Lights and Shades of Ireland

Front matter

ftgdte fltt& §t}tits of Jrrtf.n&. IN THREE PARTS. ■pan I. EARLY HISTORY. D-art II. SAINTS, KINGS, AND POETS, OF THE EARLY AGES Vart III. THE FAMINE OF 1847 '48 AND '49. sr ASENATH NICHOLSON, OF NEW YORK. " When their soul was poured out into their mother's bosom." — Jek. ii. 12. " Not e'en in the hour when my heart is most gay, Will I lose the remembrance of thee and thy wrongs." LONDON : CHARLES GILPIN, 5, BISHOPSGATE STREET WITHOUT. 1850. CTopnrig^t StturrB.

Preface

. The reader of these pages should be told that, if strange things are recorded, it was because strange things were seen ; and if strange things were seen which no other writer has written, it was because no other writer has visited the same places, under the same circumstances. No other writer ever explored mountain and glen for four years, with the same object in view ; and though I have seen but the suburbs of what might be seen, were the same ground to be retraced, with the four years' experience for an hand maid, yet what is already recorded may appear alto gether incongruous, if not impossible. And now, while looking at them calmly at a distance, they appear, even to myself, more like a dream than reality, because they appear out of common course, and out of the order of even nature itself. But they are realities, and many of them fearful ones — realities which none but eye-witnesses can understand, and

PREFACE.

. IV none but those who passed through them can/ee.. No pretensions to infallibility either in judgment or description are made — the work is imperfect because the writer is so — and no doubt there are facts recorded which might better have been left out. In such a confused mass of material, of such variety and such quality, I am not so vain as to suppose that the best has always been selected or recorded in the best way. No originality is pretended in the first part : it is an imperfect concentration of matter, gathered from various authors, with the simple object of placing before my own view a summary outline of the causes which have from age to age been combining to bring Ireland into the state as she now presents herself to the world, and that others who, like me, may be in perplexity, as I was in the beginning of my travels there, to know what she once must have been, and who now in this condition, may have a few doubts partially removed without the difficulty of plodding through intricate volumes, to reach the same point.

If there are statements incorrect I am but a copyist, not pre tending to be eye or ear witness of centuries gone by ; neither has imagination been called in to magnify these statements — present effects spread before the vision tell that past causes must have been fearful ; and to the doubtful, who may write "proof" on the margin of these pages, when some barbarous acts recorded there may startle them, it is requested that they read the sentence passed in the enlightened Bible age of 1848, upon Smith O'Brien, that both justice and vengeance could not be satisfied with life —

PREFACE.

. V hanging and beheading ; but let imagination fill the remainder of the frightful picture ; and if past cruelties here recorded are doubted as impossible, come with me in the year 1850 and see the houseless wanderer dying in mountains and bogs, without food, without clothes, driven there by merciless landholders, who have fattened on soil wrested from the fathers of these exiles. If the world is tired of Henrys, Charles's, James's, Elizabeths, and Cromwells — if these old pages, thumbed and " dog-eared" as they are, have become tiresome — mark ! they are but the counterpart of the tatters that are fluttering in every breeze in that island ; they are the honest fathers of these their wayward, ill-governed children, and their true pedigree will be traced out ; all things not only seek their level, but return to the right owner, sooner or later.

But give us a new book, not blotted or blurred with false C_ ' titles, nor besmeared with mud cabins ; let not its leaves be either tattered or patched, but a fair stereo typed edition, written "within and without, justice, mercy, and good-will. Give us Victoria, with the shamrock in one hand, and the scales of justice in the other, for the title-page ; and Ormonds, Desmonds, and Strongbows shall mingle their ungathered ashes with the dust of forgotten ages. The Second Part of the work is intended to present a few specimens of the " Lights of Ireland," when she was mistress of her own land, sung her own songs, with a harp of her own, and worshipped her own God in temples which her own hands had built, VI

PREFACE.

