The Collegians

The Collegians
by Gerald Griffin
1829

Contents
How Garryowen Rose, and how It Fell How Eily O'Connor Puzzled All the Inhabitants of Garryowen How Mr. Daly the Middleman Sat Down to Breakfast How Mr. Daly the Middleman Rose Up From Breakfast How Kyrle Daly Rode Out to Woo, and how Lowry Looby Told Him Some Stories on the Way How Kyrle Daly Was More Puzzled by a Piece of Paper, than the Abolishers of the Small-Note Currency Themselves How Kyrle Daly Discovers that All the Sorrow Under the Sun Does Not Rest Upon His Shoulders Alone How the Reader, Contrary to the Declared Intention of the Historian, Obtains a Description of Castle Chute How Myles Murphy is Heard on Behalf of His Ponies How Kyrle Daly Sped in His Wooing How Kyrle Daly Has the Good Luck to See a Staggeen-Race How Fortune Brings Two Old Friends Together How the Two Friends Hold a Longer Conversation Together than the Reader May Probably Approve How Lowry Becomes Philosophical How Hardress Spent His Time while Kyrle Daly Was Asleep How the Friends Parted How Hardress Learned a Little Secret From a Dying Huntsman How the Gentlemen Spent the Evening, which Proved Rather Warmer than Hardress Expected How Hardress Met an Old Friend and Made a New One How Hardress Had a Strange Dream of Eily How Hardress Met a Strange Trial How the Temptation of Hardress Proceeded How an Unexpected Visitor Arrived in Eily's Cottage How Eily Undertakes a Journey in the Absence of Her Husband How Eily Fared in Her Expedition How Hardress Consoled Himself During His Separation From Eily How Hardress Answered the Letter of Eily How the Little Lord Put His Master's Wishes into Action How Hardress Lost An Old Acquaintance How Hardress Got His Hair Dressed in Listowel, and Heard a Little News How Kyrle Daly Hears of the Handsome Conduct of His Friend Hardress How Kyrle Daly's Warlike Ardour Was Checked by an Untoward Incident How Hardress Met a Friend of Eily's at the Wake How the Wake Concluded How Hardress at Length Received Some News of Eily How Hardress Made a Confidant How Hardress Found that Conscience Is the Sworn Foe of Valour How the Situation of Hardress Became More Critical How the Danger to the Secret of Hardress Was Averted by the Ingenuity of Irish Witnesses How Hardress Took a Decisive Step for His Own Security How the Ill-Temper of Hardress Again Brought Back His Perils How Mr. Warner Was Fortunate Enough to Find a Man that Could and Would Speak English How the Bride Was Startled by an Unexpected Guest How More Guests Appeared at the Wedding than Had Been Invited How the Story Ended
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1
How Garryowen Rose, and How It Fell
THE LITTLE ruined outlet, which gives its name to one of the most popular national songs of Erin, is situate on the acclivity of a hill near the city of Limerick, commanding a not uninteresting view of that fine old town, with the noble stream that washes its battered towers, and a richly cultivated surrounding country. Tradition has preserved the occasion of its celebrity, and the origin of its name, which appears to he compounded of two Irish words signifying "Owen's garden. "-A person so called was the owner, about half a century since, of a cottage and plot of ground on this spot, which from its contiguity to the town, became a favourite holiday resort with the young citizens of both sexes-a lounge presenting accommodations somewhat similar to those which are offered to the London mechanic by the Battersea tea-gardens. Owen's garden was the general rendezvous for those who sought for simple amusement or for dissipation. The old people drank together under the shade of trees-the young played at ball, goal, or other athletic exercises on the green; while a few lingering by the hedge-rows with their fair acquaintances, cheated the time with sounds less boisterous, indeed, but yet possessing their fascination also.
The festivities of our fathers, however, were frequently distinguished by so fierce a character of mirth, that, for any difference in the result of their convivial meetings, they might as well have been pitched encounters. Owen's garden was soon as famous for scenes of strife, as it was for mirth and humour; and broken heads became a staple article of manufacture in the neighbourhood.
This new feature in the diversions of the place, was encouraged by a number of young persons of a rank somewhat superior to that of the usual frequenters of the garden. They were the sons of the more respectable citizens, the merchants and wholesale traders of the city, just turned loose from school with a greater supply of animal spirits than they had wisdom to govern. Those young gentlemen being fond of wit, amused themselves by forming parties at night,