The Parliamentary gazetteer of Ireland

Each story keeps the passage it was read from. Open one to read it as the scan has it, and, where the companion has written its own telling, that too. The passages are read off photographs of the page by machine, so a word here and there comes out wrong; they are kept as the reading produced them, so you can check any of them against the scan.

1. Bangor dock and mole construction

   near Bangor · town · Down

   A dock was excavated from rock along Bangor's shore, extending about 150 yards, and a rocky creek was cleared to form a boat harbour. Col. Ward used the excavated stone to form a mole running obliquely across the bay to shelter against easterly gales, creating a deep-water harbour.

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   admits of; and, in pursuance of ibis idea, a considerable quantity of rock has been excavated, so as to form a dock extending about 150 yards along the shore, 120 feet wide, and to the depth of low-water spring-tides. A rocky creek on the east side of this has been cleared out, deepened, and enlarged, so as to form a kind of boat harbour, but which is still too small and rock-bound to be of any great service. At the suggestion of the writer hereof the stone which was excavated from the site of the dock above-mentioned is now applied by the proprietor. Col. Ward, in the formation of a mole, running from the south-east shore obliquely across the bay, so as to produce a shelter against the easterly and north-easterly gales. Within this mole there will be 15 feet at low- water of^pring-tides over a considerable space, which will thereby be converted into a valuable deep-water harbour. The entrance into the aforesaid dock will be securely situated behind the mole ; and, besides the extensive quay which the sides of the excavation form, the mole may be quayed along the inside so as to accommodate large vessels.** — Fairs are held on Jan 20, May I, and Nov. 22. The public conveyances in 18^ were a mail-car to Belfast, and a coach in transit between Belfast and Donaghadee.

   Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 162

2. Belfast's early district lunatic asylum

   near Belfast · city · Antrim · 1824

   In 1824, Belfast was one of three locations in Ireland where a district lunatic asylum was under construction. This followed a new act of parliament to establish district asylums at the joint expense of counties.

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   In reference to Lunatic Asylums, the inspectors-general say, " The places of confinement, public and private, are placed, by act of parliament, under the commissioners' inspection. The only public asylums that existed when they commenced duty in 1821, for the cure of this malady, were those of Dublin and Cork, exclusive of a few private asylums, chiefly in the neighbourhood of Dublin, which were conducted on humane and judicious principles ; all others were temporary receptacles for idiots and incurable cases, in the gaols and houses of industry scattered through the county towns, and where no means could be provided for the cure and proper care of such patients. Classification and healthy employment could not be obtained in such places, and their cases appeared hopeless. At the commissioners' suggestion, in the year 1823, an act of parliament passed, legalizing district lunatic asylums, at the joint expense of three or more counties. In the following year, three of them were in progress of building, viz., at Armagh, Limerick, and Belfast : regulations were made by the commissioners, and a^^roved of by government, for regulating these asylums, and there now exist nine of them, on a large scale, inchiding in their several

   INTRODUCTION. CXVli

   Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 80

3. Bell-metal pot found in Ballymurphy bog in 1722

   Ballymurphy · townland · Down · 1722

   In 1722 a unique bell-metal pot about 8 inches high, in the form of a jug on three feet with a projecting spout and handle, was found in Ballymurphy bog near Greyabbey, County Down. It was presented to the University of Dublin.

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   BALLYMURFHY, a bog near Greyabbey, barony of Ardes, co. Down, Ulster. In 1722, there was found here a bell-metal pot about 8 inches high, in the form of a jug mounted on three feet, with a projecting spout like a tea-pot, and a handle on the opposite side. This unique curiosity was presented to the University of Dublin.

   BALLYMURREEN. See Ballymoreen.

   Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

4. Bessy Bell & Mary Grey mountains, Co. Tyrone

   Bessy Bell · mountain or mountain range · Tyrone

   Two mountains in the parish of Ardstraw, County Tyrone, named Bessy Bell and Mary Grey, rise near Newtown-Stewart. Antiquarian conjecture suggests pagan rites called 'Baase' were performed on the westerly mountain to Bell, Beal, Apollo, or the Sun in heathen times.

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   civil parish ; it includes a district in the barony of Omagh; and, in 1831, its pop. amounted to 21,212. Three considerable rivuleta drain the surface; and, becoming confluent, pass away in one stream to pay tribute to the Fovle. See Glenellt, Struell, Derg, Motle, and Mourne. The streams produce both trout and salmon. Three wooded and beauti* ful lakes adorn the demesne of Baron 's-court, and a fourth, called Creevy, and situated near Magherycrigan, is circular, and about a mile in circumference. The surface of the parish possesses such an aggregate of wood, so general a carpeting of verdure and cereal crop, and such a diversified and strongly-featured contour, as to be rich in the number and not poor in the character of ita landscapes. A mountain, called Douglass, shoots up on the north-east border ; tMro mountains, called Bessy Bell and Mary Grey, rise, the one immediately behind Newtown- Stewart, and the other about a mile to the east ; various minor heighta ' finely screen or tumulate the vales ; and a beautiful hill-range extends westward from Newtown-Stewart, crowned in the vicinity of the town with a picturesque old castle, and luxuriantly mantled in other places with groves of oak. Bessy Bell and Mary Grey are bare in the summit and russeted on the sides, but ^reen and arable round the skirta. How or when Inshmen imposed on these mountains names so thoroughly and nationally embalmed in the pathetic ballad associations of Scotland, cannot be ascertained ; but * canny* Scotamen may be pardoned for regarding the affair as one of the unaccountable freaks which distinguish the workings of Uibeniian humour. Antiquarian conjecture, aided by tradition, suggesta that pagan rites called 'Baase' were, in heathen times, performed on the summit of the westerly mountain to Bell, Beal, Apollo, or the Sun ; and that * Baase-Bell,' * the ceremonies of Bell,' was a sound which, subsequent to the celebrity of the Scottish ballad, easily glided into Bessy Bell, and suggested the counterpart of Mary Grey. Bogi, while numerous, are so equally dispersed as rather to serve for an acceptable supply of fuel, than to incumber and dispirit by a display of sterility. Mountains and bogs jointly occupy about one-third of the parochial area; and arable, pasture, and meadow grounds occupy the remainder, in the proportions to one another oi respectively 3, 2, and I. Excellent sandstone is quarried near Douglass Brid^, and sent to distant parts of the country. The pnncipal seat is the noble mansion of Baron's-coort : which see. Other seato are Castlemoyle, an ancient but respectable mansion ; Woodbrook, a neat modern house ; Aldoghal, on an upland site ; and Glennock Cottago, crowning a hill north of Newtown-Stewart, and commanding an exquisite view of the vale and hillscreens of the Struell. The parish is bisected by the mail-road from Dublin to Londonderry; and traversed by various other roads, the chief of whidi radiate from Newtown-Stewart The castle, alreadv alluded to, as surmounting a shoulder of the hillrange west of Newtown-Stewart, is an interesting object, and will be noticed in our account of that town. Two extinct castles, traditionally said to have been built by brothers of Henry O'Neil, a storied king of Ulster in the fifth century, stood, the one near the confluence of the Struell and the Glenelly, on a spot now occupied by a neat circular cottage ornee, and the other on an alluvial and river-girt plain, called the Holme, and used as the Newtown- Stewart parade and race-course. The disappearance of the latter has been ascribed to the propensity of castle-eating, or the vulgar practice of <|uarr}ing «u arehitectural antiquity tor the construction of a modern dwelling, on the i>art of the early inbabitonU uf the town. A suriiving ancient castle, situated op- K

   Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 122

5. Cistercian monastery founded at Arklow

   Arklow · town · Wicklow · 1200–1285

   Theobald Fitzwalter founded a Cistercian monastery in Arklow, colonized from the abbey of Furness in Lancashire. The founder died at the castle in 1285 and was buried in the monastic church beneath a monument bearing his effigies. Large remains existed into the early 19th century but have since disappeared.

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   ARKLOW, a market, post, and sea-port town, the capital of its cognominal parish and barony, is situated B^ miles north-nortn-east of Gorey, 9^ south-south-east of Rathdrum, and 39| south by east of Dublin. Its site is on the river Ovoca, about 500 yards from the sea. About 65 years ago, the place was merely a fishing hamlet, a collection ot thatched mud cabins, superintended by a single slated house. Even the present lower town, or the division nearest the sea, and east of .the coast road from Wicklow to Gorev, is a wretched segregation of wretched huts, a huddled assemblage of squalid hovels, a magnified copy of a Hottentot or Caffre kraal, with the putrid increment of the accumulated offals of a slovenly fishery. Mr. Inglis, in his * IreUind, in 1834,' appears to have mistaken this for the whole town, and, accordingly, says, '• Arklow is one of the poorest villages that can well be seen ; it is entirely supported by the herring-fishing during the season, but all the rest of the year is miserably off." This " Arklow" of the superficial tourist, and *• lower town" of topographists, is, by the inhabitants, called " the Fishery." West of it the public road is carried across the Ovoca, on a bridge of 19 arches. Above the bridge commences " the upper town," or the division which would gladly claim to be the whole of Arklow, and which alone presents to the eye the real features of a town. It consists principally of one street, tolerably spacious, slowly ascending, and placed parallel with the river. Its houses are numerously slated, generally neat, and aggregately of re&pecta\)le mediocre character. Near the centre of the town, and crowning a rising ground, stands the parish-church ; a handsome edifice, with a tower and minarets, from a design by the same architect, Francis Johnson, Esq., who planned the beautiful structures of the royal chapel and St. George's church in Dublin. Iti an open and convenient spot in the upper part of the street stands the Roman Catholic chapel ; a neat square edifice, built in 1616, and not unornamental to the town. On a commanding site, overlooking the river, stands the barrack, surrounded by a wall, and containing ac oommodation for two companies of soldiers, and the appendage of a drill-yard. Connected with it are the fragmentary remains of Arklow-castle ; consisting chiefly of a mutilated and ivy-clad tower. This "a'.tle was erected in the 13th century, by Theobald Fit z waiter, fourth lord butler of Ireland. In 1331, it WHS assaulted and captured by O Toole, but soon recaptured by Lord de Bermingham ; and, in the following year, it was again taken by the Irish, and retaken by the English. Either originally, or as now enlarged or re-edified by the English, it possessed seven strong towers, and was a fortress of con^^iderable importance. In 1649, Oliver Cromwell raptured it, overturned six of its towers, and reduced the remainder of it to the condition of a yawning ruin. Theobald Fitzwalter, the founder of the castle, founded also in Arklow a Cistertian monastery, and colonized it from the abbey of Furne'S in Lancashire. The founder died at the castle in 1285, and was buried in the monastic church beneath a monument which bore his eflSgies. The

   Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 123

6. Copper and lead mining attempts on Ballylaneen coast

   Ballylaneen · townland · Waterford · 1816–1846

   Copper and lead ores appeared to abound on the coast of Ballylaneen parish, and about 30 years before the gazetteer's publication mining operations began there but with unpromising results. The parish also included the cove of Ballydivane and strands of Bonmahon supplying seaweed and calcareous sand manures.

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   BALLYLANEEN, a parish, formerly in the detached or southern district of the barony of Upperthird, but now in the barony of Decies- without- Drum, about 1 1 miles west of Waterford, co. Waterford, Munster. It contains the village of Bon- MAHON, and part of the town of Kilmacthomas : sec these articles. Length, 4^ miles; breadth, 2; area, 6,315 acres. Pop., in 1831, 3,811; in 1841, 5,153. Houses 025. Pop. of the rural districts, in ia3l, 2,491; in 1841. 2,718. Houses 397. The surface extends from Kilmacthomas on the north, to the sea on the south ; and is traversed from end toend in a south-south-easterly direction by the river Mahon. Several acres are turbary, about 80 are meadow, about 1,300 are under tillage, and the remainder are all in pasture. The general quality of the soil is light The cove of BalTydivane and the strands of Bonmahon afford large supplies of seaweed and calcareous sand manures. Copper and lead ere appear to abound on the coast ; and about 30 years ago they began, but with unpromising results, to be mined. Three roads traverse the parish westward, and are each carried over the Mahon by a bridge. The principal mansion is Seafield, the seat of Mr. Anthony. — This parish is a vic4irage, and part of the benefice of Stradbauly [which see], in the dio. of Lismore. The vicarial tithes are compounded for Je300, and the rectorial for £78 10s. ; and the latter are impropriate, and belong to the Messrs. Hardy and the Rev. D. Hall. The Roman Catholic chapel has an attendance of 1 ,200 ; and, in the Roman Catholic parochial arrangement, is united to the chapels of Stradbally and Faha. In 1834, the Protestants amounted to 126, and the Roman Catholics to 3.638 ; and & pay daily schools had on their books 271 boys and 97 girls. In 1840, one of the schools was taken into connection with the National Board.

   BALLYLANE, a small island near Sline Head^ barony of Ballinahinch, co. Gal way, Connaught

   Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

7. Cork County Gaol an early reformer

   Cork · city · Cork · 1821

   By 1821, Cork county had already built a new gaol and began improving prison discipline, standing out as a valuable exception among Irish county gaols.

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   were gradually removing, and new gaols or additions were in progress of building, or being presented for, in the counties of Cork City, Drogheda, Roscommon, City of Limerick, Sligo, Monaghan, Longford, Leitrim, Londonderry, Galway, Clare, Kilkenny, Louth, and Dublin. Limerick and Cork counties had already built new gaols, and commenced improvements in discipline. In a very few years after, the following counties built large additions or new gaols, viz., Carlow, Donegal, Tyrone, Down, Cavan, Kerry, King's County, Queen's County, Mayo, and Tipperary. And, finally, within these few years, the following counties have erected new gaols, presented for, or are building additions : — Antrim, Westmeath, Meath, Kildare, Waterford County, Wexford, Fermanagh, Town of Galway. And there remain yet to be built— ^Armagh, City of Kilkenny, City of Waterford, and Dublin City (Newgate). And some of the latter are town gaols, where the grand juries are looking forward to sending their prisoners to the countv gaol under the Corporation Act. It Ib true that in the progress of prison discipline, and the mcrease of crime with the populatiom many of the above prisons require additional cells, and steps are annually taken to provide tbam. But, on the whole, none of the evils detailed now exist, nor can exist without being known, inquired into, and remedied. In most of the prisons, a new grade of qualified governors and underofi&cers are provided, as vacancies occurred, from the good feeling of high sheriffs, who have liberally abandoned their patronage to the grand juries, boards of superintendence, or inspectors-general of prisons, and these local boards of superintend«ice, which were a new creati<m under the Prison Act of 1826, have, in almost every instance, worked well, and to their zeal is owing most of the improvements in the Irish gaol department. Classification of prisoners according to crime, is a new feature within these 20 years, and in every gaol it is carried on to a considerable extent. The employment and industry of prisoners are increasing, and in some degree to be found in aQ Irish gaols, without exception. The inspection of a turnkey over each class and school instruction is the practice in each gaol, and a gaol dress for every prisoner is very general ; and the cleanliness and good order of all the county prisons is borne testimony to by the judges of assize, and many strangers who now frequently visit these establishments. One more vital improvement remains to be noticed, viz. : the change from licentiousness to order in the female side of the prison. The act of 1826 provided for matrons and female assistants to regulate the female criminals, and now, in all gaols, they are separated from the male classes, clothed, instructed, and employed, frequently visited by benevolent ladies, under the regulations of Mrs. Fry ; and the result has been the reform of many poor criminals, whose case must have been hopeless under the former vicious system, previous to 1820, when almost promiscuous intercourse was permitted in some gaols without control or inspection."

   Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 80

8. Crooghmore hill and its sepulchral cairn

   Croaghmore · townland · Antrim

   Crooghmore, meaning 'the large stack', rises abruptly to 471 feet above sea level on the north coast of Antrim. It consists of basalt with columns near the summit, is arable on its skirts, and is crowned by a large sepulchral cairn.

