The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1872-01-06
letter Gtoln EreEaAa--No. ..
Correspondence Of Cambria Freeman.l


Correspondence OF Cambria Freeman.l
NEHAan, IRELAND. Dee. Q. 1871.
DEAR MAc-If followed lie bent of my
inclination l would quit for some weeks to
come nay descriptive jot.ings. and send you
instead sumo caustic letters Of how the gov~
erEInent machine is run IL this country by
sordid, acheming scal&wags, whose whole
sim seems TO be to crush, with an iron heel
every national, patriotic aspiration, and
&eep forever tie Irish people under the gall
ing. grinding, crushing oppression of devils
ish, sxterminating landlords. But I think
| will defer these topics to some future time
perhaps till l get back again under the
protection Of the Stars aud Stripes" l
will now take up the thread Of my discourse
where l left it drop in my last. Going up
the kEee-breaking hill Of Killaloe you pass
some neat locking houses, police barracks,
post office. ETC., till you reach the top. whsro
you find the Catholic Cathedral. an extreme.
!y costly edifice. really rich in church archi>
lecture. Beautifully stained glass windows,
three magnificent. highly finished altsrs Of
genuine Italian marble, richly carved and
lile-hke Stations of the Grass, combine 10
make this grand odifce an ornament to the
hillaIoe diocese and { robla testimony Of the
religious zeal and practical pioty Of the good
people Of this old town aud ghborhood.
farming to the LEFT as you go up the hill You
come TO the
CID CATHEDRAL,
built some twelve hundred years ago By
Molua, and within Whose sacred walls re-
sounded the voice Of the s2inted Flannan,
tbs fret Catholic Bishop Of this diocess-
Like so many other Catholic churches In this
country, conquest has turned it over to our
dissenting bleth:en, and 1t is ue1 used as a
Protestant cathedral The first obisct that
attracted my attention as entered It vas an
old monumental tablet 20 the right, on which
Is long Gaelic inscription. Though not
being proficient, | am ashamed to say, in
my native language, still could CLEAN from
it that here was bnrisd Murrough, son OF
Brian Boru. Murrough fought all day at
the memorable battle of Contarf, and histo>
ry tells rs that his right arm was awfully
swollsn from the dreadful! slaughter he caused
by the use Of his pUnderous battlc-axe.-
Towards the close of the conflict, two Dan
ian princes rushed on him. when he cleaved
IN two the first and tho next he fsIed TO
the ground. The Dane, in his fall, brought
Murrough to his knees, aud with dexter
GUS thrust he sent bis dagger through Mur>
Tough's side, which resulted in his death
1t is curious fact, but nevertheless trus,
that the masonry OF this cid monument and
church is far more solid, close and substan-
tial, after 50 many centuries, than any work
Of the kind put up at the present day. The
mortar used IN thCss days must have been
more adhesive than what We use In the nine
teeuth century. Going up the aisle you SEQ
ths ancient baptsrnGl fout and holy water
treughs. and several statues and tablets 10
the memory Of departed bcnefactors Quite
Il H. l - IL
and ever Is modern stained glass window.
About four years ago men were at work lay
Ing soule pipes through the church floor,
when they dug up thirteen skulls and other
human remains that must have been buried
there over thousand years ago. To :Le
rear of tho church is ths old Catholic burial
ground. Farther down, TO the left. is the
splendid residepce and dcrnosns Of the Pro
tsstaat Bishop who is paid a salary larger
than our Presidents for doing comparative
ly nothing. Tbs next place Of historical
note Is the spot On which stood
ROYAL ETNCORA,
on a towering eninense. within a short dis
tsncs Of the town. Nothing now remains
Of the once regal palace ef the kiGgly Boru
but huge mass Of erumbling rocky boul-
ders. This once gorgeous residence, the in
spring theme for ancient bards and modern
Thymers, was demolished and tuubled into
the Shannon, towards the sud Of the twelfth
century, by the goddess invaders. The fol-
loving stanza. written after the death of
Boru by MacLiag, l quote from memory:
where, o! KIncorn, is Brian the Great?
Where is tho splenGor that once was thine?
Where are the princes and mobiles that safe
In thy halls, and drank the red rcd Wine2"
About q nlilc and a half from Kincora is
what is called
BRIAN BoRU's FORT,
which is indeed curiosity. The raised cir
culsr mound is closely planted with trees,
which afford in summsr time pleasant
shsltsr to tourists who come to vist this re,
mantle and scenic locality; and IN winter
remind one Of sleepy, bare~armed sentinsls
waiting to hear sounded the bugle notes of
freedom over the hills OF old Erin. la the
centre Of the fort are stone tables and seats,
fixed firmly in the earth. for the accomno~.
datiOn Of pic-nickers and others who come
the way. Any of you mountain fellows who
neVsr saw fort and wish to see one, can do
so by taking run as far as Newark, Ohio,
only about three hundred miles from Ebeus~
burg. Phat is the only place in the States
where have ssen anything resembling an
Irish fort. The origin Of thsss forts is not
very well defined. Some say thsy were
built by ths Danes-othsrs that they were
constructed, OWnsd ana occupied by tbs
JairieS. Some dreadful stories are told Of
those who were daring enough to plough or
dig up these homes of mria tenants; how
tbs houses Of some were swept away by an
awful gust, how others wsle paraly zol in the
arms, and deuce kaows all the other fright>
ful calamitiss which wers inflicted on those
who dispossessed heinhabitants OF fairydom
But digress, Leaving the old fort, l res
traced my steps to Kiialoe, crossed the old
bridge, and entered Ballina, in
GALLANT TIPPERARY,
the prsmisr county of IreIand-ths fruitful
mother of poets, patriots, soldiers and ora
tors poets who have sung ia measured verse
the wrongs inflicted on motherland by for>
eign, craven crew patriots who have given
practical proof Of genuine love of country in