Ireland Under Coercion: The Diary of an American (2 of 2): (2nd ed.) (1888)Hurlbert, William Henry
History
Ireland Under Coercion: The Diary of an American (2 of 2): (2nd ed.) (1888)
Hurlbert, William Henry
Ireland -- Description and travel; Ireland -- Politics and government -- 1837-1901
The hostess of the "Devonshire Arms" gave me some excellent salmon,
fresh from the river, and a very good dinner. She bewailed the evil days
on which she has fallen, and the loss to Lismore of all that the Castle
used to mean to the people. Lady Edward Cavendish had spent a short time
here some little time ago, she said, and the people were delighted to
have her come there. "It would be a great thing for the country if all
the uproar and quarrelling could be put an end to. It did nobody any
good, least of all the poor people."
From Lismore I came back by the railway through Fermoy.
CHAPTER IX.
PORTUMNA, GALWAY, _Feb. 28._--I left Cork by an early train to-day, and
passing through the counties of Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Queen's, and
King's, reached this place after dark on a car from Parsonstown. The day
was delightfully cool and bright. I had the carriage to myself almost
all the way, and gave up all the time I could snatch from the constantly
varying and often very beautiful scenery to reading a curious pamphlet
which I picked up in Dublin entitled _Pour I'Irlande._ It purports to
have been written by a "Canadian priest" living at Lurgan in Ireland,
and to be a reply to M. de Mandat Grancey's volume, _Chez Paddy._ It is
adorned with a frontispiece representing a monster of the Cerberus type
on a monument, with three heads and three collars labelled respectively
"Flattery," "Famine," and "Coercion." On the pedestal is the
inscription--"1800 to 1887. Erected by the grateful Irish to the English
Government." The text is in keeping with the frontispiece. In a passage
devoted to the "atrocious evictions" of Glenbehy in 1887, the agent of
the property is represented as "setting fire with petroleum" to the
houses of two helpless men, and turning out "eighteen human beings into
the highway in the depth of winter." Not a word is said of the agent's
flat denial of these charges, nor a word of the advice given to the
agent by Sir Redvers Buller that the mortgagee ought to level the
cottages occupied by trespassers, nor a word about Father Quilter's
letter to Colonel Turner, branding his flock as "poor slaves" of the
League, and turning them over to "Mr. Roe or any other agent" to do as
he liked with them, since they could not, or would not, keep their
plighted faith given through their own priest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account