The Irish standard., 1908-06-06
ROMANTIC IRELAND
The Beautiful Scenery of the
South is Largely
Included in a Journey by Rail
from Cork to BaLtry.

imagination rules the world. then the
Irish should have IL large part in the
| management of things i'll general, fol
no other people on earth possess sc
much romance and religion, poetry anC
pathos. to arouse and stimulate the
imaginative faculty, says Frank Hop
kins in the Syracuse Catholic Sun.
| do not know to what extent the
climate and conditions that prevail in
Ireland contribute to the general re-
suit, but l know it is impossible to re-
main Indifferent to that soft moist
dreamy atmosphere, the luxuriant veg
citation, the waving meadows and
brown hogs, and the hills of granite
covered with magenta heather.
1t Is said that people from other
lands who take up their residence in
Ireland soon become more Irish than
the irish themselves, and the stranger
or Irish soil, however practical and in
credulous he may have been when he
arrived. soon finds himself listening
each night for the weird cry of the
Banshee, with its funereal prophecy
and searching the raths and glens for
traces of Leprehauns, and the Good
People that he feels sure have their
dwelling places there.
To live surrounded by dreams, Is to
absorb some Of their beautiful unreal
ity, just as to dwell in the midst of
hard facts is to unconsciously take on
some of their ugly brutality.
The harp that once through Tara's
nails It's soul of music shed. may now
hang mute on Tara's walls, but the
echoes of it's music still reverberates
from hill to hill across the valleys of
ireland. and can be heard by those
who listen with an attentive ear.
Whatever route the visitor from
England. or the continent, chooses for
entering Ireland. Americans generally
d1sembafk at the Lakes of KILLARNEY.
their objective points. The first place
to stop is at Cork. situated in the angle
made by the two forks of the beautiful
River Lee. and the oldest and most dis
distinctly Irish city In Ireland. Here.
more generally than In any other CITY,
the original Gaelic is still spoken with
an accent as soft and mellow as that
OF Italy. and large numbers of women
cover their heads in public with artis-
tically draped shawls and cloaks.
VI course. no one whose ancestors
em1srated from the Emerald Isle would
think Of omitting from his trip to the
place Of his origin. a visit to Blarney
Castle and the Stone Eloquent, which
SO many Irishmen must have kissed.
The castle wall being about one hun
dred feet high and the cornice. lust
below which the stone is located. pro-
jecting about three feet beyond the
main wall, the process of kissing the
blarney stone is only accomplished
with great difficulty and considerable
risk, and to those, obstacles 1 trust YOU
VIII attribute some, at least, of the
dullness found in what 1 am endeaver-
ing to relate.
The incompatible beautiful scenery
OF Southern Ireland is largely included
liz journey by rail from Cork to Ban
try. thence by coach along the shore
of Bantry Bay to Glengarriff and so
on to Kenmare and Killarney. The
Journey from Glengarritf is up the
cana Mountain range, through short
tunnel near the summit, and down the
other side into the peaceful and ver-
dant valley of Kenmare, across the
henmare river and then over Mount
Tore, one of the group known as Mac
Gilllcuddy's Reeks, to Killarney. This
Is the route taken by Edward VII.
when he visited Ireland before becom-
iEg king. and is still known as the
prince of Wales Route"
Should you prefer when visiting Ire
land-as 1 trust you will sooner or
later--to reach Killarney by rail from
Cork, you can do so by going TO NAL
low and there boarding another train
to your destination. BY going this wav
YOU miss much Of the grand scenery
observable from the top OF the coach
as 1t crosses two ranges of mountains
hut you need have no fear of being
bored, for the manifestations of Irish
life and Irish character, present nanv
phases that are intensely interesting
in them ALL
When the station master at Ma,low
for instance, referring to the train Won
are about to take for Killarney. re-
peatedly calls out. This train neve,
stops" he does not mean that it goes
Oh forever. like Tennyson's Brook. hui
! that 1t makes no stop before reaching
Killarney.
There is no place in the wide world
that has been more written. talked
RI