From County Clare to the Kingdom of Kerry.

The route Charlotte and Arthur took. 

 After a fabulous week in Kilkee in which our happy couple had walked, talked, laughed, admired the amazing scenery and rested after a hectic start to their honeymoon, it was time for Charlotte and Arthur to head south, leave County Clare and travel on to the Kingdom of Kerry.

What do we know for sure about the next leg of their honeymoon itinerary? Charlotte tells us in a letter she wrote from Dublin on 28th July 1854 to her friend Ellen Nussey,

"We have been to Killarney, Glen Gariffe, Tarbert, Tralee, Cork, and are now once more in Dublin again..."

So, like our happy couple, my Bronte travelling companion and I headed off in the same direction.

To get to County Kerry we, like Charlotte and Arthur had to travel back to the Shannon estuary and cross over this wide expanse of water to Tarbert in Kerry. 

The Shannon Estuary separating County Clare from County Kerry.

                               

Charlotte and Arthur would have taken a jaunting car from Kilkee to Kilrush, with the 8 miles (13 kms) distance taking about one hour to an hour and a half. They then took the turf steamer from Kilrush to Tarbert which took approximately three quarters of an hour. 

We took the modern-day Shannon car ferry from Killimer, a short distance from Kilrush, to Tarbert.

                                   

                                              

Shannon car ferry 2022 style.

                                             

Charlotte mentioned that she and Arthur went to Tarbert, which is the first stop after getting off the steamer. The question is did they stay in Tarbert for a night? There is no primary evidence to prove that they did, other than what is written in the above letter to Miss Nussey, which could mean that they either stayed at Tarbert or simply passed through Tarbert on the way to Killarney.

Some Bronte commentators think Charlotte and Arthur might have stayed a night at Tarbert House which is one mile away from the steamer quayside. The current owner of Tarbert House is Mrs Ursula Leslie. The Leslie family built Tarbert House in 1690 and the house has been in their family ever since. It stands in wooded parkland with sweeping and most beautiful views down to the Shannon. It is a Queen Anne Georgian style building and trades on the fact it has had notable visitors including Benjamin Franklin, Lord Kitchener, Winston Churchill, Daniel O'Connell, Jonathan Swift and, allegedly, Charlotte Bronte. 

Other commentators believe Charlotte and Arthur wouldn't have stayed there.

Erring on the side of caution, I decided to pay a visit to Tarbert House. It literally was just about two minutes up the road from the Shannon ferry. My first impressions of the house were those of faded glory. It is a very imposing house and the views to the Shannon are divine. However, it really must take a lot to maintain this huge house.

Tarbert House front elevation.

Tarbert House rear elevation.

Lovely views across a lawn and fields to the Shannon Estuary.

Pleasing views from the front of the house.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs Ursula Leslie who showed me around the ground floor of her large house with it's impressive drawing room and dining room. 

She said that Charlotte Bronte and Arthur Bell Nicholls stayed for one or two nights although, as she acknowledges, there is no primary evidence to support this. She told me that Charlotte had known the then Mrs Leslie in 1854 from their time in Brussels which was 1842-43. Rather stupidly, I did not ask Mrs Ursula Leslie how Charlotte knew the Mrs Leslie of 1854. What was the then Mrs Leslie doing in Brussels at the time Charlotte was there? Was she married then and called Mrs Leslie or was she a spinster in 1842-43 known by her maiden name?

If Charlotte had known the Mrs Leslie of 1854 from their shared time in Brussels in 1842-43 it would make sense for Charlotte to wish to stop off at Tarbert House to meet up with her again. I have just written to Mrs Ursula Leslie to ask her why her predecessor was in Brussels in 1842 or 1843 when Charlotte was there. Maybe this will clarify the situation. I do hope I will get a reply.

 I also asked Helen MacEwan the author of three excellent books on the Brontes in Brussels if the Leslie name rings a bell but she said not. If Mrs Leslie was known by her maiden name though this might explain the issue.

Helen MacEwan's books on the Brontes in Brussels.

I also asked Monica Kendall who has recently written a book on the Brontes, including their time in Brussels, focussing on Charlotte's relationship with Monica's forebears the Jenkins family who Charlotte knew in Brussels. But again she said the Leslie name means nothing to her. I do need to research the Leslie family fully and see who the Mrs Leslie of 1854 was and who she was in 1842/3.In the meantime, hopefully, the current Mrs Leslie will reply to my letter and explain all by post. If she does this I will return to this blogpost to update the information.

Monica Kendall's book which gives information on Charlotte in Brussels and her relationship with the Jenkins family there.

If Charlotte knew the Mrs Leslie of 1854 from Brussels I could understand her desire to stay a night to see her. If she didn't though, why would Charlotte wish to stay?

