Honeymoon

After spending about a week at Banagher, the newly-weds travelled along the banks of the Shannon and Lough Derg to Limerick, where they took a boat – either the Erin-go-Brath or the Garryowen – to Kilkee. The Koh-i-noor steamer was then out of commission, having met with an accident near Foune.

the West End Hotel

From Kilkee on Tuesday, July 18th, 1854, Charlotte wrote to Catherine Wooler, her former teacher:

'My Dear Miss Catherine, - Your kind letter reached me in a wild and remote spot - a little watering-place on the South West Coast of Ireland' and she gave her a synopsis of her honeymoon tour in Wales and Ireland, adding: I had heard a great deal about Irish negligence & I own that till I came to Kilkee - I saw little of it. Here at our Inn - splendidly designated 'the West End Hotel' - there is a good deal to carp at, were in a carping humour - but we laugh instead of grumbling -for out of doors there is much indeed to compensate for any indoor shortcomings, so magnificent an ocean - so bold and grand a coast - I never yet saw. My husband calls me -.

Dr. Barker remarks of this letter: 'It was a very long time since Charlotte had written anything so light-hearted as this careless valediction or, indeed, enjoyed the intimacy of shared humour.

Later in the same month, Charlotte wrote again about her Kilkee experience, which had greatly impressed her, in a letter to her friend, Catherine Winkworth. In her enthusiasm for Kilkee. Charlotte gave only the briefest account possible of her honeymoon (and strangely omits all reference to Banagher):

'After a short sojourn in the capital - went to the coast - such a wild iron-bound coast - with such an ocean-view as I had not yet seen and such battling of waves with rocks as I had never imagined. 'My husband is not a poet or a poetical man - and one of my grand doubts before marriage was about 'congenial tastes' and so on.

The first morning we went out on to the cliffs and saw the Atlantic coming in all white foam, I did not know whether I should get leave or time to take the matter in my own way. I did not want to talk - but I did want to look and be silent. Having hinted a petition, licence was not refused – covered with a rug to keep o f f the spray I was allowed to sit where I chose - and he only interrupted me when he thought I crept too near the edge of the cliff.  So far he is always good in this way - and this protection which does not interfere or pretend is I believe a thousand times better than any half sort of pseudo sympathy.

limerick Charlotte Bronte's Kilkee

Kilkee civic trust sea wall

http://bronteblog.blogspot.com/

Next July 15, at Sotheby's there will be an auction with interesting Brontë items.
Charlotte Brontë Autograph Letter Signed, to Ellen Nussey

1)  "...I know my own sentiments because I can read my own mind, but the mind of the rest of man and woman-kind, are to me sealed volumes, hieroglyphicked scrolls which I cannot easily either unseal or decipher; yet time, careful study, long acquaintance overcome most difficulties, and in your case, I think they have succeeded well in bringing to light and Construing that hidden language whose turnings, windings, inconsistencies, and obscurities, so frequently baffle the researches of the honest observer of human Nature..."

2)  The very rare first edition (issued with her sister's novel Agnes Grey) in near fine condition of Emily Brontë's classic romantic work, consistently among the three best-selling novels in the English language. Almost universally rejected by uncomprehending reviewers upon publication (sales were not even of an order to justify any publisher's payment to either Emily or Anne Brontë)
Read more on http://bronteblog.blogspot.com/

Honeymoon.

Charlotte and Arthur travelled along the banks of the Shannon and Lough Derg to Limerick.

Limerick

Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region.

Lough Derg (from Irish: Loch Deirgeirt meaning "loch of the red eye") is the third-largest lake (or lough) in Ireland (after Lough Neagh and Lough Corrib) and the second-largest in the Republic of Ireland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lough_Derg_(Shannon)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limerick

http://www.limerick.ie/media/charlotte%20bronte's%20kilkee.pdf

Interesting pictures of famous Bronte places

On http://www.fotolibra.com/gallery/166397/bronte-birthplace-thornton-bradford/like/ you see interesting pictures of famous Bronte places, like Haworth mainstreet, the Parsonage, the moors, Thornton the Bronte birthplace and more.

On www.haworth-village.org.uk/brontes/thornton/thornton you see interesting pictures of the inside ( the rooms) of the birthplace at Thornton.

