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It was no easy matter to get out of Athlone, for at the entrance to the old-fashioned, narrowest of narrow bridges we found ourselves wedged and blocked by drays and sheep, reaching at least a mile; men cursing and swearing in Irish and English; sheep baaing, and so terrified, that the shepherds were in transports of fear brandishing their crooks at our postillions, and the postillions in turn brandishing their whips on the impassive backs of the sheep.
The taking of this portion of Athlone had cost Ginckle dearly, and he was but little nearer the object of his efforts, for he was separated from the Irish town by the Shannon, and the western arch of the bridge was broken down by the defenders.
There the press was so great that some of the fugitives were crushed to death in the narrow passage, and others were forced over the parapets into the waters which roared among the mill wheels below. In a few hours Ginkell had made himself master of the English quarter of Athlone; and this success had cost him only twenty men killed and forty wounded. But his work was only begun.
Somewhat ponderous he is, poor soul! but there are excellent things about him. Walter's account of his various quarters per last despatch. Query if original: "Loughrea is a blackguard place To Gort I give my curse; Athlone itself is bad enough, But Ballinrobe is worse. I cannot tell which is the worst, They're all so very bad; But of all towns I ever saw, Bad luck to Kinnegad." Old Mr.
"That has to follow, Colonel; I thought you would appreciate it better after you had done eating." "I have not had such a male since we left Athlone," O'Grady said, when at last he reluctantly laid down his knife and fork. "Be jabers, it would be all up with me if the French were to put in an appearance now, for faith I don't think I could run a yard to save me life."
He came from County Roscommon, the county, by the by, which can probably boast the best riders in Ireland, where he had a small property of his own, near Athlone; but the chief part of his time was spent in riding races and training for them. He had been at it all his life and certainly, if there be any merit in the perfection of such an art, Bob was entitled to it, for he rode beautifully.
Athlone is a wonderful place for donkeys, which swell the nine-fold harmony with incessant cacophonous braying, so that the town might fairly claim the distinction of being the chosen home, if not the fons et origo, of Nationalist oratory. Athlone, June 3rd. No. 31. Once again the Atlantic stops me.
About the same time local risings took place in Sligo, Mayo, and Roscommon, at first with such success that the President of the Province, Lord Ranelagh, shut himself up in the castle of Athlone, where he was closely besieged. III. In Leinster, no military movement of much importance was made, in consequence of the jealousy the Justices entertained of Ormond, and the emptiness of the treasury.
The Shannon, which is the boundary of the two provinces, rushed through Athlone in a deep and rapid stream, and turned two large mills which rose on the arches of a stone bridge. Above the bridge, on the Connaught side, a castle, built, it was said, by King John, towered to the height of seventy feet, and extended two hundred feet along the river.
Thus came pursued and pursuers to Gairec, close by Athlone the Ford of Luan and the wooded shore of the great Lough Ree. There was fought a battle hardly less fatal to victors than to vanquished, for though the hosts of Meave were routed, yet Concobar's men could not continue the pursuit.
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