Adventures and Misadventures of a Jolly Beggar (continued)
Arrived 4 o'clock Monday, 8th. Two Irish priests in Mercedes. Fr. Lynch (Chaplain) and Fr. Macnamara (has a College). Also found Irish Sisters of Mercy here. No notification. Poor gathering on 10th. Invited French and Italians and Spaniards. Heard confessions in four languages. Wound up on Sunday 14th. Made up 50 pounds in half an hour or so. On Monday 15th self and Fr. Lynch set out for…
Forty miles off. Got to Mr. Morroghs for breakfast, to a Mr. Ledwith for dinner and night's rest, left next morning for town. Carey's (or Carney's) for breakfast, and he tacked horses and rode them to town (Chivilcoy). Got there 5 o'clock Tuesday, 16th. Began mission here on Wednesday, 17th. Lodged at Mr. Hearn (married to a daughter of Brown from La Choza). Wound up on 18th to get to Buenos Aires for a meeting of Irish priests (for a month's mind). Set out by train on 19th and got there about 1 o'clock and met them all and we had a talk.
I left Buenos Aires on Saturday morning with Large Michael Leahy for the Fortin… We went off on Sunday 21st June to Maguire's and I officiated in a chapel there. My usual days work now is in this wise. I rise at 7:00. Travel 12 miles or so across camp or plain, to a church in the wilderness where I arrive about nine. Just then people begin to appear on horseback at the horizon and by 10 o'clock I have 10 or 15 person (who have come 12 or 20 miles) for confession. I hear on till 11:30 or 12:00 and then say Mass and preach. After that the priest announces my collecting mission, and I take what I get in the sacristy. I breakfast about one, and they get another sermon about 2:00 or 3:00 and get home before dark. From 4:00 to dinner time I take a fowling piece and shoot partridge, plover, owls, hawks, sparrows, and all sorts of things, even badgers and foxes have I shot. We dine then and have music afterwards. Sometimes an estanciero's daughter plays. The Irish are all fond of music. I have my flute with me. We have songs and music until about ten, when I got to rest and am up next day for about the same routine. Fasting and praying and traveling in this way is very severe on health. On Monday I finished at Merger's and we came back to the Fortune.. Wednesday found me in Dowling's Ranchos. We had some rifle shooting here, and I was best shot until a young man named Mullin came on the third day and got inside me a range of 700 yards. I went next to a Mr. Allen's place. It is called Killallen and there is a church there. I arrived at Mr. Carey's (or Casey's) on Saturday 27th. He is married to another of Brown's daughters. There I met little Tessie again, who plays nearly all Irish airs and several polkas on a concertina as big as herself, and she is only seven years of age. I call her the fairy. I officiated at James Kenny's and had a fine crowd and wound up there on Monday and then off to his mother's, Mrs. Kenny. She is a great old general. Here we had pistol shooting with a revolver. I broke two bottles at 20 yards and nearly killed an old woman by a ball that glazed off from the stick on which the bottle was plugged. On Tuesday I said Mass, etc., at Veinticinco and myself and Fr. Leahy started off about two for…
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