3-052-523 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Irish Sketches: Going to Church, 1880. 'There are no particular symptoms of the prevailing distress in the pleasant Sunday scene on a rural highway sketched by our travelling Special Artist. The handsome young Irishwoman and her aged mother, who are seen here steadily pacing along the road to their village church, intent on the religious duty of the day, are plainly but sufficiently clad, with good warm shawls thrown over their heads and necks; and if they go barefoot, carrying the stout lace-up boots in their hands, it is because they like it best, having always been accustomed to this for walks of any length...A glance at the scene reminds us once more of the brighter aspects of social life. The Squire and his family, in the jaunting-car which is about to pass the mother and daughter on the road, will surely be glad to see their humble neighbours, and bestow a frank and kindly greeting upon them, as they jog on to join the parish congregation in the hallowed house of prayer...Whether the Squire and his family be going to the same church or chapel as the two barefooted peasant women is a question that we have not the curiosity to ask'. From "Illustrated London News", 1880.