A Reformed Roman Catholic Priest

Asenath Nicholson

Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger

1847

Chapter XXVI (13) | Start of Chapter

But I have stood too long on the steps of Mr. Barrett's door. A reformed Roman Catholic priest, attached to the colony, heard that I had visited Mrs. Nangle, and called to inquire. Knowing that we cannot "unknow our knowledge," and that if he had been a jesuit, he could not forget the skill, I was guarded. His well managed questions were tolerably evaded, till he asked, "How did Mrs. Nangle treat you, and how did you like her?" "She treated me, I believe, just as she felt, and I ought to be thankful that towards me she was no hypocrite." His answer was, "There is a great deal of religion in the world, but a very little piety; and after all, probably the Mahometans are the true church."

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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