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
Clare County possesses the finest cliff scenery in Ireland. From
Limerick or Galway the county may be explored. On the journey by rail
from Limerick, beyond Long Pavement, we come on a fine view of Cratloe
woods. An ancient saint referred to Cratloe as "a pleasant seclusion
from sin"; but in later times it became a haunt of rapparees, and its
thick foliage provided what Spenser would call "a meet house for
rebels." In later times Freney, a noted highwayman, whose exploits
delighted the Irish peasant, here found a refuge. Bunratty Castle was a
strong place in feudal times. Here Rinuccini, the Papal Legate to
Ireland in 1641, sojourned, and his papers contain many references to
the picturesqueness of the surrounding country, and its herds of wild
deer. Between Newmarket and Ardsollus is Dromoland, the seat of Lord
Inchiquin, and the birthplace of William Smith O'Brien, the aristocratic
leader of the revolutionists of 1848. Crossing the Ardsollus river, we
are near Quin Abbey, an old Franciscan Priory, and Clare Castle, which
took its name from an old watch tower in the river Fergus. ~Ennis~ is
the chief town in the County Clare. It is more quaint than important. It
is pleasantly placed on the river Fergus, and is a clean town, doing a
thriving business with the country. The principal monument in the
town is to Daniel O'Connell, who was returned for Clare in the famous
election of 1828. The ashes of the controversy that raged around
O'Connell in his lifetime are long since dead, and if one wanted proof
of this it is in the recent biography of the great agitator which
appears in the "Heroes of the Nation" series. In that, the famous Clare
election is treated with true historic discrimination by the writer, who
compares the bravery of the Clare peasants at Ennis to the gallant
Covenanters standing up against Claverhouse's Dragoons at Bothwell
Bridge. From Ennis, by car and light railway, Ennistymon, Lehinch,
Lisdoonvarna, and Ballyvaughan may be reached. At Ennistymon there is a
splendid cascade on the Innagh river. ~Lisdoonvarna~ possesses the
best known Spa in Ireland. It is come-at-able from Milltown-Malbay or
Ennistymon. Its friends have called it "The Cheltenham of Ireland." It
cannot be pretended that the immediate scenery is attractive, but there
are many interesting drives in the vicinity. The hotels and lodgings are
good. The sixth century Church of Saint Cronan, pleasantly placed in an
ash-grove, will give those of an antiquarian taste opportunity of
beguiling their time during a stay at the beneficial chalybeate and
sulphurous springs. The drives from Lisdoonvarna may include tours to
Ballyvaughan and the Cliffs of Moher. The drive by Black Head, the
north-eastern promontory of county Clare, gives one a fine view as far
north as the Arran; then we approach Ballyvaughan, in Galway Bay, an
out-of-the-way old world village. Its approach is by a spiral hill, over
two miles in length, called "The Corkscrew-road." The sides of the stony
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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