former may still be seen the room which was the House of Lords formerly,
and where the bank directors now sit, under a clean marble image of
George III. The House of Commons has disappeared, for the accommodation
of clerks and cashiers. The interior is light, splendid, airy, well
furnished, and the outside of the building not less so. The Exchange,
hard by, is an equally magnificent structure; but the genius of commerce
has deserted it, for all its architectural beauty. There was nobody
inside when I entered, but a pert statue of George III. in a Roman toga,
simpering and turning out his toes; and two dirty children playing,
whose hoop-sticks caused great clattering echoes under the vacant
sounding dome.
Walking toward the river, you have on either side of you, at Carlisle
Bridge, a very brilliant and beautiful prospect. The four courts and
their dome to the left, the custom-house and its dome to the right; and
in this direction seaward, a considerable number of vessels are moored,
and the quays are black and busy with the cargoes discharged from ships.
Seamen cheering, herring-women bawling, coal-carts loading--the scene is
animated and lively. Yonder is the famous Corn Exchange; but the Lord
Mayor is attending to his duties in Parliament, and little of note is
going on. I had just passed his lordship's mansion in Dawson Street--a
queer old dirty brick house, with dumpy urns at each extremity, and
looking as if a story of it had been cut off--a rasée house. Close at
hand, and peering over a paling, is a statue of our blest sovereign
George II. How absurd these pompous images look, of defunct majesties,
for whom no breathing soul cares a halfpenny! It is not so with the
effigy of William III., who has done something to merit a statue. At
this minute the Lord Mayor has William's effigy under a canvas, and is
painting him of a bright green picked out with yellow--his lordship's
own livery.
The view along the quays to the four courts has no small resemblance to
a view along the quays at Paris, tho not so lively as are even those
quiet walks. The vessels do not come above-bridge, and the marine
population remains constant about them, and about numerous dirty
liquor-shops, eating-houses, and marine-store establishments, which are
kept for their accommodation along the quay. As far as you can see, the
shining Liffey flows away eastward, hastening (like the rest of the
inhabitants of Dublin) to the sea.
In front of Carlisle Bridge, and not in the least crowded, tho in the
midst of Sackville Street, stands Nelson upon a stone pillar. The post
office is on his right hand (only it is cut off); and on his left,
Gresham's and the Imperial Hotel. Of the latter let me say (from
subsequent experience) that it is ornamented by a cook who could dress a
dinner by the side of M. Borel or M. Soyéld there were more such artists
in this ill-fated country! The street is exceedingly broad and handsome;
the shops at the commencement, rich and spacious; but in Upper Sackville
Street, which closes with the pretty building and gardens of the
Rotunda, the appearance of wealth begins to fade somewhat, and the
houses look as if they had seen better days. Even in this, the great
street of the town, there is scarcely any one, and it is as vacant and
listless as Pall Mall in October.
DUBLIN CASTLE [Footnote: From "Ireland: Its Scenery, Character, Etc."]
BY MR. AND MRS. S. C. HALL
The building of Dublin "Castle"--for the residence of the Viceroys
retains the term--was commenced by Meiler FitzHenry, Lord Justice of
Ireland, in 1205; and finished, fifteen years afterward, by Henry de
Loundres, Archbishop of Dublin. The purpose of the structure is declared
by the patent by which King John commanded its erection: "You have given
us to understand that you have not a convenient place wherein our
treasure may be safely deposited; and forasmuch, as well for that use as
for many others, a fortress would be necessary for us at Dublin, we
command you to erect a castle there, in such competent place as you
shall judge most expedient, as well to curb the city as to defend it if
occasion shall so require, and that you make it as strong as you can
with good and durable walls." Accordingly it was occupied as a strong
fortress only, until the reign of Elizabeth, when it became the seat of
the Irish government--the court being held previously at various palaces
in the city or its suburbs; and in the seventeenth century, Terms and
Parliaments were both held within its walls.
