Visit to Thurles

Asenath Nicholson

Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger

1847

Chapter VI (9) | Start of Chapter

The morning was pleasant, and had not my heart been a little sad, it would have been congenial to every feeling of my mind, so naturally fitted for the enjoyment of rich scenery in nature.

Thurles is an ancient town in the county of Tipperary, somewhat neatly built. It contains a good market-house, fine chapel, college for Catholics, nunnery, and charity-school, with a Protestant church, and Methodist chapel. My reception here was cordial, and the house in quite American taste. My stay was continued a day or two longer than I at first intended; and as Tuesday was market-day, it presented a favorable opportunity of seeing the peasantry, who appeared more cleanly and comfortable than those of many towns in Ireland, though much like Kilkenny.

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:

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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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