Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-26
TITLES TO LARGE ESTATES

Old-Time Methods Of Acquiring
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Of the
Parnell Estate.
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondenee Of The Star and the
WICKLOW. July II, 1908.
South Of Dublin. along the coast, Is a
string of summer resorts and bathing
places which are attractive in their way,
but which might be very much more so.
They are very different from what Amer
leans are accustomed to. They look more
like factory towns than summer resorts.
Although land is cheap and there is plenty
of it, the hotels and houses are built IN
solid blocks. usually facing highway
that runs along the shore. There Is no
shade, no glorious groves like those which
surround the country houses half mile
away, no lawns, no coy green hooks;
only masses OF brick and mortar, divided
into tenements twenty-five feet wide. In
the presence Of the majesty OF the sea.
Across the roadway. on the beach. are
rows Of little frame houses. painted dove
color. that are called bathing machines. -
about four feet square, with narrow
door. Inside Is a seat made OF a board
resting on cleats nailed to the side, with
hooks fastened above 1t on which the
bather hangs his or her garments. When
the bather is properly clad In the bathing
stalwart attendants. who run poles
through the sides Of the house and carry
1t down to the edge of the water, where
my lady may step into the surf
1 suppose there Is a great deal Of enjoy
ment at these seaside resorts, but there
might be a great deal more IL the people
would introduce some modern American
ideas and would scatter their houses over
a larger area and surround them with
groves and gardens and pretty grounds,
like the cottages OF Saratoga and other
favored American resorts.
The Garden Of Ireland.
Back from the seashore all the way
down to Waterford. on the coast of st.
Georges channel. are succession Of beau
tiful villas and mansions and farms. The
dwellings are surrounded by lawns and
groves and. in some cases, primeval for
ests. It Is the Garden Of Ireland" and
there is no sign of poverty, oppression or
unhappiness visible to the human eye.
Fair Hills of Holy Ireland are unsur-
passed in natural beauty. and about forty
miles south Of Dublin, in the Wicklow
Hills, Is a little patch of Switzerland, sur
rounded by mountains that rise as high
as 5000 feet. You can go there by train
from Dublin three or four times day.
taking a jaunting car at Rathdrum or
Rathnew station. In the tourist season
coaches wait the arrival OF every train
and carry 'trippers'' through on excursion
tickets at very low rates.
The more enjoyable way, however, Is to
hire an automobile at Dublin Give
guineas or $26.25 day. and run down to
Glendalough by one route. stay over night
at the hotel on the lake, and return the
next day by another. In the meantime
circle aroung through the country and
catch its beauties as you go. The only
drawback, as I have said before. Is the
high walls that hide the beautiful es-
tates. These were erected generations ago,
I suppose. because the proprietOrs were
afraid Of losing their property. But. not
many an Irish estate has slipped out of
the hands of its owners. It is habit
they have been running into which was
formed about the time Of the conquest and
the invasion Of the Normans.
Loss of Estates.
Some of the most beautiful and valuable
property In Ireland has been lost at the
gambling table or at the race course;
more has been sacrificed. for political par
tisanship and others for religious fanati-
cism. In the early days kings used to
have a funny way Of taking a mans prop
erty from him because he didn't go to the
same church and confess the same creed.
Half the land in Ireland has changed
owners for this reason and some of it
several times. Henry VIII. as the news
ne n 90 ~nk ~~l
estate dealer along about 1910 and Queen
Elizabeth did large business about 1884,
at the time Of the flight of the earls. -
Nearly half the island changed hands by
her ma5esty's grace without the payment
Of a dollar. When tthe earls who had re-
sisted her authority ran away to France
she calmly wiped their noble names off
the books Of the recorder Of deeds and
transferred their property to English
'undertakers," as they were called. be-
rebellious Irish occupants and reporu-
late the land with loyal English colon
lists. Many of the great landlords of
Ireland of today obtained their property
and their titles at this time.
well went into the real estate business
over here in Ireland about the middle
of the seventeenth century. He drove
the inhabitants Of a vast area from
their farms and the towns in which
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refuge in other parts Of the country.
while he issued schips that could be To-
Gated upon the farms they left and paid
his soldiers with 1t because he was
short of cash. Many Of his soldiers
remained here and married, and were
the ancestors Of the present population.
Others sold their script to spectators.
who located upon large tracts and
eventually disposed Of them to men who
had money.
Method Adopted by America.
These real estate transactions Of Henry
VIII, Elizabeth and Cromwell have been
severely criticised, but they must have
been right because America did very
much the same thing with the Indians,
the original owners of 1.-The land Of the
free and the home of the brave" When
ever an Indian tribe has rebeled about
something, just as the Irish have rebeled
from time to time since the conquest of
Henry II, we have driven them from the
homes OF their forefathers. penned them
to emigrants from Ireland, Sweden and
other European countries. precisely as
the English sovereigns disposed Of the
homes and the farms of the Irish. We
did 1t in the name Of civilization; they did
It, very often, because they could not
worship the same God In the same way.
Romance Of Robin Adair.
About an hour by automobile from
Dublin. beyond Bray and Greystone and
other summer resorts, is q lovely place
that you will be pleased to hear about
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