Methodism in Ireland

Asenath Nicholson
1847
Chapter IV (2) | Start of Chapter

Sabbath evening supped at the house of Mr. Burke, a Methodist clergyman. His companion was one of those prudent wives who are from the Lord. Her children were educated by herself (the proper business of mothers), and their becoming deportment testified that the pruning-knife had been applied in season. Mr. Burke told me that the Methodists now numbered in Ireland about 29,000 members, and 100 preachers. Certainly these indefatigable laborers have done no small business to make their way through Popery, Prelacy, Presbyterianism, and Independency. They are instant in season and out of season. Went to Arklow at seven, and found a plain chapel, with a plain man in the pulpit, and heard a plain sermon preached to a plain people, all in accordance, with every nail fitted to its place.

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.