372
AN IRISH FANTASY
KEITH STEVENS
A wooden effigy of a Chinese man stands above the front door of a pub called The Chinaman in Rathkeale in West Limerick in the Republic of Ireland. It is claimed by the publican to be a portrait image of the Chinese captain of a powerful sailing ship, 'The Mikado' which had brought a valuable cargo of tea to Foynes some time before 1743, the year when local people got together to honour Captain Wongyu.
The story goes that some of the Chinese crew were drinking in a wine and spirit store when one of the Chinese crew rushed in from Foynes and announced that a pirate ship had entered the Shannon Estuary and the pirates were plundering towns and villages along the shoreline. Captain Wongyu mustered more than one hundred locals and, together with his crew, they marched against the pirates. In a quick but fierce skirmish the pirates were defeated and the people of the area showed their gratitude by erecting an effigy of him over the door of the building where it stands today. Captain Wongyu died in 1789, some twenty-six years later but did not forget the people of Rathkeale. He is said to have made provision for a sum of money to be sent to the poor of Rathkeale.
The statue depicts a Chinese man but with a marked European face and beard, wearing a mandarin-style summer hat, and a half-length blue robe over a faded orange robe. I would guess that it was carved by a European who had never studied a Chinese but had seen some 18th or 19th century illustrations. A quite small round [un-Chinese] gilded medallion or disc hangs or is sewn on to the blue robe high up just below his beard, bearing an unintelligible character or squiggle.
It makes a good story but the Chinese did not sail the seven seas during the 18th century and should a junk have reached the British Isles at that time it would have made headline news. Chinese did not import tea into Britain nor, I suspect, would there have been a great market for tea on the west coast of Ireland at that era. Finally, Mikado
372
AN IRISH FANTASY
KEITH STEVENS
A wooden effigy of a Chinese man stands above the front door of a pub called The Chinaman in Rathkeale in West Limerick in the Republic of Ireland. It is claimed by the publican to be a portrait image of the Chinese captain of a powerful sailing ship, 'The Mi- kado' which had brought a valuable cargo of tea to Foynes some time before 1743, the year when local people got together to honour Cap- tain Wongyu.
The story goes that the some of the Chinese crew were drinking in a wine and spirit store when one of the Chinese crew rushed in from Foynes and announced that a pirate ship had entered the Shannon Es- tuary and the pirates were plundering towns and villages along the shoreline. Captain Wongyu mustered more than one hundred locals and, together with his crew, they marched against the pirates. In a quick but fierce skirmish the pirates were defeated and the people of the area showed their gratitude by erecting an effigy of him over the door of the building where it stands today. Captain Wongyu died in 1789, some twenty-six years later but did not forget the people of Rathkeale. He is said to have made provision for a sum of money to be sent to the poor of Rathkeale.
The statue depicts a Chinese man but with a marked European face and beard, wearing a mandarin-style summer hat, and a half- length blue robe over a faded orange robe. I would guess that it was carved by a European who had never studied a Chinese but had seen some 18th or 19th century illustrations. A quite small round [un- Chinese] gilded medallion or disc hangs or is sewn on to the blue robe high up just below his beard, bearing an unintelligible character or squiggle.
It makes a good story but the Chinese did not sail the seven seas during the 18th century and should a junk have reached the British Isles at that time it would have made headline news. Chinese did not import tea into Britain nor, I suspect, would there have been a great market for tea on the west coast of Ireland at that era. Finally, Mikado
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