

1832.] Scenes in the Irish Highlands Cunnemara. 621 



the country without seeing the Capers of Cong." Amongst the " capers" of 

 Shawn More's establishment, we were promised the goodly sight of that worthy 

 personage and his wife a lady of proportionate dimensions taking their daily 

 plunge into the waters of the creek, a ceremony which they always perform hand 

 in hand, at the first break of dawn. But let us arrive at Leenane before we say 

 more about it. Our first object was Renvyle point, where Mr Blake, the reputed 

 author of " Letters from the Irish Highlands," has a seat. We did not, however, 

 approach nearer to that place than the little village of Tullybawn, the heights over 

 which command a superb marine view, bounded on the north by the majestic 

 mountain of Mulrea, in the county Mayo. The shore presents an uninterrupted 

 range of the wildest crags hanging over a white sandy beach ; in front, with a 

 sparkling surf breaking upon their picturesquely barren sides, are the isles of Innis- 

 Turk and Innis-Clare ; and extending in the back ground many a mile, appear 

 those of Achill, part of the district of Erris, which suffered so intensely during the 

 recent scarcity. Innis-Clare, or Clare island, (innis signifying island in the 

 Gaelic) is famed in- Irish story as the stronghold of that romantic chieftainess 

 whose visit to the court of Elizabeth is on historical record. It was probably to 

 this ocean-fastness she conveyed the young heir of the Earl of Howth, whom, on 

 her return from England, she made captive, to revenge the inhospitality of his 

 father. There still stands upon the island a ruined tower, which the fisherman 

 boldly states was the castle of Granawaile. 



The charm of the lesser Killery is much heightened by the manner in which 

 you approach it. It burst suddenly into view upon the sudden turn of a path 

 which descends a close rocky ravine ; and is certainly as romantically beautiful a 

 creek as any into which the sea ever retreated. Save where the ocean enters, it is 

 invested with cliffs and mountains, which, chequered with the finest variety of 

 tints, start up abruptly from the brink of the clear still water, or just leave space 

 for the narrow road to sweep round the shore. The heights to the north rise 

 perhaps not less than J200 feet above the level of the bay ; and to reach Leenane, 

 we had to cross them by a frightfully steep path, overhung, both ascending and 

 descending, with tremendous precipices. This is called the pass of Salruc. The 

 descent brought the greater Killery into view ; but to give any idea of its gran- 

 deur, I should describe as well as Petrie draws. Owing to huge masses of rock 

 that were piled around us, it developed itself very slowly ; but this only added to 

 the effect, which became every moment more imposing, until at length the eye got 

 free from all obstructions, and embraced the prospect in all its vastness and 

 splendour. We stood about a hundred yards above the creek ; and (the apparent 

 junction of the mountains on each side of its mouth excluding the view of the 

 ocean) it presented the appearance of a magnificent lake, about two miles broad, 

 and seven or eight in length. Over it, to the north, towered Mulrea, in barren 

 grandeur, its broad purple side dipping into the waves, and its irregular summit 

 crested with exposed rock. All was still and solitary ; the scream of the curlew 

 was the only sound heard ; the name of " harbour," by which this arm of the sea 

 is commonly distinguished, conveys an idea the very reverse of the reality ; a 

 single white sail was the only object that gave sign of life over the whole surface 

 of the inlet. And the shores were as idle as the waters. Not a tree, and scarce 

 a human dwelling, was in sight. But, as far as scenery was concerned, this was no 

 subject of regret: the glorious expanse, that spread bright, calm, and blue, 

 beneath us, gave it as much softness as was perhaps compatible with its sublimity. 

 We even quarrelled with a minute patch of cultivation on the side of the opposite 

 mountain the work of some needy husbandman, who preferred potatoes to the 

 picturesque. 



The road follows the shore, and commands the scenery of the creek, the re- 

 mainder of the way to Leenane, a space of about ten miles. Once, indeed, where 

 we climbed and traversed a lofty table-land, the water was for a while out of 

 view ; but it was only one scene of magnificence shifted to give placed to another : 

 the Mam, Turk, and Beanabola Mountains presenting themselves distinct and 

 prominent in a splendid semicircle, their bold peaks and deep passes occasioning 

 that wild irregularity of outline which is amongst the chief fascinations of a high- 

 land prospect. On regaining the creek, the mountains on the opposite, or Mayo 



