which the reader will find more particularly noticed in
the subsequent memoirs ; and after resting there during
the Sunday, proceeded to Monastereven and Kildare,
and from thence to the Curragh, which having tra-
versed to the proposed extent, I returned homeward
by Coolbanagher and the rock of Donemaase, to the in-
spection of which places and the objects around them, I
devoted the principal part of a day.*
* In this journey I met with some bad treatment wliich gave
birth to, the following reflection — Of what importance to a tra-
veller is ^ good inn — Compelled by his circumstances to make
those houses of entertainment his abode, how cruel to take his
money without remorse, and requite him with bad entertain-
ment or perhaps gross incivility.
Of this, the worst species is that of which servants are made
the agents; and of that, damp beds and sheets, and rooms not
properly aired. To take their own word for it, however, these
are never to be met with in any house you visit. Traverse the
island from Cork to Deny, and from Sligo to Dublin ; and all
to a house, are in good order, by their own account. Many of
them indeed arc so-^but the markrd inattention or incivility of
some others, descr%'es reprobation. In one of these, having
expostulated with the landlord on the gross impertinence of an
insulting fellow, whom he kept; he replied that '' the man's
wife had been for a good while in the service of his family, and
on that account he could not think of discharging him" — In
another, that, "gentlemen are now so accustomed to those
things that they do not mind them" — a fine apology In
186 The Irish Tourist,
In my progress to these places I visited Eagle-hill and
Nurney, two seats which attract your attention as you
pass from the Curragh of Kildare to Coolbanagher —
They lie, I think, S. or S. W. of Kildare, and command,
a view of the Wicklow mountains, about fifteen miles
distant-: — There is a chain of hills in the more imhie-
diate vicinity of Eagle-hill, which forms a kind of am-
phitheatre around it, and has a good effect — The elevated
position of this seat, and the prospect which it com-
mands, have rendered its name extremely appropriate.
I dwelt with pleasure for a few moments on the woods of
Narraghmore, about four miles south of Eagle-hill — they
are a good object in that point of the landscape, and thcr
interest which I took' in beholding them, was not les-
sened by the recollection of their having been the fre-
quent scene of my juvenile amusements, when at Bal-
litore school. How shall I account for the influence of
those inanimate objects upon my feelings ?— Why is it
that I retain no painful sense of my sufferings which were
acute, when I was a boy, and fasten tenaciously upon
those objects which then ministered. pleasu,re to my
childish heart ? — Was it the shade of those charming
groves, or the still more charming songsters which war-
bled forth their hymn of gratitude for the beauty of the
season, that won my affections ? — Was it the chirping
accents of those little captives that I then dragged from
the embraces of their parents, and whose cries ought tp
have moved me to compassion, that have made such a
citie3 and some large towns you may find a remedy for thisy
but in many inferior towns^ your patience is your only aU
ternative.
The Irish Tourist 18?:
lasting impression upon my feelings? — Was it the bow
and arrow which I carried in my hand, and with which
the wood had furnished me, or was it the display of my
skill in the exercise of those early instruments of war,
in the presence of my companions, which gave to that
object' in the landscape such a magic influence over my-;
heart ? — —Perhaps it was the recollection of the plea-
sure I derived from the gratification of that inextinguish-
able passion of nature, the love of liberty, which was
the sourceof my interest — or. perhaps it was because the
social instinct, another powerful passion of the soul, had
been gratified by the company of a few chosen friends,
that I here melted into sensibilit}'— Ye inanimate objects
of my childish affection, resolve these doubts— tell me the
springfrom whenceyou derive your fascinating power,and.
by what laws you command the homage of adult reason,
and render the passions it should govern subservient to.
your influence, even when the season of passion, has al-
most expired ?— Methinks I hear.you reply—*' We have
no power of our awn to produce pleasure— that sweet
delusion which carried captive your senses, while your
eyes hung in silent rapture upon our groves and upon the
enchanting scenery around us, is not ours to bestow— it
has its origin in nature, and is sent by the Author of na-
ture, with other capacities of enjoyment, to temper the
eup of adversity and render man thankful— Lift thine
eyes to yonder cliff— see the craggy rocks which hang
over the traveller on the road beneath, and threaten
him with destruction— Do these know that they inspire
him with terror, and are they conscious that they warn
him to prepare for death? Behold those mountains
J88 The Irish Tourist.
