Other editions of book Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger: Or an Excursion Through Ireland, in 1844& 1845, for the Purpose of Personally Investigating the Condition of the Poor

The value of Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger cannot be overstated. It presents a vivid picture of Irish society on the eve of the Great Famine, exquisitely painted in words by an outsider with a most adept hand. In it we find a remarkable view of Irish life in the 1840s, from the landed gentry down to the poorest peasant, the particular object of the author's visit. The account is all the more valuable and realistic because Mrs Nicholson eschewed staying at the best of hotels and travelling in fine carriages, but more often than not spent her nights in common lodging-houses, or even in the cabins of the poor, and made a great deal of her journey around the country on foot, with an ever-changing cast of peasants for company. On her travels she saw life as it really was for the ordinary folk, witnessed their habits, idiosyncrasies, customs and traditions, from faction fights to funeral laments, and imbibed their mode of speech. In terms of getting a sense of Ireland's social past, her writing is the closest to time travel that could be hoped for. Asenath Nicholson, a native of Vermont, had for some years run a boarding-house in New York and, in that city, she had become all too familiar with the plight of the poor immigrant Irish. Her first journey to Ireland was inspired by a desire to see for herself the conditions that were causing such a mass exodus. She was teetotal, vegan, anti-slavery and feminist in outlook, but above all an extremely pious woman, who toured the country distributing religious tracts and bibles to the poor. She also had a propensity for impromptu outbursts of hymn-singing which, to her amusement, only added to a notion among the Irish peasantry that she was "crack'd". Here was an intelligent, forceful woman who, with a burning sense of justice and righteous anger, was not afraid to speak her mind, and issued rebukes to those, irrespective of rank or religion, whom she felt fell short of Christian principles and duty. The combination of the author's ability to write a good narrative, her own personality, and the subject matter that she wrote on, makes this book a gem among gems. It is naturally replete with pathos, but is not without moments of humour too. Sometimes the humour comes deliberately from Mrs Nicholson's pen but, on other occasions, the reader will laugh from the perspective of the subjects of her study at this extraordinary woman, the 'American Stranger'. A final point is that although the author did travel north, her account confines itself to the more southerly counties: "Should I ever reach home, I hope to give a fuller detail of my tour, which embraced all but the county of Cavan. I have made no mention of the north of Ireland, for want of room, but cannot close without saying that in Belfast I spent a few pleasant weeks." This new edition has had the text completely reset and a few obvious spelling mistakes corrected. Notes have been added to those of the author's, with a view to aiding the reader who is perhaps not so familiar with Irish history and social history. Most of the phonetic transcriptions of English word pronunciations should still be easily decipherable, but a few of the less obvious have been annotated. An index has also been added for easier reference, although some repetitive themes throughout the book, such as descriptions of diet and cabin interiors, have been judiciously excluded.Asenath Nicholson's account of her second tour of Ireland Annals of the Famine in Ireland, in 1847, 1848, and 1849 is also available, ISBN 978-1910375631

"Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger" is the compelling account of an American widow's journey through Ireland on the eve of the Great Famine. Her object was to determine the condition of the poor and discover why so many were emigrating to America. Eschewing fancy hotels and fine carriages, she travelled a good deal on foot and rested at common lodging-houses and even peasant cabins. This provided a unique opportunity to study the lifestyle and character of the ordinary folk at close quarters, and what the pious Mrs. Nicholson observed has left posterity with an invaluable record of the customs and traditions of the Irish peasantry, from faction fights to funeral cries, and a graphic account of the hardships that Ireland's poor had to bear.This new edition has had notes added to aid the reader who is perhaps less familiar with Irish history and social history.

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Excerpt from Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger: Or an Excursion Through Ireland, in 1844& 1845, for the Purpose of Personally Investigating the Condition of the PoorA preface is like a porter at the entrance of a castle or a dinner-party; however necessary his attendance may be, and however dazzling his livery, he can expect but a hasty brush from the passers in it is the castle they want to see, it is the dinner they have come to eat. Knowing, however, that every public act demands a pub lic explanation, I give my candid reasons for doing so strange a work, and for doing it in so strange a way.We have had many Pencillings by the Way, and Conciliation Halls, and Killarney Lakes from the t0ps of coaches and from smoking dinner tables. But one day's walk on mountain or bog, one night's lodging where the pig, and the ass, and horned oxen feed.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Excerpt from Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger: Or an Excursion Through Ireland, in 1844& 1845, for the Purpose of Personally Investigating the Condition of the PoorA preface is like a porter at the entrance of a castle or a dinner-party; however necessary his attendance may be, and however dazzling his livery, he can expect but a hasty brush from the passers in it is the castle they want to see, it is the dinner they have come to eat. Knowing, however, that every public act demands a pub lic explanation, I give my candid reasons for doing so strange a work, and for doing it in so strange a way.We have had many Pencillings by the Way, and Conciliation Halls, and Killarney Lakes from the t0ps of coaches and from smoking dinner tables. But one day's walk on mountain or bog, one night's lodging where the pig, and the ass, and horned oxen feed.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.