Killaloe

“ Patrick Percy Killaloe, Bishop of Killaloe, Kilfenora, Clonfert, and Kilmacduagh, Bishop of Killanin, Baron Killeen, Lord Kilmaine, Baron Kilmore, Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin, and Ardagh, Bishop of Kilmorey, Earl of Kinahan, Sir Edward Hudson Hudson Kincaid, Col. William Francis Henry Style King, Major Charles Edward Stuart King, Sir George Adolphus King, Henry Louis King-Harman, Lieut. ”

“ Killaloe gives name to Protestant and Roman Catholic dioceses.
KILLARNEY, a market town of county Kerry, Ireland, in the east parliamentary division, on a branch line of the Great Southern & Western railway, 1851⁄4 m. S.W. from Dublin. Pop. of urban district (1901) , 5656. On account of the beautiful scenery in the neighbourhood the town is much frequented by tourists. The principal buildings are the Roman Catholic cathedral and bishop’s palace of the diocese of Kerry, designed by A. W. Pugin, a large Protestant church and several hotels. ”

“ To analyze the charm of Killarney Vale is impossible. It is the very region of romance, and one to which fairy legend and ghostly tale seem to fit themselves better than do the commonplaces of life. There would seem nothing strange were the O’Donoghue on his white charger seen to cleave the wave and emerge on its foam-flecked shore, coming we know not whence, going we know not where, but real as when he trod his native glens, a prince and a ruler among men. The unseen world seems very near to those who have fallen under the spell of fair Killarney. ”

“ The lepers obeyed, crawling away to their lairs in the cliff, until only Koolau remained, sitting motionless in the moonlight, his rifle across his knees, as he gazed far down to the boats landing on the beach.
The far head of Kalalau Valley had been well chosen as a refuge. Except Kiloliana, who knew back-trails up the precipitous walls, no man could win to the gorge save by advancing across a knife-edged ridge. This passage was a hundred yards in length. At best, it was a scant twelve inches wide. On either side yawned the abyss. A slip, and to right or left the man would fall to his death. ”

“ Killala Bay is flanked on the west by Downpatrick Head, which rises two thousand feet sheer above the sea-level. It is one of Ireland’s{186} true wonders, but attracts few visitors save migratory sea-fowl.
Killala itself, one learns from the “Life of St. Patrick,” is a place of great age. ”

“ Gorse and heather, arbutus and fern, show a softer radiance, less dazzling, but more sympathetic; silvery rills course down the declivities which surround the lakes, now visible through the trees and giant shrubs, now hidden, but always with a murmur of sound like distant notes of the fairy music which once, it is said, woke the echoes of Killarney. And for those who have the hearing ear it may do so still; with unbelievers the “good people” have no intercourse. ”

“ The wildness of the Gap is a great contrast to the lake scenery to which it gives access.
The name of Killarney conjures up such thoughts. It owes its fame solely to its beauty and to the fascination which the character of that beauty exercises over the beholder. For it is never the same, and every change appeals to the imagination. Who that has seen it can forget the superb tinting of the foliage which [Pg 9] clothes the mountain sides and transforms the isles into quivering kaleidoscopes of colour, flashing back the light as the waves of a sunlit sea. ”

“ No one has ever realized the enchantment of Killarney or fallen under its spell who has not been upon its waters. As the boat glides into the Upper Lake, all that has ever been said of its varied beauty seems poor compared to the reality. The mountains which surround it on every side give indescribable grandeur to its scenery—so much so that, added to the contrasted beauty of its wooded isles, it is on the whole conceded that it bears the golden apple from its sister lakes ”

“ Killary is the deep narrow cleft which strikes far in past the base of Mweelrea, the highest mountain in all Connaught, and runs up to where the flank of the Devil's Mother divides the village of Leenane from the outflow of the Erriff river, plunging over the fall at Aasleigh. I recite a litany of names well known to every angler in the west—and to more than anglers, for the hotel at Leenane is a halting place on the coachroad which follows the coast from Clifden to Westport; and no sea lough in all Ireland is more beautiful than Killary on its own day. ”

