The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1892-12-29

St. Carthage got his breath after his great
foot race he founded monastery, from which
Lismore takes its present name and which
a university annexed, with 4. 1000 students
among them one Alfred the Great. Between
S12 and 915 the town was plundered six
times by the Danes, and it also suffered
severely from fires 1t is now bright and
appy-looking town of about 2, 500 people,
and shows none of the scars of its early vi
cissitudes.
1t has handsome cathedral in the later
English style, with square tower and ele-
CANT spire that is landmark in the land
scape The leading objects of interest are
the great stone bridges the Backwater,
built by the late Duke of Devonshire, and
Lismore Castle built by King John on the
site of st. Carthagh's old monastery. 1t is a
most noble and picturesque pile, q perfect
monument of feudal history 1t was first a
Bishops palace then the property of Sir
Walter Raleigh, who sold it to the first Earl
Of Cork, from whom it descended by marriage
to the Duke of Deyonshire.
The castle has been restored until it is now
in perfect order and is Hospitality open to
visitors. The chief portion is very old, and
| In the library we were shown, in q glass case,
the ancient charter of Youghal given by King
John in 1909, the writing on whivn is as
clear, black, and legible as the day it was
| written, but the parchment is yellow with
age. A tour through the stately halls the
winding stairs and corridors, the unexpected
passages, and over the lordly towers and
| frowning battlements of Lismore Castle is
| matter of time and muscle well spent, and
| one hugely enjoys the excellent luncheon
served in the housekeeper's room I" in honor
of the master"
Lismore is the only castle saw in Ireland
that l would care about winning at rattle,
| on condition that l should live in it. Even
then / should make it q condition that stately
and amiable Mrs. Clephane, the housepeeper,
should remain. No American can have any
conception Of what a housekeeper means I'M
til he meets with the presiding genius of one
of these stately mansions of the old country
After night spent in great comfort in
feather bed three feet thick and eight feet
wide, at the Blackwater Vale Hotel in Lis
more, we left next morning for Fermoy,
which started in ITO with the building of
the Cistercean Abbey of Our Lady de Castro
Del. As it commanded an important ferry
over the river, it became an important mill
tary center and the scene of some particularly
lively times.
In 1890 the little English garrison was
threatened by heavy force Of Irish under
King James The English, however, must
have had the Yankee spirit of strategy
largely developed, for they blew trumpets in
such way as led the enemy to believe that
large reinforcements were on their way to the
garrison. This frightened the assailants so
that they lost interest in Fermoy and left.
Fermoy is now a lively business town Of
f,t-r low
military barracks occupied by English troops,
The river is said to afford the best salmon
fishing in Ireland, if you are able to pay for
"a permit (" and know how to catch salmon.
On the east Of the town are the remains of
old Castle Hyde, to which an incongruous
modern residence has been attached.
A drive of a few miles took us to Kill
colman Castle, where the poet Spenser resided
as Secretary to Lord Grey, of Wilton, and
where he wrote the greater part of the 'Faerie
Queen" The castle was attacked and burnt
by the insurgents, in the Tyrone rebellion of
1888, and, though Spenser and his wife es-
capped, their infant daughter perished in the
flames.
ALI that is now left of the old castle is a
single UNCOVERED tower, in which is wind
ing and dangerous stone staircase, which
Raleigh and Spenser, doubtless, many times
trod together.
At Ballyholey, five miles from Fermoy, we
drove through the beautiful demesne and saw
the fine mansion Of the Earls of Lismore, oc-
cupied only by carctaker, who, we imag-
ined, had rather good thing of it when
tourists were plentiful. At the main gate of
the demesne, on an abrupt cliff above the
Blackwater, are the picturesque ruins of
Convamore Castle, clad in ivy from base to
battlement. The interior has been restored
to its ancient appearance, and is therefore of
great interest as showing the style in which
the ancient aristocracy of this country lived
and at which an American mechanic, on a
salary Of SIS per week, would turn up his
nose.
AT Castletownroche Station, 10 miles out
from Fermoy, we left the train to see the old
fortress on a rock above the Aeubeg River,
that used to be the seat Of the Lords Of
Fermoy. 1t is memorable as the place
where the garrison under command of Lady
Roche made gallant defense against Crom
well and his whole army.
Three miles further brought us to Mallow,
the Brighton of Ireland, where we took the
train for Cork, in order to see the Macroom,
Bantry Bay, and Glengarih country.