79 



miserable pittance from the poor country folk who are his 

 scanty customers. He was a very old man when I last saw 

 him, and his recollections of famous men and women who 

 had fished at Castleconnell, or been attracted there by the 

 sylvan beauties of the place, are very entertaining, but, if 

 you listened to them, you must be prepared to be told at 

 the end that your entertainer w^as as poor as Lazarus. Poor 

 old Dan, I pity you from my very soul in your life of per- 

 petual darkness, and admire your christian spirit of resigna- 

 tion and thankfulness, that has in it no shade of repinmg. 

 " I used to grieve," the old man said, " when the spring 

 came and I heard the boys tell how they had taken, may be, 

 a thirty-five pounder on our water and me not seen it — but 

 the Lord's will be done." Old Dan's post, when waiting cus- 

 tomers, is close beside the famous ruins of an old castle 

 built by one of the O'Brien's, king of Munster. This 

 stronghold, perched high upon a huge pedestal of natural 

 rock — and only approachable by a narrow path hewn out 

 of the side — overlooks the river, and in the wars of William 

 and James the strength of this fortress gave great trouble 

 to the besiegers. 'Now let us follow the path by the river 

 side down about a short mile to the rapids of Doonas, and 

 you must confess that such a magnificent sight is worth a 

 500 mile journey. 



The accompanying illustration will convey some slight 

 idea of this turljulent rapid where, hemmed in on both 

 sides by rocky banks and overhanging trees, the river 

 rushes in a foaming cataract for the length of a quarter 

 of a mile, the enormous body of water pouring over huge 

 masses of rock which impede its progress, and the noise of 

 the rushing flood can be heard at a considerable distance. 

 Lady Massy owns the adjacent land — an aged lady, living 

 a solitary life, in a house falling to pieces with decay. In 

 the midst of this tumbling cataract is a smooth piece of 

 water behind a stupendous mass of rock, and in this slack 

 water the salmon in their upward passage sometimes rest. 

 This rock will be seen in our third illustration of the pool 

 below Doonas fall. To kill a salmon on that rock tests to 

 the utmost the skill of an angler, but it is done occasionally. 



