The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-11-03

Blarney castle Is now owned by tho youn.
Lord of Blarney, who has Inherited great
estate surrounding it. He has had much
trouble with his tenants and some of tho lands
arc lying idle One Of Lis tenants not long
since refused to pay the rent demanded Of
him and he was cvictcd. Tho young lords
agent tried to get another tenant, but when O
tenant is turned out OH such grounds it
would not he safe for another man to take
the property. The lands of this tenant were
left idle for year or two, and u short time
ago he was rcinstated upon his own terms
As we drove from Cork to Blarney other
empty houses were pointed out to us, and one
driver told us that these were idlc ON account
Of such evictionS.
The country drives through Ireland are
very beautiful, and about Cork they are like
driving through continuous gardens. The
roads are pilied and they are rs smooth as
floor. The green fields are separated from
them by walls of stone and hedge and great
trees, the trunks of which are covered with
ivy, hang over them. Now and then you
pass the entrance to the mansion of some
great lord, who has his portcr's lodge beside
it. and who OWLS his acres often by tho tens
of thousands.
Along these roads about Cork, and here and
there scattered over the landscape, arc
numerous onc-story cabins, of stone or of
stuccn, washed with coat of glaring white
wash. They arc usually of ono low story and
an attic, and their roofs arc of thatcLctl
straws. This thatch, in many instances, is
old and broken. The grass grows i'll it, and
the moss springs up NIL over it. Tho edge of
the roof is often no higher than q mans head,
and many of these huts have but one room.
Few have more than two. They belong to
small tenants, men who have from ono to
thirty or forty acres of land, ut a rent of
from s. to $40 per acre for it. Think of pay
ins $400 year rent for forty acres Of land,
with cabin hardly fit for hog pen on it,
and you have the condition Of these people.
Nearly tho whole of Ireland is rented out
| by landlords who live in England, and who
spend their money there. Many of them
never come to Ireland Mt all. Others have
never seen their estates, and there are many
who get from $4,000 to 100000 year in
rents. These rents arc collected 10y agents,
and land in ireland rents from 50 to $50
per acre. 4 good average would perhaps be
S. OF 81 per acre. Some rent as high as SIS
per acre.
VI SolutSHt VII W AhSh o"N
estates in Ireland Of more than l0u,0 acres
each, and fourteen own estates of from 50,-
600 to lON, ,OOO acres each. The whole Of Ire
land is not as large as Ohio, and it is owned
by very few plen. The workers Of the
country in the fewest instances own the land
they till. The products Of the country are
shipped out of it, and the money earned by it
is spent abroad. a member of parliament,
whom met ut Belfast during the riots, tells
me that from $50, 900 to $40, ,0O00C0 is sent
to England in payment of Irish rents yearly.
have heard it estimated elsewhere at $751;
nO0, 900 year. But the $5U, 600, 600 is striking
enough. What state in the Union could stand
such draw year after yeari 1t is no wonder
that the iaboring classes Of Ireland are the
poorest in Europe and that their condition of
living is the worst.
, The country of ireland resembles in its
natural character many Of the United
States. It is made up of gently rolling Hills
in the south and those along the coast rise into
| low rocky mountains. About Cork it is a
garden, and as far Us you can see rich crops