The Cathedral Towns and Intervening Places of England, Ireland and Scotland:: A Description of Cities, Cathedrals, Lakes, Mountains, Ruins, and Watering-places.Silloway, Thomas W. (Thomas William)
History
The Cathedral Towns and Intervening Places of England, Ireland and Scotland:: A Description of Cities, Cathedrals, Lakes, Mountains, Ruins, and Watering-places.
Silloway, Thomas W. (Thomas William)
Great Britain -- Description and travel
The town has a population of 5,187, exclusive of 400 inmates of the
almshouse--one to every thirteen of the population. Killarney is
situated about a mile and a half from the nearest of the three lakes.
There are two or three streets of some pretensions, on which are
buildings three or four stories high, used as stores and hotels. Our
hotel, the Innisfallen House, was kept, as all such small taverns are,
by a woman. It was a thoroughly antiquated Irish institution, and for
this reason we selected it. Experienced by long years of practice, our
hostess was the _man_ of the house, and had an eye to business that
would do honor to the manager of the Vendome or the Brunswick at Boston.
There are few public buildings. The newish Roman Catholic Cathedral is
a large structure of limestone, of good early English architecture,
built from designs by Pugin. It is hardly in keeping with the town as
it is, and only the eye of faith can see its harmony with the Killarney
of the future.
Here may be related an incident illustrating a custom which is
doubtless a relic of other days. After our visit to the cathedral,
at about 7 P. M., we were surprised by the sight of a peculiar crowd
of people coming up the street we had entered. It was a procession,
numbering some hundred or more, carrying a coffin to the cathedral.
The coffin was oaken, moulded at the top and bottom edges with
black, and having three ornamental, black, iron plates--eight inches
square, with rings in them--on each side. Black, round-headed nails
ornamented the ends. The coffin was not covered, and rested on the
shoulders of six men, three on each side. As by magic, three bearers
would occasionally step out, and others take their places. Back of
those who headed the procession were two rows of women, from fifty to
seventy years old, with black dresses, and shawls over their heads.
These were howling, two or more at a time keeping up the noise; and
thus, without break or intermission, there was a continued wailing,
in syllables of a slow but measured and distinct utterance, sounding
like "Ar-ter-_ow_-ow-_ow_-er." This was repeated till the perfection of
monotony was attained.
When near the cathedral the procession halted and the wailing ceased.
The crowd numbered, it may be, a hundred. Arriving at the side door
the coffin was carried in, and about twenty persons, probably the near
relatives, entered. The remainder, including the Americans,--who, now
"being in Turkey, were doing as the Turkeys do,"--remained outside, and
stood or knelt uncovered. In a few moments all was ended; the friends
came out of the cathedral, the crowd dispersed, and "rag, tag, and
bobtail" resumed their usual vocations, the dead man having been left
in the building, with the approved and requisite number of candles "to
light him to glory."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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