Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-04
SUBURBS OF DUBLIN
Seeing the Country From Top
of a Tram Car.
HISTORIC PLACES ON ROAD
''Frascati," Former Home Of Lord
Edward Fitzgerald.
SOME HANDSOME SCENERY
A Shaft of Stone-Remnants Of
Druid Seats-Killiney Castle.
Washington Inn.

Druid Seats-Killiney Castle.
Washington Inn.
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Star and the
Chicago Record-Herald.
DUBLIN. June %. 1908.
We tried what an Irish friend recon-
mended as zone of the delights of Dublin
last Sunday afternoon. We became "trip
pers'' and took a run into the coun-
try on the top of tram" The
| street car system of Dublin is excellent.
| 1t reaches every part of the city and all
the lovely suburbs. and every line starts
at a lofty column which was erected
many years ago in the middle of the prin-
cipal street in honor of Horatio Nelson.
the greatest of Irish sailors. the hero of
the battle of Trafalgar. The cars are
large and neatly kept, the conductors and
motormen are very polite. and love to
give information to strangers. although
they are paid only thirty and thirty-six
shillings a week. which would certainly
make men of their occupation very reti-
cent in America.
The roofs Of the cars are arranged with
comfort a BILE seats, from which one can
see everything within the range Of human
vision and crafty his curiosity about
what is behind the high stone walls. green
with lichen and ivy. and overhung with
lustrous boughs. There isn't much salts
faction going about in an automobile in
the immediate vicinity of Dublin. because
the highways are mere tunnels between
walls eight feet high, and overhung with
foliage which makes perpetual twilight,
L. oil rid a
and a picturesqueness that an artist
would admire. The owners of suburban
homes have shut themselves in SO sue
cessfully that nobody can see what they
are doing or enjoy the wondrous beauties
of their private parks. But. as l say, a
seat on the top Of a tram car permits the
public to penetrate their secrets. gives
them an abundance of fresh air. graft
fies the love of motion that we all inherit
from our savage ancestors, and enables
them to look beyond the barriers into
beautiful gardens and groves.
Along the River Liffey.
The River Lif1ey, as I have told you in
a previous letter. divides all Dublin into
two parts and empties into the Bay OF
Dublin about four miles below the bust
ness limits Of the town. The bay is IA
nous for its beauty. although have seen
| several more beautiful. but none other is
SO closely embroidered with history. le-
gendry and romance. One street car line
follows the river and the north shore as
far as the ocean and then turns north
ward to accommodate the population of
several pretty watering places and fishing
towns. Another line. also starting from
Nelson's Pillar. follows the south bank
Of the Liffey and the bay and encircles
a most picturesque and romantic land
scape. 1t takes three hours to make a
round trip by either of these routes. and
one can spend an entire afternoon or in
deed a whole day with profit on both of
them.
We will take the south side first. The
track runs through the best residence Sec
ton of the city and several Of the pref
tiest suburbs down to the port of Kings
town. where all deep draft steamers have
| to stop to discharge their passengers and
cargoes because the water is too shallow
for them above. The turbine ferries that
cross st. Georges channel land their pas
| sengers here and send them by rail into
the city.
Between the frequent villages is series
| of comfortable and spacious mansions and
beautiful grounds owned and occupied by
wealthy citizens of Dublin. and casion-
| ally there Is a long row of semi deta CHI
ed villas occupied by 1.-The prosperous
middle classes"-brick houses of two and
| three stories built in pairs with strips of
| lawn on either side and quite a little
| space for garden at the back. Every
! as we'll as number. and that is matter
OF great Importance. because. when Miss
Genevleve says she lives at Heatherhurst.
Princes Crescent, 1t sounds a great deal
| more aristocratic than No. 1860 Rockville
road Princes Crescent is a long block
of two-story brick houses on a curve in
the street: Heatherhurst is one of them,
situated about the middle twenty feet
| front and sixty feet deep. with thirty feet
| of lawn in the foreground and a garden
a ,o1,
more comfortable than any the city can
| furnish. l do not know Of any town so
well provided with them as Dublin
Historical Places on the Road.
There are several historical places on
the road. Beyond Booterstown is Black
rock where an ancient granite cross in
the center Of the main street marks the
limit of the jurisdiction of the lord mayor
| and many years ago 1t was customary for
that official to ride out here and fling q
dart into the waters of the bay as a
symbol of his right Of admiralty. but
those old-fashioned demonstrations OF
power and prerogative have been aban-
doned for stupid parades and long
| speeches.
| Just before entering Blackjack the
| tramway passes the entrance of a lovely
estate christened "Frascati' after a ia
| NOiitc TeSOTt O1 rome. II Formerly be-
| lOnged TO the Duke of Leinster and was
one of the earliest homes of the Kildare
| family and one of the strategic rendez-
vous of the Geraldines. the stronges,
i clan in Ireland for two centuries Fras-
cati has pathetic interest to every one
and particularly to all Irish patriots. be.
| cause for several years 1t was the home
| of Lord Edward Fitzgerald and Pamela
his mysterious French bride. 1t was here
| they spent their HONEYMOON and here he
foc f{vo0 IT,
he was off on political missions and pre-
pairing for the revolution of 1893. He,
letters. full of domestic details and low.
have been preserved. and give us a
| a woman who suffered much for the
| cause of Irish liberty. even poverty and
! shame.
Lord Edward Fitzgerald's Place.
! Edward Fitzgerald was a brother of the
Duke of Leinster and the Earl of Kill.
dare. an amiabie. high-minded, warm.
hearted gallant fellow of learning and
culture and fine manners. He served as q
major in the British forces during the
American revolution and for a time wa.
! an aid-de-camp on the staff of LORD
| Howe. He was dismissed from the Brit.
| ish army, however. for his active sym
pathy with the French revolution, wen,
| to France and took refuge among the
friends he had made there. There he
met and married Pamela, the reputed
daughter OF Phillip the Handsome and