Chapter I: Preface

The first edition of this book was printed before I had thought to write a preface.

Now, my readers may not care for a preface, but as a writer I do not feel that a book is completed until the author has said a word or two.

You don't hand a man a glass of wine or even an innocuous apple in silence: you say, "Here's looking at you," or, "Have an apple?" and the recipient says, "Thanks, I don't care if I do," or, "Thanks, I don't eat apples." In either case you have done what you expected of yourself, and that, let me tell you, is no small satisfaction.

So now that my publisher has thought it worth while to get out an illustrated edition of this unpretentious record of pleasant (though rainy) days in Ireland, it is my pleasure to say to all who may be about to pick it up, "Don't be afraid of it--it won't hurt you. It was written by a Protestant, but while he was in Ireland his only thought was that God was good to give him such a pleasant time and to make people so well disposed toward him. It was written by a man without a drop of Irish blood in his veins (as far as he knows), but he felt that he was among his brothers in race, because their ideas so chimed in with his, and every one made him so comfortable."

This is a good opportunity to thank those of Irish birth or extraction who in their papers and magazines said such nice things about the book.

The pictures, all snap shots, were taken by me, and even the Irish atmosphere was friendly to my purpose, and gave me considerable success. A pleasanter five weeks of travel I never had, and if you who read this have never visited Ireland, don't get too old before doing so. And if you do visit it give yourself up to it, and you'll have a good time.

Here's the book--like it if you can, drop it if you don't. Never waste time over a book that is not meant for you.

CHARLES BATTELL LOOMIS.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Lismore Castle
A Real Irish Bull
Government Cottage, Rent a Shilling a Week
Horses in County Kerry
To the Men of '98
Prosperity in Limerick
Mackerel Seller, Bundoran, Donegal
In Donegal
The Bungalow of Seumas McManus
A Sky Line at Bundoran
The Rocks at Bundoran on the West Coast
Geese in Galway
Dublin Bay
A Dublin Ice Cart
O'Connell's Monument, Dublin
On the Road to Lismore, in a Rain Storm
Milk Wagon, Mallow
Green Coat Hospital, Cork
A Bit of Killarney
Street in Youghal
Thatched Cottage, Wicklow
Wicklow Peasants
Lost in his Lunch, Mallow, County Kerry
A Side Street, Wexford
Picturesque Galway
A String of Fishermen, Galway
Waiting for the Circus, Galway
Gaelic Sign, Donegal
Gone to America

TABLE OF CONTENTS

_I. A Taste of Irish Hospitality_
_II. Around about Lough Swilly_
_III. A Joyful Day in Donegal_
_IV. The Dull Gray Skies of Ireland_
_V. The Joys of Third-Class Travel_
_VI. A Few Irish Stories_
_VII. Snapping and Tipping_
_VIII. Random Remarks on Things Corkonian_
_IX. A Visit to Mount Mellaray_
_X. A Dinner I Didn't Have_
_XI. What Ireland Wants_
_XII. A Hunt for Irish Fairies_
_XIII. In Galway with a Camera_
_XIV. The New Life in Ireland_

JUST IRISH