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Show 444444444444444444 44 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 Rev. Thos. !i. ivlalone's : 4 4 : Travels in Ireland. : 4 ' - 44444444444444444 44 444444 4 44444444444 (Editorial Correspondence.) Killarney. Ireland, Aug. 11. VMM). Since my last letter, descriptive of my travels in Ireland, I have managed to ee a large-portion of the Emerald Isle. ' Some of my journeyings have been by : rail, some 200 miles by coach, and i nearly 100 miles on horseback. Before leaving Dublin I paid a visit to All Hallow's College, beautifully situated sit-uated in Drumcondra, one of the charming suburbs of the city. All Hallow's, Hal-low's, as is well known, is the Irish Missionary College which has supplied so many able priests to foreign missions. mis-sions. The readers of The Intermoun-tain Intermoun-tain Catholic will understand the character char-acter of All Hallow's when they recall that Bishop Scanlan of Salt Lake is i one of its graduates. : A beautiful chapel has recently been erected on the grounds, which, with numerous other improvements, make All Hallow's College an ideal seminary. semin-ary. From Dublin I started out toward the west of Ireland. The first point of interest was Maynooth, May-nooth, famous for its college, which supplies the Church of Ireland with its priesthood. The College of Maynooth May-nooth was founded in 1795. Previous to this students intended for the Catholic priesthood were obliged to seek their education abroad. In consideration of the difficulties attending such a course, the Irish Parliament appropriated a sum of money for the establishment of a clerical college, to which the royal assent was given. The imperial Parliament Par-liament granted an annual sum for the support of the college which was inadequate in-adequate to its needs. In 181," Peel, in spite of strong opposition, oppo-sition, carried a measure appropriating 30,000 for building purposes and an annual grant of 2(5.000. Under the Irish Church Ac. of lSti9, the college received the sum of 3fi:.(K'0 in lieu of the annual grant. Since this date the college has ben under the special protection of the Irish hierarchy. hier-archy. When the supply of priests of Maynooth exceeds the needs of the Irish mission they are allowed to seek, places elsewhere. Hence, a number of pri-sts, some of them very able men, are to be found in various dioceses in the United States. At the close of my visit to Maynooth I went on to Mullingar, in the County West Meath, which had especial interest in-terest for me, for it was here that my father was born. Mullingar is noted as one of the most extensive military depots in Ireland. Although it is one of the oldest of Irish towns, its appearance ap-pearance would indicate that it was of modern origin. Mullingar is the center of a large trade in agricultural produce and livestock. live-stock. The land about it is productive and a general air of prosperity surrounds sur-rounds the place. I was quite satisfied, however, after visiting the city, that my father had left it to take up his abode in the United States. From Mullingar it is a pleasant journey jour-ney to Athlone that most famous of Irish towns which has played a most important part in the history of Erin. Athlone is beautifully situated on the Shannon, and, like Mullingar, is one of the principal military stations. Although Al-though the land in this part of Ireland is unusually fertile, the prospects for the present year are anything but bright. The crops have suffered materially j owing to the recent rains, and the clam- age done by the incessant downpour has been further increased by the heavy gales. The potato crop has suffered suf-fered largely, and the corn, where uncut, un-cut, has in many places been beaten down, and where cut it has deteriorated deterior-ated a good deal in value. With the a.ll-around rise in the prices of foodstuffs, food-stuffs, and the partial loss of the harvest har-vest due to the causes mentioned, the prospect for the winter is not a cheer- I ful one to contemplate. Athlone is not obliged to depend en- i titrely upon agricultural products, for it possesses woolen and other ' indus- I tries. Cm the last bank of the Shannon are i to be seen some of the remains of the j old Franciscan Abbey, which was built in 1241. It seems that centuries ago the Franciscan Monks were numerous all over Ireland, for in various parts ruins of their old monasteries are to be found. At Kilconnell, about fifteen miles west of Athlone. is to be found one of the most interesting of the ruined abbeys ab-beys in Ireland. The abbey at Kilconnell also belonged be-longed to the Franciscan Friars and was founded for them by William O' Kelley, as far back as the year 1400. although it is not improbable that it w.s built on the site of a much earlier church, erected by St. .Connall. With the exception, of Muckrosg Abbey, Ab-bey, the Abbey at Kilconnell interested me more perhaps than any of the ruins I have seen. Speaking of it, a writer says: "As picturesque a ruin as can be