Master. "Pat, I must say you're very contradictory."
Pat (emphatically). "I am not, sorr!"
The tourist will find the language difficulty comparatively easy, as English is now spoken in most of the large shops.
A few phrases, such as "Erin go bragh," "Begorra ye spalpeen," "Acushla mavourneen," &c., are easily learnt, and the trouble involved is amply repaid in the simple joy of the natives on hearing a foreigner speak their own language.
English gold is accepted in Ireland, and the rate of exchange works out at twenty shillings to the sovereign. Two sixpences will always be accepted in lieu of a shilling.
N.B.—To avoid disappointment to naturalists and others we think it right to mention that since the late raid of St. Patrick there are no snakes of first-rate quality in Ireland.
AFTER A SHOOT IN COUNTY CLARE
Master. "Well, Paddy, what sort of a bag?"