My view is, that Charlotte and Arthur were able to get up and get going. This is evidenced from their 8.00a.m. Haworth wedding with their wedding night subsequently taking place in Conwy, North Wales some 122 miles away on the same day. This shows they could have got up early in Kilkee, got to the ferry in an hour to an hour and a half and taken a forty five minute turf steamer to Tarbert. So why would they stop off at Tarbert House for a night if they still had a lot of the day left ahead of them to get to get to where they wished to stay next -which was Killarney...unless of course Charlotte wanted to stay with an old acquaintance from Brussels?

 The distance of Tarbert to Killarney is 48 miles (76 kms). I would say this is possible in a day including the Kilkee to Kilrush road section and the 45 minute steamer. The road journey from Tarbert to Killarney would have taken 6- 8 hours allowing for changes of horses. It was July and there was a lot of light until late on in the evening.

Furthermore, if Charlotte had visited an old Brussels friend  /acquaintance at Tarbert House would she not have mentioned it in a letter?

 Assuming they could get an early ferry to Tarbert, leaving them a lot of the day ahead to travel further, then why would they stop if she didn't know anyone at Tarbert House, especially given Charlotte's well-known reticence to socialise with people she didn't really know?

The current Mrs Leslie says this was the room Charlotte and Arthur stayed in at Tarbert House.

The room that Charlotte and Arthur allegedly stayed in at Tarbert House.




Charlotte and Arthur allegedly gifted the Wedgewood tortoise shell items seen here on the table to their hosts. I wonder where they bought the gifts from?

However, we shall never know for sure whether Charlottte and Arthur did or did not night-stop at Tarbert House. What do you think?

The next port of call after Tarbert would have been at a pleasant  market town called Listowel where there would have been a change of horses, or where the horses were rested. This took place at the 17th century coaching house called the Listowel Arms. Arthur and Charlotte probably took a Bianconi outside jaunting car from Tarbert to the Listowel Arms. We broke our journey too in Listowel stopping for a very pleasant lunch at the Listowel Arms, just in case Charlotte and Arthur had stayed there, and then taking a stroll around the now very colourfully painted town. 

The carriage arch facing the Square in Listowel.

                                   

                                 

Lunch at the Listowel Arms

St John's church Listowel (1819) in the Square. Now a theatre and arts centre.

Colourful Listowel.

The River Feale running through Listowel to the rear of the Listowel Arms.

We liked Listowel town with Listowel Castle right next to the Listowel Arms. Maybe Charlotte and Arthur had time to see the castle too before they headed off again. Or maybe they stayed overnight at the Listowel Arms to break their journey if they felt the distance to Killarney was too much for them in one day.  There would be no need to socialise if they stayed at a hotel, unlike at Tarbert House had they stayed there - which would have suited Charlotte much more!

15th century Listowel Castle just along from the Listowel Arms.

 The remaining distance to Killarney from Listowel is 36 miles (59 kilometres). Would this have been too far for Charlotte and Arthur to travel after an already long drive? The honeymooners may have also known that William Makepeace Thackeray, whom she had admired and met in London, had stayed at the Listowel Arms in the 1840s and had recommended the hotel in 1843 in his Irish Sketch-Book. Arthur and Charlotte may well have read his Irish Sketch-Book and decided to break their Kilkee to Killarney journey staying at the same hotel as he did.

Again, we have no primary evidence to confirm or otherwise whether the honeymooners stayed overnight at Listowel and at the Listowel Arms. What do you think they did? Might they have stopped there or would they have been tempted to continue on their way to Killarney? Would they have chosen to stop a night to rest from the long road journey with all it's jolting and jarring?

Whether or not they stayed overnight at either Tarbert House or possibly the Listowel Arms, the next stage of their journey would have been to Tralee which Charlotte mentions in her letter to Ellen Nussey. Again the horses would have stopped there to be rested which would have given our newlyweds some time to see a little of Tralee with its Georgian buildings and neoclassical courthouse.

When we got to Tralee it felt rather jaded, more of a commercial, office building type of town. But as we were also rather jaded and, wishing to get to Killarney, we didn’t stay long to see if it had more to offer.

Tralee

After Tralee the next stage of Charlotte's, Arthur's and our journey was to Killarney at a distance of 21 miles (34 kms).

As we drove the final miles to Killarney we discussed the following:

Did they stay a night at Tarbert House? Maybe or maybe not.

Did they break their journey staying a night at the Listowel Arms or another establishment in Listowel? Maybe or maybe not.

Did they just go for it and do the whole trip from Kilkee to Killarney in one long day? Maybe or maybe not as that would have been a long time sitting in a jaunting car riding and bumping along.  

What do you think?

However, what we do know is that the couple finally arrived in Killarney, as did we.

We were very much looking forward to our stay there. We had reserved seven days in the area so we could really get to know it in all it's guises from sunrises to sunsets, seeing the mountains and lakes at different times of the day and in different light. We didn't want to dash through, we wanted to stop and savour it's majesty and beauty.

 Charlotte and Arthur spent less time in the Killarney area than we did...but they were as equally impressed with it as we were. It really is a beautiful place with  the most mighty of mountains and beautiful lakes. 

Killarney National Park.