The Castle, however, has undergone so many and such various changes from
time to time, as circumstances justified the withdrawal of its defenses,
that the only portion of it which nows bears a character of antiquity is
the Birmingham Tower; and even that has been almost entirely rebuilt,
altho it retains its ancient form. The records of this tower--in modern
times the "State Paper Office"--would afford materials for one of the
most singular and romantic histories ever published. It received its
name, according to Dr. Walsh, not from the De Birminghams, who were
lords justices in 1321 and 1348; but from Sir William Birmingham, who
was imprisioned there in 1331, with his son Walter; "the former was
taken out from thence and executed, the latter was pardoned as to life
because he was in holy orders." It was the ancient keep, or ballium, of
the fortress; and was for a very long period the great state prison, in
which were confined the resolute or obstinate Milesian chiefs, and the
rebellious Anglo-Norman lords. Strong and well guarded as it was,
however, its inmates contrived occasionally to escape from its durance.
Some of the escapes which the historians have recorded are remarkable
and interesting.
The Castle is situated on very high ground, nearly in the center of the
city; the principal entrance is by a handsome gateway. The several
buildings, surrounding two squares, consist of the lord-lieutenant's
state apartments, guardrooms, the offices of the chief secretary, the
apartments of aides-du-camp and officers of the household, the offices
of the treasury, hanaper, register, auditor-general, constabulary, etc.,
etc. The buildings have a dull and heavy character--no effort has been
made at elegance or display--and however well calculated they may seem
for business, the whole have more the aspect of a prison than a court.
There is, indeed, one structure that contributes somewhat to redeem the
somber appearance of "the Castle"--the chapel is a fine Gothic edifice,
richly decorated both within and without. The following description of
the ancient character of "the Castle" is gathered from Dr. Walsh:
"The entrance from the city on the north side was by a drawbridge,
placed between two strong round towers from Castle Street, the westward
of which subsisted till the year 1766. A portcullis, armed with iron,
between these towers, served as a second defense, in case the bridge
should be surprised by an enemy. A high curtain extended from the
western tower to Cork Tower, so called after the great Earl of Cork,
who, in 1624, expended a considerable sum in rebuilding it. The wall was
then continued of equal height until it joined Birmingham Tower, which
was afterward used as a prison for state criminals; it was taken down in
1775, and the present building erected on the site, for preserving part
of the ancient records of the kingdom. From this another high curtain
extended to the Wardrobe Tower, which served as repository for the royal
robe, the cap of maintenance, and the other furniture of state. From,
this tower the wall was carried to the North or Storehouse Tower (now
demolished) near Dame's Gate, and from thence it was continued to the
eastern gateway tower, at the entrance of the castle. This fortress was
originally encompassed with a broad and deep moat, which has long since
been filled up. There were two sally ports in the wall, one toward Sheep
(now Ship) Street, which was closed up in 1663 by the Duke of Ormond,
after the discovery of Jephson and Blood's conspiracy."
The walls by which it was formerly surrounded, and the fortifications
for its defense, have nearly all vanished. Neither is Dublin rich in
remains of antiquity; one of the few that appertain to its ancient
history is a picturesque gateway, but not of a very remote date, called
Marsh's Gate. It stands in Kevin Street, near the cathedral of St.
Patrick, and is the entrance to a large court, now occupied by the horse
police; at one end of which is the Barrack, formerly, we believe, the
Deanery, and Marsh's library.
ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL [Footnote: From "Ireland: Its Scenery,
Character, Etc."]
BY MR. AND MRS. S. C. HALL
If few of the public structures of Dublin possess "the beauty of age,"
many of its churches may be classed with the "ancient of days." Chief
among them all is the Cathedral of St. Patrick; interesting, not alone
from its antiquity, but from its association with the several leading
events, and remarkable people, by which and by whom Ireland has been
made "famous." It is situated in a very old part of Dublin, in the midst
of low streets and alleys, the houses being close to the small open yard
by which the venerable structure is encompassed. Its condition, too, is
very wretched; and altho various suggestions have been made, from time
to time, for its repair and renovation, it continues in a state by no
means creditable either to the church or the city. It was built A.D.
1190, by John Comyn, Archbishop of Dublin, by whom it was dedicated to
the patron saint of Ireland; but it is said, the site on which it stands
was formerly occupied by a church erected by the saint himself--A.D.