Background of Arthur Bell Nicholls

Tully Farm

Arthur Bell Nicholls was, according to the inscription on his headstone in Banagher churchyard, born in 1818, though other sources give the date as 1819. His birth place was Tully Farm, Killead, in the townland of Tully, Co. Antrim. Now it is a comfortable two storied house with a slated roof and all modern conveniences, looking out across the fields to Lough Neagh and the Sperrin mountains beyond. It is still a working farm, hut very different from the days when he was a child, running around in a very crowded family.

Killead was reckoned to have been a relatively prosperous place, with neat well kept houses, lime washed, and some thatched. It would appear however that by 1892, although the land was in good heart, the house had become neglected and was in a state of disrepair. At that time it was one and a half storeys and thatched, with a stable at one end and a byre at the other. Above the stable was a large room heated by the warmth rising from the animals beneath. The wooden floor of this room had traces of corn husks and chaff showing that at one time it was used for storing grain. There had been a large flagged kitchen, and at the rear of the house was found a circular horse walk for churning butter. When it was sold by George Nicholls there were ninety six acres; all good land.

It is not to say that William Nicholls, Arthur's father had the same amount of land. He is described as a 'small farmer' so others in the family may have added to the farm after his death. William remains a shadowy figure. We know that his family came over from Scotland around 1620 and were of Presbyterian stock. He settled in Killead, and married Margaret Bell of nearby Glenavy. She also was of Scottish descent, but of the Established Church. Before his wife died at the early age of forty four Margaret bore at least eleven children.

Margaret Bell had a sister Eliza and a brother John. However, it was her other brother, Alan, who played the most important role in her short life. He met a young girl called Harriet Lucinda Adamson and they married in Dublin on 5th April 1820. Harriet was eighteen at the time of her marriage. Born in York Street Dublin, she was of an old distinguished family with Danish origins. She lived in a large house where her parents entertained lavishly, inviting interesting and sociably acceptable people to their home.

Soon after they were married Dr. Alan Bell took his bride to live in Banagher where he took up his headmastership of the Royal School. Their new home was called Cuba House.

When Arthur was seven and his brother Alan nine, they had a visit from their aunt and uncle who had travelled up to Tully from Banagher. They offered to take the two boys back with them, bring them up as their own, educate them and give them a good start in life. It was a great opportunity for them, hut a hard decision for their parents to make. However, the Nicholls' house was bursting at the seams with children, and the only outlook for the boys would be the grinding life of farming. Their parents let them go. It must have been a bittersweet parting, for as far as is known they never saw their parents again, although the families kept in touch.

The two boys were extremely lucky to become members of this particular family, where they were lovingly accepted by one and all, enjoying a happy and carefree life with all the advantages of money and position. In Cuba House the boys were well and happy. They both proved to be good scholars and wanted for nothing. By now their aunt and uncle may have adopted them, but they were certainly treated as part of the family. Two years after their arrival in Banagher, their mother Margaret died.

http://www.lisburn.com/books/historical society

dublin map

Charlotte must suddenly have realised that she had married a real 'gentleman'

Charlotte must suddenly have realised that she had married a real 'gentleman' in every sense of the word. On all sides she heard great reports of him. One of the servants told her she had got 'one of the best gentlemen in the country'. In her letters home she wrote,

'I was very much pleased with all I saw, but I was also greatly surprised to find so much English order and repose in the family habits and arrangements. I had heard a great deal about Irish negligence.'

Describing Mrs. Bell, Arthur's aunt... 'with her English manners — like an English or Scottish matron, quiet, kind and well bred',

Charlotte began to revise her former opinion of her husband and his family.

Tourism is of crucial importance to the district

From The Bronte blog “Tourism is of crucial importance to the district – Bradford has some of the most wonderful attractions,” says tourism manager with Bradford Council Tricia Tillotson. “We have four hotpsots – Haworth, Ilkley, Saltaire and Bradford itself.” [...]

The Brontes, Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, Ilkley’s Cow and Calf Rocks, White Wells, Bradford’s National Media Museum, Cartwright Hall, Little Germany, Saltaire village, Salts Mill – being a snapshot of the many places that pull in visitors.

Haworth attracts many Japanese tourists, explains Tricia.

“Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights form part of the school curriculum in Japan, so it is the ambition of many people to visit Haworth and the moors.” [...]

