206 ON THE STATE OF IRELAND. [BOOK II. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



OF PUBLIC-HOUSES OB SMALL TAVERNS. 



THE examinations taken show that the number of small 

 taverns, in which spirits are sold retail, has increased 

 since the cost of licences has been diminished. 



Very little beer is sold, and almost the whole of the 

 spirits are retailed out in small glassfuls. Much more is 

 drunk in good than in bad times. Persons well off imagine 

 that it is the cheapest nourishment the people can take in 

 the state of wretchedness in which they are. 



The witnesses say that the Catholic priests reprimand 

 from the pulpit the tavern-keepers, who, after having 

 given credit to the poor, exact repayment in labour. 



The scanty clothing, the want of fuel, and the persua- 

 sion that whisky affords a nourishment as cheap as any 

 other, are the causes of the great consumption of this 

 spirit ; and in times of agricultural distress, the people 

 drink it with increased eagerness, for it is impossible for 

 them, say the witnesses, to resist the temptation of warm- 

 ing themselves by this drink in the constant state of cold 

 and wet in which they live. 



Many houses in which spirits are sold pay no licence, 

 and in the barony of Mohill alone there are above four 

 hundred of these houses which pay nothing to the Go- 

 vernment. 



The spirit consumed in Ireland is called whisky; it is 

 made from oats, and when the crop is plentiful and this 



