85

THE RIVER BLACKWATER, YOUGHAL, &C. 98

WATERFORD AND DISTRICT 112

KILLARNEY AND GLENGARRIFF 133

LAKES AND FJORDS OF KERRY 175

COUNTY CLARE 221

GALWAY AND DISTRICT 235

CONNEMARA AND SLIGO 245

SUMMER AND WINTER RESORTS 256

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SOUTH AND WEST OF IRELAND 260

SPORTS--

CYCLING 278

GOLF 291

RIVER FISHING 295

LAKE FISHING 299

SHOOTING 303

INDEX 306

ADVERTISEMENTS 309

Introduction.

Travelling through Ireland in the good old times was at best a
precarious and inconvenient diversion. Those who had to do so regretted
the necessity, and those who had not, praised Providence. Many "persons
of quality," to use Dr. Johnson's phrase, have written narratives of
their adventures and experiences in "the most damnable country." No man
of position, even early in the nineteenth century, would dream of
travelling threescore miles from his residence without having signed and
sealed his last will and testament. The highways were beset by
"Gentlemen of the Road," such as that fascinating felon, "Brennan on the
Moor," of whom the ballad tells--

"A brace of loaded pistols he carried night and day."

The coach roads were dangerous, the stage was deplorable, and everything
but the scenery unpleasant. The interior and west of the country were
connected with Dublin by canals cut in the time of the Irish
Parliament, which followed the enterprise of the Dutch. They were looked
upon at the time as feats of engineering skill, somewhat in the light
that we view the Suez or Panama Canals to-day. Neville, the engineer,
was the recipient of extravagant encomiums from the Lords and Commons,
and his fame is embalmed in a street ballad which sings the praise of--

"Bold Neville,
Who made the streams run level
In that bounding river
Called the Grand Canal."

Nowadays we have