which nod in awful majesty over an arm of the sea,
while foaming billows from beneath rise «vith indignant
fury, lash the rocks, and expend their rage upon the
shore — Are these calculated to inspire the man of sensi-
bility with awful thoughts of the Eternal ? — and do our
more tranquil scenes inspire him with delight? — it is to,
the Author of nature that he is indebted for these im-
pressions, so well calculated to attract him to gratitude,
and to point out to him the awful consequences of pre-
sumption I Retire then, O child of probation, into
thy own bosom, and adore that wisdom and mercy which
have done all things well, and which, in the distribution
of their bounties, have honoured thee witH reason to
render these the works of God subservient to thj^ in-
struction."
Having, arrived at Coolbanagher, and obtained from,
the gentleman who then resided on that hill, a servant to
accompany me; I entered the church, which stands ex-
actly on its summit, and having clambered up to a con*
siderable height and obtained a position in the spire, I
found a prospect before me, which if my imagination
did not belong to the class of marvellous, was sufficient
to repay it with interest for the danger to whic^ I had
exposed myself in gaining a firm footing on that giddy-
eminence ; biit alas ! here, as on Knock-i-on, I found I
had overrated the strength of my head, which always
flies best when it is near a safe landing-place, and never
builds castles in the air so successfully, as when it has
good evidence of a sure foundation. The reader by this
time will begin to suspect, that I did not long maintain
my position in the steeple of Coolbanagher church, and
he is right in his conjecture — the awful station I had
The Irish Tourist 189
taken, so much elevated above the surrounding country,
conspired with the sharpness of the air, to produce a
vertigo, which oMiged me to descend, but not until I
had laboured to catch an outline of one of the finest
prospects in the Queen's County. The glance which I
obtained of the surrounding scenery from this position,
was such as to inspire me with the purest notions of a
beautiful and extensive landscape— and although I had it
not in my power to obtain a steady view of its minute
features, yet from the outline which I saw, and from my
more deliberate observations on a less airy station, I be-
came convinced, that, for the enjoyment of one of the
most elegant and capacious landscapes in the Queen's
County, the steeple of Coolbanagher was the true position.
The outline of this prospect is composed of the Wick-
low and Dublin mountains on the E. and S. E. — the
tnouutains of Slievbloom on the W.— the rock of Done-
maase and its chain of neighbouring hills on the S. —
and the beautiful improvements of Emo-park, the seat
of Lord Portarlington, including Spire-hiU and the town
of PoriarlingtoD on the N.E. Within this circle, the
. church and glebe-house of Coolbanagher, from which I
took my prospect, and the planting around them, form
a most prominent and striking feature when viewed from
the valley towards Emo, as you travel from thence to
Mountmellick.
Nurney and Eagle-hill, those seats which have been
recently noticed, and divers other handsome villas, em-
bellish the surrounding country : so that without danger
of contradiction we may venture to assert, that this beau-
tiful and capacious landscape so advantageously surveyed
from the giddy steeple of Coolbanagher, is one of the
190 The Irish TourisL
most interesting which the Queen's County has to ejf-
hibit. The church of Coolbanagher, (which is a neat pile
of modern building) with about an acre of grave-ground
walled in and ornamented with planting,constitutes apretty
object on the road as you travel from Emo-park to the
rock of Donemaase. A su[)erb monument of the late Earl
of'Povtarlington ornaments this platform, on the east end
of the parish church ; and two or three more of respectable
appearance stand near it, to apprize the living of their
rank, and quality, amongst which I discovered the monu-
mental inscription of the late Colonel Warburton. The
prospect from the grave-yard towards the north and
north-west is intercepted by the planting, which is there
formed into shrubberies; but the shade which these offer
to the man of contemplation, in a place so appropriate
for its exercise, repay him for this privation.