. when she sat under her own " vines and fig-trees," with none to make her afraid, and though — " The harp that once through Tara's halls, The soul of music shed, Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls, As if that soul was fled. Yet let it once more waken The sweetness of its slumbering strain." The Third Part is legible, and tells its own story. The echo of the mournful wail is still on the ear, the cries of the widow and fatherless are still going up, and the carcases of the slain are yet unburied. Gladly would I have written a more pleasing and better book, but the material was wanting. While Ireland remains the same, the same things must be written of her ; and let him be tired of reading who is not willing to do her justice. And in conclusion, allow me to add, with hope, — " Erin, Oh, Erin ' thy winter is past, And the hope that lived through it shall blossom at last." London, 1 850. PAGE. 22 CONTENTS.

Part I. Chapter

I. Object of the work — General remarks on the condition of Ireland before the famine — Coachman's reasons for murder — Difficulties of writing a correct work on Ireland — Position of the writer,'<_ic. 1

Chapter II

Preliminaries — First settlement of Ireland — Henry II. — Adrian's bull — Peter pence — Council of Trent — Irish Church — State of England — Dermot Macmurchad — Roderic O'Connor — Strongbow's battles — Results — Norman's armoury — Civil war — Protector Henry — Decrees of Casbel — Keepers of the Church — Young Prince John — His defeat — Death of Henry — John Comyn — Sir John Davis' statements — Taylor's statements — English pale — Free blood — Richard, Cour-de-Lion — John — Henry III. — Magna Charta — Aristocracy and slavery —Edward I., &c ■ . . . .9

Chapter III

Edward — Battle of Bannockburn — Robert Bruce in Carrickfergus — Fedlim — His success — Bruce defeated — Famine — Bruce killed — Edward III. — Conduct of the English — Irish pride — New expedients— Statutes of Kilkenny — Lord Clare's opinion of the laws — Richard II. — Henry IV. — Black Rent — Duke of York — State of the country — Madame Margaret — Henry VII. — Brothers of St. George — Laws of 1446— Earl of Kildare — Earl of Warwick— New era — Poyning — His law — " Coyne and livery" — War-cry — Earl of Surrey — Extent of English rule in I: eland - Henry VIII. — Character and proceedings — Lord G--ey — O'Neil of Ulster — New events — Ed ward VI. — Mary — Reflections— Character of the Roman Catholics . . CONTENTS. PAGE.

Chapter IV

Elizabeth — Her influence and cruelties — Acts of Conformity and Supremacy — John O'Neil — His rebellion, and success with the Queen — His slaughter by the Scots — Earl of Desmond— His character — Lord Grey — Raleigh — Spencer — His advice — Elizabeth's reign over carcasses and ashes — Sir Walter Raleigh's persuasions — John Perrot — Hugh O'Neil — Sir John Norris and Lord Burgh — Sir Henry Bagnal — Essex and his army — Don Juan d'Aquilla — Mountjoy — Elizabeth's butcheries — Bryan O'Neil — His fate — Evil of Ireland — Shrewd Irishman — Remarks ...... 35

Chapter V

James — Penal laws — Infringement and punishment — Proclamation of James — Gunpowder plot — Fate of the accused and of the natives — Confiscated lands — Irish Society — Land added to the crown — Death of James — Charles succeeds — State of the press — Wentworth — His palace — Scotch — Stafford executed — Death of Wentworth — Parties — Wild Irish — Character of O'Moore — Of O'Neil — Conspiracy — Insurrection — Charles Coote's cruelty — Scotch puritans — Irish parliament — Lord Justices — Assembly at Swords, at Tara — St. Leger's cruelty — Confiscation of property — Earl of Ormond — His commands — Document — Execution of his comrades — Sir Philip O'Neil — New penal laws — State of the war — Lord Inquichin — Lord Forbes — His depredations — Earl of Antrim — Monroe's treachery — Irish disheartened — Bright spot — Civil government — Assembly — Priests and people meet at Kilkenny — Resolutions — National Assembly — Object of the assembly — Charles suspected — Ormond's brutality at Cashel — English meetings — Scotch in arms — Confederates — Private treaty — Public treaty — Pope's Nuncio— Character — Benburb battle — Nuncio pleased — Acts rashly — Ormond flees to Rome ■ — Is called back — O'Neil treated as a rebel — The Nuncio dies with grief ........ 43

