Sybil Head

Asenath Nicholson

Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger

1847

Chapter XXII (13) | Start of Chapter

We proceeded across a strand, where the sand was so mellow that our poor horse could scarcely proceed, and, to make up the dreadfuls, one of our traces broke. Happily a rope was found, or we might have been left to wade through the sand and wet, but we dragged through half a mile, and found ourselves on firm footing. Our next object was a tower near the top of Sybil Head, and after sitting down upon the beach and taking a hearty lunch, the young ladies and I proceeded. The way was tedious, and the wind strong, but after much toiling and resting we reached the edifice.

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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The Scotch-Irish in America tells the story of how the hardy breed of men and women, who in America came to be known as the ‘Scotch-Irish’, was forged in the north of Ireland during the seventeenth century. It relates the circumstances under which the great exodus to the New World began, the trials and tribulations faced by these tough American pioneers and the enduring influence they came to exert on the politics, education and religion of the country.

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