Roscommon is a very
level country as far as I saw of it, and very thinly populated.
The town of Roscommon has a quiet inland look, with a good deal of
trading done in a subdued manner. There is the extensive ruin of an old
castle in it; the old gaol is very castle-like also. I drove over to
Athleague as soon as I arrived, a small squalid village some four Irish
miles away. The land is so level that one can see far on every side as
we drive along, and the country is really empty. The people left in the
little hamlets have one universal complaint, the rent is too high to be
paid and leave the people anything to live on. It was raised to the
highest during prosperous years; when the bad years came it became
impossible.
I enquired at this village of Athleague what had become of all the
people that used to live here in Roscommon. They were evicted for they
could not pay their rents. Where are they? Friends in America sent
passage tickets for many, some, out of the sale of all, made out what
took them away; some were in the poor house; some dead and gone. The
land is very empty of inhabitants.
CHAPTER XLIX
AN EMPTY COUNTRY--RAPACIOUS LANDLORDS.
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