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   BALL IN TOY, a parish containing a Tillage of the same name, on the north coast of the barony of Carey, and of the county of Antrim, Ulster. It extends 5 miles along the shore, and 3 into the interior. Area. 12,753 acres, 3 roods, 22 perches. Pop., in 1631, 4,662; in 1841, 4,616. Houses 901. The coast-district consists, for the most part, of good land ; but the interior districts are, to a large extent, but decreasingly moorish and boggy. Knocksoghy hill rises behind the village ; and though partly rocky, and generally coated with much furce and heath, is all fit for pasture. Crooghmore, or ' the large stack,* rises abruptly to the height of 471 feet abo?e sea-level ; is arable on its skirts, and verdant on its sides ; consists solely of basalt, and has some basaltic columns near its summit ; is crowned by a large sepulchral cairn ; and figures conspicuousl v in a great expanse of landscape. Woods and thickets do not exist; and even niigle trees are scarce. The rirulets Dunse verick and Inover drain the surface, and drire 2 or 3 mills. Salmon fisheries exist at Port Braddon, Carickarede, and Lanybaan ; and glashen, grey^uniet, and cod, are caught in great plenty; and various other kinds of fiith, in considerable quantity, along the coast. Basalt, capable of being as neatlv dressed with the hammer as if cut with a diisel, is extenyively quarried. Indurated chalk, used as limestone, abounds in the sea-board townlands of Ballintoy, Magherabuy, Clegnagh, Limeneagh, and Balliiiastrail. In 1756, wood coal was diMcovered in the hill above the village, and worked with such effect as to supply the salt-works of Portru<»h and Coleraine ; it resembles charred wood, has a ftmell resembling that of rotten timber, and usually occurs in veins of from 2 or 4 inches to 5 feet thick, alternating with beds of basalt; but though used freely for burning chalk, and occasionally lor fuel, it \i much depreciated on account of its disagreeable odour. In the townland of Templestragh an old church, supposied to have been that of the parishes of Ballintoy and Billj^ before they were divided, stands in ruin ; and in its vicinity are two pieces of burj-ing-ground. Raths, moats, Druidical temples, caves, and other similar antiquities, exist Mr. Atkinson, after observing that the parishioners, so hr as appears from the account in Mason's Statistical Survey, had no lawyer, no physician, and only one minister, and vet were prosperous, remarks: " How it is that they have lived so long without priests, lawyers, and physicians, we beg them to expluin for the good of their wretched country ; for undoubtedly it is an anomaly in the history of Europe ; indeed the record of this parish ought to be placi'd in the museums of that quarter of the world, as a philosophical curiosity. The antiquities of this p«ri>h are no less remarkable: among them, are hatchets of stone, flint, and brass, bracelets, fibuUe, bnt.* ^-ases, and other articles of remote antiquity ; as also urns filled with burned bones ; but the most interenting to us, of all those antiquities, is that of a gold coin of Valentiuian, which was brought to the niini>ter, in perfect preservation, and was in his custody a few years since." The village of Ballintoy stands 4 miles north-west of Biillvcastle, 6 east oif Bushmills, and 44 north-north-west of Belfast. Area, 12 acres. Pop., in IftSl, 278; in 1841, 810. Houses 65. The village occupies a bold and romantic site on an impresMvely barren and denuded shore ; and the steeple of its church is a conspicuous object in so bleak a view, and has become a useful landmark to mariners. Fairs are held on June 3, Sept. 4, and

   Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

9. Derry as an emigration port

   near Derry · city · Derry · 1832–1841

   Derry (Londonderry) was one of the primary ports of embarkation for direct emigration to foreign countries and colonies from Ireland between 1832 and 1841.

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   ** The large amount of labour represented by the number of emigrants to the British colonies and foreign countries," say the Commissioners of the Census, ^^ is in itself of great interest in whatever light it is regarded. We have, however, no certain information respecting the particular occupations of these emigrants before they left the country, and have thus no means of following out the very interesting inquiry, whether the individuids, who are guided almost entirely by casual choice, and fix their destination with a very slender knowledge of the circumstances on which their success must depend, haive been conveyed to the colonies in which their labour or skill is most likely to be useful to themselves and to the community. Some inferences of the kind, however, may be drawn in a general way from the particular cii^umstancee of the localities from which they have gone. The largest number of those who have gon,e from Ireland direct to oolonies or foreign countries embarked at Belfast, viz., 20 per cent, of the lyhole number ; from Cork nearly the same ; then from Sligo, Dublin, and Londonderry. On the whole, from the ports of Ulster there went 76,905 ; from the ports of Mun^ter, 70,046 ; from Leinster, 34,977 ; from Connaught, only 32,119. The ports of Leinster, especiaUy Dublin, can scarcely be considered as giving forth the population of their own province so exclusively as those of the other provinces, being, firom its central position, and the convergence of the roads and canals upon it, a common outlet for alL But we may fairly assume, that the emigration ficom the other provincial ports consisted chiefly of persons belonging to the provinces in which they are situated. It will bo seen that Ulster contributed largely to both British and foreign emi^pration, and that Munster, which contributed so small a number of harvest labourers, has suppjiied a very large proportion of cokmial and foreign emigrants ; whilst Connaught, whose harvest labourers were by far the most muneroas, appears to supply but a small proportion of foreign emigrants. There is, however, no reason to suppose that in reality a smaller foreign emigration from Connaught has existed, as many may have sailed from other ports, and, as they migrated so largely to England, may have contributed to swell the numbers proceeding from Liverpool to foreign countries. These numbers, kowever, can only he considered as approximations, and are only of interest as leading to some inference respecting the localities which have supplied the greatest amount of foreign emigration, Kveii for this it must be at best but indefinite. The countries for which the emigrants were bound who embarked at Irish ports, are shown in the following statement : —

   Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 98

10. Dublin as a central emigration outlet

    Dublin · city · Dublin · 1832–1841

    Dublin served as a major port for direct emigration from Ireland to foreign colonies and countries in the decade ending 1841, partly due to its central position and transport links.

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    ** The large amount of labour represented by the number of emigrants to the British colonies and foreign countries," say the Commissioners of the Census, ^^ is in itself of great interest in whatever light it is regarded. We have, however, no certain information respecting the particular occupations of these emigrants before they left the country, and have thus no means of following out the very interesting inquiry, whether the individuids, who are guided almost entirely by casual choice, and fix their destination with a very slender knowledge of the circumstances on which their success must depend, haive been conveyed to the colonies in which their labour or skill is most likely to be useful to themselves and to the community. Some inferences of the kind, however, may be drawn in a general way from the particular cii^umstancee of the localities from which they have gone. The largest number of those who have gon,e from Ireland direct to oolonies or foreign countries embarked at Belfast, viz., 20 per cent, of the lyhole number ; from Cork nearly the same ; then from Sligo, Dublin, and Londonderry. On the whole, from the ports of Ulster there went 76,905 ; from the ports of Mun^ter, 70,046 ; from Leinster, 34,977 ; from Connaught, only 32,119. The ports of Leinster, especiaUy Dublin, can scarcely be considered as giving forth the population of their own province so exclusively as those of the other provinces, being, firom its central position, and the convergence of the roads and canals upon it, a common outlet for alL But we may fairly assume, that the emigration ficom the other provincial ports consisted chiefly of persons belonging to the provinces in which they are situated. It will bo seen that Ulster contributed largely to both British and foreign emi^pration, and that Munster, which contributed so small a number of harvest labourers, has suppjiied a very large proportion of cokmial and foreign emigrants ; whilst Connaught, whose harvest labourers were by far the most muneroas, appears to supply but a small proportion of foreign emigrants. There is, however, no reason to suppose that in reality a smaller foreign emigration from Connaught has existed, as many may have sailed from other ports, and, as they migrated so largely to England, may have contributed to swell the numbers proceeding from Liverpool to foreign countries. These numbers, kowever, can only he considered as approximations, and are only of interest as leading to some inference respecting the localities which have supplied the greatest amount of foreign emigration, Kveii for this it must be at best but indefinite. The countries for which the emigrants were bound who embarked at Irish ports, are shown in the following statement : —

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 98

11. Dublin's canals as conduits for building materials

    Dublin · city · Dublin · 1838

    The Railway Commissioners observed that bulky building materials like stone, sand, lime, and bricks would be sourced from localities along canals or railroads, and cited Dublin as a case where the Grand and Royal canals supplied such articles to the city.

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    " The total tonnage carried by all the canals and navigable rivers," said the Railway Commissioners, in 1838, " may be taken at about 600,000 tons ; and the amount of tolls at £71,242, if the tolls, on an average, be taken at Id. per ton per mile. The average distance which the above tonnage is carried is about 30 miles. With a view to form an estimate of the probable total amount of agricultural produce carried from the interior to the several ports of the kingdom, detailed accounts of the annual exports for several years prior to 1826, were examined by Lieutenant Harness, and the result as stated by him is equivalent to 437,000 tons. Supposing the increase since 1826 to be in proportion to the shipping cleared, the present exportation may be considered to amount to 680,000 tons ; and after allowing 20,000 tons for eggs, wool, flax, and potatoes, from the returns furnished by the Customs to the Commissioners, the total export of agricultural produce may be assumed, with tolerable confidence, at 700,000 tons annually. The population of the ports amounts to about 700,000, and allowing three-fourths of a ton per person for the consumption of the inhabitants and that of their horses, the quantity consumed would be 525,000 tons annually. The total annual produce carried at present from the interior to the several ports, may, therefore, be estimated at about 1,225,000 tons. The consumption of Dublin, Cork, and other great ports, will, of course, materially exceed the general average : but it can hardly be above the truth to assume, that the return trade of Irish manufactures, including shop-goods, beer, and spirits, for the supply of the inland towns, as well as of the rural population — the poorest of whom are consumers of tobacco, spirits, and woollen cloth — would consist of 1 cwt. annually for each individual of the population to be supplied. This would give 385,000 tons for the return trade; making, with the agricultural produce carried to the ports, 1,610,000 tons. This is the valuable portion of the inland traffic. It is carried on, for the most part, by the common cars of the country, at a very low rate — ^the charge not exceeding, on an average, 5d. per ton per statute mile ; and the average distance of carriage is not less than 40 miles. The total amount of carriage to and from the ports will, of course, be very different from the above. Weighty and bulky articles, of small value, but in constant demands-such as stone, sand, lime, bricks, and flags — wiU generally be supplied from the immediate vicinity, or brought by sea, unless a canal or railroad should afford great facility and economy of transport ; and in that case, a portion would be furnished from some convenient locality traversed by the canal or railroad, as in the case of Dublin. Estimating the quantity which would be brought in under such circumstances, according to. the supply of such articles furnished by the Grand and Rojral canals, it would ai^>ear that five-twelfths of a ton should be allowed for each inhabitant Turf, coal, and manure, would also, with such fcicilities, become articles of transport for a considerable distance.**

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 63

12. Duke of Devonshire's improvements to Bandon

    Bandon · town · Cork

    The Duke of Devonshire undertook improvements in the old town of Bandon including a new court-house, a commodious quay on the south side of the river, and numerous dwelling-houses of freestone. The streets of the old borough were repaired at his charge, reimbursed by a poundage on house leases.

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    into a partially edificed line of 460 yards toward the 8oath«east, and into Boyle-street toward the ea!»tnorth-east ; and Boyle-street, after an extent of 450 yards, ramifies into short and subordinate lines which straggle off into the country. If some confusion seem to mix with this sketch, it will render the effect of description only more just ; for, in consequence of irregularity of street-alignment and considerable inequality of ground, Bandon, though a snug and urbanlooking place, accords ill in existing town character with the high encomiums written upon it by its noble and enthusiastic founder. Among the Duke of Devonshire's improvement in the old town, are a new court-house, in which county-sessions are held; a commodious quay on the south side of the river ;. and the erection m numerous dwelling4ioiises, several of which are large, handsome, and composed of

    freestone found in the vicinity The two old churches

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 159

13. Fragment of the castle of the Earls of Tyrconnell

    Ballyshannon · town · Donegal

    Ballyshannon retains a fragment of the ancient castle of the Earls of Tyrconnell, who were long chieftains of the surrounding district. The town's history was marked by many feuds arising from the unsettled condition of the country.

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    reeve and free burgesses ; it became a elote borough long before the union ; it was wielded at will first by the Connolly family, and next by the Earl of Belmore ; and when it was disfranchised at the extinction of the Irish parliament, the Earl received the whole of the £15,000 of compensation. Certain lands are spoken of by tradition as having been borough property ; but no evidence exists to authenticate or even countenance the claim. Two open spaces of no great extent, the one the site of the barrack, and the other used as the fair green, are still called commons. The very quondam existence of the corporation is now almost totally forgotten by the inhabitants. A seneschal's court — apparently created by a charter granting large possessions to Henry Ffolliott^ Baron of Ballyshannon, in 1622 — is held under the lord of the manor, and has jurisdiction within the town, and without it, about two miles in one direction and somewhat less in another, to the amount of 40s. — Bally shannon appears from its history to have been scourged witli many of the feuds which, in former times, arose from the unsettled condition of the country ; and it has still a fragment of the ancient castle of the Earls of T^rconnel, who were long chieftains of a large circumjacent district. George Farquhar, the comic dramatist, was a native. About a mile from the town stand the ruins of the abbey of Asheroe, by the side of a limpid stream, and crowning a very curious limestone rock. Area of the town, 352 acres ; of which 180 acres are in the Kilbarron section. Pop., in 1831, 3,775; in 1841, 4,307. Houses 597. Pop. of the Kilbarron section, in 1831, 2,385 ; in 1841, 2,423. House8409.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 153

14. Grand Canal extension to Ballinasloe

    Ballinasloe · town · Galway · 1828–1838

    The extension-line of the Grand Canal from the Shannon to Ballinasloe was opened for traffic in 1828, measuring 16 miles in length and draining nearly 12,000 acres of bog. It served as the western terminus of the Grand Canal and contributed to increased corn business.

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    com business otherwise of some importance, has markedly increased since the opening of^the extended cut of the canal. In 1836, branch-ofRces of the National Bank, the Bank of Ireland, and the Agricultural and Commercial Bank were established. In 1838, the public conveyances — additional to the pas. sage-boats on the Grand canal, which, in 1836, conyeyed from the town 4,596 passengers — were a car to Athlone, a mail-car to Roscrea, a coach to Dublin, a mail-coach to Westport, a coach and a car to Gal way, and a coach to Tuam in communication unth the canal -boats, and a coach and a mail-coach in transit between Galway and Dublin. The extension-line of the Grand canal from the Shannon to the town was opened for traffic in 1828, is 16 miles in length, and drains nearly 12,000 acres of bog. In the improvements detailed by the Commissioners for the Shannon and its tributaries, are included plans for lowering the water of the Shannon, which will enhance the value of much low land along the river's banks, and confer marked benefit on the town. See Suck. During 10 years, preceding 1636, the quantity of grain sold in the market was 6,435 tons of wheat. 2,756 of barley, and 21,226 of oats ; and in the Ia«t of these years, it was 780 tons of wheat, 48 of barley, and 2,502 of oats. For a scries of years, the qiuuitity of wool brought to the market — chiefly at a great wool fair established in 1757 by an ancestor of Lord Clancarty, and held iti the month of July — was from 560 to 7^ tons ; yet this is said to have been exceeded fourfold or fivefold by the quantity sold under the market's influence, bat without being brought to the town for sale. The establishment of factors in Dublin and other great towns, however, has, for years past, drawn the wool to other quarters. A fair well-known to fame as ** the great fair of Ballinasloe/' is held from the 5th till the 9th of October, and not only exercises a powerful influence over the ac^acent and midland counties, but aflfects dealings for cattle even in the metropolis itself. Horses are exposed on a part of the fair green ; black or horned cattle are exposed athwart the green's broad expanse; and sheep are exposed in a spacious park within the enclosures of Garbally demesne. "Dealers in various commodities, and tradesmen of different callings from the metropolis also bring their goods and productions to the fair ; and shops and warehouses in the town are ceded to them for the occasion, the prices paid being usually very high. Lodgings, both in private houses and at the inns, are in great demand, and must be generally bespoken in advance, whilst the charges are greatly augmented beyond the ordinary current rates at other periods." The average number of sheep and black cattle brought in for sale, is computed to be respectively 90,000 and 12,000; and the greatest number of sheep sold in any year between 1790 and 1840, was 86.374, in the year 1828; and of black cattle, was 11,163, in the year 1840. Area of the Roscommon section of the town, 9 acres; of the Galway section, 131 acres. Pop. of the whole, in 1831. 4,615; in 1841, 4,934. Houses 619. Pop. of the Roscommon section, in 1831, 475 ; in 1841 , 305. Houses 48. Pop. of the Galway section, in 1831, 4,140 ; in 1841, 4,6*29. Houses 571.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 151

15. Limerick County Gaol an exception in 1821

    Limerick · city · Limerick · 1821

    In 1821, when inspectors-general commenced their duties, the county gaols of Ireland were generally in a deplorable state. Limerick was a valuable exception, having already built a new gaol and commenced improvements in discipline.