where there are neither hills, rocks, lake nor river, and but a few distant trees; perhaps its ivy-mantled tower and roofless gables were better in keeping keep-ing with the waste and, desolation that presided over the place, destitute as it is of anv modern improvement, and decoration whatever." j Indeed. I found the whole effect of fhe place one of entrancing interest. Af-er seeing it I could well understand how Ferguson referred to it as: "More like a cloister in Sicily or Spain than anything in these islands." In one corner of this Abbey there is a tablet erected to the memory of the. father of the -rector of the Denver Cathedral. Ca-thedral. ReV. M. F. Callanan. I had the pleasure of spending a. day at Kilconnell Kil-connell ;is the guest if Father Calla-nan's Calla-nan's mother, who made my stay extremely ex-tremely pleasant. ('lose by Kilconnell is a spot of historic his-toric interest which marks the battlfl of Aughri-m. But I must hurry a'ong. as space will not permit me to make reference to all the places of interest which beset the traveler on a", sides in Ireland. From the west of Ireland I returned to Dublin and started for Cork via Kildare. Thurles and Mallow, and observing ob-serving the interesting towns en route. Perhaps the point of greatest interest on the route is to be found In the neighborhood neigh-borhood of Thurles. where Most Rev. Archbishop Crnoke resides. 1 am sorry to say that this intellectual giant of Irish hierarchy is. to use an expression of the late Cardinal Manning, "slowing In to the terminus." His state of health is so precarious that his death may be looked for at any time. His I loss will indeed be an irreparable ont; I to the Irish people. f Father O'Ryan of Denver was, I be- lieve, born in this part of Tipoerary, ! and he will, I am sure, learn with regret re-gret that the great Metropolitan of. Cashel is in such poor health. Of the interesting places in the neighborhood neigh-borhood of Thurles, such as Cashel, intensely in-tensely attractive to the visitor, I need not speak at length, for they are well known the world over. ! . There are three objects of attraction in Cashel: First, the Ecclesiastical Buildings on the Roik; second. Hole Abbey below it. and. third, the Dominican Domin-ican Abbey in the town. I might also add that Father Matthew, the Apostle of Temperance, was born near Cashel. Within a few miles of the town of Knocklong. further on towards Cork, I came to Hospital, which is associated I with the early history of the Knights I of St. John. I am sure that many Den- I ver Catholics, especially those who are members of the Modern Knights of St. i John, would have enjoyed a visit to I this place with me. I Hospital was founded in 1215 by Geoffrey De Mariscis, which Queen Elizabeth afterwards gave to one of ' ! her favorites. Sir Valentine Brown, j who erected what was known as Ken- j mere Castle. The hospital from whence the town derived its name has passed j I away, but there remains in the church if a figure of a knight in a niche of the ' I chancel. ' One can understand after a trip through Tipperary how. in the matter of buildings, it is said to be a land of decay. But the length of this article admonishes admon-ishes me that I must eonfine myself to briefer reference, and hence I hurry along to Cork. "The spreading Ree that, like an Island Enclos.'th' Corke with his divided floode." Cork is in every way a splendid city i and is stamped with an air of progress j which is pleasing to observe. Like many other parts of Ireland, it i possesses a magnificent cathedral, in I J addition to which there is also the ; world-famed St. Fin Barres. once th 1 possession of the Church, but which j I was robbed and plundered by modern ! Protestantism. I In one paragraph Macauley thus ' briefly summarizes the history of Cork: j "In 16S3 the city extended over about j I one-tenth part of the space which it I now covers, and was intersected by If muddy streams, which .have long been , j concealed by arches and buildings. A I desolate marsh, in which, the sports- man who pursued the waterfowl rank i deep in water and mire at every step. I covered tne area now occupied by j t stately buildings of great commercial societies." To be sure no one visits Cork with-ont with-ont going out to Blarney, so I took j : a jaunting car and drove on a beauti- ful morning to ; "The groves of Blarney, . ; They look so charming. -. j Down by the nurlings Of sweet silent brooks. I went through the athletic or rather 1 acrobatic performance of kissing the Blarney stone which if any one thinks is an easy task, will find out the contrary con-trary with a vengeance once he at- ( tempts. I Mr. James T. Finlan of Butte, Mont., f can hear testimony to the truth of this latter assertion. f For the benefit of Mr. Finlen's friends in Montana I must tell a story out of school. On this first attempt to kiss the Blarney stone he was un- f accompanied by a body guard, and be- . ing deficient in acrobatic qualities, his f courage failed him and he returned j, to Cork without accomplishing his pur- I