The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1903-01-24
Is Followed on a Bicycle by Member Of
the Irish Constabulary Who
Keeps Behind Him.
Saw the Marks of Devastation EVERYWHERE
and Cattle Were Visible in
Place Of People.

brave lad, Well, lie has a ride before
him."
"Bad luck to him." said Pat Tuohy,
to his pipe.
II am quite interested in Reilly" said
Mr. Fitzgibbon. 'He tried his level
worst to send me to Jail for six
months awhile BACKYARD labor, too,
on the stone pile. He's one of the
most promising members of the force
Eereabouts, and some day he'll be an
inspector, doubt not. He's devoted to
his duty, as you see and I don't know
his equal for giving the testimony
that's wanted. 1t was my privilege to
prove him a liar in open court on the
occasion I'm speaking of, whereby I'm
taking this ride with you instead of
swinging sledge in Castelar, jail"
All this was said quite pleasantly.
There was no visible rancor about it,
but began to appreciate the cold ell
nifty that exists between the people
and the government police who harass
them.
A few miles out the car stopped at
the foot of lane and we walked four
hundred yards to the top of the hill,
then climbed low stone wall. Before
us was a circular mound of green a
hundred feet in diameter at the base,
perhaps, forty or fifty feet high. We
climbed up. The top was perfectly
round, twenty feet across, with de-
| preston which made the outer edge
a ridge. The thing was puzzling
"This is fairy mound" laughed Mr..
Fitzgibbon. I suggested an ancient
burial place, with unimagined treas
ures Of the bronze age concealed in it.
Tut, man." he said, "there isn't
native in the country would drive
pick into the turf of Mullaghaduhy
Hill, so whatever is inside will stay
there. 1t was built by the fairies, you
know. Well, personally, think it was
a sort of watch tower in the old days;
or perhaps cannon was mounted
here Look what range it had"
Around and below us, on every side,
lay the country, flooded with the pale
yellow light of the winter sun. The
view embraced eight or ten miles in all
directions, a rolling green plain. fading
away into grassy hills. Here and
there were small clumps or rows of
trees. Low stone walls followed the
contour Of the land, making big and
little fields of irregular shape The
dark streaks were bitches, the winding
thread of silver little stream. I
counted ten houses within vision on
that great stretch. Each had two or
three acres Of titled ground. The rest
was grass The only living thing in
sight were tiny scattered flocks of
sheep. Mr.. Fitzgibbon translated.
eve are overlooking several estates,"
he said, "Balff, Irwin, Sandford, Muir
phy-corners or all OF them are in
sight. Oh, yes, there were farms here
once. Hundreds of them But all the
people were evicted. They emigrated
to America or moved-or died. The
dozen or so farms you see are held by
men having long leases. They're all
happy and prosperous, though the
rents are very high. The others there
was no help for them.''
"Why were they evicted? Wouldn't
they pay their rents?"
"Most of them couldn't The great
clearing out started at the time of the
famine, fifty years ago. The people
couldn't get food, let alone money for
landlords. Then the world demanded
cattle, and the landlords decided to
turn these fertile lands into grazing
ranches. That doomed those who had
fought their way through the famine.
So they all went. But come; we've
just started
On the way down we chatted mo-
ment with wrinkled old herder,
whose hut was on the slope of the hill
Mr.. Fitzgibbm asked about his health,
and ventured remarks on the weather,
present and future. AS we passed on
down, the policeman, who had fol-