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    were gradually removing, and new gaols or additions were in progress of building, or being presented for, in the counties of Cork City, Drogheda, Roscommon, City of Limerick, Sligo, Monaghan, Longford, Leitrim, Londonderry, Galway, Clare, Kilkenny, Louth, and Dublin. Limerick and Cork counties had already built new gaols, and commenced improvements in discipline. In a very few years after, the following counties built large additions or new gaols, viz., Carlow, Donegal, Tyrone, Down, Cavan, Kerry, King's County, Queen's County, Mayo, and Tipperary. And, finally, within these few years, the following counties have erected new gaols, presented for, or are building additions : — Antrim, Westmeath, Meath, Kildare, Waterford County, Wexford, Fermanagh, Town of Galway. And there remain yet to be built— ^Armagh, City of Kilkenny, City of Waterford, and Dublin City (Newgate). And some of the latter are town gaols, where the grand juries are looking forward to sending their prisoners to the countv gaol under the Corporation Act. It Ib true that in the progress of prison discipline, and the mcrease of crime with the populatiom many of the above prisons require additional cells, and steps are annually taken to provide tbam. But, on the whole, none of the evils detailed now exist, nor can exist without being known, inquired into, and remedied. In most of the prisons, a new grade of qualified governors and underofi&cers are provided, as vacancies occurred, from the good feeling of high sheriffs, who have liberally abandoned their patronage to the grand juries, boards of superintendence, or inspectors-general of prisons, and these local boards of superintend«ice, which were a new creati<m under the Prison Act of 1826, have, in almost every instance, worked well, and to their zeal is owing most of the improvements in the Irish gaol department. Classification of prisoners according to crime, is a new feature within these 20 years, and in every gaol it is carried on to a considerable extent. The employment and industry of prisoners are increasing, and in some degree to be found in aQ Irish gaols, without exception. The inspection of a turnkey over each class and school instruction is the practice in each gaol, and a gaol dress for every prisoner is very general ; and the cleanliness and good order of all the county prisons is borne testimony to by the judges of assize, and many strangers who now frequently visit these establishments. One more vital improvement remains to be noticed, viz. : the change from licentiousness to order in the female side of the prison. The act of 1826 provided for matrons and female assistants to regulate the female criminals, and now, in all gaols, they are separated from the male classes, clothed, instructed, and employed, frequently visited by benevolent ladies, under the regulations of Mrs. Fry ; and the result has been the reform of many poor criminals, whose case must have been hopeless under the former vicious system, previous to 1820, when almost promiscuous intercourse was permitted in some gaols without control or inspection."

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 80

16. Limerick's early district lunatic asylum

    Limerick · city · Limerick · 1824

    Limerick was selected as one of the first three sites to build a district lunatic asylum in 1824. This was part of a new national effort to provide proper care and cure for lunacy and idiotism.

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    In reference to Lunatic Asylums, the inspectors-general say, " The places of confinement, public and private, are placed, by act of parliament, under the commissioners' inspection. The only public asylums that existed when they commenced duty in 1821, for the cure of this malady, were those of Dublin and Cork, exclusive of a few private asylums, chiefly in the neighbourhood of Dublin, which were conducted on humane and judicious principles ; all others were temporary receptacles for idiots and incurable cases, in the gaols and houses of industry scattered through the county towns, and where no means could be provided for the cure and proper care of such patients. Classification and healthy employment could not be obtained in such places, and their cases appeared hopeless. At the commissioners' suggestion, in the year 1823, an act of parliament passed, legalizing district lunatic asylums, at the joint expense of three or more counties. In the following year, three of them were in progress of building, viz., at Armagh, Limerick, and Belfast : regulations were made by the commissioners, and a^^roved of by government, for regulating these asylums, and there now exist nine of them, on a large scale, inchiding in their several

    INTRODUCTION. CXVli

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 80

17. Lord Tyrawley's mansion became Ballinrobe cavalry barracks

    Ballinrobe · town · Mayo

    The cavalry barracks in Ballinrobe was originally a seat of Lord Tyrawley and occupies a beautiful riverside site graced with venerable trees from the original mansion's demesne, now ranking almost as antiquities of the town.

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    Mftion on the right bank of the river consists almost solely of a short continuation of the tows of cabins along the road to Westport, and of the large tenements and spacious areas of the military barracks. The site of the main body is principally the tablesummit and partly the river-ward slope of a gentle swell ; and between a large portion of it and the stream is an umbrageous and meadowy alluvial pUdn, — Scottice, * a haugh,' — along the edge of which the river trots and frolics in mirthful current. The site of the other section rises boldly but not loftily up from the margin of the stream, and sustains the suites of barracks in airiness and comparative conspicuousness of position. Owing to the flatness of ' the surrounding country, the height of a fair proportion of the town's private houses, the advantageous position of the public buildings, and the isolation of the swells in both portions of the site, the town, as seen from various points at 1^ or 2 miles' distance, look* much larger and more pretending than it really is, and even wears a prominently urban aspect. Though alto^ther inferior to Ballinasloe, Westport, and Ballina, it markedly excels the majoritv of Connaught towns in regularity, cleanliness, and amount of apparent comfort. Yet in real prosperity it has suffered serious reverses : it was once of some county importance, but now shares onl^ such privileges as are common to it with various hlthy little viUages ; and till very recently it was an important and wellgarrisoned military station, but now it pines under the complete and final abandonment of i>oth its cavalry and its infantry barracks. The market-house, fronting the main street, and occupying a comer at the intersection of the long cross street, is a plain yet neat building ; its lower story open, or in piazza style, and its upper story used as court-bouse, schoolhouse, and for miscellaneous public purposes. The cavalry barrack was originally a seat of Lord Tyrawley; and, besides occupving a site of much beauty on the river, is graced with some venerable trees which belonged to the demesne of the mansion, and which now may almost rank as antiquities of ihe town. The bridewell, situated on the outskirts of the town toward Cong, was long in a discreditable condition, but, two or three years ago, was reformed and improved. In ^e Report of 1841, the inspector says regarding it: ** I found this bridewell clean and regular; the diet is expensive, and made more so than is necessary by the average detention of prisoners being three times as long as in bridewells in general." The parish-church, situated in a recess or open area on the east side of the mun street, has a tolerably good appearance ; the Roman CathoUc chapel draws attention only from its capaciousness; and a meeting-house, erected 10 or 1 1 years ago at the expense of J. Fynn, Esq. of Ballymacgibbon, as a place of worship for evangelical Protestant dissenters, bos a mere dwelling-house aspect, and is not noticed in the Report of the Commissioners of Public Insctruction. At the base of the swell on which the main body of the town stands, and on the inner edge of the alluvial plain, are some remains of an ancient monastery. Archdall says it " was a monastery of Augustinian friars ; and in ihe register of the Dominican friary of Athenry, the monastery de Roba is mendoned in the year 1337, but when or by whom founded is not recorded." Numerous remains of churches and castles in the circumjacent country, both in and beyond the parish, seem to indicate that the town anciently possessed considerable importance. Creagh, Currymore, and other mansions in the vicinity, and the stated or occasional residence of several wealthy and influential families in the town itself or its immediate outskirts, still relieve it from mere village or plodding character. The

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

18. Lough Allen landscape and coal district

    near Lough Allen · lake or lakes · Leitrim

    Lough Allen lies in the midst of the small coal district of Connaught, with the Arigna and Drumshambo divisions on opposite sides. The lake is navigable but dangerous due to sudden squalls and lack of harbours, and only 100 feet above sea-level despite being near the Shannon's source.

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    little rocky promontories break the uniformitv of the water's surface and outline, only one of these objects, O'Reilly's island, near the foot of the lake, has any bulk or character to challenge notice. The varied shores, the imposing heights, and occasionally the tempestuated waters, unite to form a landscape, which, while decidedly picturesque, is greatly inferior to multitudlnouf scenes in the mountain districts of Ireland. Though some well-grown groves of fir appear On the little demesne of Mount Allen, near the foot of the lake, and some young but small plantations are rising around several other houses upon the shores, wood is, for such a situation, deplorably scimty, and migfht, with almost as good an efiect upon economy as upon the embellishing of the scenery, be drawn in vast broad sheets far up the mountains. Even tillage upon the slopes has effected few results, and is as unskilful as inert. Though limited cultivation, and scattered cottages, and amall farm-houses may be distinguished at intervals all round the lake ; and though the little town of Drunishambo at the foot of the hills, near tlie efflux of the Shannon, shows its cluster of houses and its new church ; yet bogs, heaths, roeks, broken escarpments and naked declivities, so greatly predominate, as, in spite of the lake's own amenities, to produce an impression rather of churlish power than of grand beauty. The Lough, though witnhi 6 or 7 miles of the sources of the Shannon's head-streams, and sending off that monarch river of Ireland in a long progress, through most of Connaught and of Monster to the ocean, lies only 100 feet above sea-level ; and it is distinguished quite as much by the tumbling and headlong impetuosity of the streams which fall into it, as by the sleeping quietude of that which it discharges. Tempestuous winds often debouch from the gorges or rush down from the mountains, and toss the lake into a vexed and broken sea of foam and billow. The lake, as to its depth of water, is not only navigable, but has the fiiroe among the vulgar of being in some places unfathomable. Its shores, however, present few tolerable landingplaces ; and, with the exception of a small dock and quay formed on the west side by the Irish Mining Company for the shipping of coal, they have not been improved by art From the want of mooringgrounds and places of shelter, combined with the suddenness and frequency of squalls, the lake cannot be navigated without danger, aAd is fiir lest useful than it will probably soon become when soitable harbours shall be formed. At the head of a narrow bay where the Shannon departs, a canal goes off to form a navigable communication with the river fiu*- ther down ; and here exist a small trading establishment and some conveniences for mooring boats. Close to this place, limestone rock comes down to nearly the water's edge, and has been profitably worked in some large quarries and kilns. The lake possesses the peculiar importance of lying in the midst of the small coal district of Connaught ; the Arigna and the Drumshambo divisions of the district being on opposite sides. Improvements in aad near the lake recommended by tbe Commitsioners for Improving the Shannon Navigation, will be noticed in other articles. See Aeigna, Dbux- 8HANBO, and Shannon.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

19. Mural cliffs and trap formations of the Antrim coast

    Red Bay · townland · Antrim

    The east coast of County Antrim features lofty precipices and mural cliffs extending from Belfast to Red Bay. These cliffs consist of a mass of black trap up to 300 feet thick, overlying white chalk precipices 60 to 100 feet high, creating a striking geological landscape.

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    The secondary rocks superior to those of the coal formation, which occur in Ireland, are magneaan limestone, new red sandstone, black shale, lias limestone, green sand, and chalk. '* The whole of these comparatively recent strata occur in the north-eastern counties in the form of a great mineral basin, the upper beds of which consist of indurated chalk, capped by a thick mass of tabular trap, and the lower of new red sandstone, and, in one instance, of magnesian limestone. This great mineral basin occupies nearly the whole of the county of Antrim, and considerable portionB of the counties of Derry, Tyrone, and Down. Its external edge, when viewed at a distance, presents the striking feature of a high table-land, rising precipitously either from a comparatively low and flat country, or from the level of the sea, which bounds it on the north and east. Among the numerous characteristic examples which might be brought forward, perhaps the most remarkable are the lofty precipices and mural cliffs which extend along the east coast of the county of Antrim ; from Bdfast to Red bay, in this direction, the same character prevails throughout, though tome of the mountain headlands are more elevated and imposing than others. The upper region of the cliffs presents, in all cases, mural escarpments, consisting of a mass of black trap, frequently from 200 to 300 feet in thickness ; it is usually amorphous, but occasionally it is rudely columnar. The chalk which lies immediately beneath, also presents mural precipices varying from 60 to 100 feet in height ; and their dawling whiteness, contrasted with the black mass of superincumbent trap, adds much to the general effect of the scene. The strata beneath the chalk, which, in a descending order, consist of green sand, the lias formation, and red and variegated marls belonging to the new red sandstone, are usually concealed from view by a thick covering of clay and debris, which has arisen partly from the disintegration of the incoherent beds of lias, black shale, and red ■ariy and ptrtly &Ui from the superincumbent cliffs of trap and chalk ; consequently the lower

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 23

20. Nimmo's harbour proposals for Ballywalter and Scullmartin

    Ballywalter · townland · Down

    Mr. Nimmo, surveying the Irish coast for the Fishery Board, recommended harbour works at Maxwell's Bay near Ballywalter, including a jetty and a beacon on Scullmartin. He noted that the roadstead was a frequent site of shipwrecks, with 3 or 4 occurring almost every winter.

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    BALLYWALTER, or WHiTECHrRCH, a parish, containing a village of the same name, in the barony of Ardes, co. Down, Ulster. Length, 2 miles; breadth, | of a mile ; area, 3,378 acres, 3 roods, S3 perches. Pop., in 1841, 1,916. Houses 349. The surface extends along the east coast of the barony ; is traversed by the road from Portaferry to Donaghadee ; and consists, in general, of fertile land. Near the village are valuable slate quarries. The village is situated on the ooast, and on the principal road, 3^ miles east by north of Greyabbey, and 4 northnorth-east of Kircubbin. Area, 24 acrei. Pop., in 1831, 604; in 1841, 743. Houses 151. Fairs are held on June 22 and Nov. 8. In front of the village, nearly parallel with the coast, and about half-a-mile distant, is an extended reef, called the Long Rock of BuDywalter. This reef admits various passives for boats at a certain time of tide ; and its southern part is never entirely covered, and affords g^ood protection toward the north-east. A small pier was constructed by the villagers on the north of a ledge of rocks in front of the village; but as it had small depth of water, and was very difficult of access, Mr. Nimmo, when surveying the Irish coast ibr the Fishery Board, recoounended the oonstmction of new works in a cove, called Maxwell's bay, on the south of the ledge. ** By clearing the inside," says he, '* and raising the southern ledge about 4 feet, running a jetty of about ICO feet from the northeast part thereof, we will form an admirable tideharbour of about 14 acres, with 18 feet at high- water springs, well sheltered from all winds, and ca|>able of being greatly improved and extended. By placing a beacon in Scullmartin, and a buoy on the end of lA>ng Rock, the roadstead in front of the village will be converted into one of the best on the east coast, in<^tead of being a place for shipwrecks, 3 or 4 of which occur almost regularly every winter. The estimate for this impiovement auiy be £2,574. A beacon of iron on Scullmartin might cost about £50. 1 have seen few places caoahle of greater ultimate improvement than Bally waiter. The upper part of the strand immediately opposite to the towo way be converted with great eaee into an inner har-

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 153

21. Ptolemy's map: Damnii boundary at Fair Head

    near Benmore or Fair Head · promontory · Antrim

    According to Ptolemy's ancient map of Ireland, the Damnii tribe inhabited the area from Fair Head to Ardglass in the east.

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    The most ancient recorded division of Ireland is alleged to have consisted of Leath Conn in the north and Leath Mogha in the south, and to have been formed, in Milesian times, by an imaginary line drawn from the bay of Dublin to the bay of Galway. The map of Ptolemy is the most ancient geographical document of Ireland ; and, considering the period in which he lived, and the maps and descriptions he gave of countries which were then better known, it is singularly distinguished by correctness of topographical delineation. The districts inhabited by various tribes, as exhibited in this map, are determined as follows by Whittaker : ^^ 1. Cekteal, comprising the counties of Tyrone, Fermanagh, Monaghan, Cavan, Leitrim, Longford, Westmeath, King's county. Queen's county, Kilkenny, and Tipperary, inhabited by the Scoti, bounded by the Shannon, Lough Allen, and Lough Erne on the west, the rivers Barrow and Boyne, and Lough Neagh, on the east, the rivers Suir and Blackwater on the south, and a chain of mountains on the north. 2. North, or the counties of Antrim and Londonderry, peopled by the Robogdiiy whose boundary was from Horn Head to Fair Head. 3. East, or the county of Antrim and part of Down, inhabited by the Damnii, from Fair Head to Ardglass ; part of Down and the counties of Armagh and Louth by the VoturUii^ from Ardglass to the river Boyne ; the county of Meath and part of Dublin by the Etlani, from the Boyne to the Liffey ; parts of Dublin and of Wicklow by the Cauciij from the Liffey to the Ovoca ; parts of Wicklow and Wexford by the Menapii, from the Ovoca to Camsore Point ; parts of Wicklow and the counties of Kildare and Carlow by the Coriundi, between the Boyne and Barrow rivers. 4. South, or part of Wexford and the county of Waterford, by the Brigaiites, from Camsore Point to the Black"water ; part of Cork by the Vodii, from the Blackwater to the Bann ; parts of Cork and Kerry, by the ibemiiy from the Bann to Dingle bay. 5. West, or part of Kerry, by the Liiceni; parts of Kerry and Limerick by the Vdaborii; Clare by the Cangani; Galway by iliQAuterii; Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon, Leitrim, and Fermanagh, by the Magnata; and Donegal by the Hardinii^ from the Ballyshannon river to Horn Head."

