Morning journal and courier., 1889-01-12


 already accustomed to the extraordinary and profuse architectural remains of surpassing beauty throughout Ireland. Its form is that of huge square keep or castle of retreat, such as are found standing in lonely grand eur and decay throughout Ireland and with surprising frequency along the Bride and Blackwater of the south Rude windows and arched gateways have been cut here and there, evidently as civilization gradually as- sured their propriety. Around and over thirteen of these have been chiseled some of the richest, quaintest and most grotesque devices of this class to be found in Europe. Members of the proud family who erected and occupied this castle had for their armo rial bearings, or crest, the elaborately carved figure of lynx, which is yet to be seen over the gateways of their various habitations. One family chose most hideous bones and skull in black marble for it's crest. Their ancient home is still found in Lombard street, which is called ''Dead Mans Lane," and beneath this singular piece of heraldie device is carved the doleful motto, "Remem- Der Death-vaniti of vaniti, and all is but vaniti." The huge old Lynchs Castle re- calls a curious history and story. At the beginning of the thirteenth century the An glo Norman De Burghos and followers set- tied in and about Galway. These in time became known as 'sThe Tribes of Thirteen" from which fact Galway has taken the sobri- quet of the City of the Tribes. An old qua train preserves their names:
 ''Athy, Blake, Bodkin.
 Browne, Deane, Darcy, Lyncb
 Joyes, Kirwans, Martin,
 Morris, Skerret, French
 These grew to be rulers of mercantile and civic affairs. Through intermarriage with the Spanish Celtic residents, and almost complete isolation from people of England, Scotland and Ireland save those of the "say- age west" they finally became more com pletely Irish in feeliug and character than the Irish themselves. Out of these who once fourished in Lynch's Castle, many of whom figured as old time Galway officials and dig nitaries, came 8 veritable Irish Junius Bru- tus, one James Lynch Fitzstephen, who was portIeeve, Provst, mayor, warden or sover- eign of Galway in 1493. He traded largely with Spain and entrusted his son, Walter Lynch, with an important sum of money with which to proceed there and purchase, and return with, cargo of wine. The son squandered the money, but obtained credit and the company of the Spanish merchants nephew in returning to receive payment at Galway. Young Lyrch conceived the idea of hiding his profigacy from his friends by murdering the agent and bribing his crew into silence, which he did. He returned, was received with honor, prospered, was betrothed to titled and beautiful lady, but, on con- fession of the conspiracy by one of the sail- ors who was with him, he was apprehended, given summary trial by his own father, con- demned and despite the fury of the popu- lace, which had been aroused by specious pleadings on the part of his mothers power ful friends, was heroically executed at his own fathers hands. The half forgotten re- cord of the event relates: "They (the moth CTS friends who attempted to prevent the execution) flew to arms, and prodigious concourse soon assembled to support them, whose outcries of mercy for the culprit would have shaken any nerves less firm than those of the Mayor of Galway. He exhorted them to yield submission to the laws of their country; but finding all his efforts fruitless to accomplish the ends of justice at the acs customed place, and by the usual hands, he, by desperate victory over parental feeling, resolved himself to pay the sacrifice whicE he had vowed to pay on it's altar. Still re- 1 taining hold of his unfortunate son, he I mounted with him by winding stair within l the building, that led to an arched window l overlooking the street, which he saw filled l with the maddened populace. Here he se- i sured the end of the rope-which had been previously fixed around the neck of his son | ito an iron staple which projected from the l wall, and after taking from him a last em- l brace he launched him into eternity. The I intrepid magistrate expected instant death 1 from the populace; but the people seemed so l overawed UT confounded by the magnani- | nous act that they retired slowly and peaca- l bly, to their several dwellings," To my mind 1 this act of exalted heroism, standing alone in l the annals of sacred or profane history a sacrifice made, not only without the prospect of any form of reward, but with the cer- | tsinty of instant and horrible death, and | wholly without the not altogether unsel6sh motive of Brutus, or, the certain expectation | of divine personal approval inspiring Abra- | ham, is 8 surpassing tribute to abstract jus- | tice incomrarabie in it's nature, and incom parably incomparable in time and age when 1 justice was too often su5served to the piques | and prejudices of power. But because this I man, who so loved his country that the pres- ervation of it's laws, through the most awful conceivable struggle of the hnman heart, was | infinitely more sacred a thing than human l ties of inexpressibly solemn tenderness, was | an Irishman and did not have Latin name, Greek name. or Hebrew name, to jingle | in pedantic prattle, the act, fact and man are | lost from among the transcendant deeds, ex- amples and personalities of men. It is a GU rious commentary upon the vagarous appli- I cability of human thought to servieeable in- cidents, that this act of moral grandeur aloue gave an irradicable appellation to that most abhorrent misuse of punishment in the | name of justice, and characteristically if l not exclusively American institution of hor- 1 TOT and crime, our notorious Lynch law.
 | But Galway is more noted for it's fshwives | than it's heroes or history. There are per | haps three hundred in the old seaport city. | | posed, wives of the equally celebrated fish | ermen of the Claddagh; but they sell the | fish these men bring back from the coves | and the sea. They have no other means of | livelihood and wish none. If any are l mothers you cannot discover the fact. If l any are wives no one knows 1t. If any | ever loved, or if any ever knew as we | know, the home, neither can be ascer- | tained. What they grow out of into their 1 state and honor in what is literally their l calling no human can know. Here they
 are from generation to generation, just as
 you and I see them to day, wild, tender
 savage, merry, lawless, honest mob, dressed
 or half dressed as females, grotesquely diff ferent from women, radiantly indifferent to
 either man or woman, incomparably bravt
 and more enduring than any men. AS
 know to my own despair, before amit. l was established between us, there are no
 other such outrageous and indescribabl
 blaekguards on earth; and yet defy an. honest analyst to find an atom of vicious
 ness beneath their soul blasting speech.
 The Claddagh fishermen come in with thu
 early tide with their fcatches" of herring
 hake, cod and conger cells. Then the an cient and picturesque fsh-market, witl gables leaning over it, wicket window
 peering into it, and shadowy arches lead ing out of it, and with the Claddagh sail
 and spars like a wind whipped autumn
 forest almost hiding the blue of the sea, ii
 alive with startling color, forms and sound
 The 6exterity with which the fish are han
 dled and cleaned by these fshwives, tn
 shrill, wild calling from one to another, tn
 wordy wars between them and fsherme
 about weight. quality and luck, and betwee
 them and early buyers as to price, the bed
 lamite ballads that are hurled upon the ai
 ss the cleaning knives flash and the scale
 fly like driven sleet, and the torrents c
 fierce, though secretly merry, billingsgat
 and abuse, which passes off fish knives as for murder, cloutings from conger cells, rust
 ings and drubbings, bestowed upon innocen strangers or meddlesome intruders, are some
 thing marvellous, indescribable, awful an utterly beyond comprehension until seen an |, 1 Of tho Eal,