"The repetition of the baptismal vow [before St. Brigid's Cross] is a reaching back again towards baptismal innocence and is the usual ritual of retreats..."
"Lough Derg has certainly been well chosen as a spot of religious penitence and seclusion, for the character of its scenery harmonises well with such a feeling; it is that of wild and gloomy loneliness."
"But the breeze gradually dropped. Large splashes of calm, glazy-looking water appeared here and there, spreading by little and little over the whole surface, while the rises became more and more infrequent, and, before a dozen fish had been caught,…
"The author of the following brief sketch, on first receiving a copy of the statistical queries, was for a considerable time in doubt whether to forward any answer to the inquiries proposed..."
"Of woods, nurseries or plantations [Templecarn] is at present completely destitute, thought there is every appearance of it having been formerly well supplied with timber..."
"But we have not yet reached the island. We are still on the landing-stage looking up the long reaches of the lake (it covers and area of twenty square miles), noting the high, bleak, purple mountains which surround it, and the number of pretty…
