Travel
Travel in Ireland
SPRING has been more fickle than :ever this year but the holiday season is already upon us, and many a choice of ways has soon to be made. Ireland has superb claims. She is near ; and yet in thought and appearance so very different from England.. Not only is her countryside so much more foreign than anything west of the Rhine, but it is quiet, of captivating beauty and full of good roads with little traffic upon them but an occasional ass-cart or goat ; in the bohereens or on the finest turf in Europe the walker will escape even from the occasional tourist car.
Whether you land at Dublin, Belfast, or one of the ports in the South it is best to make for the West where the scenery is grandest and the twilight most Celtic. There are three great masses of mountainous land—Donegal, Connemara and Kerry—along the Atlantic seaboard. Of these Donegal is, of course, the most northerly: With its hard-working peasantry, its weaving and its frugal neatness, this district keeps something' reminiscent of Scotland and even Norway, the heritage of a remote ancestry. The deep creeks of Donegal help to necessitate a greater extent and variety of roads than would otherwise be likely in the county ; so the traveller had best not dawdle too long ori the way. If he comes from bublin with its quays and its steep eighteenth-century houses, he may well leave by the Phoenix Park, cross the Canal and, parting from the Navan road at Fairyhouse, make for Trim which has been too much neglected during this nationalist age because it is Norman ; indeed it is one of the most splendid Norman ruins in the world. This was the Province and Kingdom of Meath, the High King of Ireland's domain and that of the 0'Melaghlins whose two Malachys were probably the most intelligent of Irish rulers. Because it lay accessibly in the path of the English invader and because its grazing-lands are so rich, Meath fell an early prey to the robber armies and declined in status from kingdom to county. But half a dozen pleasant names and lovely places remain to testify to its past glories. Such are Monasterboice and Mellifont, Bective, Kells and the Seven Churches of Clon- macnoise whose ruins lie above the Shannon, just across the Westmeath boundary, in Offaly.
The north-westerly road from Dublin passes by the oddly- named Ballyjamesduff into the town and county of Cavan Which is a land of lulls and little lakes. Though in Ulster, this county forms part of the Free State whose boundary with Northern Ireland is Lough Erne, midway between the towns of Cavan and Enniskillen. This last lies among some of the most charming rustic scenery in the whole of Ireland, and should certainly not be' missed on the way either from Belfast or Dublin to Donegal. Near it are the Devenish wins, the Easter Island-like sculptures on White Island, and the savage fastness of Saint Patrick's Purgatory.
From the north, the traveller will enter Donegal by the City of Derry, which is indeed no, bad centre from which to explore that part of the county. From the south, he will go by the town of Donegal with its quiet harbour and inter- esting modern Church of the Four Masters where glass by that great artist, Harry Clarke, may be seen. In this part of the County, from anywhere along the coast, may be had the Magnificent view": of the Sligo coast with the handsome head of Benbulbin in the background. Near at hand_ are the cliffs of Slieve League with the fragmentary remains of Glencolumbcille and the almost perfect Doune Fort behind them. This latter lies near Portnoo, at which place and the neighbouring Rosbeg there are admirable small hotels kept by Germans ; Wienerschnitzel tastes better than ever after long day among the keen winds and open roads of Donegal. In the north of the county the antiquarian lion is the two thousand year old stone fort of the. Grianan of Aileach ; for most people the many fiords of this part of the coast will be unforgettable, either when seen from within as at Portsalon, where there is an excellent hotel, or from such vantage points' as Hein Head or Malin Head. Off the latter on a clear day may be seen not only all Ireland from Tory Island to the Giant's Causeway, but the islands of Scotland with the Paps of Jura on the horizon.
