Ireland as a Tourist Resort. 49 



a mild climate in winter, and save them the fatigue of a journey 

 to the South of Europe. 



The lovely scenery on the Blackwater from Youghal to Lis- 

 more was illustrated. Youghal was referred to as that ancient 

 town hallowed by reminiscences of the great Sir Walter 

 Raleigh, whose house still survives, its old wainscotted rooms 

 being most cosy and comfortable still. What interesting 

 visions might there be enjoyed of Irish kerne and gallowglass, 

 and English adventurers seeking for rich Irish lands — of Boyle, 

 first Earl of Cork ; and of Spenser, too, who probably discussed 

 the " Fairy Queen " and smoked a friendly pipe with Raleigh 

 under the shade of the great yew trees that still stand in the 

 garden before the home. 



The lecturer next took his hearers to Wicklow, to Glen- 

 malure, with the memories of the O'Tooles and Byrnes, and to 

 Glendalough, the ancient ecclesiastical city that ruled the 

 Celtic Church before the See of Dublin superseded it, the 

 Dargle, Enniskerry and Sugar Loaf Mountain, the Scalp, Glen 

 of the Downs, the Grand Hotel, Greystones ; Newrath Bridge 

 Hotel, Waterfall, Devil's Glen ; Meeting of the Waters, Royal 

 Hotel, Glendalough ; Vale of Avoca, Wexford, New Ross, 

 Vinegar Hill, Enniscorthy, &c. The district through which 

 the Dublin, Wicklow, and Wexford Railway Co.'s system runs, 

 possesses for the tourist attractions of a most varied character. 

 It would be difficult to find elsewhere, contained within so 

 limited a space, such a combination of scenery — high rugged 

 mountains, wild glens, wooded hills and valleys, lakes, rivers, 

 and waterfalls, all bounded by a varied and picturesque coast. 

 It also abounds in objects of antiquarian interest, ruins of castles, 

 abbeys, round towers, and Celtic churches, &c. A fine series of 

 views were shown on the Great Northern Railway system, 

 including the Boyne Valley. This valley is very rich in 

 ancient monuments of Pagan, early Christian, and Anglo- 

 Norman times. These include the great Pagan Pyramids of 

 Dowch, Nowth, and New Grange, the first and last of which 

 were ransacked by the Danes in the ninth century, but Nowth 

 4 