pose. Nothing daunted he returned to i Blarney the following day, having en- j . '; ' gaged two sirens men to hold - him whilst ho reached oyer the abyss and fulfilled his osculatory mission. I have no doubt that Mr. Finlen will dony ilhis soft impeachment of his acrobatic prowess, but I will vouch for the truth of The facts narrated, while I am sure all his friends will admire his resolution resolu-tion and perseverance. The railway from Cork to Blarney is under the management of Mr. K. J. OB. Croker, a brother of Mr. Richard Croker. the Tammany Ross. Mr. Croker the Tain-many Tain-many chief mean, was I beiievc born somewhere in the neighborhood of Cork, which fact seems to be overshadow over-shadow ins; the fame which Blarney Castle lias heretofore idled on that part of the country. If Mr. Croker, the railway manager, p,,ssess-s any of the smoothness of his astute American brother, it is not reflected re-flected in his railway, which is about the rockiest" I have seen in Ireland. Rut there are oihers and perhaps there ere worse in store for me. "Whilst speaking of railroads, however, how-ever, I must say I have seen no finer train in Europe than the Killarney Express, which runs daily from Dublin Dub-lin to Killarney and return, maintaining maintain-ing an average .speed f fifty-three miles an hour for a distance of 100 miles. The ctrs are comfortable and finer in every respect than anything to be found on the continent. At Brandon I had the pleasure, of meeting Father O'Brien the well known chaplain of St. Joseph's Hospital of Denver. Father 0"Rrien sailed for America on t'he Germanic on Thursday last. Rrandon, which is Father O'Briens native place, is an important agricultural agricul-tural center and is pleasantly situated on the Randon river, in a delightfully charming valley of which the Clara Hills form a pleasing background. Spencer calls it: "The pleasant Randon crowned with many a wood." From Randon I traveled to Killarney by coach and horseback. It was in every respect a pleasant trip indeed from Rantry at the head of the beautiful beauti-ful bay of that name all along the southern route, one beautiful scene succeeds the other. Glengariff is on this route and it is said to be the brightest and most beau- i tiful spot in County Cork. "Were such a bay," says Thackeray, "lying upon English shores, it would be a world's wonder. Perhaps if it were on the Mediterranean or the Baltic, Bal-tic, English travelers would flock to it ly hundreds. "Why not come and see it in Ireland'.'" It would be difficult to find anywhere more beautiful scenery than that which lies along the coach road, between Glen ga riff and Ken more, which is old in historic associations. The Convent of Poor Clares is situated at Kenmere. This convent is noted for the magnificent magnifi-cent point lace which is made under the supervision of the Sisters. At the present time ab..ut fifty girls are engaged en-gaged in lace making. The lace made by them is said to be the finest in the world. It is a pleasant journey from hen-m-r to Killarney, the beauties of which have been so often portrayed that one finds it difficult to say anything any-thing new of them. I shall, however, close thib letter with a passage from the pen of England's Poet-Laureate. Mr. Alfred Austin: "Such varied and vigorous vegetation I have seen no other where: and when one has said that, one has gone far towards awarding the prize for natural i beauty. Rut vegetation, at once robust and graceful, is but the fringes and decoration of 'that enchanting district. The tender grace of wood and water is set in a framework of hills now stern, now ineffably gentle; now dimpling dimp-ling with smiles, now frowning and rugged with impending storm; now muffled and mysterious with mist, only to gaze out on you again -Vith clear and candid sunshine. . Here the trout leaps; there the eagle soars: and Ihere beyond, the wild deer dash through the arbutus coverts, through i which they have come to the margin of the lake to drink, and scared by your fo. tsteps or your oar. are away back to crosiered bracken or heather-covered heather-covered moorland. But the first, the final, the deepest and most enduring impression of Killarney is that of luauty unspeakably tender, which puts on at times a garb of grandeur and a look of awe only in order to heighten by passing contrast the sense of soft insinuating loveliness. How the missel j inrushes sing as well they may! How i the streams and runnels gargle, and leap, and latifh! For the sound of journeying water is never out of your ears; the feeling of the moist, the fresh, the vernal, is never out of your heart. My companion agreed With me that there i.s nothing in England or Scotland as beautiful as Killarney moaning by Killarney its lakes, its streams, its hills, its vegetation; and if mountain, wood and water, harmoniously harmo-niously blent, constitute the most perfect per-fect ami ade'jus'te loveliness that nature na-ture pnscnts. it surely must be owned that it has all the world over no superior." su-perior." THOMAS H. MA LONE. , |