Chapter VI

Cromwell — D'Aubigne's and Carlyle's opinion of his character as a hero and christian — His going out to Ireland — Attack on Drogheda — Butchery — His letters — Success through the country — Massacre of women at Wexford — Trouble in the army — Gets assistances — Takes Clonmel — Returns to England — Ireton takes command — Bishop of Conly executed— Prophetic address — Ireton dies of the plague — At last, in 1652 it is declared that Ireland is subdued — Confiscation of property — Cromwell's slaughter-houses — Connaught exiles Priest-killing — Henry, son of Cromwell— his humanity CONTENTS. IX PAQB. Richard Cromwell succeeds — Bad management — Cry of loyalty 59

Chapter VII

Charles II. proclaimed — Cruel laws — Innocents and Nocents — Bramble's sacrament — Act of Settlement — Appeal to christians — Irish benevolence rejected — Bill on Irish cattle — Free-trade — Home manufactures — Lord Berkley — Peter Talbot — Popish plot — Archbishop Plunket hanged — Shaftesbury flees — Charles dies — James succeeds — Protestants tremble — Tyrconnel — Talbot — Irish ambassadors — James at Oxford — William, Prince of Orange — James' flight — Revolution of 1668 — William in a dilemma —James called back — Siege of Derry — Enniskilleners — Expulsion of the Dublin students — William — Schomburgh — William arrives— Regium Donum — Battle of the Boyne — James flies — William gives thanks to God — Attacks Limerick — Goes to England — Marlborough takes Cork and Kinsale — Ginckle — Sarsfield and Saint Ruth — Athlone taken — Ginckle's honourable terms — Battle of Aughrim — Saint Ruth killed — Limerick taken — by treachery — Honourable treaty of Limerick . . .79

Chapter VIII

Ingratitude of Ireland — Treaty broken — Queen Anne — Dean Swift — Presbyterians — Manufactories— Famine — Severe laws — Chesterfield — His deceit — George Stone — Clergy — White-boys, Oak-boys, Steele-boys — Result — Merchants — Three patriots — Difficulties — Lord Taaffe — Quarterage — Catholic rent — Mr. Flood — American revolution — Popish Relief Bill — New association — England — Volunteers — Happy effects — Rapparees ......... 98

Part III. Chapter XVI

Cup of trembling — Irish housekeeping — Indian meal — First news of the famine — Kind judge — First starving person, and means of preserving him — Unexpected assistance from New York — Joseph Bewley — Soup-shop — Manner of carrying bread through the street— Cook-street labours in Dublin — Central Relief Committee in Dublin — Amount of monies — God's promises and dealings ........

Chapter XVII

Stewards— Meal from New Tork — Sacks, and government arrangements for distribution of meal — Donation from pauper children of Neiv York— Convent— Going to Belfast — Doings of the women there — Hirelings and voluntaries — Hon. William Butler — William Bennett — Mrs. Hewitson Visits to George Hill — Patrick M'Kye's letter .... CONTENTS. XI PAGE.

Chapter XVIII

George Hill's movements and success — Facts of Gweedore — Visit to Dungloe and Arranmore — Mr. Griffith — Sports of Children gone — Roshine Lodge — Return to Belfast by Deny — Visit to Antrim — A cave — Return to Dublin — Journey to Connaught — Mistake in character of a starving man — Misery at Newport — Orphan boy — Abraham and Sara — Sara's bed and burial — Abraham's death and burial — Drinking habits — Moderate drinking clergy . . . 264

Chapter XIX

The Sound— Tour to Belmullet — Landlords — Tenantry — Walk on the sea-coast — Burying-ground — Shipwrecked sailors' burial — Manner of burying the starving — Soldiers of Belmullet — Appearance of the people — Passport— Mr. Cony — Samuel Bourne — The girl of the mountain — Miss Wilson — Return to Belmullet — Scene of the cattle drivers, and courage of a boy — Letter to a London friend — Return to the Sound — - Dreadful storm — Drowning of fishermen — Reading with servants — Achill— Bad management of grants — Disposition of children 294