Having gleaned the beauties of this view, I mounted
my little carriage, which, with its solitary inhabitant,
bad undergone severe penance on the roads near Ballyftn
and Portarlington, and stopping at a farmer's house to
obtain a guide to the rock, in which capacity his son,
a civil and rather intelligent young man, offering to
accompany me, I took him up, and driving off soon
arrived at the place of our destination.
** The rock of Donemaase, or Dunna maaes, which
signifies in the Irish language ' the fort of the plain,' is
certainly a place of great curiosity, and one which
nature and art had combined to render of the most for-
midable strength before the use of artillery had been
known. It is one of those hills which so peculiarly
stand separate from the neighboiwing chain, and being
extremely steep was naturally inaccessible on all sides,
The Irish lounsi, 191
but the (east,) where was the entrance.* This isolated
rock was fornfierly the residence of the princes of the
country, who had a dwelling on its summit, and we find
that on the first arrival of the English, in the reign of
Henry 11. anno 1167, it was the principal residence of
Dermot Mac Murragh, king of Leinster." â–
The late Sir John Parnell, proprietor of the estate on
which the rock stands, manifest^ed the estimation in which
he held this antique object, by attempting so far to repair
one or two apartments in the ruins of an old castle on
its summit, as to render them fit for the occasional re-
ception of a banquetting party, but after making some
slight alterations, and giving to his friends a few en-
tertainments, he abandonded his project, and left the
the ruins of the rock, with those of empires, as a me-
morial to the spectator of the ravages of time, and the
littleness and short duration of the most mighty monarchs
and castle-builders, who, like meteors, have flamed for
a ojioment on this little planet and then disappeared.
The prospect from the rock of Donemaase, though
extensive, is biy no means as beautiful to the naked eye,
as that from Coolbanagher church. The circle of coun-
try perceptible from the former object, may probably
measure about one hundred miles, and of this the view
N. or N.E. has nothing picturesque to offer. The
* See Sir Charles Coote's Statistical Survey of the Queen's
X^ounty, from which the above quotation is extracted, save in
the description of the entrance or accessible side of the fort,
which is there noted as on the S.W. This, as a probable error
of the press, discovered by my own actual observation, I have
taken the liberty to correct. The entrance towards the rock is
rather towards the east than west, and the inner and outer fosses
which guarded that entrance are slilj visible.
192 The Irish Tourist,
mountains of Wicklow and those of Slievbloom are among
the objects which form a boundary to this capacious
landscape. The chain of hills in the vicinity of the
rock, and from which it stands considerably removed ; the
plantations of Sir John Parnell, on one of those hills,
south or south-west of this rock — a clergyman's lodge on
the east, and some other objects, conspire to interest the
spectator — but it is the rock itself, and those castles on
its summit which had once constituted the strong hold
of the kings of Leinster, that are the glory of the scene,
and the deserving objects of attention.
Though the shades of evening had already descended,
and the deep silence of night was approaching with hasty
strides, yet I had the curiosity on descending from the
rock to attempt ascertaining the measurement of its
middle circle. This apparently simple, but in my cir-
cumstances, trul)i troublesome enterprize, my guide and
I commenced at the entrance of the inner fosse, and
with great difficulty surmounted the stones and small
rocks which obstructed our passage in measuring our
steps around it. From the best calculation I could form
from such an imperfect survey, the circumference of
the rock in that place measures about fifteen hundred
feet; and that of the base (which unites wii'i a deep
valley on the S. and S.W.) I calculated to be about three
times that amount. Here, as at Coolbanagher and
Knock-i-on, I had to lament that infirmity which dimi-
nished my enjoyment of the landscape. In this respect
Knocksheogowna had the advantage of those other ob-
jects. The base of the latter hill occupies a consider-
able tract of ground, and hence, though a very com-
manding eminence, it slopes with such gentle gradation
The Irish Tourist. 193"
irito the valley, as to produce, to the weakest eye or head,-
no painful sensatidn, while that of Knock-i-on, shooting'
upward like a cone or tower, makes the ascent difficult,
and the position giddy and alarmfhg. This complaint,
to which I am subject, has often rendered my curiosity
or thirst of observation, a dangerous passion-^^While
struggling on the rock of Donemase, vvith a second at-'
tack of this vertigo in one day, I had to remember the
horrible sensation with which I was seized in the summer
of n98, while clambering up Vinegar-hill in the County'
of Wexford, to contemplate with attention the counte-
nances of those unhappy men, who fell in the battle
fought with our troops on Thursday the 21st of June.'
