The Sunny Side of Ireland: How to see it by the Great Southern and Western RailwayO'Mahony, John
History
The Sunny Side of Ireland: How to see it by the Great Southern and Western Railway
O'Mahony, John
Ireland -- Guidebooks
The road leads across the Inny, and we enter the little town by the
pleasantly-situated Butler Arms Hotel. On going further, fronting the
shore line, we pass the Bay View Hotel, and, following a bend in the
hill, come suddenly in view of the beautiful Lough Currane, beside
which, in the midst of plantations, more like a home than a
well-equipped hostelry, which it is, the ~Southern Hotel~ is built.
Lough Currane is eight miles in circumference, and its shores are
fretted with thousands of inlets. Through the windows of the Hotel, a
charming view is had of the mountains which encircle the lake. On one
side green slopes and pleasantly wooded heights meet the eye, and on the
other, old familiar grey-faced mountains, with their heads raised on
high among the clouds, shining, changing, and fading in the silver
mists. The surface of the lake, calm-faced and deep-welled, here and
there lifts up to be admired beautiful islands. Here a saint made his
temporal home, and in Church Island is the beehive cell where St. Finian
prayed, "in whose orisons were all our sins remembered." The ruins of
the sixth century church deserve the attention of the antiquary. Away at
the head of Lough Currane is Coppal, where sea trout and small brown
trout abound. It, too, has charms all its own, in parts wild and
untamed, but again, calm as the race of a sleeping child. Full
information as to the flies suitable for the lake, and the places well
to troll, may be had from the best known angler in Kerry, Teigue
M'Carthy. Like Sir Roger de Coverley's friend, Will Wimble, he can tie
a fly "to a miracle," and he is an enthusiastic devotee of the "gentle
art." Besides the attractions for fishermen, there are thousands of
acres of shooting in the vicinity. There is plenty of opportunity and
accommodation for bathing by the bay, and a new Golf Links, laid out
under the best professional advice, affords a further source of
healthful amusement. Over the hills from Waterville the pre-historic
remains of Staigue Fort may be visited. It is the best example of
cyclopean stone forts that remains in Ireland, and by authoritative
antiquaries is said to be at least 2,000 years old.
[Illustration: _Photo, Cuthbert, Valencia._ Lake Currane.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Cuthbert, Valencia._ Raheen, Lake Currane.]
[Illustration: _Photo, Cuthbert, Valencia._ Arbutus Rock, Lake Currane.]
EXCURSIONS IN THE VICINITY OF WATERVILLE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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