the West Cork Mining Company are engaged in the same interesting process. What an almost boundless source of profitable employment may not the mines alone of Ireland afford to her starving population!

The cattle kept in this mountainous district are

p.322

of the small Kerry breed, and are ill-shaped, common-looking animals. The cows, when in full milk, give 12 quarts of milk per day, and 112 lbs. of butter in the season. The keeping of cattle in the house on green food, is unknown here; indeed agriculture and husbandry, in all their departments, are in a somewhat low condition. It is pleasing, however, to record exceptions; and I have satisfaction in stating, that Mr. Shouldham, an English gentleman, devotes much attention and time to the improvement of his land — grows turnips extensively, and other green crops, and feeds a great number of sheep. He is considered, moreover, an excellent magistrate, and bears an unexceptionable private character. The sheep in this district are shorn twice in the year — in May and November; the lambs are shorn in November, and poor, starved, miserable wretches they appear. The sheep are killed at from a year and a half to three years old, and weigh twelve or fifteen pounds per quarter. Here, as in many other parts of Ireland, gorse, or furze hedges prevail. The land produces six bags, or barrels

p.323

of wheat, (of twenty stone) per acre, the rent being 30s.

Bantry, considering the decay of its fishery, has improved astonishingly, I was told, within the last ten years. Lord Bantry, the principal proprietor, whose rental is about £12,000 a year, has done, and is still doing, much for the place: yet the population are in a miserable condition, and beggars actually swarm. Men, women, and children, being almost entirely dependent upon fishing for a subsistence, are necessarily reduced to great straits when their precarious source of sustenance, which is often the case, fails. The pilchard fishery was once carried on very profitably at Bantry. These fish were sent to Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Now, I believe, they are rarely caught. Wages are eightpence a day without diet, but the people cannot obtain employment more than half their time. The town possesses a National School, but, as usual, the Protestants withhold their children, and leave the entire management and control of the establishment in the hands of the Catholics; this is the

p.324

more singular, because the members of the respective religions, as well as the ministers, mix together in social intercourse, and may be said to be on friendly terms. Bantry has a population of upwards of 4000, and, when I was there, was singularly remarkable for the excessive dirtiness of its streets, its houses, and its people.

I left Bantry on a fine calm morning, when the bay lay like a mirror, reflecting the hills and the sky within its still and bright waters. I had intended taking a boat to Glengariff, a short distance, and should certainly have done so, had not the landlord dissuaded me, advising me to travel by the road. I had no reason to repent having complied with his suggestions; for before I had proceeded very far, a sudden wind sprang up and blew furiously, and, in passing over the mountains, I could see the water, so lately an unruffled plain, torn up and violently agitated by the storm, and covered with wild waves crested with foam. Bantry Bay is a dangerous place: in 1796, a French fleet of twenty-four ships of war was wrecked in or near it. Its rocky and rugged

p.325

shores seem well adapted to the work of destruction.

About a mile and a half on the road to Glengariff, the traveller cannot fail to be struck with a mill and some picturesque waterfalls that dash over rude rocks, and, after forming a copious torrent, fall into a deep and dark channel, inclosed by rocks that open at some distance into Bantry Bay. This rocky chasm is green with holly, and ivy, and other plants, growing luxuriantly out of the several fissures. Further on, on the side of an arm of the bay which wears the appearance of a lake, stands the residence of the Mr. O'Sullivan, whom I met at the inn at Bantry. The road to Glengariff is wild and mountainous, winding alternately among rocks and woods, and over bogs and barren places, and presenting at intervals some very beautiful scenery. On Hungry Hill, for instance, is a celebrated waterfall, said to be one of the largest and highest in Ireland; it may be seen from the road to the left, at a distance of several miles, and is well worth a nearer approach. The mountains here consist

p.326

chiefly of clay slate, and contain several slate quarries. These wild districts, formerly called Vallis Juncosa, according to Dr. Smith, were the retreat of the ancient Irish, soon after the arrival of the English, from whence they scarce stirred till the division of the Houses of York and Lancaster obliged many of the latter to quit the country. Dr. Curry, in his Civil Wars of Ireland, states, that in this space, all the Irish, innocent of the rebellion, were required to retire by a certain day, under the penalty of death: and all those found after that time in any other part of the kingdom, man, woman, or child, might be killed by anybody who saw or met them.

p.327