called the
Gearagh, to Macroom, where the old Castle and Convent are worth
visiting. In the latter the kindergarten system has been introduced with
great success. It is also here that the Gaelic Feis or Festival is held
for the locality, which contains a large percentage of Irish-speaking
people, including numbers of children. From Macroom train runs direct to
Cork. In the visitors' book at Inchigeela Hotel some vagabond rhymester
penned the following farewell:--

Sweet Inchigeela, fare thee well, to-morrow we depart
On Mrs. Brophy's outside car, for Gougane B. we start;
I add my mite of doggerel to all I have read here,
And put my X to all that's writ of this hotel's good cheer.

O charming Inchigeela, were mine the poet's pen,
How I would do the Longfellow, in praising rock and glen;
Among thy mountains, hills, and lakes, six happy days we passed,
And sigh to think the day draws near that's doomed to be the last.

We've climbed the rocky mountains, we've plodded o'er the plain,
We've bid a wild defiance to the drizzling, drenching rain;
And yielding to the influence of your coquettish weather,
We've grilled beneath the sunshine on thy "tick" infected heather.

O lovely Inchigeela! O cosy Lake Hotel!
O Hannah! best of waiting-maids, and civilest as well;
O were I not so sleepy, a great deal more I'd say,
But I must grasp my pilgrim's staff and wend my onward way.

From ~Cromwell's Bridge~, at Glengarriff, the road runs to Berehaven,
where there is an old Castle of the O'Sullivan's and some splendid
caves. Cromwell's Bridge, of which one arch only now remains intact, is
said to have been built here to facilitate the march of the Protector on
his return from Dunboy Castle, he having threatened, if the bridge was
not erected on his return, he would hang a man for every hour he was
delayed. ~Bantry~, or the White Strand, is a thriving town, a pleasant
drive from Glengarriff. Here the French fleet, with Wolfe Tone on board,
purported landing in the winter of 1797; but, like the Armada, were
scattered by a hurricane. Bantry House, the residence of the
White-Hedges family, is beautifully situated on the side of the bay.

[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Cromwell's Bridge,
Glengarriff.]

The Cork and Bandon Railway from Bantry is connected with most of the
towns on the Cork coast. From Skibberreen, the famous fishing village of
~Baltimore~ may be visited. The Piscatorial Schoo