Arklow

Asenath Nicholson

Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger

1847

Chapter III (6) | Start of Chapter

The next day we visited Arklow, and our only object of curiosity was the decayed castle, of which but one tower is left. This the serjeant of the barracks, who had the care of it, kindly offered to show us. It was built in the year 1200. Now, it plainly tells that the battering-ram had not been applied in vain, for it is crumbling to ruin. Our guide conducted us to the top by winding-steps, to look out upon the adjacent country, and see where the great battles had been fought which had deluged that part of the country in blood.

Ireland’s Welome to the Stranger is one of the best accounts of Irish social conditions, customs, quirks and habits that you could wish for. The author, Mrs Asenath Nicholson, was an American widow who travelled extensively in Ireland on the eve of the Great Famine and meticulously observed the Irish peasantry at work and play, as well as noting their living conditions and diet. The book is also available from Kindle.

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An American widow’s account of her travels in Ireland in 1844–45 on the eve of the Great Famine:

Ireland’s Welcome to the Stranger

Sailing from New York, she set out to determine the condition of the Irish poor and discover why so many were emigrating to her home country.

Mrs Nicholson’s recollections of her tour among the peasantry are still revealing and gripping today.

The author returned to Ireland in 1847–49 to help with famine relief and recorded those experiences in the rather harrowing: Annals of the Famine in Ireland.

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