Rough Road

Rough Road—A Kind Offer declined—The Funeral Lament—Maurice Raheley's Lodging House—Perfumed Bedchamber—Sunrise on the Kerry Mountains—Novel Duet—Mountain Air or City Smoke?—Irish Roads—A Tetotaler in Bad Company—Awful Night—Sabbath of Rest at Killarney—Gap of Dunloe—Guide Persecution—"Crazy Woman"—Where to spend the night—Bright Wood Fire—Recollections of Childhood—Dinis Island—Debt of Gratitude

The time of my departure drew nigh, though the wind had not abated, nor the sea become quiescent; yet the sun found a narrow loop-hole to look down a few moments, and say, "Make your farewell in haste, if you would have my company through the lone mountain before you." It was three o'clock, and a walk of eleven Irish miles, covered with broken stones, fresh from the hammer, was before me. Killoyra was my destination, and Maurice Raheley's house, which I was assured was "nate and tidy." The hospitable innkeeper would take no pay for lodging or board. Blessed inn! O, if the world, for every ten miles, were filled with the like, then might travellers eat, drink, smoke, and sleep, without this melting away of gold and silver.

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.