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My first
day in Ireland was one of much enjoyment. In the midst of objects strange
and novel, excitement ran high, and it was easy to laugh or weep. The scenery
from Queenstown to Cork, and thence to Blarney Castle, is various and enchanting.
Hills, valleys, cultivated fields, flowing streams, fine buildings, and
old ruins, were surveyed with delightful admiration. This old castle, containing
the famous “Blarney Stone”, is a grand ruin, covered with ivy,
and situated amidst beautiful grounds. We Climbed to the top of its tower,
and enjoyed the view it presents.
The same afternoon we went by sailing to Killarney, in the South of
Ireland.
We had now reached the northern coast of the island and were in sight
of the far-famed Giant’s Causeway. A few miles of jaunting oar brought
us to the spot. But we paused mid-way to bury the grand old ruins of Dunluce
Castle, perched on the edge of a cliff hundreds of feet above the sea.
It is impossible to give an adequate description of the Giant’s
Causeway, familiar from childhood pictures which utterly fail to delineate
it. It is a magnificent affair, however, wonderfully bold and unique in
its configurations, embracing deep caves, bridge like abutments, high
bluffs and perpendicular columns of basalt and trap.
In our journey through Ireland we noticed not only ruined castles, but
magnificent Round Towers, some of them a hundred and fifty – feet
high, and in a good state of preservation. They commonly stand alone,
and their origin and object appear to be wrapped in mystery.
There is a marked distinction between Ireland and Scotland. They are different
in their scenery, different in the characteristics of the people. Indeed
one is struck with the perceptible change in various respects, as he travels
from the centre to the North of Ireland. The cabins of the people grow
better, their language is more Scottish, the accent broader, and they
look better and thriftier in every way. This change is owing to the more
general prevalence of Protestantism in the North.
We had a fine trip by steamer from Postwich to Oban on the
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