The Irish standard., 1892-06-25
AHERLOW GLEN.
A Picturesque Valley in Tpperary
Which Is a Natural Fortress
of Liberty.
A BEAUTIFUL DESCRIPTION
OF Irish Scenery known to Many
Of our Readers From the
Premier County.

VI 1O0dAOX6 e kA0
Premier County.
The traveller in Limerick going soutl
by the Waterford and Limerick railway
as he nears the station at Mpperary
sees right before him, rising from tn
Golden Vale, comparatively low ridg
Of hills, and in the background chair
of lofty mountains Of emerald green
penetrated by many glen and gorge
These are the Galtees-the grandes
mountain group in Ireland, and, perhaps
writes Maggie ODonnell Kelley IN tn.
Irish Catholic, second to none in Europe
Half an hours drive by the mountain
road brings you to the top of the low
ridge-here called Sieve-na-muc. A
view which for absolute loveliness car
scarcely be matched between the orient
and the farthest west is here spread be
fore you. To the north, from "Cashel Of
the Kings to the "City Of the Broker
Treaty" stretch the undulating plains o1
the Golden Vale, leagues Of emerald
meadows rank with vendure, and dotted
with prosperous towns and smiling vii.
lagos, each assembled round it's church
which from out q wealth Of leafage reare
it's spire against an azure sky. To the
south, enclosed between the two lines oi
hills, which run east and west, almost
parallel for distance OF several miles, is
the Glen of Aherlow, celebrated in bar
die song-thrilling story.
This glen has an eventful history. Its
deep and devious businesses, it's trackleee
hills, it's winding defiles and yawning
precipices msde it the refuge of the ns-
tive Irish when overpowered on the
plains during the civil wars. Truly has
it been called Natural Fortress tol
Liberty" Its every glen and gorge and
mountain peak has traditions which rem
der it sacred to this day, and which carry
the mind back over troubled centuries
to the gruesome penal days, when our
priests were hunted down like wolves,
and the law laid the same price on the
head of both. The glen could not then
boast Of a stately church like that gem
of modern architecture just completed
through the exertions of the priests and
people of the parish of Galbally and
Aherlow. Alasl those were the days
when the enemy shut up our churches
or turned them to protane uses, when
they hanged or shot our clergy and peo-
pie who fed to worship God in the for
ests, in mountain Businesses or in caves.
Then, in the still darkness of the night,
guarded by gallowglass and kerne, armed
with sparth and matchbox, had the
faithful with their soggarth aroon
stealthily to creep in their mountain de-
files, there to offer the divine sacrifice to
the God OF them and their fathers, while
the old and infirm, unable to climb the
mountain sleeps, kneit below in silent
alteration when they saw the flicker ot
the waxen taper peer through the dark
ness, or heard the tinkling of the silver
bell borne on the night breeze. stealing
down the winding glen or grassy noun
tain side. Here we have Glenna Sog-
garth-the Priests Glen; there is Polln'
Afferin, or the Hollow Of the Mass; up
yonder in Carrign' Althoir, or the Rock
of the Altar-each of which tells it's tale.
Looking down upon the glen from
Slieve-na-muc the eye rests everywhere
with delight on this picture painted by
the Hand Divine" The lowlying mead
ows, luxuriant with verdure, and strewed
with wild flowers Of every hue, stretch
away as far as the eye can reach. A very
garden of fertility, intersected by streams
in silvery ribands, dotted with mansions,
embowered in LEAKAGE like a dream OF
beauty, trim cottages and prosperous
farm dwellings, groves SO wonderful in
their blended coloring that they present
q spectacle grand and beautiful beyond
the power of human word painting. The
Divine artist has here 80 lavished the
hues of Paradise on grove and wood, on
hill and mead, that the glittering page
ants Of Solomon in his glory would be
but dull and tame compared with it.
TITS like revelation as one looks over
the ever-varying panorama Of hill and
dale, mountain, moor and meadow. You
feel thrill Of national pride and pleas
ure, and the cry once called forth from
Cromwell, as he stood here and looked
down on the Golden Vale, finds utter
ance: " Is not this q land worth fighting
for?0 and you feel that the collected
glories Of bygoneI oenturii,essll are here.
1oing mp tho glen33 4, IN like 8 drive
through land III series y