I arrived at that hill the Sunday morning following, and'
found several of the slain unburied : the stench which
proceeded from those carcases exposed for three days to
the rays of a burning suli ; the general scene of desola-
tion which was before me, and the remorse which I felt
for having indulged, what in my own case I feared was
an unjustifiable curiosit}', conspired to overpower na-
ture — my head grew giddy : I felt a palpitation seize my
h«art : my limbs trembled ; and with difficulty I escaped
with life from this awful. scene of carnage'and infection.
PORTARLINGTON.
Portarlington, (one of the handsomest inland towns in
the province of Lcinstei) is situate on the river Barrow,
about thirty-seven miles south west of Dublin, in a coun-
try considerably improved* — The town, in your passage
* The Barrow takes its rise in the mountains of Slievbloom
in the Queen's County, and in its progress to the sea, passes
through tlie towns of Mountmellick and Portarlington, from'
whence bending towanJs the S. E. it lakes its course by tlie
194 The Irish Tourist.
from Mountmellick through the two princrpal streets^,
which meet nearly at right angles in the market-square,
extends about two English miles towards Monastereven>
agreeably to the ca..fse of the river j but beside those
principal streets, there are several of inferior note which
open a communication with these and with the market-
square — This square-,, and the streets we have noticed as-
principal, are adequately spacious, the houses uniformly
decent, and in some instances, highly elegant,, and the
streets, (which cannot be said of many extensive towns in.
this country) are suitably accommodated to the conve-
nience of carriages and: foot passengers.. Portarlington
may be pronounced the second grand. emporium of edu-
cation in the province — The people of property send
their- children from all parts of the country thither for.
education^ as the number of seminaries in this town, for
the education of youth of both sexes, exceeds that of
every other in the province of Leinster, the Gity of
Dublin only excepted.
Portarlington is- a place rather of fashion and elegance
magnificent ruin of Lea Castle (which stands immediately on its
margin) to the town of Monastereven, from whence it procceds^
due south through. Athy, Carlow,. and Leigh! in-bridge, to i(s^,
junction with tho Nore, on the demesne of Lord Callan, two
miles north of Ross— At this latter place, these united waters-
form a beautiful crystal expanse, which may be considered as
the principal-ornament of that town— From Ross this river pro-
ceeds towards the bay of Waterford, and in its progress, forms
a junction with the river Suir — Thus cnriclied and }einforccd
this stream rolls its navigable tide towaixls the ocean, and thea
empties its tributary waters into that miglity reservoir.
*:* The reader will find the properties of this livcr far-
ther explained, in our description of the countiy between Car-
low and Ross.
TJie Irish Tourist. ' 1^5
than of commercial enterprise: the latter term iflay be'
considered as more applicable to Mountmellick, a good
market and post town in the same County, about five
mil(is south of the former— There is an intercourse kept
up betrt'^een those towns in the way of trade, but neitheif
this conimunicationof interest, \\ot their proximity to
each other, have proved sufficient to blend into- on6
those distinguishing^: features of their character-— Both
Portarlington and Mountmellick, are what miiy be termed
good Protestant towns, the one being principally inha-
bited by the descendants of French Hugonots and their
connections,, and the other, in a considerable proportion,
by the descendants of English Quakers ; and these de-
scendants of the French and English reformers, re-
taining by profession their first principles, we have hence
denominated the towns which they inhabit, Protestant/
In Mountmellick there is one establishment for educa*
tion, which we think deserving of notice^ — ^the Leinster
provincial school, founded by the society called Friends
or Quakers, towards the close of the last century, for the
benefit of the youth of both sexes, in the province of
Leinster^ the limited circumstances of whose parents
might otherwise have deprived those children of the ad-
vantages of a suitable education- — —This, we believe,
was the primary object of the institution, and although
on adequate conditions, its benefits have been latterly
permitted to flow out to the children of members in easy
or affluent circumstances, j-et the instruction of the class
we have first noticed in the principles of the society, and
in learning suited to their rank and prospects, continues,
no doubt, to be the paramount object of the institution.