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 69

22. Ptolemy's map: Hardinii boundary at Ballyshannon

    Ballyshannon · town · Donegal

    Ptolemy's ancient map places the boundary of the Hardinii tribe from the Ballyshannon river to Horn Head in County Donegal.

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    The most ancient recorded division of Ireland is alleged to have consisted of Leath Conn in the north and Leath Mogha in the south, and to have been formed, in Milesian times, by an imaginary line drawn from the bay of Dublin to the bay of Galway. The map of Ptolemy is the most ancient geographical document of Ireland ; and, considering the period in which he lived, and the maps and descriptions he gave of countries which were then better known, it is singularly distinguished by correctness of topographical delineation. The districts inhabited by various tribes, as exhibited in this map, are determined as follows by Whittaker : ^^ 1. Cekteal, comprising the counties of Tyrone, Fermanagh, Monaghan, Cavan, Leitrim, Longford, Westmeath, King's county. Queen's county, Kilkenny, and Tipperary, inhabited by the Scoti, bounded by the Shannon, Lough Allen, and Lough Erne on the west, the rivers Barrow and Boyne, and Lough Neagh, on the east, the rivers Suir and Blackwater on the south, and a chain of mountains on the north. 2. North, or the counties of Antrim and Londonderry, peopled by the Robogdiiy whose boundary was from Horn Head to Fair Head. 3. East, or the county of Antrim and part of Down, inhabited by the Damnii, from Fair Head to Ardglass ; part of Down and the counties of Armagh and Louth by the VoturUii^ from Ardglass to the river Boyne ; the county of Meath and part of Dublin by the Etlani, from the Boyne to the Liffey ; parts of Dublin and of Wicklow by the Cauciij from the Liffey to the Ovoca ; parts of Wicklow and Wexford by the Menapii, from the Ovoca to Camsore Point ; parts of Wicklow and the counties of Kildare and Carlow by the Coriundi, between the Boyne and Barrow rivers. 4. South, or part of Wexford and the county of Waterford, by the Brigaiites, from Camsore Point to the Black"water ; part of Cork by the Vodii, from the Blackwater to the Bann ; parts of Cork and Kerry, by the ibemiiy from the Bann to Dingle bay. 5. West, or part of Kerry, by the Liiceni; parts of Kerry and Limerick by the Vdaborii; Clare by the Cangani; Galway by iliQAuterii; Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon, Leitrim, and Fermanagh, by the Magnata; and Donegal by the Hardinii^ from the Ballyshannon river to Horn Head."

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 69

23. Ptolemy's map: Menapii boundary at Camsore Point

    near Carnsore Point · promontory · Wexford

    Ptolemy's ancient map identifies Camsore Point as the southern boundary of the Menapii tribe in Wicklow and Wexford, bordering the Brigantes.

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    The most ancient recorded division of Ireland is alleged to have consisted of Leath Conn in the north and Leath Mogha in the south, and to have been formed, in Milesian times, by an imaginary line drawn from the bay of Dublin to the bay of Galway. The map of Ptolemy is the most ancient geographical document of Ireland ; and, considering the period in which he lived, and the maps and descriptions he gave of countries which were then better known, it is singularly distinguished by correctness of topographical delineation. The districts inhabited by various tribes, as exhibited in this map, are determined as follows by Whittaker : ^^ 1. Cekteal, comprising the counties of Tyrone, Fermanagh, Monaghan, Cavan, Leitrim, Longford, Westmeath, King's county. Queen's county, Kilkenny, and Tipperary, inhabited by the Scoti, bounded by the Shannon, Lough Allen, and Lough Erne on the west, the rivers Barrow and Boyne, and Lough Neagh, on the east, the rivers Suir and Blackwater on the south, and a chain of mountains on the north. 2. North, or the counties of Antrim and Londonderry, peopled by the Robogdiiy whose boundary was from Horn Head to Fair Head. 3. East, or the county of Antrim and part of Down, inhabited by the Damnii, from Fair Head to Ardglass ; part of Down and the counties of Armagh and Louth by the VoturUii^ from Ardglass to the river Boyne ; the county of Meath and part of Dublin by the Etlani, from the Boyne to the Liffey ; parts of Dublin and of Wicklow by the Cauciij from the Liffey to the Ovoca ; parts of Wicklow and Wexford by the Menapii, from the Ovoca to Camsore Point ; parts of Wicklow and the counties of Kildare and Carlow by the Coriundi, between the Boyne and Barrow rivers. 4. South, or part of Wexford and the county of Waterford, by the Brigaiites, from Camsore Point to the Black"water ; part of Cork by the Vodii, from the Blackwater to the Bann ; parts of Cork and Kerry, by the ibemiiy from the Bann to Dingle bay. 5. West, or part of Kerry, by the Liiceni; parts of Kerry and Limerick by the Vdaborii; Clare by the Cangani; Galway by iliQAuterii; Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon, Leitrim, and Fermanagh, by the Magnata; and Donegal by the Hardinii^ from the Ballyshannon river to Horn Head."

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 69

24. Ptolemy's map: Robogdii boundary at Horn Head

    near Horn Head · promontory · Donegal

    Ptolemy's ancient map of Ireland places the boundary of the Robogdii tribe from Horn Head to Fair Head in the north of the island.

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    The most ancient recorded division of Ireland is alleged to have consisted of Leath Conn in the north and Leath Mogha in the south, and to have been formed, in Milesian times, by an imaginary line drawn from the bay of Dublin to the bay of Galway. The map of Ptolemy is the most ancient geographical document of Ireland ; and, considering the period in which he lived, and the maps and descriptions he gave of countries which were then better known, it is singularly distinguished by correctness of topographical delineation. The districts inhabited by various tribes, as exhibited in this map, are determined as follows by Whittaker : ^^ 1. Cekteal, comprising the counties of Tyrone, Fermanagh, Monaghan, Cavan, Leitrim, Longford, Westmeath, King's county. Queen's county, Kilkenny, and Tipperary, inhabited by the Scoti, bounded by the Shannon, Lough Allen, and Lough Erne on the west, the rivers Barrow and Boyne, and Lough Neagh, on the east, the rivers Suir and Blackwater on the south, and a chain of mountains on the north. 2. North, or the counties of Antrim and Londonderry, peopled by the Robogdiiy whose boundary was from Horn Head to Fair Head. 3. East, or the county of Antrim and part of Down, inhabited by the Damnii, from Fair Head to Ardglass ; part of Down and the counties of Armagh and Louth by the VoturUii^ from Ardglass to the river Boyne ; the county of Meath and part of Dublin by the Etlani, from the Boyne to the Liffey ; parts of Dublin and of Wicklow by the Cauciij from the Liffey to the Ovoca ; parts of Wicklow and Wexford by the Menapii, from the Ovoca to Camsore Point ; parts of Wicklow and the counties of Kildare and Carlow by the Coriundi, between the Boyne and Barrow rivers. 4. South, or part of Wexford and the county of Waterford, by the Brigaiites, from Camsore Point to the Black"water ; part of Cork by the Vodii, from the Blackwater to the Bann ; parts of Cork and Kerry, by the ibemiiy from the Bann to Dingle bay. 5. West, or part of Kerry, by the Liiceni; parts of Kerry and Limerick by the Vdaborii; Clare by the Cangani; Galway by iliQAuterii; Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon, Leitrim, and Fermanagh, by the Magnata; and Donegal by the Hardinii^ from the Ballyshannon river to Horn Head."

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 69

25. Ptolemy's map: Tribal boundaries at Ardglass

    Ardglass · townland · Down

    Ptolemy's ancient map of Ireland identifies Ardglass as the point where the territory of the Damnii ended and the Voturii tribe began.

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    The most ancient recorded division of Ireland is alleged to have consisted of Leath Conn in the north and Leath Mogha in the south, and to have been formed, in Milesian times, by an imaginary line drawn from the bay of Dublin to the bay of Galway. The map of Ptolemy is the most ancient geographical document of Ireland ; and, considering the period in which he lived, and the maps and descriptions he gave of countries which were then better known, it is singularly distinguished by correctness of topographical delineation. The districts inhabited by various tribes, as exhibited in this map, are determined as follows by Whittaker : ^^ 1. Cekteal, comprising the counties of Tyrone, Fermanagh, Monaghan, Cavan, Leitrim, Longford, Westmeath, King's county. Queen's county, Kilkenny, and Tipperary, inhabited by the Scoti, bounded by the Shannon, Lough Allen, and Lough Erne on the west, the rivers Barrow and Boyne, and Lough Neagh, on the east, the rivers Suir and Blackwater on the south, and a chain of mountains on the north. 2. North, or the counties of Antrim and Londonderry, peopled by the Robogdiiy whose boundary was from Horn Head to Fair Head. 3. East, or the county of Antrim and part of Down, inhabited by the Damnii, from Fair Head to Ardglass ; part of Down and the counties of Armagh and Louth by the VoturUii^ from Ardglass to the river Boyne ; the county of Meath and part of Dublin by the Etlani, from the Boyne to the Liffey ; parts of Dublin and of Wicklow by the Cauciij from the Liffey to the Ovoca ; parts of Wicklow and Wexford by the Menapii, from the Ovoca to Camsore Point ; parts of Wicklow and the counties of Kildare and Carlow by the Coriundi, between the Boyne and Barrow rivers. 4. South, or part of Wexford and the county of Waterford, by the Brigaiites, from Camsore Point to the Black"water ; part of Cork by the Vodii, from the Blackwater to the Bann ; parts of Cork and Kerry, by the ibemiiy from the Bann to Dingle bay. 5. West, or part of Kerry, by the Liiceni; parts of Kerry and Limerick by the Vdaborii; Clare by the Cangani; Galway by iliQAuterii; Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon, Leitrim, and Fermanagh, by the Magnata; and Donegal by the Hardinii^ from the Ballyshannon river to Horn Head."

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 69

26. Surviving town walls and gateway in Athlone

    Athlone · town · Westmeath · 1689–1691

    On the Leinster side of Athlone, a considerable extent of the town wall still survives amidst houses. A gateway perforating an old square tower still stands, bearing marks of the cannonade during the war of the Revolution.

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    Fortificationt.'] — A strong castle, to command the passage of the Shannon, was built at Athlone, as early as the reign of King John. Walls round the lauff sides of each of the two divisions of the town probably were soon afterwards constructed; and they appear to have been either increased, or at least repaired and strengthened, in the reign of Elizabeth. On the Connaught &ide, scarcely any traces now exist of either walls or gates ; but on the Leinster side, a considerable extent of wall still survives amidst a pressure of obscuring houses, and a gateway, perforating one of the old square towers, and exhibiting marks of the cannonade upon the town in the war of the Revolution, still aflfords egress near the river to a principal thoroughfare toward the north. The castle, consisting in small part of the original structure, and chiefly of subsequent additions and re-erections, stands on a spur or oflfset of the hill whose shoulders and summit are occupied by the upper part of the Connaught town; and while overlooked from behind by the houses in the vicinity, it in front, or towards the flat along the river, looks sheer down over a stupendous artificial wall. Insulated in the castle's court or area, stands a decagonal tower, the oldest or only original part

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog

27. Three difficult passes between Down and Armagh

    near Aghaderg · parish · Down

    On the western border of Aghaderg parish, through formerly boggy and wooded ground, were three difficult passes each commanded by a fortalice: the path of Ulster or Scarva pass, Poyntz or Fenwick's pass, and Lamb's or Turcan pass.

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    AGHADERG or Aohaderrick, a parish partly in the barony of Lower Iveagh, but chiefly in that of Upper Ivfeagh, co. Down, Ulster. The Upper Iveagh section contains the town of Louohbrick- LAND, the village of Scarva, and part of the village of P0TNTZ-PA88 : see these articles. Length and breadth of the parish, each 4 miles. Area of the whole, 13,920; of the Lower Iveagh section, 1,078 acres ; of the Upper Iveagh section, 12,842 acres -, of the rural districts of the Upper Iveagh section, 12.780. Pop. of the whole in 1831, 8.981 ; in 1841. 9,240. Houses 1,668. Pop. of the Lower Iveagh section in 1831, 889; in 1841, 1,022. Houses 177. Pop. of the rural districts of the Upper Iveagh section in 1831, 7,254 ; in 1841, 7,166. Houses 1,307. — The parish is intersected northward by the postroad from Dublin to Belfast, and is bounded on the west, and separated from the county of Armagh, by the Newry canaL The entire suriace is carpeted with good soil, and shoMrs pleasing effects of cultivation. Sir Marmaduke Whitchurch, who removed into Ireland in the reign of Elizabeth to clothe the army, received the estate of Loughbrickland and other lands in guerdon of his service ; and built on the margin of a lake at the pUce, a strength or castle whose ruins not very long ago survived. — The site of the parish-church and capital was at Aghader^ half-a-mile north-west of Loughbrickland, till Sir Marmaduke built the latter town, and invested it with the metropolitan honours of the district. On the western border, through grounds which were then boggy, moras^y, and wooded, were formerly three difficult passes, affording a bad and dangerous communication between Down and Armagh, each commanded by a fortalice, aud railed respectively the path of Ulster or Scarva pass, Poyntz or Fenwick's pass, and Lamb's or Tuf^can pasx, or Pass Tu^ri^hane. The Erse of * the Path of Lister* ia * Bealach-UItagh ;' and this name is used in a manuscript Journal of a march of the Lord-deputy

    AGH

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

28. William III encamps at Balbriggan after Boyne victory

    Balbriggan · town · Dublin · 1690

    On 3 July 1690, William III encamped at Balbriggan after achieving the victory of the Boyne, marking the town as a stopping point in the aftermath of the famous battle.

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    Eroprietor, Mr. Hamilton. The Baron is stated to ave expended upon it no less a sum than £15,000 ; and he was granted by the Irish parliament, on account of it, £1.500 in 1761, and £3,752 in 1765. •* The town," says Mr, Nimmo, "has almost entirely originated, and <he agriculture of the neighbouring country has greatly extended, since the building of the pier. Balbriggan harbour is clean, with a bottom of soft sand, so that vessels may run b«ldly for it, when there i^ sufficient water, which, within the pier-head, is about 14 feet at high water springs ; it IS all dry at low water. Many vessels have been saved here in easterly or south-east gales; yet it would still require much improvement to make it safe in winter ; and various designs have been proposed for this purpose, — among others, that of excavating a dork in the upper part of the harbour to the depth of low water^ with a quay en the north side thereof, which would be more convenient to the towji, &c. I C.9 not think it would be practicable to preserve this depth among so much moveable sand, without a continual and enormous expense ; and would tlierefore recommend that a pier or breakwater should be formed on the north side of the harbour, from the point of the rock under the Mar« t«lto Txiwer, to within about 10 perches of the present pier-head. This would cut oif the current which now sweeps along that shore and out under the lee of the pier with all inshore winds, and by which vessels are so often carried adrift when entering this harbour, and would send the swell off to »pend itself at the Martello Rocks. The harbour would then enclose a space of 1 1 acre<, quiet in all winds ; and the run or portion of the billow which would be admitted by the entrance, would have ample room within to expend and subside." He proposes also that a wharf wall and bank should be run from the end of Grace's Lane or Freeman's Row, to the middle of his projected breakwater, ** with t«in2>els and sluices across it. by which the tidewater miglit be retained to 6 or 8 feet deep in a space of 3 or 4 acres between that and the Martello Towers, and let off at low water to scour the harbour {' and he estimates the cost of executing the whole of his plan at £4,635. An excelleiit lightbouse was constructed a number of years ago, at the pier-head, by the Ballast Board ; and the disbursements on account of it, during the year 1840, amounted to £230 12s. Id. In 1839^0, a dispensary in the town, under the Balrothery Poor-law union, received £154 7s., expended £153 17s. 5d., administered to 2,312 patients, and had a district containing 9,611 inhabitants. The town is a summer resort for seabathing. In 1329, occurred at Balbriggan, a conflict in which Richard Talbot and other persons of distinction fell victims to the rival Actions of the Verdons, Gernons, and Savages ||see Malahii>£]{ and on the 3d of July, 1690, William III. encamped at the town, after achieving the victory of the Boyne. Hampton Hall, the handsome seat of*^ the proprietor of the town, stands about a mile distant, on the road to Skerries ; and commands an extensive view of the coast and the country inland. Area of the town, 1H0 acres. Pop., in 1831, 3,016; in 1841, 2,959. Houses 567. BALCARRA. See Bslcarrjl. BALCARRICK, a small village in the parish of Malahide, barony of Nethercross, and 3 miles east of Swords, CO. Dublin, Leinster.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 147

29. Giant Shannon trout sold cheaply at Athlone

    Athlone · town · Westmeath

    A visitor to Athlone expressed astonishment at the continual sale of enormous trout from the Shannon, weighing 8 to 15 pounds each, sold for trifling sums and attracting less regard than the eels which the town abundantly consumed.

