nted sod
Shall ne'er by woman's feet be trod."

"Oh! Father, send not hence my bark,
Through wintry winds and billows dark;
I come with humble heart to share
Thy morn and evening-prayer;
Nor mine the feet, oh! holy Saint,
The brightness of thy sod to taint."

The lady's prayer Senanus spurned,
The wind blew fresh, the bark returned;
But legends hint that had the maid
Till morning's light delay'd,
And given the Saint one rosy smile,
She ne'er had left his lonely isle.

[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Cliffs of Moher.]

[Illustration: _Photo, Lawrence, Dublin._ Kilrush.]

[Illustration: Country Car.]

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

Galway and District.

Leaving the County Clare by rail we cross into Galway, between Crusheen
and Tubber. Beyond the marshy country on the right, away in the
woodlands, nestles Loughcootra Castle. The great lake from which the
place takes its name covers eight square miles. The hundreds of islets
here scattered about its surface are the homes of thousands of herons.
The country people have a belief that this bird is a messenger of good
omen, and never interfere with it or its young. There is a beautiful
legend in Irish of a heron which visited St. Columba, at Iona, a
traveller from his own country. This story is recorded in the
interesting life of the saint written in the seventh century by Adamnan,
one of his successors; a beautiful version in English tells of the saint
rising at dawn of day after a dream of the coming of the bird:--

"He looked out over the dreary moor,
Over the hill so bleak and hoar--
'A bird from the land I revisit no more
Has come to visit me,
Dear Innisfail from thy fragrant shore--
Land of my own I shall see no more--
Across the driving sea.'

Then he left his prayer, and 'Brother,' he said,
'Take to thee corn, and oil, and bread,
A bird has alit--half frozen, half dead--
Upon our southern strand.
Then warm him and feed him with gentle care,
And chafe his wing's and anoint him there,
He comes from my own loved land--
From my own loved land,' and the old Saint wept;
But the Monk arose, while the others slept,
And warmed the heron, and fed and kept
The bird for a day and night.
So Columb feeling, though far away,
For Ireland's soil--like the Gael to-day--
One favour in heaven's sight."

The magnificent residence was designed and erected simila