The Letters of "Norah" on Her Tour Through IrelandNorah
History
The Letters of "Norah" on Her Tour Through Ireland
Norah
Ireland -- Description and travel
A lady sits by me and is drawn to talk to the stranger of the greenness
of the grass here winter and summer, of the beauty spread out all
around. She tells of one who died away in another land brought home to
lie under the daisies here, just twenty years ago to-day. Other people,
she says, are proud of their country, are fond of their country, but
none have the same love for their country as the Irish have for green
Erin. Every inch of ground; every blade of grass in Ireland is holy,
says this lady with tears in her eyes. She is thinking of the dust that
Irish grass covers from her sight. It is on an anniversary we meet; she
cannot help speaking on this day of sacred things. The steamboat is
wading up to the wharf. We do not know one another's names, but we have
drawn near to each other--we clasp hands and part with a mutual God
bless you. The little boat swallows up all that are willing to come on
board, and like a black swan she sails up over the calm river, under the
bright sky, past the handsome houses and the lovely grounds, among the
clustering masts back to the rich city of Cork.
All the people injured in the attack on the rejoicing at Sir George
Colthurst's marriage are pronounced recovered to-day, except the one who
was wounded by a shot; he is still in the infirmary. A dignitary of the
Catholic Church who preached at Millstreet, where the disturbance took
place, introduced into his sermon remarks on the state of society there,
when his hearers became affected with coughing to such a degree that the
rev. gentleman had to stop for a time and speak directly to his hearers.
After the sermon most of the congregation left the church before mass--
few remaining.
The sun has come out and the harvest will be greatly benefited by this
tardy warmth, I am sure.
There has been some marching of soldiers--dragoons--fine looking men on
fine horses--through the streets to-day, to the blare of a military
band, accompanied and escorted by all the loose population of Cork. I
was much interested to see among the running crowd the good pace made by
a man with a wooden leg, who really could hop along with the best of
them. This is all the apology for a crowd which I have seen in Cork. I
have not heard the roar of one belated drunkard; such sounds have broken
slumber in other towns. Whatever excitement may be in the county, the
city of Cork seems as quiet, as orderly and as thriving as any city in
the kingdom.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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