1936 On the Continent

not seem to have changed much. They say a Frenchman invented the bagpipes and showed them to an Irishman; who saw the joke and told aScotchman—who hasn’t seen the joke yet! But you must be stone deaf and solid as a gouty hippopotamus if you can hear the Irish piper at a country fair and not up and foot it with the rest. If an Irishman is feeling lonely, he’ll pipe the very blackbirds out of the hedge to keep him company: you’ll never lack for music in Ireland! ’Tis a lovely country!
Connections from London
    The best routes to Ireland are: From Liverpool to Dublin; from Holyhead to Dublin; and from Fishguard to Wexford (Rosslare), or to Waterford and Cork.
    Cork is also served by boats from Southampton and Plymouth. To the north there is an excellent line from Liverpool to Belfast, and there are also Scotch boats.
    All the ports have direct mail trains running from London in connection with the sailings of the steamers.
    On the shortest passage, between Holyhead and Dublin there are regular and swift steamers, and even in the worst gales you may cross in comfort. You can travel first-class in a luxurious sleeper, or steerage in a cattle boat. I have done both, and such hospitality as was available was given equally graciously on both boats.
Touring by Car
    For visitors wishing to tour in Ireland in their own cars, the A.A. and R.A.C. provide easy, straightforward facilities. A small deposit is required, and returned, no extra insurance is needed and the matter is perfectly simple to arrange at one visit.
    If you go to the London, or Liverpool offices in the morning, the required information, passes and plates, etc., can be arranged for travel the same day; though it is easier if you can give 24 hours’ notice.
    The car can travel by the same boat as the passenger and there is no need to unpack or repack the luggage.
    However, if touring far, especially off the beaten track in the West, it is advisable to take rather more “spares” than would be customary on a similar tour in England. In the West, garages are few and sometimes far between, and stocks are more restricted. Thus, if it is necessary to send to Dublin or Cork for a special part it may take a day or so to reach you.
    But as the country is so lovely (and the garage and entire community will undertake to entertain you while waiting), the delay will not matter.
    Nothing does matter in Ireland so long as you are happy. That in Ireland is the mental passport required; and it’s no bad passport for a holiday.
Passports Required for Free State
    For the Free State, a passport is required and customs must be passed on landing, though not in Northern Ireland; but the “duties” are lenient to visitors, in fact Irish hospitality welcomes the visitor on the quay, and if you are obviously over on holiday the formalities are of the slightest.
    Visitors are very welcome in Ireland, and any newcomer is well advised to consult the Irish Tourist Association immediately on landing, or write beforehand. They will do everything to promote the comfort of travellers and help them in every possible way.
    You sense the spontaneous Irish welcome the minute you set foot in the country. It will probably be raining, but the air is soft and warm, the sunlight plays like a smile over the green hills of Wicklow. Ireland is a warm, wet, smiling land.
    “Moist and agreeable” is the Irish ideal of both climate and company.
    If you are not Irish, and try to decide upon the essential characteristic of the people, I think you will find it is sympathy. They have wonderful sympathetic insight and understanding.
The Blarney Stone
    The Blarney Stone may give to the man or woman who kisses it the gift of speaking the pleasing word, but this faculty for saying the right thing is the birthright of all Irish people.
    The Irish have the silver gift of speech. The genius for giving a pleasant answer is born in their truly sympathetic hearts. The Irishman will weep with you, argue with you, fight with you, drink with you, and laugh with you, all with a freedom unknown to the reserved Englishman or the reticent Scotch. I think it would be impossible to be lonely in Ireland. If an Irishman is unhappy hebecomes steeped in the deepest melancholy. He fairly exudes woe from every pore. Contrariwise, if he is happy; no bird flies so free as his soaring spirit.
    There have been more sentimental ditties crooned about the Irish smile than would fill this volume, but no one has done justice to the