In August 1811 John Galt was returning from his travels in the Mediterranean. He writes of his return journey in his Autobiography (Vol I) –
“From Gibraltar I went to Cork,
where we were again
put under quarantine at Cove.”
Quarantine procedures were put into place at many ports to stop the spread of plague. Cove (Cobh) was the stopping off point for ships going to Cork in Ireland.
Galt managed to make the best use of his time in quarantine – “During the quarantine nothing particular occurred; but I got the newspapers regularly, and was naturally led to think of the condition of Ireland.”
The newspaper he was particularly interested in was The CorkMorning Intelligencer. It was published by John O’Rorke of Castle Street in Cork from May 1811 until 1823. Crime stories seem to have particularly interested John Galt at this time. And was even able to read about Thomas Murphy indicted at Carrickfergus for uttering forged notes of the Greenock Bank! Galt was not particularly impressed by Ireland's legal process!
After the ship was cleared from quarantine, Galt continued his journey, taking time to do a bit of sightseeing at Dublin –
“When relieved from that captivity, I went to the city of Cork, where letters from home were awaiting me. After dinner, I set off in the mail for Dublin; next day stopped in that city, to which I had letters, and hired a coach and man to go about with me, to shew me all the objects of curiosity.”
“In the evening, I set out in the mail for Belfast, embarked at Donoghadee, and in due season, as fast as the post, was taken to Greenock; there I remained a few days with my friends, and then proceeded to London.”
Quite a journey from Gibraltar to Greenock!