“ There is a stamp of wild force in all that meets the eye while traversing the Gap, which is not diminished as at Gap Cottage the end is neared. At its commencement cars have had to be abandoned. You must ride or walk. If you have elected to walk you will probably now be footsore and weary. Even the sure-footed ponies generally used may not prevent fatigue from the rough, precipitous road, but it is forgotten when, on leaving the Gap, a turn in the path brings in view one of the most famous glens of Killarney—the Black Valley. ”

“ Yet in the old days we did not have to work. Also, when we are sick, they take away our freedom."
"Who brought the sickness, Koolau?" demanded Kiloliana, a lean and wiry man with a face so like a laughing faun's that one might expect to see the cloven hoofs under him. They were cloven, it was true, but the cleavages were great ulcers and livid putrefactions. Yet this was Kiloliana, the most daring climber of them all, the man who knew every goat-trail and who had led Koolau and his wretched followers into the recesses of Kalalau. ”

“ A round tower, 84 ft. in height, stands boldly on an isolated eminence. Close to Killala the French under Humbert landed in 1798, being diverted by contrary winds from the Donegal coast. Near the Moy river, south of Killala, are the abbeys of Moyne and Roserk or Rosserick, both Decorated in style, and both possessing fine cloisters. At Rathfran, 2 m. N., is a Dominican abbey (1274) , and in the neighbourhood are camps, cromlechs, and an inscribed ogham stone, 12 ft. in height. Killala gives name to a Roman Catholic diocese, the seat of which, however, is at Ballina. ”

“ My friend Captain Felton was my “best man.” At first our home was in Belfast, but we made frequent expeditions to Knockowen and Kilgorman as the countryside became more settled; for the place, in spite of all that had passed, had a fascination for both of us. And as the painful associations died away, we have long since returned to Donegal. There for many a day we and our little ones—beloved Tim and Kit and Eileen—have made our home by the side of our lovely lough, as happy a home as any to be found throughout Ireland, in a renovated and regenerated Kilgorman. ”

“ In many voices has Nature spoken to the children of Killarney, weaving something of the changeableness, the melancholy, the deep gloom, and the overflowing sunshine of their hills and vales into the very heart of the people, making them what they are for good or ill. To them has been given vision of the supernatural region as a refuge to the earth-bound spirit from the sordid cares of money-getting; and so has a world of dreamers, for all their outward gaiety and lightheartedness, been created in the kingdom of Kerry. ”

“ May calm and sunshine still be thine;
How fair thou art let others tell,
To feel how fair yet still be mine.”
[Pg 46] Glena, the “glen of good fortune,” is one of the most eagerly sought out beauty spots of Killarney. Glena Bay is the first part of the Lower Lake if it is entered from the Long Range, but by whatever way you reach it the picture which meets the eye is unsurpassed.
The mountains of Glena and Toomies are densely wooded to their base, the trees hanging over their sides and coming down in rich luxuriance to the water’s edge. ”

“ Kilmore generally means the great church, but Kilmore, Co. Cork, is from Coillmhor (great wood) , and in many places in Ireland and Scotland it is difficult to determine whether the root of the names is cill or coill; Kildare, from Cill-dara (the cell of the oak blessed by St. Bridget) ; Kilmun, in Argyleshire, is named from St. Munna, one of St. Columba’s companions; Kilrush, Co. Clare (the church of the promontory or of the wood) ; Kells (the cells) is the name of several places in Ireland, and of a parish in Dumfries ”

“ Miss Kit was in her wonted high spirits, and alarmed me by plunging at once into the story of yesterday’s adventure.
“Father,” she said, “why is Kilgorman all barred and bolted against its future mistress? Here was I, yesterday, standing humbly like a beggar on the doorstep of our own house, and obliged to slink away disappointed after all.”
His honour looked up with an angry flush on his pale face.
“Kilgorman!” cried he; “what took you there? Don’t you know no one is allowed within the grounds?”
“I didn’t know till Barry told me. ”

“ The light wind was not enough to fill our sail, and we were forced to put out the oars and row. I think the exercise did us good, and warmed our hearts as well as our bodies.
As we came under Kilgorman, I could see the mast of the Cigale peeping over the rocks, and wondered if she would be discovered by all the company. His honour, to my surprise, steered straight for the creek.
The Cigale flew the English flag, and very smart and trim she looked in the morning light, with her white sails bleaching on the deck and the brass nozzles of her guns gleaming at the port-holes. ”

