The American newspaper editor kept a record of his visit to this country between July 1st and July 11th, 1825, writes Denis Fahey

 

During the years 1825 to 1827, Nathaniel Carter, an American newspaper editor, visited a number of countries, including Ireland, and wrote a journal which was later published as ‘Letters from Europe’.

His journey began on a packet ship, the Corinthian, that sailed from Sandy Hook, New York, on June 8th, 1825,and came in sight of Mizen Head on July 1st.

The ship continued to England but he and a companion disembarked on a pilot boat and landed at Kinsale, a town that stood on a declivity so deep that the roofs on one side were in line with the basements on the other.

It bore all the marks of decay, with narrow, dirty streets filled for the most part with crowds of poor, miserably clad inhabitants. The pair set out for Cork in a jaunting car and he noted that the roads made with pounded limestone and a stratum of topsoil were in perfect repair.

Cork was pleasantly situated on the Lee and had an extensive commerce and a good show of enterprise but, while the people looked healthy, the number of paupers and vagrants exceeded all expectation and the charitable institutions, though numerous, were wholly inadequate.

Before leaving the area, they visited Passage and Cove, the city’s two seaports, five and seven miles distant respectively, and on their trip down the river they observed charming sides lined with handsome country seats.
Cove, with a population of 10,000, was situated in a deep declivity so that it appeared to great advantage from the water. Its large harbour was one of the most capacious and secure in the world and the British Navy and American and other ships put in for repairs and provisions.

They saw one vessel containing 300 criminals bound for Botany Bay and another containing voluntary exiles bound for the New World.

On Sunday July 3rd, they attended Service in the town’s Protestant Episcopal church. The congregation was numerous and highly respectable but the chanting and singing were far inferior to what they were accustomed to hear in America.

Continue reading in this week’s Ireland’s Own