448. St. Patrick's was collegiate in its first institution, and erected
into a cathedral about the year 1225, by Henry de Loundres, successor to
Archbishop Comyn, "united with the cathedral of the Holy Trinity,
Christ's Church, Dublin, into one spouse, saving unto the latter the
prerogative of honor." The question of precedence between the sees of
Dublin and Armagh was agitated for centuries with the greatest violence,
and both pleaded authority in support of their pretensions; it was at
length determined, in 1552, that each should be entitled to primatial
dignity, and erect his crozier in the diocese of the other: that the
archbishop of Dublin should be titled the "Primate of Ireland;" while
the archbishop of Armagh should be styled, with more precision, "Primate
of all Ireland"--a distinction which continues to the present day.
Above two centuries before this arrangement, however, as the diocese of
Dublin contained two cathedrals--St. Patrick's and Christ Church--an
agreement was made between the chapters of both, that each church should
be called Cathedral and Metropolitan, but that Christ Church should have
precedence, as being the elder church, and that the archbishops should
be buried alternately in the two cathedrals.
The sweeping censure of Sir Richard Colt Hoare, that "in point of good
architecture it has little to notice or commend," is not to be
questioned; ruins--and, in its present state, St. Patrick's approaches
very near to be classed among them--of far greater beauty abound in
Ireland. It is to its associations with the past that the cathedral is
mainly indebted for its interest. The choral music of St. Patrick's is
said to be "almost unrivalled for its combined powers of voice, organ,
and scientific skill."
LIMERICK [Footnote: From "Ireland: Its Scenery, Character, Etc."]
BY MR. AND MRS. S. C. HALL
Limerick is distinguished in history as "the city of the violated
treaty;" and the Shannon, on which it stands, has been aptly termed "the
King of Island Rivers." Few of the Irish counties possess so many
attractions for the antiquarian and the lover of the picturesque: and
with one exception, no city of Ireland has contributed so largely to
maintain the honor and glory of the country. The brave defenders of
Limerick and Londonderry have received--the former from the Protestant,
and the latter from the Catholic, historian--the praise that party
spirit failed to weaken; the heroic gallantry, the indomitable
perseverance, and the patient and resolute endurance under suffering, of
both, having deprived political partizans of their asperity--compelling
them, for once at least, to render justice to their opponents; all
having readily subscribed to the opinion that "Derry and Limerick will
ever grace the historic page, as rival companions and monuments of Irish
bravery, generosity, and integrity."
From a very early period Limerick has held rank among the cities of
Ireland, second only to that of the capital; and before its walls were
defeated, first, the Anglo-Norman chivalry; next, the sturdy Ironsides
of Cromwell; and last, the victorious array of William the Third. Like
most of the Irish sea-ports, it was, in the ninth and tenth centuries, a
settlement of the Danes, between whom and the native Irish many
encounters took place, until finally the race of the sea-kings was
expelled from the country.
It is certain that at this early period Limerick was a place of
considerable importance; for some time after, indeed until the conquest
by the English, it was the capital of the province, and the seat of the
kings of Thomond, or North Munster, who were hence called Kings of
Limerick. Upon the arrival of Strongbow, Donnell O'Brien swore fealty to
Henry the Second, but subsequently revolted; and Raymond Le Gros, the
bravest and noblest of all the followers of Strongbow, laid siege to his
city. Limerick was at that time "environed with a foule and deepe ditch
with running water, not to be passed over without boats, but by one
foord only;" the English soldiers were therefore discouraged, and would
have abandoned the attempt to take it, but that "a valiaunt knight,
Meyler Fitz-Henry, having found the foord, wyth a loud voyce cried 'St.
David, companions, let us corageouslie pass this foord.'" For some years
after the city was alternately in the possession of the English and the
Irish; on the death of Strongbow, it was surrendered to the keeping of
its native prince, who swore to govern it for the King of England; but
the British knights had scarcely passed the bridge, when he destroyed it
and set fire to the town.