That the funds of this institution may be applied
N 2
196 • The Irish Tourist\
whole and entire to their objects, a certain nunnber of
overseers are appointed to superintend it in the form of a
standing committee; persons who receive no emolument
for their services, and who are supposed to be superior
to corruption ; while the officers who do receive a salary
for their constant attention to the duties of the school,
are not, as in some institutions, so numerous as almost
to eat out the vitals of the charity.
This institution (if our information be correct) is li-
mited to thirty boys and thirty girls at a time, and the
officers in flie pay of the society, besides the ordinary ser-
vants of the house, are a governor and two English teach-
ers, to which a classic teacher has been added since the
extension of its benefits to the children of members in easy
or opulent circumstances. To descant at large upon the
advantages resulting to mankind from these and similar
institutions of religious society, would perhaps be out of
character, in these loose and desultory sketches; but it
may not be amiss to revive in the public mind, the re-
collection of that spring of christian piety which first
set them in motion, and which, in proportion as it has
become broken and impaired, these institutions of cha-
rity have been rendered abortive by public neglect, or by
the avarice of self-interested conductors. .
To conclude our observations about Portarlington and
Mountmellick, wesiiall observe, that although the former
exceeds the latter, in rank, in fashion, and in the number
of its seminaries for the education of 3outh, yet we very
much doubt if it exceeds Mountmellick in the aggre-
gate wealth of its inhabitants — The cotton and worsted
manufactures — the , tanning, malting, brewing, and
an extensive trade in the country mercantile department,
The Irish Touristy , 1^
have been long successfully carried on in this latter
town ; and here one instance of the benefits which flow
from temperance and a steadily maintained commerce,
appearing, we embrace the opportunity which these
details afford us of throwing in our mile of approbatioa
to their support.
OBSERVATIONS.
"The advantages of trade and commerce, are these —
They give useful employment to the mind— they are
'honorable instruments of private comfort and indepen-
<ience— they levy a tax of <;ourlesy upon self-interest,
and hence break down, to a certain extent, the barriers
which separate society — and lastly, they give the virtuous
trader, an opportunity of exercising his benevolence
But as the most useful and honorable operations of trade
are liable to be rendered abortive by the growth of ^f-
viicrest, a principle which, when once predominant,
gradually retires, and ultimately entrenches itself within
those circles where it can find the largest portion of nu-
triment for its avarice and pride ; how needful does it
appear that society in its own defence, should establish a
social compact which might act as a bulwark to the pro-
grcbs of this evil, by drawing (from our numerous" dis-
tinctions in civil and religious life) the moral character of
a country into occasional correspondence, an end which
hitherto, has only been partially answered by all • the
civil and religious compacts which have taken place in
Christendom.
In the production of those salutary ends wiiich neccs-
Garily result from the union of many in one compact, the
societies in this part of the world called christian,, furnish
us with a few useful examples — among these are the i\I-q«
1^8 ^ The Irish Tourisrt.
ravian, Q.uaker, and Methodist sects, and there is not any
person whatever. acquainted with their history and with
the character of human nature, but must acknowledge,
that (next to the religious principle which tirst united
them, and the force of habit which hath given it domi-
nion) the gratilication produced to the social instinct by
the pleasures of social intercourse, is the most powerful
instrument of preserving their existence. Take from
these sects all interchange of kind offices, all prospect of
pleasure or profit to be derived from mutual intercourse,
^nd all fear of suffering- in their character or other inte-
rests by disunion, and then mark their progress through
the world — Assisted however as they are, by periodical
meetings and by private intercourse, still the benefits of
their religious and social policy are partiaj — partial with
regard to the world, and partial with regard to the com-
inuDities in which those benefits are occasionally tasted—
To render the measure of useful example which they ex-
hibit, profitable to the general population of a country,
that country should organize itgelf on a comrnon. basis of
good faitK and mutual services — To effect this object,
monthly meetings of the decent inhabitants should be inr
slituted in each town and parish, for the purpose of
palling the people into occasional intercourse, and of