ABSTRACT
Lord Glendowens3 domain is approached by a lodge whose portals are opened wide and it is close to the end of the street[.] The domain is pretty enough but of all beauties none can vie with the fine old ruined abbey4 close to the mansion, here are the fine ivy mantled arches[,] the round pillars and the fine cloysters in all their perfection[.] There are 2 sides of a [f. 2v] cloistered square in perfection. The venerable ivy grown S window is as fine as any I ever saw. The sacred ruins[,] the mouldering tombs, the monuments of human frailty[,] skulls[,] bones and coffins pieces[,] all raise a mournful melancholy train of ideas in the mind. The whole of the ruins are surrounded with trees and some very fine ones are growing out of the middle of them[.] Lord Glendowr’s gardens are celebrated for their size and goodness but not extraordinary[.] The House is what in England would be called a good seat, The Abbey is one of the most beautiful in preservation. The fine gothic windows of 5 arches are all covered with ivy and the top is all completely ivy mantled[.] Around the sides of the long chapel part are tombs in some Degrees of preservation and the sculls and bones of its ancestry and (passers on) still are placed in heaps or in the nitches of the walls. There are several stones with memorial inscriptions on them and the figures on them[.] On the West side are some large fine round arches next to the tower end and [on the] opposite side are cloisters of 3 small arches in one and there are 2 sides of a cloistered square still
existing[.] The tower at the N W end is still preserved[.] There is an inscription on the side of one of the western Pillars of 3 lines, but much obliterated[.] The first line is said to be partly [f. 3r] [blank] and the third is Orate Pro etc the date of the year[,] but it is not clear that it is the date[.] There are some letters after Orate pro. Dr Pococke could not read it.2 A French man3 made out (the steward said) all that was ever made out but it did not seem to me to be right as he unravelled it. Its obscurity has given it a name but it is not worth the trouble of making out. The park is very pretty and there are some noble trees all around the house. There is a fine avenue of beech in the park[.] Its size is about 100 Acres English[.] The gardens are laid out in the old dutch style[,] pastures and fortification like a la Potzdam. The ancient name and fame of the place and the reliques of the buildings fill the mind with many pleasing reflections. Besides[,] these are heightened by its being so near not only the sea but the wide and vast Atlantic[,] and the trees and foliage on that account are so much the more endearing and valuable[.] Perhaps no park has such flourishing appearance [so far] to the west as this is[.] We were at the House of Mr Dooly[,] Lord H4 Steward[,] who keeps a house of entertainment there[.]
[margin: November 13. Went from Killarney to Tralee. November 14 To Ardfert]
[ff. 3v-4r]5 Saturday November 15. NB. From this time keep a journal of the weather of the preceeding [sic] day in the commencement of the next.
