IRELAND AND THE HOLIDAYS.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
SIB,,—AS the holiday season is commencing, I venture to ask, on public-spirited grounds, the favour of your space to mention Ireland.
Many authorities are agreed that those banes of Governments, the Rome-rule question and other Irish agitations, would die natural deaths if the land question could be settled; in other words, if the farming districts could be made more prosperous. The Con- gested Districts Boards are doing admirable work in improving matters, but in many instances, of which the wild Connemara region is a fair example, the soil is so poor that prospects of much an :cess on agricultural lines seem remote. A certain salvation can be suggested, although not in the power of Parliament directly to bring about. If a greater number of tourists visited Ireland, this would cause the circulation of money without pauper- ising the people. The railways, to give them their due, are certainly waking up. The limited mails are fast, cheap, and comfortable. I have travelled a great deal throughout the world, and I can truly say that I have never seen anything more enchanting than the highlands and loughs of Connemara, of which Leenane is the most charming centre. Thackeray, speaking of this wild West hamlet, says "Were such beauty lying upon English shores it would be a world's wonder ; perhaps if it were on the Mediterranean or the Baltic English travellers would flock to it by hundreds." Why not come and see it in Ire- land ? The district is easily reached by the limited mail from Dublin to either Clifton or Westport, from either of which places a twenty-mile romantic drive by public car (included in rail fare) is an enjoyable feature ; or a quicker route is via Maam Cross Station, which involves engaging beforehand a private oar at one's own expense. To bring the matter nearer home, here is scenery equal to Scotland's best; and the hotels, whilst being well ap- pointed, are at present most reasonable in their charges. To in- stance one hostelry,—think of a surfeit of salmon and brown trout so fresh that you can well imagine them whisking their tails in the lough below your coffee-room window a few hours previously. To an epicure the small mountain mutton would be just a dream of delight. For all this on the West Coast of Ireland, the in- clusive hotel tariffs range from 30s. in winter and 45s. in summer to 65s. Amusements in this Nature's paradise appear to consist of fishing, shooting, tennis, boating, sea or lough bathing, and jaunting-car excursions to places of marvellous interest, for which latter Leenane offers every facility.
To patriotic Britons, therefore, I would say, for the assistance of future political peace and for obtaining immediate bodily and mental good health combined with commercial good value, "Let us go to Ireland."—I am, Sir, &e.,
Previous page