Chapter XXI

Newport — Pulling down houses — Mr.Pounding — Gildea — Burial at Newport — Molly Maguires, &c. — Rebellion of 1848 — Croy Lodge and Ballina — The self-denying child — Hunting, and habits of a hunting lady — Visit to Ballina — Hospitality of Peter Kelly — Character of Mr. Kincaid — Capt. Short, and the people in general leaving the town — Stop at Ponton and arrival at Castlebar — Trial for murder — The feelings of the jury — Patrick's day — Widow Fitzgerald — Visit to Partra — Balinrobe — Sense in the mountains — Old parish priest — Visit to Balinrobe — To Cong — Industry of the curate — Visit to Balinrobe workhouse — Old Head — Distress there — Louisburgh — Excursion to the Killery mountains, &c.— Excursion to Adelphi — Incidents — Good landlady — Shepherds— Romantic scenery — Return — Rockery — Adieu — West port and Castlebar — Soup-shops— Soyer's soup — Journey to Tuam —Children in the convent— Happy results— Sad treatment on a car — Arrival at Cork — Description of Cove and Cork — Scenery up the Lee — Deaths in the famine — Blarney — Castlemakyr — Potatoe blast — Spike Island — Mathew Tower — Letters— Grave of Charles Wolfe — Water Cure — Friend's Funeral .......... CONTENTS. PAGF.

Chapter XXII

Leaving Cork — Passage to Dublin — New Trials there — Reflections on past labours, &c. — Last look of Ireland — Summing up — Landlords — Clergymen — Relief Officers — Going out of Ireland ......... OF IRELAND.

Chapter I

" Stript, wounded, beaten, nigh to death, " I saw him by the highway-side." Those who have read the volume called Ireland's Welcome, have been informed that I left New York in the spring of 1844, for the purpose of exploring and ascertaining, by eye-witness, the real condition of a people, whose history has been mixed with fable, and whose true character has been as little understood as their sufferings have been mitigated. In pursuing this work, the object is not precisely the same as in the preceding one ; that was but the surface — the rippling of that mighty sea, whose waves have since been casting up little else but "mire and dirt," and whose deep and continual upheavings, plainly indicate that the foundations, if not destroyed, are fast breaking up. I then aimed at nothing more than giving a simple narration of facts, as they passed under observation, leaving the reader to comment upon those facts, as their different features were presented to the mind.

Some, and possibly many, have been grieved that so much " plainness of speech " has been used ; but here emphatically " flattering titles " should have no place ; opiates have served no other purpose for diseased Ireland than to leave undisturbed the canker-worm, that was doing more effectually his deadly work within. "Peace, B peace," when there is no peace, eventually brings down the chastisings of the Almighty, and He has shown in language that cannot be misunderstood, for the last three years, that He sitteth in the heavens, overturning and overturning the nations of the earth, and, in his own due time, He whose right it is to rule will rule. The stone is rolling, and its velocity increases as it proceeds. The potatoe has done its work, and it has done it effectually : it has fed the unpaid millions for more than two centuries, till the scanty wages of the defrauded poor man have entered into the " ears of the Lord of Sabaoth," and He is now telling the rich that " their gold and silver is cankered," and that their day is coming speedily.

We are gravely told that the year 1844 was one of great abundance, and that the peasantry were then a contented and happy people ; but listen ! the year 1844 ivas a year of abundance, but did the poor man share in this abundance — was he contented and happy 1 Why then was the whole country rocking " to and fro " with the cry of repeal ? and, Why was O'Connell in prison 1 Were the people all singing in their chains, not feeling the galling of the fetters, till he aroused them from their " contented " sleep ? Did his fiery breath fan up embers that had lost all power of life 1 and were there no heartburnings beneath the tatters of the degraded cabiner, that strongly prompted to make a struggle for that liberty, which God has by birthright bestowed upon all bearing his image 1 A struggle they ivould have made, had one nod from the prison grates of O'Connell given the signal.

Though there was no clamour, yet the leaven was silently leavening the whole lump, and they appeared anxiously waiting for some event, which they felt must come, they knew not whence, nor cared not how. But the year of abundance. Prom June 1844 to August 1845, I visited the middle and southern part, including all the sea-coast, always on foot in the most destitute regions, that I might better ascertain the condition and character of the peasants in their most uncultivated state. What I then saw of privation and suffering, has OF IRELAND. been but partially sketched, because the "many things " I had to say the world was not then able to bear, neither are they now able to bear them all ; but posterity will bear them, and posterity shall hear them. Please read the partial sketch of Bantry, Glengariffe, and the sea coast of Kerry, given in the years 1844-5, and enter into some floorless, dark, mud cabin, and sit down upon a stool, if happily a stool be there, and witness the " abundance " of those happy fertile days.

