[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Picture Gallery, Kilkenny
Castle.]
Cromwell, who is discredited with destroying places in Ireland where he
never was, is said to have passed by Jerpoint without molesting it, but
when the peal of bells rang out in thanksgiving, he took it for a
challenge, and returned and sacked the place. In Cork he melted down the
chapel bells, saying that "as it was a priest that invented gunpowder,
the best thing that could be done with chapel bells was to make them
into cannons," which he did.
If, instead of branching off the main line at Kildare, we continue along
it in the south-western direction.
~Monasterevan~, which was an old ecclesiastical place of importance, now
insignificant except for its malting houses and distillery. The Marquis
of Drogheda's demesne and residence, Moore Abbey, stands in the centre
of the well-wooded lands, which were formerly monastic property.
~Portarlington~, a small town on the Barrow, has the seat of the Earl of
Portarlington. The river divides the town, and is the boundary here
between Kildare and the Queen's County. The Irish name of this place is
Coltody; but in the time of the "Merrie Monarch" it was given to a court
favourite, Lord Arlington, who here built a little harbour on the
Barrow, whence its name.
Pages:
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40