The poteen shack

The poteen shack

Lough Derg--Islands--Poteen Shack--Alcohol

"The only picturesque object I observed, as we rowed towards shore, was a little island in the centre of the Lough, on which there was a hut..."

Caesar Otway, 1780-1842

Otway, Caesar, Sketches in Ireland: Descriptive of Interesting, and Hitherto Unnoticed Districts, in the North and South, pp. 177-78

W. Curry, jun. and co.; [etc., etc.], Dublin; First published, in part, in the Christian examiner. cf. Pref. A series of letters signed "C. O.", the first four entitled "Sketches in Donegal", the last five "Sketches in the south of Ireland."

1827

Digitised by Google, sponsored by New York Public Library, archived on Hathi Trust digital library

Public domain

1 p., ℓ., iv, vi, 411 p. 19 cm.

English

Description and travel

Text

DD_0040

54.616218, -7.876212

http://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433066646450

"The only picturesque object I observed, as we rowed towards shore, was a little island in the centre of the Lough, on which there was a hut. It was an interesting object for the eye to rest on, as the only human habitation within the whole scope of vision in the vicinity of Lough Derg—all else around its shores, waste and desolation ; and it immediately struck me that this little cabin, on this speck of an island, was the solitary cell of some devoted ascetic. But on inquiry, I found from my companions in the boat, that it was no such thing—it was built by a poteen distiller; and there occasionally, and to answer the demands of the resorting pilgrims, he provides a supply of that article, which seems intimately connected with the devotions of the lower classes of the Irish Roman Catholics; from north to south, wherever I observed a holy well, or holy station, there was always adjoining some place for the sale of strong liquors—yes, even now, wherever piety erects a new chapel, cupidity soon sees the gain of constructing a public house."

Monograph