Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-07-05
Journeys in a Land of Ro-
nance and Religion.
MEMORIES OF LONG AGO
The "Dewy-Bright, Rose-Red City
Of Clonmacnois-"Sacred Way" to
the Oratory on Craoghpatrick.
From the Manchester Guardian

foh the MducHtSteT Guardian,
Two hours row down the Shannon from
Athlone you inquire for a steamer in
vain brings you within sight of a low hill
upon the east bank, Enthusiastically crowned
; with roofess gables and round towers
These, with few poor cottages cluster
ing nearby. alone represent the 'dewy-
bright. rose-red city of C}onmacnois
| Inc great river, as broad as the Thames
al estminster. makes curve no less
majestic in front of this. shrunken rem
nant OF metropolis-this shattered home
OF learning which once sent forth her
scholars throughout Europe and to which
Charles the Great presented, through Al
cum. her old a1umnus at his court, gift
OF silver, with oil for her consecra lions
or was it for her studious Iamosp Irish
students thronged here from ali quarters
atong the great highway of the Shannon;
mere the powerful tribes of the remotest
provinces oulit each their own church
the OConnorS OF Connaught, the Mac
Carthys of Munster, and the rest-still
distlnguishable among the little cluster
OF roofess ruins. And the spirit of the
pace mad stubborn vitality. Ten times
IL IS said the Danish invaders put out
those studious lamps and burnt and
! sacked the city. and ten times they were
rei1ghted. One lurid scene flashes from
brief entry in the Chronicle-the wife
OF lhe Dan1sh ch1eftain, some fiery Bryn-
hild or Morn of the north, installed in the
church and delivering her prophetic spaes
from the altar. But the Danes in their
turn We're ousted by the Normans. and
though these conquerors were a building
and Shaping race. the wrecked torso OF a
palace and a few carved archways and
windows almost alone survive from their
nand The place Is used now only as
burial ground, and that chiefly for the
humble folks OF the adjoining region.
Peasants Funeral.
One of these rustic funerals happened
| during our visit. Half a dozen men,
friends and neighbors of the deceased
bore the coffin through the low, molder-
Ing archway into the largest of the
ruined churches. set it down upon one
or the ancient graves. then kneeled down
round It In the rank lush grass, crossed
themselves. ard rose. No priest was
tnere.. To English eyes it was a "hug-
lger-mugger burial. without ceremony
or any kind. Yet this peasant, thus
rudeiy laid TO rest, slept in noble com.
kings and chieftains: their SCARED mon.
Cmcnts Swallowed the grass above him
! For the old Irish poet who sang. the
glories OF the place Clonmscnois was
above 81 the place of iiiustrious graves
In onlct wntercd land. laad of roses.
STANDS st. CEran's city fair.
And tho warriors Of Esia in their famous gen
/ cratOnR
| SlHnbcr there.
! Thrro beneath the DEFY Hillside S,ecp the rob;es
" the clan O: Conn.
Each below his store. With name IN branchin:
And the sacred krot thereon.
Thee they laid TO rest tie seven kings Of Tana
!, Battle banners Of tie Gael that in Ciaran'l
Plain OF Crosscs,
| Now their final hosting keep.
/ And from this home Of the dead yor
look out over the great river, itself dead
also. it's shining reaches stretching away
to. the visionary west, while. its near rip
! pies plash quietly among the reedy lev.
els, some solitary heron the only visible
! living thing ce-...
| But Ireland has other. quite different
ways Of taking its holy things A few
outside my windows in little town on
the west coast. Men. women and chill
dren were tramping along in one direc-
ton; cars of every degree Of shabbiness
tingent. and then drove of the same way.
The spacious mall" with its usually
quiet avenues on either side of the little
river. was thronged with strangers from
all parts Of Ireland, and had been so
since early dawn, for this was the day
of the national pilgrimage to St Pat
rick's shrine. the oratory on the neigh
boring mountain OF Craoghpatrick
whence the saint had flung his bell into
the air. borne back to him each time by
spirits, the while all the toads and
serpents of ireland fled at the sound !;
where too. like Elijah on Horeb, he had
spent forty days and forty nights in
prayer Westport. without doubt, makes
money--some thousands, it is said-out
of the pilgrimage. Craoghpatrick Sun
day IS a red-letter day in it's secular as
IN its sacred calendar, at once holy and
lucrative In the highest degree. and
yielding its perfect flavor only to the
picus trafficker who has a genuine relish
for both comDOnentS