BEAUTY OF IRELAND

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22378, 26 March 1936, Page 4

BEAUTY OF IRELAND

A PEOPLE OF CONTRASTS

LOVERS OF OUTDOOR LIFE Returning to Christchurch from a holiday visit to Groat Britain, Mrs. Bernard Mar ton and her two young daughters, Elsie and Elisabeth, arrived at Auckland bv the Wanganella yesterday after a fortnight's stay in Sydney. Mrs. Marton has been away ior eight months. "Everything you lipar or read about the beauty of Killarney's lakes and mountains is perfectly true," said Mrs. Marton. Ireland was, in fact, a country of vivid emerald beauty shrouded in heavy mist. , Mrs. Marton said that during her stay there she had formed a very high opinion of the Irish as a people. Social life in Dublin was fast vanishing under heavy rates, taxes and mortgages, and its disappearance was accepted with the air of martyrdom that was part of the make-up of the Irish, who, neveitheless, remained jolly and hospitable. To-day in Dublin large houses that once macte a massive and dignified background for the splendours of the wealthy and fashionable people of Ireland were now tenanted by the very poor and transformed into flats and bed-sitting rooms. The people who had owned them had either died or wero living in smaller houses on the outskirts of the city. Two of the most interesting events which Mrs. Marton attended in Ireland were the famous Puck (goat) Fair at Dinglo and the Dublin Horse Fair, where she saw some of the most spectacular riding she had ev sl r witnessed and hundreds of wellgroonied magnificent horses. Ihe Irish, said Mrs. Marton, appeared to be more interested in their stables tlian in their homes, as every man . and woman had a passion for horses. The women impressed Mrs. Marton in their love of the outdoors. They wero enthusiastic anglers and extremely fond of long walks and climbing in the mountains. The younger women, in particular, led an almost wholly outdoor existence.