After again repeatedly changing hands, it was finally settled by the
renowned William de Burgo, ancestor of the present Marquis of
Clanricarde, and remained an appanage to the English crown. At this
period, and for some time after, Limerick, was "next in consequence" to
Dublin. Richard the First, in the ninth year of his reign, granted it a
charter to elect a mayor--an honor which London did not then enjoy, and
which Dublin did not receive until a century later; and King John,
according to Stanihurst, was "so pleased with the agreeableness of the
city, that he caused a very fine castle and bridge to be built there."
The castle has endured for above six centuries; in all the "battles,
sieges, fortunes," that have since occurred, it has been the object most
coveted, perhaps in Ireland, by the contending parties; and it still
frowns, a dark mass, upon the waters of the mighty Shannon. The great
attraction of Limerick--altho by no means the only one--is, however, its
majestic, and beautiful river: "the king of island rivers,"--the
"principallest of all in Ireland," writes the quaint old naturalist, Dr.
Gerrard Boate. It takes its rise among the mountains of Leitrim--strange
to say, the precise spot has not been ascertained--and running for a few
miles as an inconsiderable stream, diffuses itself into a spacious lake,
called Lough Allyn. Issuing thence it pursues its course for several
miles, and forms another small lake, Lough Eike; again spreads itself
out into Lough Ree,--a lake fifteen miles in length and four in breadth;
and thence proceeds as a broad and rapid river, passing by Athlone; then
narrowing again until it reaches Shannon harbor; then widening into
far-famed Lough Derg, eighteen miles long and four broad; then
progressing until it arrives at Killaloe, where it ceases to be
navigable until it waters. Limerick city; from whence it flows in a
broad and majestic volume to the ocean for about sixty miles; running a
distance of upward of 200 miles from its source to its mouth--between
Loop Head and Kerry Head (the space between them being about eight
miles), watering ten counties in its progress, and affording facilities
for commerce and internal intercourse such as are unparalleled in any
other portion of the United Kingdom.
"The spacious Shenan spreading like a sea," thus answers to the
description of Spenser; for a long space its course is so gentle that
ancient writers supposed its name to have been derived from "Seen-awn,"
the slow river; and for many miles, between O'Brien's Bridge and
Limerick, it rolls so rapidly along as almost to be characterized as a
series of cataracts. At the falls of Killaloe, it descends twenty-one
feet in a mile; and above one hundred feet from Killaloe to Limerick....
Its banks too are, nearly all along its course, of surpassing beauty; as
it nears Limerick, the adjacent hills are crowned with villas; and upon
its sides are the ruins of many ancient castles. Castle Connell, a
village about six miles from the city, is perhaps unrivaled in the
kingdom for natural graces; and immediately below it are the Falls of
Doonas where the river rushes over huge mountain-rocks, affording a
passage which the more daring only will make; for the current--narrowed
to a boat's breadth--rushes along with such frightful rapidity, that the
deviation of a few inches would be inevitable destruction.
The immediate environs of Limerick are not picturesque; the city lies in
a spacious plain, the greater portion of which is scarcely above the
level of the water: at short distances, however, there are some of the
most interesting ruins in the kingdom, in the midst of scenery of
surpassing loveliness. Of these, the tourist should first visit
Carrig-o-gunnel, next Adare, and then Castle Connell, the most beautiful
of many beautiful places upon the banks of the noble Shannon.
FROM BELFAST TO DUBLIN [Footnote: From "Letters of a Traveler."]
BY WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT
We left Glasgow on the morning of the 22d, and taking the railway to
Ardrossan were soon at the beach. One of those iron steamers which
navigate the British waters, far inferior to our own in commodious and
comfortable arrangements, but strong and safe, received us on board, and
at ten o'clock we were on our way to Belfast.
The coast of Ayr, with the cliff near the birthplace of Burns, continued
long in sight; we passed near the mountains of Arran, high and bare
steeps swelling out of the sea, which had a look of almost complete
solitude; and at length Ailsa Craig began faintly to show itself, high
above the horizon, through the thick atmosphere.
We passed this lonely rock, about which flocks of sea-birds, the solan
goose, and the gannet, on long white wings with jetty tips, were
continually wheeling, and with a glass we could discern them sitting by
thousands on the shelves of the rock, where they breed. The upper part
of Ailsa, above the cliffs which reach more than half-way to the summit,
appears not to be destitute of soil, for it was tinged with a
faint verdure.