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    Trade."] — Felt hats were long an extensive and celebrated manufacture in Athlone, and are stfll somewhat numerously made. Frieaes and some linen are, on a small scale, manufactured. Artificers in various departments are numerous; yet in no other instances than these named do they produce, in the mercantile sense of the phrase, an article of manufacture. Distillation is at once the ino>t prominent and the most lucrative employment, and makes a figure as conspicuous as its influence is baneful. A steam-engine of 20 horse power, set up ill one of the distillenes, was found to be best worked with turf. The quantity of turf brought to the town and sold in it strikes a stranger with wonder ; fleets of little boats being seen laden with it in the canal, and heaps of it elsewhere, larger than several three-story houses. So abundantly are the markets supplied with provisions, that the town is considered as aggregately one of the cheapest places of residence within an extensive tract of cirrumJHcent country. The * Sportsman in Ireland ' says, respecting the supply of river fish, " The first thing that aroused mv surprise at Athlone was the continued exposure for sale of trout of 8, 10, or 15 pounds each, which seemed to excite no admiration among the people. I was almost angry at the sight of such splendid creatures sold for the merest trifle ; and apparently regarded with less respect than the eels which satiated the town.** Though profits are now smaller than formerly, business in general has for years been decidedly en the increase. The shops are numerous rather than large, and are almost wholly furnished with British goods, imported by way of Dublin and the canals. Weekly markets are held on Thursday and Saturday ; and annual fairs on 1st Monday after Jan. 6, on March 21, on Wednesday before Ascension, and on 1st Monday in Sept. On the Leinster side are branch offices of the National and Provincial banks, the former established rn 1836, and the latter in 1827. A steam- vessel of about 100 tons piles between Athlone and Shannonharbour; connecting the town with the track and luggage boat conveyance to Dublin along the Grand rmnal, and with steam-boat conveyance to Limerick down the Shannon. In 1834, the boats which navigated the Shannon from the town were 171 in num. )>er, and aggregately of 4,684 tons burden. In 1838, the Iwiid conveyances from the town were a car to Ballina<loe, a caravan to Kilbeggan, a mail car to Mullingar, a car to meet the Royal canal boats at Toome bridge, and mail and other coaches in transit between Dublin and towns in the west.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 145

30. Acre River and the Scenic Vale of Glenariff

    near Glenariff · village · Antrim

    The Acre rivulet in the barony of Glenarm has a course of about six miles and traverses the scenic vale of Glenariff before falling into the North channel near the caves of Red Bay. The stream forms the cascade of Isnaleara along its course.

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    ACRE, a beautiful rivulet of the barony of Glenarm, on the west coast of co. Antrim, Ulster. It has a course of only about 6 miles ; traverses the scenic vale of Glenariif ; and falls into the North channel at Naireamh, near the caves of Red Bay, through the little neglected village of Waterfoot. The stream forms, in one place, the cascade of Isnaleara; and over only about 100 perches above its embouchure is it af!V;cted by the tide. See Red Bat.

    ACTON, a quoad sacra parish and a village, within the quoad civilia parish of Ballymore, in the barony of Lower Orier, co. Armagh, Ulster. See Ballt- MORE. The parish lies on the eastern verge of the county ; and is touched or traversed from north to south by the Newry canal. Its land is, in general, of good quality, and in fine cultivation. Length, 4 miles ; breadth, 3 ; area, about 4,500 acres. Pop.,

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

31. Ancient name of Antrim — 'habitation upon the waters'

    near Antrim · town · Antrim

    The uncorrupted name of Antrim is Andruim or Endruim, meaning 'the habitation upon the waters,' likely referring to a single locality from which the name spread over the whole county, and possibly expressive of the county's nearly insulated position.

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    History and Aniiquities.'] — The ancient or uncorrupted name of Antrim is Andruim or Endruim, 'the habitation upon the waters;' a name which probably refers to one locality, whence a designation was diffused over the whole county, yet which has been thought expressive of the county's nearly insulated position. The early history of the district is strictly that of the kingdom of Dalriada [which see] ; and the later history is so unconsecutive, or so generally identified with the towns and strengths, that it must be narrated piecemeal in our notice of celebrated localities. Cairns, cromlechs, pillar-stones, ratbs, and earthen mounds, all strictly similar to those which prevail from Belfast Lough to Meath, abound along the whole coast, and occur somewhat numerously even in the interior. The most remarkable of the cairns — all of which are rude, and indicate the work of quite a barbarous people — are one on Colin mountain, 3 miles north of Lisbum, one on Slieve True, west of Carrickfergus, and two on Colinward. The chief cromlechs are one near Cairngrainey, one near Ballintoy, and one at the north end of Island Magee. Raths and mounds are so plentiful that no fewer than 237 have been enumerated in the two parishes of Killead and Bf uckamore ; and they are so featureless that only 7, situated at respectively Dunethery, Dundermot, Dunmacalter, Dunmaul, Cushendall, Camlent, and Ballykennedy, may be named as in any respect interesting specimens. Archdall enumerates 48 monastic estalvliihments in Antrim, but says that 20 of them had ceased to be known. The onl^ ones which now figure in either ruin or history will be noticed in the articles on Carrickfergus, Woodburn, Glenarm, Kells, Massarene, Muckamore, Whiteabbey, Killead, Rathlin, Ballycastle, and Glynn. The round towers of the county, 4 in number, are situated at Antrim, at Trummery, at Armoy, and in Ram*8 Island. The chief deserted or ruinous military castles are those of Carrickfergus, Olderfleet or Lame, Dunluce, Dunseveric. Red bay, and Cushendall; and the only modernized and inhabited ones are Shane's castle and Castle-Upton. All these antiquities, as well as any others which deserve notice, will figure in the articles on their respective localities.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 120

32. Archbishop Beresford's fever hospital near cathedral

    near Armagh · town · Armagh

    A fever hospital situated beyond the borough boundaries, nearly half a mile north-east of Armagh cathedral, was erected and maintained solely by Archbishop Beresford. It contained 40 beds and was intended exclusively for the use of citizens.

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    sttfficienry of Accommodation for the lunatic |>oor of the district. On Ist Jan., 1841, there were in the asylum 62 male and 56 female patients ; and between that date and Jan. 1842, 21 male and 17 female patients were admitted, 9 males and 9 females were cured, 6 males and 3 females were relieved and given up to friends, 3 males and 4 females died, and 19 males and 1 female waited to be received. From the opening of the institution on 14th July, 1825, till 1st Jan. 1842, 649 males and 505 females were admitted, 280 males and 240 females were cured, 130 males and 90 females were relieved and given up to friends, 73 m.iles and 40 females were unrelieved, yet harmless, and given up to friends, 92 males and 72 females died, and 10 males and 5 females were transferred to the Derry Asylum. In 1841, 50 males and 55 females were employed at different trades and other works, and 15 males and 2 females were unemployed from imbecility. The total expenditure for that vear was £2,107 78. lOd. ; the total of salaries was Jt539 4s. ; and the average cost for each patient was £17 5s. 5d. — A private Lunatic Asylum near the city appears to be wellconducted ; in 1840, it had 20 patients ; and, though sufficient accommodation did not exist for that number, the proprietor promised to the inspector immediately to supply it. — The Armagh County Infirmary has only 40 beds, but contains apartments for the surgeon which, if converted into wards, would afford apace for at least 20 beds ; and, even if these were rendered available, it might probably possess an insufficient amount of accommodation. During the year 1840, it had a total of 607 intern patients ; ex> pended £1,286 88. 4d., and received £145 9s. from subscriptions, £683 Is. lOd. from parliamentary and county grants, and £432 4s. 9|d. from other sources.— The fever hospital, situated beyond the borough boundaries, and nearly half-a-mile northeast of the cathedra], was erected and is maintained solely by Archbishop Beresford, and it contains 40 beds, and is intended for the use exclusively of the citizens. Jacob Arthur Macan, who died m India in 1819, bequeathed to the sovereign, burgesses, and inhabitants of Armagh, the greater part of a property valued at £23,000, for building and endowing in the city an asylum for the blind, on the plan of that at Liverpool, but perfectly unrestricted and unaffected by any question of religious denomination. This bequest, though retarded from taking effect, was reported, in 1835, as likely to occasion a full provision, which should be available, first for the blind in the county of Armagh, next for the blind in other districts, and next, if the state of the funds should permit, for a portion of the deaf and dumb.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 136

33. Ballinrobe military barracks completely abandoned

    Ballinrobe · town · Mayo

    Ballinrobe was once an important and well-garrisoned military station but now suffers the complete and final abandonment of both its cavalry and infantry barracks. The town has also lost its former county importance.

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    Mftion on the right bank of the river consists almost solely of a short continuation of the tows of cabins along the road to Westport, and of the large tenements and spacious areas of the military barracks. The site of the main body is principally the tablesummit and partly the river-ward slope of a gentle swell ; and between a large portion of it and the stream is an umbrageous and meadowy alluvial pUdn, — Scottice, * a haugh,' — along the edge of which the river trots and frolics in mirthful current. The site of the other section rises boldly but not loftily up from the margin of the stream, and sustains the suites of barracks in airiness and comparative conspicuousness of position. Owing to the flatness of ' the surrounding country, the height of a fair proportion of the town's private houses, the advantageous position of the public buildings, and the isolation of the swells in both portions of the site, the town, as seen from various points at 1^ or 2 miles' distance, look* much larger and more pretending than it really is, and even wears a prominently urban aspect. Though alto^ther inferior to Ballinasloe, Westport, and Ballina, it markedly excels the majoritv of Connaught towns in regularity, cleanliness, and amount of apparent comfort. Yet in real prosperity it has suffered serious reverses : it was once of some county importance, but now shares onl^ such privileges as are common to it with various hlthy little viUages ; and till very recently it was an important and wellgarrisoned military station, but now it pines under the complete and final abandonment of i>oth its cavalry and its infantry barracks. The market-house, fronting the main street, and occupying a comer at the intersection of the long cross street, is a plain yet neat building ; its lower story open, or in piazza style, and its upper story used as court-bouse, schoolhouse, and for miscellaneous public purposes. The cavalry barrack was originally a seat of Lord Tyrawley; and, besides occupving a site of much beauty on the river, is graced with some venerable trees which belonged to the demesne of the mansion, and which now may almost rank as antiquities of ihe town. The bridewell, situated on the outskirts of the town toward Cong, was long in a discreditable condition, but, two or three years ago, was reformed and improved. In ^e Report of 1841, the inspector says regarding it: ** I found this bridewell clean and regular; the diet is expensive, and made more so than is necessary by the average detention of prisoners being three times as long as in bridewells in general." The parish-church, situated in a recess or open area on the east side of the mun street, has a tolerably good appearance ; the Roman CathoUc chapel draws attention only from its capaciousness; and a meeting-house, erected 10 or 1 1 years ago at the expense of J. Fynn, Esq. of Ballymacgibbon, as a place of worship for evangelical Protestant dissenters, bos a mere dwelling-house aspect, and is not noticed in the Report of the Commissioners of Public Insctruction. At the base of the swell on which the main body of the town stands, and on the inner edge of the alluvial plain, are some remains of an ancient monastery. Archdall says it " was a monastery of Augustinian friars ; and in ihe register of the Dominican friary of Athenry, the monastery de Roba is mendoned in the year 1337, but when or by whom founded is not recorded." Numerous remains of churches and castles in the circumjacent country, both in and beyond the parish, seem to indicate that the town anciently possessed considerable importance. Creagh, Currymore, and other mansions in the vicinity, and the stated or occasional residence of several wealthy and influential families in the town itself or its immediate outskirts, still relieve it from mere village or plodding character. The

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

34. Ballurgan-park demesne at Ballyboys parish

    Ballyboys · parish · Louth

    The parish of Ballyboys lies on the north side near the head of Dundalk bay and is enriched with the plantations of Ballurgan-park, the demesne of Mr. Topping.

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    BALLYBOYS, a parish in the barony of Lower Dundalk, 3 miles cast- north -east of the town of Dundalk, co. Louth, Leinster. Area, 1,436 acres. Pop., in 1841, 748. Houses 120. It lies on the north side and near the head of Dundalk bay, and is enriched >rith the plantations of Ballurgan-park, the demesne of Mr. Topping. The ecclesiastical arrangement does not assign it a parochial status, but regards it as part of the paLri»h of Balltmascan- LAN : wliich see.

    BALLYBRACK, a villaee in the oarish of Rmwmere, and on the northern trontier or the barooy of Decies- without- Drum, co. Waterford, Munster. Post-town, Kilmathomas. Pop., in 1831, 165.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

35. Ballycorus mining locality

    near Ballycorus · street · Dublin

    Ballycorus is a mining locality on the southern border of the half-barony of Rathdown, within half a mile of the Scalp in Co. Dublin. Smelting works, a rolling and pipe mill, and a shot tower operate with water power, employing 20 men and producing 800–2,400 tons of lead annually.

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    BALLYCORUS, a mining locality on the southern border of the half-barony of Rathdown, within half-a-mile of the Scalp, co. Dubhn, Leinster. Smelting works, rolling and pipe mill and shot tower are worked with water power, employ 20 men, and annually produce from 800 to 2,400 tons of lead,. worth ^27 per ton. Supplies of timber, iron, &c., for the works are sent on cars from Dublin.

    BALLYCOTTON, a bay* some islets, and » fishing. village, in the barony oif Imokilly, ca Cork, Munster. The bay enters between Ring Point, or

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

36. Ballyquintin Point and the Ranting Wheel whirlpool

    Ballyquintin · townland · Down

    Ballyquintin is a headland forming the southern extremity of the peninsula of Little Ardes, screening the north-east side of the entrance to Lough Strangford. Near the headland, a rock called the Ranting Wheel creates a dangerous whirlpool, and two lighthouses overlook the strait entrance at Portaferry and Ardglass.

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    BALLYQUINTIN. a headland in the parish of Witter, liarony of Ardes, co. Down, Ulster. It forms the southern extremity of the peninsula of Little Ardes. and screens the north-east side of the entrance of the strait leading up to Lough Strangford. The passage nearly opposite the headland is only about half an Irish mile wide, and is scoured by a tidal current of six knots an hour in both flood and ebb. Near the headlaiHl, and occasioned bv a rock called the Ranting Whe«l, is a kind of whirlpool, very dangerous to bouts. Two tigktbouiies overlook

    BAL

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

37. Ballysadare Abbey ruins above the cataracts

    Ballysadare · townland · Sligo · 645–1500

    The ruins of Ballysadare Abbey, traditionally founded by St. Fechin around 645, stand dramatically near a 60-foot precipice above the Unshion river cataracts. At the dissolution, it consisted of a thatched church, dormitory, and two other ruined buildings, a state which persisted into the 1840s.

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    BALLYSADERE, a village, or small town, in the above parish, co. Sligo, Connaught. It standa at the foot of the cataracts noticed in the preceding article, and at the head of Ardnaglass Harbour, Ij^ mile north-northwest of Collooney, and 3 southwest of Sligo. It was a place of some note in those ancient times when the naturally wild and barren country of northern Connaught was thinly inhabited, and the towns, or even villages, were consec^uently few. In 1 179, it was burned by the men ot Moylisha and Moyltenary ; and in 1 188, it was a second time reduced to ashes. But though it possibly rose like a phcenix from the flames, it was prevented bjr the badness of its harbour, and by its vicinity to Sligo, from ever becoming a town of modern consequence. £. J. Cooper, Esq., its munificent proprietor, whose mansion and demesne nearly adjoin it, has of late years done much for its improvement, and appears to be successfully removing some serious obstacles to its prosperity. Its mills, its salmonfishery, and the clearance of the debouch of the Unshion into Ardnaglass bay, are features which indicate a new and prospering character. Fairs are held on Aug. 4, Nov. 12, and Dec. 15. Communications to the east, west, and south are enjoyed by the coaches in transit between Sligo and Ballina, and Sligo and Dublin. In 1842, the Ballysadere Loan Fund had a capital of £550, circuUted £2,605 in 650 loans, and both cleared in nett profit and expended for charitable purposes, £46 16s. lid — The abbey of Balhrsadere is described as consisting, at the period of the dissolution, of a church partly thatched, a dormitory, and the ruins of two othitr buildings; and it now exists in nearly the same state, N

    BAL

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 152

38. Baltinglass Abbey serves as parish church

    Baltinglass · town · Wicklow

    The parochial church of the parish of Baltinglass is the church of the old abbey of Baltinglass. The abbey church had 500 sittings with an attendance of 250 in the 1840s.

