The Project Gutenberg EBook of In Wicklow and West Kerry, by John M. Synge

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Title: In Wicklow and West Kerry

Author: John M. Synge

Posting Date: July 26, 2009 [EBook #4395]
Release Date: August, 2003
First Posted: January 22, 2002

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN WICKLOW AND WEST KERRY ***

Produced by Charles Aldarondo. HTML version by Al Haines.

IN WICKLOW AND WEST KERRY

BY

JOHN M. SYNGE

1912

Notice

In WEST KERRY was partly re-written from articles which appeared in
the Shanachie, where some of IN WICKLOW also appeared; the remainder
of the Wicklow articles were originally published in the Manchester
Guardian.

The publishers desire to thank the editors of the Manchester
Guardian and the Shanachie for permission to reprint the articles
which appeared in their columns.

IN WICKLOW

The Vagrants of Wicklow
The Oppression of the Hills
On the Road
The People of the Glens
At a Wicklow Fair--The Place and the People
A Landlord's Garden in County Wicklow
Glencree

In West Kerry

IN WICKLOW

The Vagrants of Wicklow

Some features of County Wicklow, such as the position of the
principal workhouses and holiday places on either side of the coach
road from Arklow to Bray, have made this district a favourite with
the vagrants of Ireland. A few of these people have been on the
roads for generations; but fairly often they seem to have merely
drifted out from the ordinary people of the villages, and do not
differ greatly from the class they come from. Their abundance has
often been regretted; yet in one sense it is an interesting sign,
for wherever the labourer of a country has preserved his vitality,
and begets an occasional temperament of distinction, a certain
number of vagrants are to be looked for. In the middle classes the
gifted son of a family is always the poorest--usually a writer or
artist with no sense for speculation--and in a family of peasants,
where the average comfort is just over penury, the gifted son sinks
also, and is soon a tramp on the roadside.

In this life, however, there are many privil