The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1903-10-03
EWbeeI i'm ireland.
By Jcbn III. Black.

ming out two miles to the sea; opposite
the town. in the center of the harbOr,
is Spike island and near it are Haul
bowline and Rocky islands, with their
strong fortifications and naval stores;
warships are anchored here and there,
and many smaller vessels fit about,
/ giving life to the scene. All around
! the edge of the harbor and its bays and
! inlets are set villages, forts and coun-
! try houses, with many wooded spots,
and endless shady roads winding in
! and out binding all together
From the top of this hill, above
! Queenstown, l took formal possession
/ of Ireland in the name of the ''Awheel
in Ireland syndicate, and. descending,
mounted my wheel and rode away to
begin the work of exploration.
There are some unique advantages
in travelling by wheel, among which is
this, that you do not have to sit on a
coach next to soulless bore. or behind
chattering parrot who mas swallowed
a guide book. BY wheel one is entirely
alone with dear old Ireland. and the
communion is more confidential. Two
are company, while three are too often
a crowd. and Miss Erin is too shy to
be successfully wooed in a crowd.
Rushing over Ireland by train and
tourist car enables one to see it's geog-
raphy, its cities and towns. lakes and
rivers mountains and valleys; but
there is much more of Ireland than
these; to know Ireland one must meet
the Irish people: this necesSitateS trav-
cling not only the highways, but also
the byways. for most of them, and the
best of them live in the byways.
A leisurely ride through the country,
l1aI l,x- aa
little chat with the old man, or the old
woman by the cottage door, or the lad
"ba1n the baste Of an ass along to-
ward the village, brings one nearer to
the heart of Ireland than Cook
Party ever gets; and you don't need
guide book except to spell the names
of places for you.
Leaving Queenstown, we rode up the
river little way. where we were told
we should find a ferry for Monkstown.
for we decided to go to Cork by the
south side of the Lee. The ferry proved
10 be an ordinary row boat into which
we put two bicycles and two passen~
gers; and after getting off twice we
cSme back for belated passengers till
we had five in all who, with the skip
per and bicycles made a cargo on
which ] suspect it would have been dif-
fcult to get an insurance company to
take a risk, but we got safely in to
Monkstown. greatly to the relief of at
least one of the passengers.
MonkstOwn as known to the tourist
chiefly for its four-penny castle, which
is q monument to the thrift of wo-
man. This is the story: Mrs. An
astasia Goolds husband was in France
whether his name was Mike or Den
mis- does not matter. for in the story
he appears only as the aforesaid hus-
band Mrs. Goold wanted more house
room. Perhaps she had talked the
matter over with the "ould man" be-
fore he went away and guessed shrewd- /
ly that her chances of ever getting a |
castle that would put her in the same
set as the McCarthys of Blarney and |
the Barretts of Ballincollig were pretty |
slim while he was at home; at any /
rate she set about it herself.
The first problem she had to solve !
was where and how to get the neces-
sary money, for l suppose the husband !
had neglected to leave his checkbook |
when he went to France Now, this
was before the days when tourists were /
plenty about Cork harbor and there
was no one TO levy on but the natives;
SO she invented what has since become
plan and which our American coal
barons borrowed and perfected. 1t is
The only way. except slavery. to get
men to work for their board and wash
ng. She bought at wholesale and sold
10 the castle builders at retail: ana
when they had finished the castle.
moved her in. and sodded the front
yard, she was able. out of her profits
@ pay them off, all but fourpence:z and
When the old man came back she pre-
3ented to him the keys to a castle
complete in every respect except
mortgage: so they say Monkstown
'astle cost only fourpence: and it is
worth it vet. if one needs a castle.
First impressions are the most last
ng, they say, so we were fortunate in
hoosing for our first ride in Ireland
he nine miles from Monkstown to
'crk through Passage West and
Douglas, for this completed the con-
Iuest of our hearts which Queenstown
lad begun, and long before >ve reached
'ork we were in love with Ireland
The road keeps close to the river Lee
nd Lough Mahon, which is the Lee
nconfined by narrow banks. This
makes it wind about, and i'm and out"
through thick woods, between rows of
inc old trees and ancient stone walls.
'assage is a long, strag Cling town, +
which seems to have kept the Char