The Wild Irish Girl by Sydney Owenson

Author:Sydney Owenson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Published: 2021-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

1 The lower orders of Irish are very subject to dreadful fevers, which are generally the result of colds caught by the exposed state of their damp and roofless hovels.

2 ‘The common people of Ireland have no rank in society—they may be treated with contempt, and consequently are with inhumanity’—iAn Inquiry into the Causes,’ etc. etc.

1 ‘A Roman Catholic clergyman is the minister of a very ritual religion; and by his profession, subject to many restraints; his life is full of strict observances, and his duties are of a laborious nature towards himself, and of the highest possible trust towards others.’—Letter on the Penal Laws against the Irish Catholics, by the Right Honourable Edmund Burke.

1 It has been justly said, that ‘Nature is invariable in her operations; and that the principles of a polished people will influence even their latest posterity.’ And the ancient state of letters in Ireland, may be traced in the love of learning and talent even still existing among the inferior class of the Irish to this day. On this point it is observed by Mr Smith, in his History of Kerry, ‘that it is well known that classical reading extends itself even to a fault, among the lower and poorer kind of people in this country (Munster), many of whom have greater knowledge in this way than some of the better sort in other places.’ He elsewhere observes, that Greek is taught in the mountainous parts of the province. And Mr O’Halloran asserts, that classical reading has most adherents in those retired parts of the kingdom where strangers had least access, and that as good classical scholars were found in most parts of Connaught, as in any part of Europe.

1 The French Revolution, and the foundation of the Catholic college at Maynooth, in Leinster, has put a stop to these pious emigrations.

1 ‘Are these men supposed to have no sense of justice, that, in addition to the burthen of supporting their own establishment exclusively, they should be called on to pay ours; that, where they pay sixpence to their own priest, they should pay a pound to our clergyman; that, while they can scarce afford their own horse, they should place ours in his carriage; and that when they cannot build a mass-house to cover their multitudes, they should be forced to contribute to build sumptuous churches for half a dozen Protestants to pray under a shed!’—Inquiry into the Causes of Popular Discontents, etc. etc. page 27.

2 It is supposed among the lower order of Irish, as among the Greeks, that some people are born with an evil eye, which injures every object on which it falls, and they will frequently go many miles out of their direct road, rather than pass by the house of one who has an evil eye. To frustrate its effects, the priest hangs a consecrated charm around the necks of their children, called a gospel', and the fears of the parents are quieted by their faith.

1 ‘Some write on

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.