A special ‘visit Bronte country’ website will be launched later in the year. (Helen Mead)

the Telegraph and Argus

Banagher

Small town in present-day County Offaly, where Arthur Bell Nicholls lived with his uncle the Rev. Alan Bell and his family from the age of seven. Charlotte went there on her honeymoon and was impressed by Cuba House, which had served as the family home, with nearby the school of which the Rev. Bell was head. Charlotte was openly surprised at the state in which the family lived (“like a gentleman’s country-seat” – to MW, 10 July 1854). Banagher was hardly more than a main street (in which Arthur was photographed in old age): it contains the church of St Paul’s, where Arthur was buried, and Hill House, where he lived with his second wife Mary Anna, née Bell. In the early 1840s Trollope lived here, working as a surveyor’s clerk in the Post Office.

history Banagher

http://banagher.co.tv/

The Bells of Banagher

The large family of Bells enjoyed a fine social life in Banagher, with dancing and boating trips on the River Shannon. Charlotte admired their cheerful and pleasant lifestyle and was made to feel very welcome at Cuba Court by Arthur's Aunt Bell. Charlotte had the good fortune to visit the splendid mansion (now in ruins) in its heyday in 1854.

Rev. Arthur Bell Nicholls had been born in Northern Ireland (as had Charlotte's own father) but he was orphaned early and with his brother brought up and educated by his uncle, Dr. Alan Bell, at the Royal School housed in Cuba Court, Banagher. The school turned out several distinguished men, including Sir William Wilde, father of the famous playwright Oscar Wilde (Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde) of Dublin.

Most of the Bell males were scholars at Trinity College in Dublin, as was Arthur. Arthur's brother managed the Birr Canal. The Bells were all well-respected and known for their excellent sense of humor and their "way with dogs."
ancestry surnames.bell

Cuba Court, Banagher

Arthur's brother and cousins escorted the the newly-weds from Dublin to Banagher.While on honeymoon Charlotte wrote in her journal what she thought of Cuba Court……..

"I cannot help feeling singulary interested in all about the house. In this house Mr. Nicholls was brought up by his uncle Dr.Bell.

It is very large and looks extremely like a gentleman's country-house. Within, most of the rooms are lofty and spacious and some, the drawing room, dining room, etc.-handsomely and commodiously furnished. The passages look desolate and bare. Our bedroom, a great room on the ground-floor would have looked gloomy when we were shewn into it but for the turf-fire that was burning in the wide old chimney."

In the first week Mrs. Bell kindly nursed Charlotte back to health.

http://www.strynaghs.ie/charlotte_bronte.html

kleurrijkbrontesisters/charlotte-bronte-and-her-association.html

irishmidlandsancestry./bronte charlotte

Ireland/Banagher/Pictures/

history Banagher Literary-Associations/Page1.html

/holidayplanner/ RoutePlanner Banagher

The house was unroofed in 1946 and this hastened its demise. Pope Hennessy described Cuba Court in 1971: "Like so many of Ireland's great houses, Cuba Court is now being slowly but deliberately demolished. The lime trees have long since been hacked down."  In spite of this, it was described as "a superb ruin that could tell the history of Ascendancy Ireland", as late as 1979. It was eventually acquired by a local businessman and demolished in the 1980s. Craig describes the loss of Cuba Court as "particularly to be lamented". A development of four houses was built on the site at Cuba Avenue in 2003. An archaeological survey revealed nothing of significance.

04-07-1854 Charlotte and Arthur visited Dublin, Trinity College

On 04-07-1854 morning the pair started for Holyhead, and then took boat for Dublin, staying long enough in that city to see the sights. Charlotte's cold had come worse so the two days they spent in Dublin were restricted to driving around the city. Trinity College would be one of the first places visited, for it was Mr. Nicholls' Alma Mater, and it was from Trinity College that he took up his appointment as curate of Haworth. Arthur took pride in showing his bride the library, museum and chapel.

 1905, some years after Charlotte and Arthur visited Dublin (Trinity College), but it gives a good idea how it looked like.

Click on it, to make it larger.

 The Library

In Dublin they were joined by his brother, manager of the Grand Canal from their hometown, Banagher, a cousin, who was studying at the university and another cousin, ""a pretty lady-like girl with gentle English manners""

website of Trinity College

Conwy and castle .North wales