122 



The Palatine Emigration. 



in Great Britain. Mr. J. Marshall, deputy master of the 

 rolls of Tipperary offered to take a thousand and to build 

 houses for them. And upon the request of the lord lieu- 

 tenant of Ireland addressed to her majesty, three thousand 

 persons in August, 1709, and eight hundred persons in 

 February, 1710, were sent from London by way of Ches- 

 ter or Liverpool to Ireland. The parliament of Ireland 

 petitioned the queen for a grant for their temporary sup- 

 port. 1 The house of commons after their settlement took 

 their still distressed condition into consideration, and 

 agreed that the sending of these Palatines to Ireland was 

 a strengthening of the Protestant interest, and would 

 greatly contribute to the security of the kingdom, and 

 therefore that the queen be addressed to allow £5,000 

 annually for three years towards their support and settle- 

 ment, " which should be made good to her in the next 

 aids granted by parliament." Their passage and temporary 

 support cost £24,000. 2 In 1715 a special enactment of 

 parliament naturalized these settlers, then numbering 213 

 families. 



They were settled chiefly at Rathkeale, near Limerick 

 in the county of Munster, where under the name of Pala- 

 tines they continue to impress a peculiar character on both 

 the social and economical traits of the whole district im- 

 mediately around the town, extending from Castle Mattress 

 eastward to Adare. The town and district now have about 

 12,000 inhabitants. At the commencement of this century 

 it was said of them (by Farrar), that they still preserved 

 their own language, " sleep between two beds, have left 

 off sour kraut and feed on potatoes, huge flitches of bacon 

 hang from the rafters, and massive chests hold the house- 

 hold linen : their superstitions savor of the banks of the 

 Rhine ; in their dealings they are upright and honorable." 



1 Journal of House of Lords of Ireland. 



2 TindaVs England. 