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    hoase. Stratford Lodge, 2 miles farther south, and in the Ticinity of the town of Baltinglass, contributes the numerous features of a noble residence, plantations, parks, fine enclosures, a hotel, school-houtet, and other improvements to the general landscape, and prolongs the most southerly of them quite to the entrance of the town. Golden Fort, the seat of General Saunders; Knockrigg, the seat of Jamea Woll, Esq. ; Kilranelagh, the seat of the Rev. T. F. Green, on the rising ground at the western termination of the Wicklow mountains; Slaney Park; and some other mansions, contribute their ornamenta either to the interior of the parish or to its immediate vidnitv. In 1787, numerous ancient tombs were discovered at Saunders* Grove, consisting each of two flag-stones set edgeways, and one placed over them as a roof, and containing funereal umi so formed of baked earth as to indicate an intention of their being ornamental. In marl pits in the same neighbourhood have been found numerous relics of the moose deer. Other antiquities and curiosities will be noticed in connection with the town. The road from Dublin to Wexford, by way of Blessington and Newtownbarry, passes down the valley of the Slaney, through Stratford and Baltinglass — This parish is a rectory and a separate benefice in the dio. of Leighlin. Tithe composition and gross income, £618 9*, 3d. ; nett, £524. Patron, Henry Carroll, Esq. of Ballinure. A curate has a stipend of £83 Is. 6|d. The incumbent holds also the contiguous benefice of Ballinure: which see. Part of the parish, containing more than one-half of the population, constitutes the chapelry of Stratpord-upon- Slanbt. The parochial church is the church of the old abbey of Baltinglass. Sittings 500; attendance 250. A Wesleyan meeting-house has an attendance of 20. The Roman Catholic chapel is attended by 1,700; and, in the Ronum Catholic parochial arrangement, is united to the chapel of Rathbran. In 1834, the parishioners consisted of 793 Churchmen, 13 Presbyterians, 7 other Protestant dissenters, and 3,419 Roman Catholics ; and 5 daily schools had on their books 256 boys and 188 girls. Two of the schools were an infant-school and a daily school at Stratford Lodge, wholly supported by Lady Eliiabeth Stratford ; two were a boys* school and a girls' school, in connection with the Naticmal Board ; and one was a boys' and girls' school, aided with £B a-year from the rector, and £75 from the Foundling Hospital for 15 foundling children.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 153

39. Bangor harbour pier built with parliamentary grant

    near Bangor · town · Down · 1757

    A pier was constructed at Bangor bay in 1757 with the help of a parliamentary grant, forming a harbour of about 300 feet square in the south-east angle of the bay. The harbour was much frequented by vessels in communication with Portpatrick and by vessels carrying live cattle.

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    The cotton manufacture is carried on to a oonsiderable extent in both the town and its vicinitjr, and afbrds employment to many persons in the •¥ari- •ous departmeats of spinning, weaving, sewing, and ornamenting. There are two thriving cotton-mills. The linen manufacture commands some attention. Much business is done in the export of . provisions ■and live cattle. The pert has 15 sail of -carTying vessels, 8 stout fishing wherries, and a number of ^awls. Bangor bay .is 800 jrards broad and 600 long; Its general depth of water is from 2A to 3 fathems ; and its bottom is firm sand and good holding ^^reund. In 1757> by the aid of a parliamentary grant, a pier was built in such a position as to form a harbour of about 300 feet square, in the south-east angleof the bay. Vessels employed in the communication with Portpatrick, greatly frequent this harbour; and vessels carrying live cattle have sometimes filled its whole space. *' The harbour being -small," says Mr. Nimmo, *' and having only 12 feet at the pierhead in spring-tides, and being much wall-bound, so as to be very turbulent in north-east gales, there have been various plans suggested for its improvement, especially with a view to its being made the station for the post-office packets. The chief object of attention, for some years past, has been the formation of a harbour on the north-east of the present pier, which might be more removed from the surf. and shifting sand of the bottom of the bay, and have a greater depth of water than the present harbour

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 161

40. Bangor's name origin: Vale of Angels and Bane-Choraidh

    near Bangor · town · Down

    Bangor's site was said, on apocryphal authority, to have been originally called 'the Vale of Angels.' The name Bangor is generally regarded as a corruption of Banchor, itself from Bane-Choraidh meaning 'a white choir,' referring to the elegant stone-and-mortar choir of the ancient abbey—the first such building erected in Ulster.

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    The site of Bangor u said, but on very apocryphal authority, to have been originally called ** the Vale of Angels.'* The name Bangor seems by general consent to be regarded as a corruption of Banchor, and Banchor as a corruption of Bane-Choraidh, " a white choir;" and this designation is alleged to have arisen from the elegance of the stone and mortar choir of the church of an ancient abbev, — the first stone and mortar building erected in Ulster. The history or legendary story of this abbey is the most characteristic we have yet met ; and presents one or two points which strikingly illustrate the real value of the current tales respecting pretended Irish abbeys

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 162

41. Cromlech near Ballyshannon spa

    Ballyshannon · town · Donegal

    Near the spa at Ballyshannon, where visitors resided at Johnstown, there was once a large cromlech known to locals as Clogkhannagh, meaning 'the stone of blessing'. The cromlech was dislodged not many years before the publication of this text.

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    Visitors to the spa usually reside at Johnstown ; and, although possessing few of the facilities of fashionable dissipation or of luxurious living which 4ibound at the great watering-places of England, they contrive to exhibit sufficient gaiety and taste for narobling to justify a doubt as to many of them being really invalids. .Near the spa was a large cromlech, •called by the peasantry Clogkhannagh, *the stone •of blessing;^ but not many years ago it was dislodged.

    BALLYSPILLANE. a parish in the barony of Barry more. 8| miles south-east by south of Rath- •oormack, co. Cork, Munster. Length and breadth, each 1^ mile; area, 2,088 acres. Pop., in 183L, ^7; in 1841, 603. Houses 84. The surface is in general upland, of a tolerably good quality; and it is drained south-south-eastwai-d by the Middleton river, and traversed in the same direction by the road fpom Rathcormack to Middleton. — This parish is a vicarage, and a separate benefice, in the dio. of Cloyne. Previous to the passing -of the Church Temporalities act, it formed part of the benefice of Middleton. Vicarial tithe composition and gross income, £11-4; nett, £107 19s. 6<1. Patron, the Earl of Shannon. The vicar is non-resident; and the occasional duties «re performed by the cnrate«of a neighbouring parish <at a stipend of £30. The rectorial tithes are com* •pounded for the same sum as the vicarial, and are impropriate. In 1834, the parishioners were all Roman Catholics ; and there was neither glebeliouse, church, chapel, nor school.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 153

42. Crouched Friars monastery founded at Athy

    Athy · town · Kildare · 1200–1575

    A monastery for crouched friars was founded in Athy in the 13th century by Richard de St. Michael, Lord of Rheban. Its precincts impinged on the river at the end of the bridge and included the area now called St. John and St. John's Lane; the property was granted to Anthony Power in 1575 and later to Dame Mary Meredith.

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    Public Buildtngt,'y— The places of worship and the schools in the town will be noticed in the articles on the three parishes in which it stands. Some small vestiges exist, on the south-west side of the river, of the church of a monastic building. This structure was founded in the 13th century, bv Richard de St. Michael, Lord of Rheban, for crouched friars. The precincts of the monastery impinged on the river at the end of the bridge, and included all that part of the town*s area now ciilled St. John and St. John's Lane ; and the domain consisted of the island in the river, and of the ai^acent fields as far as the present barracks. The property of the friary was, in 1575, granted to Anthony Power; and, reverting to the crown, it was, by act of parliament 17 and 18 Charles II., granted to Dame Mary Meredith. — Another monastery, a Dominican one, was, in 1253, founded^ on the north-€ast side of the river, by the families of the Boisels and Hogans. lU precincts extended from the river along the north side of the present church, to the corner of the street leading to Preston's-gate ; and thence they extended to that gate, and to the rear of the gardens of the house called the Abbey ; and its domain consisted of 6 messuages on and around the present site of the town, 12^ acres of isknds in the nver, I acre of heath in Ardree, a water-mill at Tulloghnorre, and 2 fishing weirs on the Bariow. The whole property was, in 1544, granted to Martin Polles, in capite for ever, at the annual rent of 2s. 6d. Irish, rreston's-gatc, inddenUUy alluded to, wa^ the postern gate of the monastery, and the onlv surviving vestige of it long after all the other buildings had perished — Woodstock-castlc, situated on the south-west inargin of the river, 3 furlongs above the bridge, is an imposing ruin of a structure, hoar^ with anti^ity, and somewhat impressive in histoncal association. See Woodstock. White's Castle, i^ituated at the end of the bridge, and now consisting of only a single square tower, is the remnant of a fortalice built about the year 1506, by Gerald, eighth Eari of Kildare, for the purpose of securing, jointly with other fortalices, the frontier of the pale. The castle was repaired and enlarged, in 1575, by a person called William MThite, and thence derived its present name ; and the remaining tower of it was, till a few years ago, used as

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 146

43. Decayed village of Balrothery

    Balrothery · townland · Dublin

    The village of Balrothery stands on the old Dublin and Drogheda road, now a poor decayed place though it possessed some consequence before the great northern thoroughfare was diverted to the Ashbourne line. It may be resuscitated by the neighbouring railway.

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    contains the whole of the parishes of Ballyboghill, Ballymadun, Clonmethan, Garristown, Grallagh, Hollywood, Naule, Palmerstown, and Westpalstown. Area, 25,195 acres. Pop., in 1841, 6,427. Houses 1,111. Families employed chiefly in agriculture, 809; in manufactures and trade, 2M; in other pursuits, 89. Males at and above 5 years of age who could read and write, 1,052; who could read but not write, 029 ; who could neither read nor write, 1,258. Females at and above 5 years of age who oould read and write, 584 ; who could read but not write, 670; who could neither read nor write, 1,512. BALROTHERY, or Balruddert, a parish on the eastern border of the barony of Balrothery, co. Dublin, Leinster. It contains the town and chapelry of Balbriggan [which see], and the village of Balrothery, which will be noticed in this article. Length, 4 miles; breadth, 2); area, 6,885 acres. Pop., in 1831. 5,078 ; in 1841, 4.881. Houses 93.3. Pop. of the rural districts, in 1831, 1,687; in IS4I, 1,536. Houses 279. The surface consists, for the most part, of good land ; is drained north-e&stward by a rivulet which falls into the creek of Balbriggan; and is traversed north vrard by the old road from Dublin to Drogheda, and north- north -westward near the coast by the Dublin and Drogheda railway. The principal mansions are situated on or near the coast, and are Hampton, the seat of G. A. Hamilton, Esq. ; Ardgilian, the seat of the Hon. and Rev. E. Taylor ; and Lowther Lodge and Knockingan — The village of Balrothery stands on the old Dublin and Drogheda road, not far from the curious, decayed, loftily situated, and fantastically named village, *' the Man of War," 2 miles south-south-west of Balbriggan, and 14 north bv east of Dublin. Area, 30 acrea. Pop., in 1881, '375; in 1841, 386. Houses 77. Though now a poor decayed place, it possessed some consequence previous to the diversion of the great northern thoroughfare to the Ashbourne line of road, and may possibly be resuscitated under the whirling influence of the neighbouring railway. Fairs ore held on May 6 and Aug. 12. A Poor-law union, which takes name from the village, will be noticed

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 153

44. Galway section of Ballinasloe and its streets

    Ballinasloe · town · Galway

    The Galway section of Ballinasloe was the larger, more beautiful, and commercially active part of the town, with a principal street forking into lines toward Westport and Galway. The Earl of Clancarty's fostering hand was evident throughout, with leases for ever granted on condition of good houses being built.

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    repulsive, yet greatly less haggard ;n what'constitutes the whole of many a third or second rate town in Ireland, and unfolding itself at the south-east comer round the basin of the canal. Between the same part of the street toward Galway, and the east side of the fair green, extends a comparatively broad gravel bank, gradual in ascent from the street, rapid in declivity toward the green, — neatly and regularly edificed over alf the eastern face, and crowned about the middle of its summitline with the elegant spire-surmounted parish-churdi. The principal streets are all wide, airy, clean, and replete with pretension ; and even the most secluded alleys are free from all the gross and squalid features which offend decorum or excite disgust. The taste* ful, liberal, and benign spirit of the noble proprietor, the Earl of Clancarty, has everywhere worked such reform, and impressed such decorations, and asserted such ascendency, that the entire aspect of the town concurs with common fame in proclaiming him the assiduous and costly promoter of its well-known attractions. " One perceives at a glance," says Mr. Inglis, ** that it is not left to chance, — that there is a fostering hand over it, — that some one who is able to serve it feels an interest in it, — in short, that there is a resident and public-spirited proprietor. Lord Clancarty is the owner of Ballinasloe; and every kind of improvement finds encouragement at his hands. No stimulus to improvement is more effectual than the practice of Lord Clancarty, in granting leases for ever on condition of good houses being built." His lordship's own demesne screens all the west side of the fair green, and extends to a considerable distance along both the road to Gal way and the road to Westport ; and being liberally open to the perambulations of the townspeople and strangers, it forms in itself a series of high additional attractions. See Garballt. Though a very great aggregate of flat dreary bog lies within a circle described by a radius of 5 miles from the centre of the town, the existence of hardly a patch of it would be suspected by a stranger who alights on the streets from a close carriage, and looks abroad on what appears to be a brilliant expanse of gently undulated, and richly wooded country. Mackney, the villa of the Hon. Archdeacon Trench, and the villas or mansions of Fortwilliam, Lancaster, Park, Suckville, Ardcame, Mount Equity, Kellysgrove, Birchgrove, and Tulleigh, all aid the master decorations of Garbally in flinging wood and embellishment athwart the environs.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 150

45. Howth Harbour's costly failures

    Howth · townland · Dublin

    Howth Harbour, on the north side of the Howth peninsula, naturally consists of the narrow sound between the peninsula and Ireland's Eye. It was artificially improved at enormous expense as a mail-packet station to Holyhead, but baffled engineers and disappointed public expectations.

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    mpid tide sweeps the whole of its entrance, and, together with some sunken rooks, oocasioBs it ta be shunned bj all strangers ; the seaward end of the entrance, though exhibited in the Admiralty Charts as having a bar with onlj 12 feet of water at ebb-tide, was proved in 1824 to have, on the Tery line of the alleged bar, a depth of 5 fathoms ; and so powerfully do the tides set in from the a4iiu3ent sea to fill up the great interior space of the Lough, that there is a frequent indraught at even so great a distance as 4^ miles from the entrance. Ardglass and Killough Harbours, immediately north of St. John's Point, are small but useful ; Dundrum bay, though hurge, is unsheltered, aad has only some fishing havens ; and all the other harbours of co. Down are fit only for fishing craft, or very small trading vessels. Lough Carlingford penetrates between co. Down and oo. Louth 9^ miles north-westward to Narrow Water at Warrenpoint ; it has a bar with only 9 feet of water at low spring ebbs, so that it can be entered by laige vessels only in certain states of the tide ; aad it is justly celebrated for the brilliance and sublimity of the scenic character of its diores. The tidal current off the mouth of Lough Carlingford runs 3^ knots in spring tides. Dondalk bay, of very wide entrance and sweeping scope of interior, penetrates the land to the extreme extent of only 9 miles, and is all shallow, and over much of its space dry at low water. Between Dundaik bay and Howth occur several good tide havens, but no tolerable permanent harbour, except the mouth of the Boyne between co. Louth and co. Meath, carrying up large steamers and other heavy vessels to Drogheda, and connecting the interior Boyne navigation with the ocean. Howth Harbour, on the north side of the peninsula of Howth, naturally consists of the narrow sound between that peninsula and the island of Ireland's Eye, and it has, at an enormous expense, been artificially improved to serve as the mail-packet station to Holyhead ; but it has grievously baffled the efforts of engineers, stultified the calculations of economists, and di8^>pointed the expectations of the public.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 7

46. Killany bay principal harbour of the Aran Islands

    Inishmore · electoral division · Galway

    The bay north of Killany village, separated from St. Gregory's Sound by a peninsula and partly covered by Straw Island, serves as the principal harbour not only of Inishmore but of the entire Aran group. Outward-bound ships from Liverpool are frequently driven toward this harbour.

