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76 From Enniskillen we went to Athlone, passing through Sligo. Thence we went in an outside car to the "Deserted Village" of Goldsmith. We saw the ruins of "the village preacher's modest mansion," which rose "where a few torn shrubs the place disclose;" we saw too the ruins of the "three pigeons" where "village politicians looked profound, and news much older than the ale went round." "The busy mill, the never-failing brook," the village church that topped the neighbouring hill" were also pointed out to us. Auburn, otherwise called Lishoy, is the most central spot in Ireland, and draws crowds of spectators to its deserted fields through the magic of the poet's pen.

We left Athlone for the busy town of Limmerick, whence we went to see the falls of Shannon, or as they are generally called the "rapids of the Doonas." There are no regular falls here, but the great Shannon gets very shallow and clatters along at a tremendous rate over a wide and rocky bed. All around you see the luxuriant vegetation of spring; trees and shrubs overshadow the river, little isles every here and there are reflected in the bosom of the river, clear and placid where it is deep, while in other places the rushing and troubled waves are torn on a hundred little pebbles and spread in a white sheet of foam. Near this place are the ruins of a very ancient castle of which no accounts can be had.

From Limmerick we went to the magnificent lakes