LIFE IN IRELAND 157 



lovers than Brian Boru, and entertained an equal regard 

 for them all. 



The present case gave ample scope for the display 

 of Mr. Philips's extraordinary eloquence — he shone 

 with brilliance, and gained a verdict for his fair client, 

 carrying with it excessive damages. 



' We have had enough,' said Brian Boru. ' If your 

 single women are such expensive articles in Dublin, 

 1 '11 try to be wanting them until I can pluck a dilly 

 near old Galway.' 



By this time our two friends had heard quite enough 

 of Dublin jurisprudence, to convince them that the 

 thing most prudent for them to do, was to get peaceably 

 home. Here they were quite satisfied, so much so, 

 that out they walked, and into the struggler after a hot 

 beef steak. This once famed place is gone to the 

 dogs, since the death of Patrick Duije?ian^ who in him- 

 self was a host, and always able to procure customers, 

 either by slang or gentility, for he could accommodate 

 on either side as4t suited his interest, whim, or caprice. 

 The manner of cooking is rather novel, the steaks being 

 placed betwixt two plates of Queen's metal, which, when 

 the steak was supposed sufficiently done on one side 

 was capsized to the other, as a fork was never made 

 use of, and one hundred dabs have been on the iron 

 sideboard at one time ; this immense plate was heated 

 from flues underneath, where turf was kept perpetually 

 burning. Brian was no epicure, but he knew a bad 

 from a good thing, as well as Sir Billy Curtis. 

 When the cloth was removing, he observed that he 

 had never eat a finer beef steak, and which was owing 

 to its being cooked upon turf, which penetrated the 



