The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1907-01-12
A CORNER OF KERRY.


A CORNER OF KERRY.
AS l write the pleasant Kerry voices
still ring in my ears. and the sweet
Kerry scents are in my nostrils. In the
corner of Kerry which ! have but now
left all the truest and sweetest things
that have been said or sung of our
country seem to be embodied.
No wonder that one of Ireland's
greatest men, her peoples Liberator.
vas born and lived in Kerry, and was,
i'm truth, by no means unfamiliar with
the very spot of which l write Perhaps
he stood where l in memory now stand,
and gaZed across the Atlantic at the
sun. setting over there behind the
Skelligs. which stand out grey and for
bidding on the golden background like
grim fortresSes guarding Erin's shores.
II may be that on some such evening
when the rocky hills behind him were
bathed in sunlight, and before him far
away the purple cliffs and mountains
ran on tinto a silver sea. the lad
O'Connell first felt his heart stirred
with passionate love for Ireland, and
knew. in a vague, boyish way. that he
must do something for her sake
AT every step ono comes on some spot
associated with Dan O'Connell. as the
people fondly called him. On this cone
shaped hill he stood and watched his
pack of beagles hunting over the bleak
mountain-sde and often. we may be
sure. he woke the echoes, as he halloed
to them in his stentorian voice. This
sheltered nook was a favorite place
where he would sit watching for the
galloping post-boy bringing letters or
news from Dublin or Cork The very
ground beneath our feet is honey
lNrar1 A,11
passage used by BLACK Mary"
O'Conrell's grandmother. for conveying
struggled goods. Over yonder in the
old grey abbey, just above the sea
there are laid to rest. in a great tomb
like an old-fashioned bed, Daniel and
Mary O'Connell. the Liberator's par
ents, and near them sleep many others
of the ikn.
Small wonder that every second, bog.
in the countryside answers to the.
name of Danny" Perhaps I ought To
say should answer" for. by reason
OF their overwhelming shyness. strang-
ers have small chance of extracting an
answer from any lad who has not at
/ tanned to manhood. The little girls
/ pretend to the some excessive shyness,
but it is not difficult to overcome. and
/ is more a bewilching coSness. They
! draw their Shawls over their faces but
! keep one coquettish eye on you all the
/ time.
One day, walking along the cliffs, we
noticed three children followink us
They wanted to talk to us. but were
shy. Whenever he turned to speak to
them. down on the grass went the
| three, hiding their faces in the funniest
way, which reminded one of the ostrich
burying its head in the sand and think
! ing that thereby it escaped all observa-
ton. At last we sat down, hoping that
curiosity would triumph over shyness,
as it soon did in the two daughters of
| Eve. The boy. a sturdy little brown
rogue, in homespun frock. remained.
! however, all the time at a safe dis
lance behind some rocks, and ducked
whenever we looked at him. One of
/ the girls was a merry-faced little CO.,
leen, with brown elf-locks and lovely
| grey rougish eyes. She other was a
more sedate maiden. with a shock of
/ fair hair and sweet, expressive face
| A white sunshade that we carried
proved great attraction. Elf-locks,
whose name was Nora, asked If she
might hold the 'macnihe" in her own
/ hands, and great was their delight in
opening and shutting the same ma
chine Asked if they could sing, they
! showed the greatest readiness to please
us. and sang ballad after ballod in Eng
! lish and Irish. A quaint picture they
made as they sat with their backs to a
rock huddled under the sunshade,
with their bare legs straight before
them. Shyness had now quite flown,
and they offered to make steps for
US, and danced jig in most spirited
manner.
THE days of the Kerry dancing" are
not over and gone here. All the chill
dren learn the Irish steps at school, and
every Sunday, early in the afternoon,
the dancing commenced on a green
KNOLL, above the harbor. 1t is pleasant
to watch the girls tripping it i'm their
brightest skirts and fawn-colored
shawls, opposite partners in their Sun
Cay best; and wearing. for the most
part, ties. besides which the emerald
would sink into insignificance. Around
them the older folk and the children,
form an applauding ring. On the after
noon we watched them, their Soggarth
Aroon was pleased spectator AS the
evening began to darken, they all
wendell their way home. singing as
they went along the rocky paths.
1 wish we could follow them along
these paths. l should like to see the
exercise bring a flush to the cheeks.
and the Atlantic breezes a light to the
eyes of some seamstress. l should
like to bring the scent of the bog-myrtle
the heather and the gorse into the hos
pital ward. I should like to lead the
/ little street-arab to the many places
where the. blackberries grow and watch
his fingers and lips grow purple with
the juice. / should like an Irish artist
to stand on the mountain tops and see
them
All flushed with heather down the
braeS,
And golden gorse between.
Meta Brown, in Irish Monthly.