Again and again did I partake of a scanty meal of the potatoe, after a day's walk of miles, because that I knew a full repast would deprive the family of a part of the supply which was in reserve for their moderate meal, which by multitudes was then taken but once a day. Mark ! these are not isolated cases, but everywhere in the mountainous regions, upon the sea-coast, and in the glens ; from Dublin to the extreme south did I daily meet these facts. Nor was this privation of short con tinuance : from Christmas to harvest the poor peasant must stint his stomach to one meal a day, or his seed for the coming crop would be curtailed, and the necessary rent-payer, the pig, not be an equivalent to keep the mud cabin over the head of his master. So much for "abundance," now for "content."' That there was an unparalleled content, where anything approached to tolerable endurance, cannot be denied, but this was their religious training ; however imperfect their faith and practice may be, in patience they have, and do exemplify a pattern which amounts almost to superhuman.

" We must be content with what the Almighty puts upon us," was their ready answer when their sufferings were mentioned ; yet this did not shut their eyes to a sense of the sufferings which they felt were put upon them by man, and their submission, seemed in most cases to proceed from the requirements of the Almighty, rather than from ignorance of their wrongs; for in most instances the parting question would be, " Don't ye think the government is too hard on us ; or do ye think we shall ever git the repale, and will Ireland ever be any better," &c. That they are a b happy people so long as any ray of hope remains, or when they share in common the gifts of Providence, must be allowed ; yet their quick perception of justice often manifests itself, where any loop-hole is made which offers any amendment to their condition, and when the flickering spark of life is kindled within them.

They have committed bold and wicked acts, which revenge prompted by a sense of injustice alone would do. Justice long withheld, and oppression multiplied proportioned to uncomplaining endurance, sometimes awakes to a boldness almost unequalled by any but the savage of the wilderness ; nor do they wait for the night, or seek any other concealment, than to make sure of their prey — they care not who sees them, or on what gallows they are hung, if the hated victim be out of the way. " Hark ! from yon stately ranks what laughter rings, " Mingling wild mirth with war's stern minstrelsy. " His jest — while each brave comrade round him flings, " And moves to death with military glee. " Boast Erin ! boast them tameless, frank, and free, " In friendship warm, and cool in danger known, " Rough Nature's children, humorous as she.

" And he great chieftain strike the proudest tone " Of thy bold harp, green Isle, the hero is thine own." Seldom do they murder for money, and in no country where oppression has ruled have the oppressed plundered and robbed so little as in Ireland, yet they can plunder and rob ; and these crimes are multiplying and will multiply till a new state of things places them in a different condition. I was riding upon a coach in the second year of the famine, in a lonely part of the west, when the coach man pointed me to a corner around the wall, and re marked, " When I passed this place to-day, a man lay dead there, who had been killed some hours before by one of the tenants living upon the land here." " Why did he do the shocking deed 1" I inquired. "A good deed by dad," was the answer, " Why lady, he was the greatest blackguard that ever walked the airth ; he was agent to a gentleman, and he showed no mercy to a poor OP IRELAND. 5 man that was toilin' for the potatoe ; but as soon as the famine was sore on the cratur's, he drove every one into the blake staurm that could not give the rent, and many's the poor bein' that died with the starvation, without the shelter ; and wouldn't ye think that such a hard-hearted villain better be dead, than to live and kill so many poor women and helpless children, as would be wandrin' in the black mountains this winter, if he should live to drive 'em there."

Now, this is certainly unchristian logic, but it is resentful nature's logic, and in accordance with all the principles of national killing. In vain I preached and held up a better principle — ''A great good had been done to all the parish, and all the parish should be glad that so many lives had been saved by this one which had been taken." It was night, and I felt a little relief when a police man ascended the coach, who was going in quest of a coroner ; a sad deed, he added, but the murdered man was hard-hearted, and no doubt that it was some of the tenants on the land of which he was agent who did the work, yet not one has escaped. " And why," retorted the driver, " should a hap'orth of 'em take up the heel ; they have done a good deed, and if they're hung, it will be better than the starvation."

