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
We ran through a beautiful country for the greater part of the way. At
Bray, which is a favourite Irish watering-place, the sea broke upon us
bright and full of life; and the station itself was more like a
considerable English station than any I have seen. Thence we passed into
a richly-wooded region, with neat, well-kept hedges, as far as Rathdrum
and the "Sweet Vale of Avoca." The hills about Shillelagh are
particularly well forested, though, as the name suggests, they must have
been cut for cudgels pretty extensively for now a great many years. We
came again on the sea at the fishing port of Arklow, where the stone
walls about the station were populous with small ragamuffins, and at the
station of Inch I found a car waiting for me with Mr. Holmes, a young
English Catholic officer, who had most obligingly offered to show me the
place and the people. We had hardly got into the roadway when we
overtook a most intelligent-looking, energetic young priest, walking
briskly on in the direction of our course. This was Dr. Dillon, the
curate of Arklow. We pulled up at once, and Mr. Holmes, introducing me
to him, we begged him to take a seat with us. He excused himself as
having to join another priest with whom he was going to a function at
Inch; but he was good enough to walk a little way with us, and gave me
an appointment for 2 P.M. at his own town of Arklow, where I could catch
the train back to Dublin. We drove on rapidly and called on Father
O'Neill, the parish priest. We found him in full canonicals, as he was
to officiate at the function this morning, and with him were Father
Dunphy, the parish priest of Arklow, and two or three more robed
priests.
Father O'Neill, whose face and manner are those of the higher order of
the continental clergy, briefly set forth to me his view of the
transactions at Coolgreany. He said that before the Plan of Campaign was
adopted by the tenants, Mr. William O'Brien, M.P., had written to him
explaining what the effect of the Plan would be, and urging him to take
whatever steps he could to obviate the necessity of adopting it, as it
might eventually result to the disadvantage of the tenants. "To that
end," said Father O'Neill, "I called upon Captain Hamilton, the agent,
with Dr. Dillon of Arklow, but he positively refused to listen to us,
and in fact ordered us, not very civilly, to leave his office."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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