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    ARRANMORE, or Ivkumorb, the largest of the islands, «nd a parish, in the insular barony of Arran, ^ust described, co. Galway, Connaught. It contains the villages of Killant and Kilronan : see these articles. Length, Similes; breadth, U; area, 7,635 acres. Pop., in 1831. 2,315; in 1841, 2,592. Houses 451. Pop. of the rural districts in 1841, 1,364. Houses 224. The island extends from east-south-east to west-north-west. Its south side is precipitous, grandly bold, an almost straight line of unindented mural limestone bulwark. The north side is low, fringed with a shingly beach, and deepjhr indented by two bays or natural harbours. The elms of the south are not more bold than romantic, are frequented by clouds of the sea-fowl called puffins, and are curiously perforated >vith holes, in which the puffins nestle, and whence the islanders supply themselves in seasons of scarcity with the eggs of the fowls for food. Other curiosities are Kilmurr^^ fort. Great Kevin's Head, and the objects noticed in the preceding article. The highest ground in the island appears to rise less than 400 feet above sea-leveL Good oats are raised ; sheep are pastured ; and oxen of an esteemed kind are reared. The chief residence is the seat of John W. Digbv, Esq. A lighthouse in the centre of the island exhibits a revolving li^ht of a bright colour; and, including the iCost of building stores, occasioned in 1640 an expense of £680 18s. 4d. On the island are 2 vilkiges, 8 hamlets, and a station of the coast-guard. The bay north from the village of Killany, named After it, separated by a peninsuU from St. Gregory's Sound, and partly covered by an islet called Straw Island, is the principal harbour, not only in Arranmore, hut in the whole Arran groi^). Outward-bound ships, from Liverpool to the West Indies and America, are frequently driven toward this harbour, and would find it a valuable retreat were the entrance to the sheltering oart of it widened, and a pier suitable for large vessels provided. The entrance is by the west side of^ Straw Island^ and though deep, is exceedingly narrow and somewhat dangerous ; yet could, it is said, be widened for the trivial expense of £300 — This parish is a vicarage in the dio. of Tuam ; and forms part of the benefice of Ballinakill : which see. The vicarial tithes are compounded for £6 13s. 8Jd., jmd the rectorial for £20 is. 0^ ; And the latter are in^roipriate, and belong to the Rev. John Cdgbj. The Roman Catholic cnapel is attended by from 400 to 600, and has one officiate. In 1834, the Protestants amounted to 28, and the Roman Catholics to 2,077; an4 4 pay- schools, at Killany, Kilronan, Kilmurvey, and Coorough, were attended by from 160 to 230 scholars.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 138

47. Lord Palmerston reclaims bog in Ahamlish parish

    Ahamlish · parish · Sligo

    Lord Palmerston, the well-known statesman, was proprietor of nearly the whole parish of Ahamlish in Co. Sligo. He reclaimed a large area of bog and effected other important improvements, though the landscape remained largely monotonous and uninviting.

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    A HAM LIS H, or Ahamplish, a parish on the coast of the barony of Carbery, 9 miles north-northwest of Sligo, CO. Sligo, Connaught. It contains the villages of Ballintemple, Grange, and Kil- KiLLOGE : see these articles. Length, 7 miles ; breadth, 3; area, 16,414 acres, — of which 29 acres are occupied by the villages. Pop , in 1831, 7,483 ; in 1841, 8,720. Houses 1,457- Pop. of the rural districts, in 1841,8,214. Houses 1,369. The parish stretches along the Atlantic between the bay of Sligo and that of Donegal ; and includes the islands of Dernish and Inismurray : which see. The mountain Ben-Albin extends south-westward from near the eastern boundary. The rest of the surface is, for the most part, moorish, boggy, of churlish aspect, or otherwise tame and uninviting. The well-known statesman. Lord Palmerston, proprietor of nearly the whole parish, reclaimed a large area of bog, and effected some other improvements of im- .. portance. But wood, verdure, diversity of sur&ce, and lineaments of landscape are all awanting, to remove monotony and irksomeness of scene. The state of agriculture, as to at once its tools, its skill, and its enterprise, is low. Turf and limestone abound. The rivulet Bunduff is a good trouting stream. — This parish is a vicarage and a separate benefice in the dio. of Elphin. Vicarial tithe composition, £[\0 15s. 4^d. Gross income, £129 4s. 6^d. ; nett, ^692 8s. 6d. Patron, the diocesan. The rectorial tithes, consisting of one moiety of the whole, and compounded for the same sum as the vicarial, are impropriate, and belong to Viscount Palmerston. The church was built m 1813, at a cost of about £831, of which Lord Palmerston gave £92 6s. Ifd., and the late Board of First Fruits lent £646 ds. Id. Sittings 100 ; average attendance 25. Two Roman Catholic chapels have each one officiate, and an average attendance of 200. In 1834, the Protestants amounted to 73, and the Roman Catholics to 7,789 ; and 6 schools—additional to a school on one of the islands, which was supported by Mr. Wynn, but the statistics of which could not be ascertained — bad on their books 285 boys and 175 girls. Three of the teachers had each a house and garden, and respectively £15, £21, and £25 a-year, from Lord Palmerston.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

48. Lough Oughter's labyrinthine waterways

    Lough Oughter · lake or lakes · Cavan

    Lough Oughter in County Cavan lies in the river-course of the Upper Erne and is a singularly intricate, almost labyrinthine intermixture of water with bold headlands, deep wooded peninsulas, and large fertile islands.

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    Loogh Melvin, on the mutual borders of counties Leitrim and Fermanagh, is partly overhung by the Dartry mountains, and partly bounded by low, rocky, moorish grounds ; and, with the aid of a few wooded islets, it presents, on the whole, an agreeable appearance. Loughs Macnean, Upper and Lower, on the mutual borders of counties Leitrim, Cavan, and Fermanagh, are wild sheets of water, cradled amidst a region of brilliant highland scenery. Lough Oughter, in oo. Gavan, and in the channel or river-course of the Upper Erne, is a singularly intricate and almost labyrinthine intermixture of water with bold headlands, deep, projecting, wooded peninsulas, and large fertile islands. Lough Key, in the north of co. Roscommon, and in the river-course of the Boyle, is a luscious sheet of water, gemmed with beautiful islands, and zoned with fertile and ornate grounds. Lough Gara, on the mutual borders of counties Roscommon, Mayo, and Sligo, has a singulariy beautiful outline, and possesses some extent of interesting shore, yet fails to produce a generally pleasing effect. Lough Arrow, partly on the boundary between Roscommon and Sligo, but chiefly within the latter county, is studded with some beautiful islands, and surrounded with not uninteresting shores. Lough Gill, partly on the mutual border of Leitrim and Sligo, but chiefly within the latter county, has some charming islands, is surrounded by bold and singularly varied mountain ranges, and has been pronounced inferior in scenery only to the lakes of Killamey. Lough Dereveragh, in co. Westmeath, is a beautiful and comparatively large sheet of water. Lough Owhel, a little south of Lough Dereveragh, is a limpid lake, fed by internal springs, and affording to the Royal Canal its main supply of water. Lough Iron, in co. West* meath, and a little north-west of Lough Owhel, has, in general, flat and boggy shores. Lough Eonel, in oo. Westmeath, and south of Lough Owhel, is languishingly beautiful Lough Sheelin, on the mutual border of counties Meath, Westmeath, and Cavan, but chiefly within the last of these counties, is a beautiful though only third-rate expanse of water, greatly adorned on its north shores by recent georgic and park improvements. Lough Ganny, Gaiinagh, or Gouna, on the mutual border of counties Longford and Cavan, forms the young Erne by its superfluent waters, and has been pronounced the most beautiful of the Leinster lakes. Lough Ramor, in the southeast of 00. Cavan, is beautified with several wooded islets, and has considerably varied shores. The CootehiH lakes, on the mutual border of counties Cavan and Monaghan, are replete with luscious beanty, and completely screened with highly embellished demesnes. Lough Derg, in the southeast eomer of co. Donegal, is a gloomy mountain lake, remarkable for St. Patrick*B Purgatory on one of its dismal islets. Lough Esk, in the south of Donegal, is a pleasant and ornate sheet of water, of medium character between highland and lowland. Lough Veagh, a little north of the eeatre of co. Donegal, is a magnificent though not large mountain lake. Lough Carrowmore, in the north-east of co. Mayo, is a dreary expanse of water, amidst a vast region of wild moorlands. Loughs Bray, in the north of co. Wicklow, are mere loughlets, remarkable for the great elevation at which they lie, and the sublime scenery in which they are cradled. The lakes of Glendalough, near the centre of co. Wicklow, are noticeable, not strictly on their own account, but in associatioo with the many and singular architectural ruins of their small and savagely wild %len. The lakes of Inchegeelagh or Allua, in the west of co. Cork, have an agreeable mountain character. Lougfa Gougane Barra, on the western margin of co. Cork, a few miles west of the lakes of Inche* geehgh, is a loughlet of the most thrilling mountain romance. The lakes of Carra, Upper and Lower, in the west of co. Kerry, lie in a wild and beautiful glen, and have, for a number of years past, commanded the attention of many visitors to the lakes of Killamey. Lough Currane, on the coast of Ballinaskelligs bay in co. Kerry, has a mingled character of mooriehncss and moun* tain might.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 23

49. MacGillycuddy's Reeks as sheep-fattening ground

    Macgillycuddy's Reeks · mountain or mountain range · Kerry

    MacGillycuddy's Reeks, the loftiest and wildest mountain group in Ireland, were affirmed by Arthur Young to be better sheep-fattening ground than the rich lowlands nearby.

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    The dairy, though far from being in a perfect condition, is probably the best managed department of Irish husbandry ; and it is of great territorial extent, and much economical importance. Most of the counties of Kerry, Cork, and Waterford, part of the counties of Kilkenny, Carlow, Meath, Westmeath, Longford, and Fermanagh, and multitudes of the small farms of the countiea ^f Cavan, Monaghan, and Down, are devoted principally to the dairy, — or rather to the manufacture of butter. The method of letting dairies to dairymen at so much per cow per annum, is common to the south of Ireland with Dorsetshire, Devonshire, and other counties of the west of England. The average number of cows on a dairy farm is from 5 to 30 ; the extent of middle-rat 3 land esteemed necessary for the sustenance of each cow is about two acres ; the average daily produce of a cow's milk is 6 quarts in summer and 5 in winter ; and the average weekly produce of this in butter is 14 pounds. The fEtttening of calves for veal is little practised. — ^The grazing husbandry is not, as in England, united with the tillage husbandry ; nor, as in Scotland, are larga tracts of land devoted exclusively to the breeding of cattle. The moimtains of Ireland, instead of hAiig grazed by those who farm them, are frequently let on a partnership lease to the inhabitants of a neighbouring village, each of whom turns in a certain niimber of cattle, horses, goats, or gocso, according to the rent he pays. The few cattle that are fed on the mountainous districts are gjucrally very poor. The most extensive and valuable lands for fattening cattle are small parts of the counties of Louth and Kildare, considerable parts of the counties of Cork, Westmeath, and Queen's county, and especially the corcasses of the counties of Limerick and Clare, and *the golden vale' of the counties of Limerick and Tipperary. Vast droves of cattle are bred in the mountainous districts of the west ; and horses are bred in the mountains of Moume. Most of even the loftiest uplands yield a considerable quantity of herbage, and are very much greener, in the aggregate, than the mountains of Scotland; and Mae^ . Gillicuddy's Reeks, the loftiest group in Ireland, and one of the wildest and most desolate, were affirmed by Arthur Young to be better fattening ground for sheep than even the rich lowlands in their vicinity. The general adaptation of Ireland to grazing is very marked, and cannot, in any view, be competed with by England. Yet, in spite of this adaptation, and of various considerabij

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 30

50. Manor of St. Sepulchre's capital punishment right

    Dublin · city · Dublin

    The Manor of St. Sepulchre's in Dublin, whose lord is the Archbishop of Dublin, claims the right under its charter to inflict capital punishment. However, this right has never been exercised in modern times.

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    ftnd towns, but generally to a yery limited extent. The presiding officer is the seneschal, appointed by the lord of the manor. The manor of St. Sepulchre's, of which the Archbishop of Dublin for the time being is lord, claims the right under its charter of inflicting capital punishment ; but this right has never been exercised, at least in modem times."

    In 1841, the census enumeration of ^* persons at and above 15 years of age, who ministered to justice," exhibits 29 judges, 69 stipendiary magistrates, 2 mayors, 16 sherifi*s, 24 coroners, 14 seneschals, 754 barristers, 32 proctors, 2,572 attorneys, 24 clerks of the peace, 43 officers in courts of justice, 1 consular-agent, 26 public notaries, 87 scriveners, 12 clerks of petty-sessions, 147 law clerks, 3,606 excise and stamp officers, 33 civic officers, 9 inspectors of weights and measures, 9,721 constabulary and police, 1,398 bailiffs, 214 city constables, 6 town Serjeants, 477 jail-keepers, 4 Serjeant s-at-mace, and 21 watchmen.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 78

51. Medieval municipal charters of Adare

    Adare · townland · Limerick · 1310–1376

    A charter of Edward II dated July 1310 granted murage to the bailiffs and good men of Adare, and another of Edward III dated February 1376 granted exemptions to the provost and commonalty until the town should be rebuilt. These are the only traceable municipal documents and have long been in abeyance.

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    a municipal character, or any of that importance which looks out from an ancient date through the windows and vistas of its architectural ruins. A charter 4^ Edward II., dated the lOth of July, 1310, grants murage to " the bailiffs and good men*' of Adare; and another, 5P Edward IIL, dated 20th Feb., 1376, grants to ** the provost and commonalty" of Adare, exemptions from subsidies, &c., till their town should be rebuilt; but these are the only municipal documents which can now be traced, and they have, for a very long period, been in abeyance. Additional to the objects of interest noticed in connection with the parish and the town, are. mount Shannon, the seat of the earl of Clare, in the vicinity, the ruin of Grannebrue-castle, 2 miles southwest of the town, and Amigan-castle farther on. Area of the town, 30 acres. Pop., in 1831, 766; in 1841, 1,095. Houses 140.

    ADAR (The), a rivulet of the basin of the Moy, and in the barony of Gallen, co. Mavo, Connaught.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

52. Monastic establishments in Lough Key

    near Lough Key · lake or lakes · Roscommon

    Two monastic establishments stood in Lough Key within the parish of Ardcarne, noted under the articles Inchmacnerin and Trinity-Island. Castle Island is also referenced for antiquities in the same area.

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    the barony of Boyle, and 3^ miles easi-souih-easi of Boyle, CO. Roscommon, Connaiight. Length, 6 miles ; breadth, 3 ; area, 19,963 acres,— of which 1,160 acres are under water, chiefly in Lough Key. Pop., ill 1831, 6,718; ki 1841, 8,304. Houses 1,472. Lough Key skirts the north-west, and the river Boyle runs south-eastward through the interior. See Key and Boyle. The land is generally good, and possesses so large an amount of forest, orchard, garden and park embellishment, as to be quite lusciou«< in aspect. A large part of the area is occupied by Yiscount Lorton's splendid demesne of RocKiN'GHAM : see that article. Opposite Rockini^ham, and near Oak park Lough, on an agreeable site, well sheltered with trees, stands Oakparkhouse, an edifice with an extended front and numerous windows in one range, erected by the Earl of King?^ton, but since alienated on a long lease. Knock vicar bridge, across the Boyle, to the north of Oak park, was built in 1727 at the expense of the county, and commands a stretch of finely wooded scenery along the river. The parish -church crowns an eminence, and is shelt^'red with trees, near the road from Boyle to Dublin. Though modernized in the interior, it is so old a building that it may have been connected with a celebrated Benedictine nunnery which stood on the hill. A crowded cemetry beside it has long been a city of the dead, and packed with rude, crumbling, and lichen-covered tombstones. Two other monastic establishments stood in Lough Key, and will be noticed in the articles IxcHMACNERiN and TRi>aTY-l8LAND. See also, for antiquities. Castle Island. — This parish is a rectory in the dio. of Elphin. Tithe composition, £280. The rectories of Ardcame and Killuken*, and the vicarages of Kilcorkey and Kilbrixe, [see these articles,] coni*titute the benefice of Ardcarne or Killuken, and the <*orp3 of the archdeaconry of Elphin. Length of the contiguous pari^ihes of Ardcame, Killuken, and Kilbrine, 7 miles ; breadth, 4. Gross income of the benefice, £492 \0s. 3d.; nctt, £446 2s. lid. Patron, the diocei^an. A curate for Killuken has a stipend of £75, and the use of the glebe-house, and 13 acres of land. The church of Ardcame was enlarged in 1828, by means of a grant of £600 from the late Board of First Fruits. Sittings 300; attendance 150. There is a church also in Killuken. The Public Instruction Commissioners report — though the Ecclesiastical Revenue Commissioners do not — two chapels-of-ease, attended by 70 and 60. Three Roman Catholic chapels in the union are attended by 700, 550, and 400, and have three officiates. In 1834, the Protestants of the parish amounted to 514, and the Roman Catholics to 6,610 ; the Protestants of the union to 741. and the Roman Catholics to 10,939; the daily schools of the parish to 4, nith 143 boys and 79 girls ; and the daily schools of the union, exclusive of Kilcorkey, to 15, with 375 boys and 23^ girls. Two of the schools in the pari^h were aided each with £5 from the archdeacon, and one of them with a house and an acre of land from Captain Lloyd.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 121

53. New Ross banks and their collapse

    New Ross · town · Wexford · 1800–1812

    New Ross, a town smaller than Wexford and over twenty miles distant, had four banks during the early nineteenth-century banking boom. By 1812 only one survived, and even that subsequently failed.