In about nine hours we had crossed the channel, over smooth water, and
were making our way, between green shores almost without a tree, up the
bay, at the bottom of which stands, or rather lies, for its site is low,
the town of Belfast. We had yet enough of daylight left to explore a
part at least of the city. "It looks like Albany," said my companion,
and really the place bears some resemblance to the streets of Albany
which are situated near the river, nor is it without an appearance of
commercial activity.
The people of Belfast, you know, are of Scotch origin, with some
infusion of the original race of Ireland. I heard English spoken with a
Scotch accent, but I was obliged to own that the severity of the Scotch
physiognomy had been softened by the migration and the mingling of
breed.... At an early hour the next day we were in our seats on the
outside of the mail-coach. We passed through a well-cultivated country,
interspersed with towns which had an appearance of activity and thrift.
The dwellings of the cottagers looked more comfortable than those of the
same class in Scotland, and we were struck with the good looks of the
people, men and women, whom we passed in great numbers going to
their work.
At length, having traversed the county of Down, we entered Louth....
Close on the confines of Armagh, perhaps partly within it, we traversed,
near the village of Jonesborough, a valley full of the habitations of
peat-diggers. Its aspect was most remarkable, the barren hills that
inclose it were dark with heath and gorse and with ledges of brown rock,
and their lower declivities, as well as the level of the valley, black
with peat, which had been cut from the ground and laid in rows.
The men were at work with spades cutting it from the soil, and the women
were pressing the water from the portions thus separated, and exposing
it to the air to dry.... It is the property of peat earth to absorb a
large quantity of water, and to part with it slowly. The springs,
therefore, in a region abounding with peat make no brooks; the water
passes into spongy soil and remains there, forming morasses even on the
slopes of the hills.
As we passed out of this black valley we entered a kind of glen, and the
guard, a man in a laced hat and scarlet coat, pointed to the left, and
said, "There is a pretty place." It was a beautiful park along a
hillside, groves and lawns, a broad domain, jealously inclosed by a
thick and high wall, beyond which we had, through the trees, a glimpse
of a stately mansion.
Our guard was a genuine Irishman, strongly resembling the late actor
Power in physiognomy, with the very brogue which Power sometimes gave to
his personages. He was a man of pithy speech, communicative, and
acquainted apparently with everybody of every class, whom we passed on
the road. Besides him we had for fellow-passengers three very
intelligent Irishmen, on their way to Dublin. One of them was a tall,
handsome gentleman, with dark hair and hazel eyes, and a rich
South-Irish brogue. He was fond of his joke, but next to him sat a
graver personage, in spectacles, equally tall, with fair hair and
light-blue eyes, speaking with a decided Scotch accent. By my side was a
square-built, fresh-colored personage, who had traveled in America, and
whose accent was almost English. I thought I could not be mistaken in
supposing them to be samples of the three different races by which
Ireland is peopled.
We now entered a fertile district, meadows heavy with grass, in which
the haymakers were at work, and fields of wheat and barley as fine as I
had ever seen.... One or two green mounds stood close to the road, and
we saw others at a distance.
"They are Danish forts," said the guard.
"Every thing we do not know the history of, we put upon the Danes,"
added the South of Ireland man.
These grassy mounds, which are from ten to twenty feet in height, are
now supposed to have been the burial places of the ancient Celts. The
peasantry can with difficulty be persuaded to open any of them, on
account of a prevalent superstition that it will bring bad luck.
A little before we arrived at Drogheda, I saw a tower to the right,
apparently a hundred feet in height, with a doorway at a great distance
from the ground, and a summit somewhat dilapidated.
"That is one of the round towers of Ireland, concerning which there is
so much discussion," said my English-looking fellow-traveler.
These round towers, as the Dublin antiquarians tell me, were probably
built by the early Christian missionaries from Italy, about the seventh
century, and were used as places of retreat and defense against
the pagans.
Not far from Drogheda, I saw at a distance a quiet-looking valley.
"That," said the English-looking passenger, "is the valley of the Boyne,
and in that spot was fought the famous battle of the Boyne."