The road follows along the banks of the Sullane River until it reaches a
string of lakes called Inchageela, which are dotted with lovely little
islands, and are said to be full of fish. There is not a tree to be
seen, but the ground is covered with a rich, thick, velvet turf, and
myriads of wild flowers of all colors and all varieties--a crazy quilt
of bloom. No one ever imagined that there could be so many wild flowers
or such beautiful ones.
The little town of Inchageela is the lunch station, where we were served
with a wholesome meal of roast mutton, potatoes, lettuce, and gooseberry
tart that tasted as good as anything I ever had at the Waldorf, and the
buxom, red-faced landlady gave us a hearty, cordial blessing as we
climbed back into our seats to continue the journey. We passed several
ruined castles, some of them near the roadside and the others
picturesquely situated on the mountain slopes among the rocks. They all
once belonged to the MacCarthys, who were kings in this country until
they lost their power by foolish fighting, and to-day I have been
assured that not one foot of sod in the County of Cork or in the County
of Kerry is owned by a man of that name or clan.
After a while we turned from the main road at a little village called
Carrinacurrah, which is hardly as big as its name, and slowly climbed a
picturesque hill to the mystic lake of Gougane-Barra, and stopped to
rest the horses and ourselves at a neatly kept inn. As it was a holiday,
all the people in the neighborhood were gathered at Cronin's Inn when
the two coachloads of passengers drove in from Macroom, and several of
them accompanied us across to Gougane Island and told us the history of
that sacred place. There was an old man with bog-oak walking sticks to
sell, and boys with post cards, for there isn't a spot in Ireland that
hasn't been photographed and transferred to a post card in hideous
colors. Mr. Benjamin Shorten, a man of importance in the community, had
hailed the coach when it passed his house, and was therefore not only an
entertainer but a fellow-passenger of the strangers within his gate. And
it was a strange story that he told us of the restoration of the ruins
and the erection, by Mr. John R. Walsh of Chicago, in memory of his
parents, of the little shrine on the site of St. Fin-Barre's oratory
which had been blessed by St. Patrick fourteen hundred years ago.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account