The policeman was silent, and I was not anxious to pursue the fruitless argument with one who saw no light, but through the medium of doing unto others as others do to him. And where this principle prevails, as it does in the hearts of all the un sanctified, the wonder is that so few have been the lawless deeds that have been transacted in that oppressed country for centuries gone by. The mischief is all laid at the door of the Papists ; and when I speak of the Christianity of Ireland, I would do it with caution — I would not "hurt the oil or the wine,"— I would not "judge nor set at nought my brother," — but I would say deliberately and conscientiously, that if those who call themselves the only true light of that benighted land, the only safe lamps to guide to the heavenly country, were more careful to show mercy and walk humbly, they might long ago have seen a better state of things.

Yes, had bible men and bible women possessed that love in heart which has been upon the tongue, had they manifested that tenderness for Christ, as they have for a party, a name, or a church ; had they been as assiduous to win souls to Christ by love and kindness, as they have to gather in their tithes by law and violence, many who are now scoffing at a "truth held in unrighteousness," might have been glorying in one producing holiness and peace. But I forbear: "murder will out," wrong will be righted, however painful the process, and though judgment long delay, yet it must come at last ; the wheel of Providence is ever rolling, and every spoke, belonging to it must in turn be uppermost, and the oppressed cannot always be at the bottom. One object of this volume is to place before the world a plain and simple outline of which is called the Famine of Ireland, in 1S46-7-8-9.

But before I take the reader down the sides of this dreadful gulf, before I uncover to him the bowels of that loathsome pit, on the margin of which he often may have tremblingly stood, I will gird up his mind for the conflict, by taking him, in the autumn of 1845, and the spring of 1846, through the more fertile and happy north, where we are told that better management has pro duced better results ; there we shall find mementos of deep interest, when, ages now passed away, this people stood out to surrounding nations not as a " bye-word and hissing," but as a noble example of religion, industry, and prosperity, which few if any could then present. And though its early history is quite obscured by fiction, and interlarded with poetical romance, yet all this serves to prove that the remains of a true coin are there, or a counterfeit would not have been attempted.

Not only in the north, but scattered over the whole island are found inscriptions on stone, some standing above ground and others buried beneath, which, by their dates and hieroglyphics, tell you that centuries ago men lived here, whose memories were honoured, not only for their valour in war, but for their purity of life. It was not till I had faithfully explored the interior OF IRELAND. and southern coast, that the early history of this people had been much studied ; as my object then, was to see them as they are found in the nineteenth century, with out investigating particularly their age or pedigree. In my later excursions facts so startled and convinced me that their pretensions to former prosperity and great ness were not fabulous, that I regretted for my supine ness on the subject ; for I found by well authenticated history, that the common saying among the peasantry that Ireland was once " aland of saints," was founded in more truth than her enemies or even friends are ready to acknowledge ; and the belief is quite confirmed in my mind, that when searching for truth concerning a nation " scattered and peeled," as the Irish have been, the true ore can better be found in the unpolished rubbish, in the traditions of a rude nation, retained from age to age, than among the polished gems of polite literature, written to please rather than instruct, and pull down rather than to build up.

It has never been my lot to meet with a straight forward, impartial, real matter-of-fact work, written on that devoted country, till since the famine commenced. It has been suggested that an Irishman could not write an impartial book on his country, and an Englishman or Scotchman would not. The last three years have abundantly proved, that there are many Englishmen, who can not only feel, but act for that poor despised island, who would rejoice to see her arise, yes, who would and do take her by the hand, who not only talk, but make sacrifices for her welfare ; and let me record it with gratitude, that pos terity may read the efforts they have made and are still making, to place this down-trodden people among the happiest nations of the earth. Gladly would I record, were the privilege allowed me, the names of those Quakers, those dissenters of all denominations, and many of the churchmen too, who have done much in the days of darkness, for the starving poor of that land ; yes, let me record as a debt of gratitude 7" owe to Eugland, the scenes I have witnessed, when some box of warm clothing was opened, when the naked starving women and children would drop upon their knees, and clasp their emaciated fingers, and with eyes raised to heaven, bless the Almighty God for the gift that the kind English or blessed Quaker had sent them ; and while I was compelled to turn away from the touch ing view, my heart responded Amen and Amen.