Newport

Asenath Nicholson

Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger

1847

Chapter XXVI (2) | Start of Chapter

I now prepared to visit Achill, which had from my first visit to Ireland been the spot I most ardently desired to see. I had heard that it was a little oasis, where the wilderness had been converted into a fruitful field. I walked six miles to Newport, and called on the Bible-reader of the Independent church, and by his hospitable wife was made most welcome. A breakfast was soon before me, and an invitation to stop; but as her husband was absent, I engaged on my return to call and spend a night with them, hoping to hear more particulars about his mission.

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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