Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-12-04
IRELAND.


IRELAND is said to be undergoing rema,k.t,.
transition regards its population An q Enol;sr
Catholic" writes from Dublin to the London T,a.
that in the county of Mayo, through which he has
been travelling the process goes ON SO rapidly that i;
few months nothing win be observable there but the Anal
result This change from the cottier state of socet
In which the land held by small tenant farmers. n
the pastoral or grazing system in which the extensive
land owner and the great capitalist the only opera
tors and few herdsmen the only industrial population
Wholesale evicons have caused this change The Door
tenants having been beggared by the failure Of the potato
crops through several successive seasons and thus rem
dered unable to pay their rents the landlords level their
cottages to get rid Of them and thus the whole popua
ton OF district many miles in extent is turned ont
into the roads to live or die, according to chance or
these destitute persons the Sick aged and nrm gene
rally perish and the rest who able to take care OF
themselves either the United States or 90 n tho
great cities of England, Scotland and Ireland or applv
for admission to the union warehouses; ocks and herds
are now much more profitable the landowner than the
human stock he formerly had his because
the failure OF the potato crops leaves the tenants no
of paying rent and because also the present poor law
in such case makes the poverty tenant expensive
to his late landlord The writer we quote from draws
the following picture
Let none Of your readers fancy that Ihave exaggera
ted. Let him travel, have just DONE from Newport
in Mayo, through Westport and Castelar, towards Gal
way, and he will see the process in all its stages
As he nears Westport he will see the first stape
There for several miles, the noble the Lord Marons
Of Sligo is at this moment clearing away the whole popu
laton few are already removed In other cases their
furniture is standing outside the cottage door, and the
whole family evidently on the point Of pluncinc
homeless, into the world. Meanwhile a new and we'll
built wall rising between the road and the land which
is still the home of many lately happy families Il is sad
to see that this very WALL not yet completed or there
are breaches in many places through which the tenants
have to remove their is built Of the materials Of de-
molisoed homes The observant eye will see stones st
stained with soot which once formed the chimnsy ot
many cottage. y
Beyond Westpor the wall is complete and the peonle
are gone. The most noble Marquis conceive viii see
and hear of them in this world at leastA Tho
remains OF the cottages here quite enclosed With, the
encirclng wall This district closed few months 500
As the traveller goes on, he enters the territoryof
Sir Roger Palmer and then that of Right Hon. the Earl
OF Lucan Here things are more advanced A great
part Of the land is already in large grass fields fed
sheep fine crops of turnps in Others and in soms
you may see the young grass among the fresh stubbe
All will very bear the appearance of district which
man has never peopled.
cannot exactly state the extent of the district one
rated upon 1t begins three four miles from Westport
and extends Though not without some considerable in
tervas of land belonging to other propretors almost to
the town of Baltimore distance of perhaps TWENTY-FIVE
miles On both sides of the road it stretches as far as
the eye can reach was informed and believe lthouph
cannot state it of my knowledge that the Earl Of
Lucan alone has lately laid down on grass about 90 900
acres Of densey -inhabted land"