It is twenty-five miles from Donegal to Sligo, a squalid town in a most lovely neighbourhood, from which there are two favourite ways to Connemara. The first, like so many
direct roads, is less interesting. Its seventy miles to Tuarn are mostly over the dreary Mayo plains. There are fine views to be had of the Ox Mountains and of Nephin, which with Errigal is the grandest solitary peak in Ireland, but much better scenery is to be had along the North Mayo Coast to lonely Behnullet,. whence a vile log road goes to Mallaranny at the gate of Achill. The view from the more westerly portions of the south of this island, or better still from the top of Croaghaun, is perhaps the most wonderful o all Irish seascapes, particularly when the mist rolls away tof reveal Inishturk behind Clare Island, with Inishark and Inishbofin in the further distance.
To many, Achill is more beautiful than' Connemara, wher0 savage desolation at times detracts from the grand beauty' of the scene. But the dark waters of Dhu Lough; Killary Harbour from the oasis of Leenane, and the view of thei Twelve Pins from the rocky wastes of Ratmdstorie aie worth, more than a tiring journey. At the head of the bay, tc the south-east of Connemara, lies the interesting city or Galway with its Spanish-looking houses, its little port and the strange Irish town known as the Claddagh. There is al station hotel in the town, but most people will prefer to stay at the often crowded Leenane or in Dr. Gogarty's' delightful if slightly more expensive Renvyle, or in one of the ' Fishermen's Arms' along the south coast.
Out in the Bay lie the Aran Islands, which are likely to get plenty of visitors this summer as the result -of Mr. Robert Flaherty's successful film. They may be reached by steamer from Galway, and some if not much accommodation may be found on Inishmore, the big island. Inishmore and Inishmaan contain two of the finest early concentric forts in Europe although there is scarcely any shark-fishing to be seen, the annual boat race round the big island and the sight of the cattle swimming out from the middle island to the steamer are perhaps more remarkable than anything portrayed in the film (pronounced " fillum " on Aran).
From there may be seen the Cliffs of Moher in Clare, a five-mile stretch of sheer cliff nearly seven hundred feet high, immense when a big sea from the Atlantic is breaking. There is not much to detain the traveller in County Clare. It is a wild rocky place as savage as the people who live in it. The coast broke a number of ships from the Spanish Armada—there is a table from one of them in Lord Inchiquin's house—and the land bred many of the Dragoons who broke the British lines at Ramillies and Fontenoy, and today is the constituency of Mr. de Valera. There is more stone than soil to be seen until one is near to Limerick, where are some fine eighteenth-century houses and many vile dwellings of other ages as in so many Irish towns. The Shannon Power Station, the Cathedral of Killaloe and some of the best fishing in Ireland lie near to Limerick. Just outside the city are the beautiful ruins of Adare. Otherwise there is nothing of interest except the ubiquitous loveliness of the Irish countryside until the Lakes of Killarney are in sight. '
Actually the snag here is not the traffic, which is rarely formidable, especially to the Cross-Channel visitor, but the difficulty of finding accommodation beside the lakes, which are mostly surrounded by private demesnes. There are hotels with the right view, and in these days they are rarely too full. Realization of the charms of this lovely place is best left to the individual. A mild climate, variation of scenery between mountain forest and lake and the riot of sub-tropical flowers combine to make Killarney unsur- passable in these islands. The traveller should stay and see as much as he can, and especially make the journey by Caherciveen and Parknasilla which for want of a better name is called the Grand Atlantic drive. He may well avoid the tiresome excursion organized by the hotels through the Gap of Dunloe to the Upper Lake.
Fortunately, a few touts do not spoil much of the beauty of Killarney at which the character of Irish scenery is at its most sublime. There is pleasure in the return to less splendid things, and the Counties of Cork and Waterford have country houses and a charm wilder but not altogether unlike that of certain corners in the English West Country.- There are grand bits too here as there. On the right kind of evening in early summer, when the furze is in bloom and. the tide is high off Drornana, the road from Youghfit to Lismore and Knockmealdown is the fairest in Ireland.
MARTIN MACLAUGHLIN.
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