“ XXXI. KILLALA—THE CANADIAN GRANT TO THE FAMINE FUND AND WHAT IT HAS DONE— BALLYSAKEERY—THREE LANDLORDS—A LANDLORD'S INTERESTING STATEMENT. I had the very great pleasure of a drive to the ancient town of Killala, accompanied by the wife of the Rev. Mr. Armstrong, who superintends the orphanage and the mission schools in connection with the Presbyterian Church of Ballina. Killala is an old town with a gentle flavor of decay about it. It has a round tower in good preservation, and an ancient church. ”

“ The loveliest general view of the lakes of Killarney to be had from anywhere is as one drops down toward them along the Kenmare road. Their individual beauties may, of course, be seen to better advantage closer at hand; but from this height, the whole wonderful panorama stretches before one. Right across the valley opens the Gap of Dunloe, with the rugged Reeks on one side and the green clad Purple Mountain on the other; below is the narrow, island-dotted, hill-encircled upper lake ”

“ The town of Killarney has a miserable, dilapidated appearance, and is overflowing with beggars. We did not stop here, however, but at a hotel a mile or two away, on the northern shore of the Lower Lake—a most charming situation. A little way out of the town, we had stopped to visit Torc waterfall—a beautiful cascade, in a wild and shady glen—one of the very finest sights of that region.
In the morning, we set out early on an excursion through the Gap of Dunloe, to the Upper Lake. This time I was mounted on a fleet-footed pony, which gave me an advantage over the beggars. ”

“ All the morning and afternoon I searched up and down in vain, meeting not a soul nor any sign of my brother. With heavy misgivings I returned to my boat, and set sail once more towards Knockowen. Half-way down the lough it occurred to me that I would do better to pay a visit first of all to Kilgorman. After the scare of this morning’s business the rebels would hardly have the hardihood to meet there to-night; and although there was little chance of finding Tim there, the place contained a spot known to both of us, in which a message could be safely deposited. ”

“ Kildare suddenly rose, and he saw for the first time how tall she was. "I am not and have never been a woman of the world, but I know men, if that is what you mean. And I know"—her voice cut like a whip—"that when these things occur among men of honor, at least the names of their victims are not mentioned." ”

“ Knockowen, next to the Cigale where Tim was, held what counted most to me of this world’s good. Kilgorman held the spirit of my dead mother, waiting to be relieved of its trouble. How could I desert the one or the other and call myself a brave man?
What I could not decide, fate decided for me. The cave below me was guarded by the pirate’s men, who clattered their muskets on the stones and kept a keen look-out on all sides for any chance intruder. To quit my present perch would be certain death. ”

“ She’s more to me than all Kilgorman! Trust me, Mr Maurice—I’ll breathe never a word if you’ll but save Mike. It’s false—he never had a hand in it! Some day truth will out—if the lad’s mine no harm shall come to him. I’ll use him against you, Mr Maurice. The truth’s buried, but it’s safe. There’s more than earth under a hearthstone. ”

“ That was the time, when knowing that more of the Kilconnel boys were forced to come over the Crag-road—where no road was ever made, only all bog—the Kilmurray men laid wait for them, and snared them into a gamekeeper’s lodge, making believe it was a whiskey-still—just a place where they had plenty of the mountain-dew—which (bad luck to it) is a wonderful strengthener of sin, and kept them there drinking and dancing until the election was over; and then, leaving the Kilconnel boys sleeping, the Kilmurray men disappeared in the night. ”

“ It was at Kilgorman that Barry and Tim were born—mercy on them!—the night that Terence Gorman, his honour’s brother, was murdered on the mountain. I mind the night well. Dear, oh! Every light in Kilgorman went out that night. The news of the murder killed the lady and her little babe. I mind the time well, for I was called to christen the babe. Do you mind Larry McQuilkin of Kerry Keel, O’Brady? It was his wife as was nursing-woman to the child—as decent a woman as ever lived. ”