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6 January 1905 — Castle MacGarrett, Ballindine, County Mayo | |
Friday. 6th [January 1905]. I was rather knocked down with headache & kept quiet all day. Being Epiphany there was a service in the afternoon in the little church close by. Onie played the organ & led the singing. Mr Day the old clergyman came back to the Castle & remained on to dinner. Tho’ this is called a Castle it is little more than a villa– The old castle was abandoned in 15th century– The family built another house in the domain wh was destroyed by fire early last century & the family established themselves in the stables– Abt a year ago Geoffrey rebuilt & arranged the house as it now is—of concrete—without apparent plan or rhyme or reason & the result is not very happy. The gardens & trees are nice. Lord Westmeath is very depressed at the state of Ireland & thinks that by the forced sale of the landlords farm to the tenants the country will go down more & more. He told me the people are eaten up by superstition & the bad influence of the priests wh is a curious thing for him who is an R.C. to admit. He said that it will some day come to a rebellion when the race would have to be shot down. They are hopeless—idle, listless & impossible to improve– In fact he is very pessimistic. I cannot help feeling that there is much truth in what he says. Tho’ the people are not really poor they lounge about with their hands in their pockets doing as little as they can. They prefer to wear ragged clothes & to let their houses fall at their ears rather than trouble to mend them. | |
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