Return to Dublin

Asenath Nicholson
1847
Chapter XXVI (22) | Start of Chapter

The long ride to Dublin terminated at eight o'clock, and though I knew it was not my own fire-side that I was approaching, yet the same kind greeting and welcome at the home I had left, made me feel that though in a land of strangers, I was not in a family that could not reciprocate my wants, if not my feelings, and do all in their power to make me comfortable. I spent a few pleasant weeks in Dublin, visiting public institutions. The Academy of Painters was a place of interest, because so many proofs are there given that Ireland spares no expense in perpetuating the virtues and talents of her sons.

Ireland’s Welome to the Stranger is one of the best accounts of Irish social conditions, customs, quirks and habits that you could wish for. The author, Mrs Asenath Nicholson, was an American widow who travelled extensively in Ireland on the eve of the Great Famine and meticulously observed the Irish peasantry at work and play, as well as noting their living conditions and diet. The book is also available from Kindle.