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    Previous to 1783, all banks in Ireland were private, and issued notes without control or responsibility; from 1783 till 1821, the Bank of Ireland, a chartered company, enjoyed an exclusive circulation of its notes in Dublin, and 60 Irish, or 63 English, miles around ; and, in 1821, joint stock banks, with an unlimited number of partners, were legalized beyond the bounds of the Bank of Ireland. The singularly disastrous history of Irish banking during the first and the second of these periods is thus glanced at by Mr. G. L. Smyth : — " Previously to the year 1783, the standard grievances with all Irish writers on Political Economy, were two in number, — that there were none but private bankers in Ireland, who issued notes without restraint or responsibility,— and that the disparity of exchanges with England involved ruinous losses to Irish commerce. To these causes, by common consent, were the great runs upon the banks, and the £uluree of 1720, 1745, 1760, and 1770, ascribed. We have, therefore, during the first stage, the fixed producing causes, and the sum of the consequent evils, in four panics, during a term of sixtythree years, and the failure of some seven or eight banks. In the second stage, comprising a term of forty years, we have the same complaints of excessive paper money, and still more adverse exchanges ; and a series of panics which left only four banks out of fifty, not bankrupt, or averse firom business. Instead of mitigating, therefore, the monopoly of the Bank of Ireland increased and aggravated the mercantile convulsions of the country. Strange and improbable as the principal incidents in the history of banking in Ireland must appear, antecedent to the chartering of the national establishment in 1783, they are infinitely surpassed in wildness and inconsistency by the chance-medley produced by subsequent events. Not only before the bank was chartered, but even before the suspension of cash payments, the business of banking in Ireland was principally confined to Dublin. There were not, in 1797, more than half-a-dozen banks* in the south of Ireland, and none in the north or west ; but after that year almost every place had its bank, and every conceivable mode and device for circulating money was resorted to. For instance, Wexford, a small town, which, even in 1821, had a population of only 8,326 inhabitants, and a proportionably limited trade, had, between the years 1800 and 1804, no less than seven banks. The fiitc of such commercial establishments will be conjectured at once : — five failed rather quickly, and one gave up business. Two new ones immediately started, to fill the vacuum thus created, which soon after shared the fete of their predecessors. Of the whole number, only one, that of the Messrs. Redmond, conducted business with honour and profit. It was the earliest of the Wexford banks, and about the last private bank that existed in Ireland. New Ross, again, a smaller town than Wexford, and more than twenty miles from it, had four banks, only one of which was standing in 1812, and even that afterwards gave way. Similar instances, in abundance, are to be cited in various other places, but the repetition would be tiresome. The wild growth of these mushroom establishments has been already given in detail from the Commons' Report of 1804, which shows that eleven b^ks, in 1800, had become twenty- three in 1601 ; twenty-nine in 1S02; thirty, in 1803; and fifty, in 1804. In 1812, ^Ir. Wakefield published his Political Survey of Ireland, and stated that, of the fifty banks in 1804, there then remained only nineteen extant. One adverse circumstance or other had swept away the rest. Notwithstanding this sharp warning, new speculators had rushed into the field with as little prudence as fear, so that, notwithstanding the fidlure of thirty-one out of fifty banks, between 1804 and 1812, only six years, there were still thirty-three bimks open in 1812. These adventurers resorted to expedients of all kinds for the purpose of forcing a trade. They supplied small traders with their notes, and used to pay a premium to get them into circulation. The bankers themselves were in the habit of attending markets and fairs like so many hucksters, each putting off his own commodity as best he might. Their fevourite issue was not promissory notes, but post biUs, at ten days' sight, which, being generally unaccepted, were paid, if at all, at convenience. But the mischief did not rest with the multitude of bankers. Besides the fifty private firms already spoken of, there were as many as 295 petty dealers and chapmen, grocers, spirit-dealers, apothecaries, and shopkeepers of all sorts, inundating the country with a species of I. 0. U., called silver money, which was a direct violation of the law, and ranged, in nominal amount, from threepence-halfpenny to ten shillings. This fraudulent paper was principally spread over the south and south-west of Ireland, which further suffered under an enormous distribution of- forged notes, the unlettered population being, IB that respect, easily imposed upon. In 1810 the circulation of the Bunk of Ireland rose to more than /3,000,000, and there was a panic ; in 1820 it exceeded 1*5,000,000, and there was another

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 57

54. Potter's clay deposits near Cahir

    Caher · town · Tipperary

    Potter's clay similar to that of Lough Neagh occurs in a valley resting on carboniferous limestone south-east of Cahir, and considerable quantities were formerly raised and exported to English potteries.

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    becomes evident that the bottom of the tertiary deposit must be at least 164 feet below the lerel of the sea. The clay district of Lough Neagh is similar to the potter's clay district of Bohvey, in Devonshire ; and pits have been opened in many parts for the purpose of raising pipe day ; but hitherto no beds of a pure white colour have been discovered, at least none which preeerre their white colour when exposed to the heat of the potter's baking furnace ; but there can be no doubt, if proper trials were made in different parts of the district, that pure white potter's clay would be discovered. Potter's clay, similar to that of Lough Neagh, occurs in a valley resting on the carboniferous limestone situated to the south-east of Cahir, in the county of Tipperary ; and many years since, considerable quantities of clay were raised, and exported from thence to the potteries of England. White clay also occurs in a similar position, resting on limestone near St. John's Point, and other localities on the western bank of Lough Ree, in the county of Roscommon." Yesuvian, though of not well developed crystal, has been found at Kilranelagh, in a rock composed of common garnet, quartz, and felspar. Grenalite occurs in a micaceous compound, in the lead mines of Wicklow. The precious beryl has been found embedded in granite near Loughs Bray in CO. Wicklow. Cronebane has been found in the mountains of Wicklow and Dublin. Andalusite occurs in the micaceous schist of Djouce mountain in Wicklow. A mineral nearly allied to andalusite has been found in great abundance at Killincy in co. Dublin. A crystallized mineral of characters very similar to those of indurated talc, accompanies the andalusite of Djouce mountain. Hollow spar, in very distinct specimens, has been found at and near Baltinglass in co. Wicklow. Pitch-stone, traversing granite, occurs near Newry in co. Down. Granular sulphate of baryies, mcoompanied by iron pyrites, has been found on the shore near Clonakilty in co. Cork. Wavellite, Tery similar in its external character and in its analysis to the wavellite of Devonshire, as described bj Sir Humphrey Davy, has been found about 10 miles south-east of the city of Cork. Jaspers of Tarious sizes have been discovered in yellow clay, a few feet below the surface, near the southern extremity of the granite district in co. Kilkenny. Amethysts have been found in the cliffs in the Tidnity of Kerry Head. Transparent crystals, popularly known as Kerry stones, and harder, larger, and more brilliant than Bristol stones, are comparatively abundant in various parts of Kerry. Gold was for several years obtained in rather large quantity on the mountain of Croghan- Kinshela in co. Wicklow. Silver appears to have been obtained in considerable quantities, previous to the Carlist wars of the 17th century, in the lead mines of Antrim, Sligo, and Tipperary. Copper is found at Ross Island in the lower lake of KiUarney ; at Muckross, on the shores of that lake ; at Cronebane and Ballymurtagh in co. Wicklow ; and in some parts of counties Cork, Clare, Mcath, Waterford, and Dublin. Lead occurs near Enniscorthy in co. Wexford ; at Derrynoose in co. Armagh ; near Glendalough in co. Wicklow ; near the city of Dublin ; and in parts of counties Sligo, Antrim, Tipperary, and Donegal Iron ores are plentiful in various parts of Ireland ; and, in the 17th century, they were worked in a number of districts till the circumjacent timber available for smdting was exhausted. The grey ore of manganese has been found in the peninsula of Howth, in various parts of co. Kilkenny, in the Mayo mountains of Glanmore, and in several other counties. Cobalt accompanies the copper of Muckross in co. Kerry ; and a variety of the earth black cobalt ore of Werner, has been found in the peninsula of Howth. Tin stone occurs in Croghanym«h<>U in CO. Wicklow. Porcelain earth, equal in purity to the china clay of Cornwall, has been found in the south-west of co. Wicklow. Mineral springs, chiefly chalybeate, occur in almost every county ; and those most in repute, as the resorts of invalids, are the spa of Ballyspellan near Urlingford in co. Kilkenny, the spa of Lucan near Dublin, the spa of Swanlinbar in co. Cavan, and the spa of Mallow in co. Cork.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 23

55. Round tower, church ruins and 7th-century abbey at Balla

    Balla · town · Mayo · 601–700

    The village of Balla in Mayo, though much spoken of by ancient chroniclers, is now a small collection of poor houses drawing notice mainly through its round tower (about 50 feet high, having lost its upper part) and prostrate ruins of an old church. Archdall records that an abbey was built and presided over here in the 7th century by St. Mochua or Cronan.

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    K ALL, or Ballagh, a parish, containing a village of the same name, in the barony of Clanmorris, co. Mayo, Connaught. The village stands 7} miles east-south-east of Castlebar, on the road thence to Strokcstown. Though much spoken of by ancient chroniclers, it is now a small collection of poor houses, and continues to draw notice only by containing a round tower and some prostrate ruins of an old church, and by being the scene of some extraordinary periodical rites on the part of the Roman Catholic peasantry. The round tower has lost its upper part, and is now no more than about 50 feet high. The church ruins, in its vicinity, are small, plain, and constructed of the same kind of stones and workmanship as the tower. Dr. M* Parian, the author of the Agricultural Survey of Mayo, contends that the village received its name from, being a place where the heathen god Baal was worshipped, and notices, in the following terms, the periodical rites which it continues to witness : *' This Ball is to this day a most extraordinary place of superstitious worship. Here are a couple of small chapels vaulted over a nver, which runs through the town; and once a-year, I think in autumn, immense swarms of people crowd from all parts to perform certain circuits and evolutions on their knees, dropping, as they proceed in describing those figures, a certain number of beads to various intentions, and in expiation of various sins ; but the day closes most cheerfully in eating and drinking. Mr. Lynch, who lives just at the town, a<;sured me that not less than 300 sheep are consumed at this festival." Archdall, who must very often be read with considerable variations upon his language, says that an abbey was built and presided over in the 7th century by St. Mochua or Cronan. In 1840-41, the dispensary of Ball and Ballyglass, belonging to the Castlebar Poor-law union, received £158 19s., expended £158 9s., made 5,236 dispensations of medicine, and served for a district of 37,154 acres, with 11,888 inhabitants. Fairs are held on June 11, Sept. 4, and Nov. 7. Area of the village, 14 acres. Pop., in 1831, 343;

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 147

56. White's Castle as centre of old Athy borough

    Athy · town · Kildare

    The limits of the old borough of Athy described a circle with a radius of half a mile around White's Castle. Under the new arrangement the boundaries were more contracted but still contained the whole of the town.

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    Municipal Affair*,'] — Athy was created a borough by charter of 1 i James I. ; and had additional charters or letters-patent of 4 James II., 22 Charles IL, and 30 George II. The limits of the old borough describe a circle with a radius of half.a-mile around White's Castle ; but, according to the new arrangement, they are more contracted, are all included in the old, and, uiough comprehending less than half of the area, yet contain the whole of the town. According to charter, the corporation is entitled •* The Sovereign, Bailiffs, Free Burgesses, and Commonalty, of the Borough of Athy ;" its officers are a sovereign, 2 bailiffs, 12 burgesses, a recorder, 3 seijeants-at-mace, a town-clerk and billet-master, a treasurer, a bellman, a weighmaster, and an inspector of coals and culm ; and its governing body are the sovereign, bailiffs, and burgesses, with power of self-election. The constituency became, of course, completely ezdnsive ; and the members of the governing body wer« the mere tools, or, in softer phrase, the imroediata friends and adherents of the proprietor of the town, the Duke of Leinster. The corporation derives not from the charters any power of holding a court ; and has no exclusive jurisdiction, criminu or civil. A court held on the first Monday of every month, and entertaining civil causes to the amount of £2 Irish, is presided over by the sovereign, and called the sovereign's court. Another court, presided over by the sovereign, called the borough court, and entertaining civil causes to an unlimited amount, ceased, in 1827* to be held. Athy is alternately with Naas the assize town of the county; and is always the seat of the summer assizes. Quarter-scssions are held in January and June. Petty-sessions, presided over by the sovereign and by county magistrates, are held every Tuesday. A court called a Presenting court it annually held in Octol>er ; it consists of a grand jury of 23, selected from about 50, of the most respectable inhabitants, summoned by the town-clerk ; it tita

    ATH

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 146

57. Decagonal keep tower of Athlone Castle

    Athlone · town · Westmeath

    Insulated in the court of Athlone Castle stands a decagonal tower, the oldest part of the fortress, thought to have been constructed as the keep. Though massive and strikingly positioned, it has lost its antiquity due to repairs and whitewashing.

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    Fortificationt.'] — A strong castle, to command the passage of the Shannon, was built at Athlone, as early as the reign of King John. Walls round the lauff sides of each of the two divisions of the town probably were soon afterwards constructed; and they appear to have been either increased, or at least repaired and strengthened, in the reign of Elizabeth. On the Connaught &ide, scarcely any traces now exist of either walls or gates ; but on the Leinster side, a considerable extent of wall still survives amidst a pressure of obscuring houses, and a gateway, perforating one of the old square towers, and exhibiting marks of the cannonade upon the town in the war of the Revolution, still aflfords egress near the river to a principal thoroughfare toward the north. The castle, consisting in small part of the original structure, and chiefly of subsequent additions and re-erections, stands on a spur or oflfset of the hill whose shoulders and summit are occupied by the upper part of the Connaught town; and while overlooked from behind by the houses in the vicinity, it in front, or towards the flat along the river, looks sheer down over a stupendous artificial wall. Insulated in the castle's court or area, stands a decagonal tower, the oldest or only original part

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog

58. Aghada villages and Cork harbour landscape

    Aghada · townland · Cork

    The parish of Aghada contains the villages of Lower Aghada, Upper Aghada, Farsid, and Whitegate, and extends along the eastern shore of Cork harbour. The shoreline contributes fine features to the beautiful marine inlet's intermixtures of land and water.

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    AG HAD A, a parish on the western border of the barony of Imokilly, 4 miles south-west of Cloyne, CO. Cork, Munster. It contains the villages of Lower Aghada, Upper Aghada, Farsid, and Whitegate. Length, 3 miles ; breadth, 2. Area of the rural districts, 2,349 acres; of the whole parish, 2,459 acres. Pop. of the whole, in 1831, 2,512 ; in 1841, 2335. Houses 496. Pop. of the rural districts in 1841, 1,147- Houses 193. Area of Lower Aghada vilhige, 16 acres. Pop, in 1841, 106. Houses 21. Area of Upper Aghada, 5 acres. Pop., ill 1841, 241. Houses 34. — The parish extends along the eastern shore of Cork harbour, between Rostel* Ian and Cbrkbeg ; and contributes fine features to that beautiful marine inlet's intricate intermixtures of land and water. The soil is, for the nost part, excellent. — Aghada is a rectory, and a separate benefice m the dio. of Cloyne. Tithe composition, £-292 15s. 6d. ; glebe, £17 lOs. Gross income, £310 5s. 6d. ; nett, £258 68. 4d. Patron, the Crown. Previous to the passing of the Church Temporalities act, this benefice was, from time immemorial, united to those of Corkbeo, Ikch, Rostella.v, K1LTE8KIN, and part of Garrane-Kekefeck, [<^'e these articles,] and held in commendam with the see of Cloyne. — These parishes are all contiguou!*, and constituted an union about 7 miles long, and the same distance broad. The church of the present benefice was built in 1817, by means of a loan of £923 Is. 6i|d. from the kte Board of Fin(t FruiU. Sittings 300 ; average attendance, 140. Two Roman Catholic chapels are attended by rcfpectively 600 and 150. The parishioners consisted in 1834, of 11 1 Churchmen, and 2,514 Ronuin Catholics. There were, in 1834, a Natioual school, aided

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112

59. Arthurstown pier and fever hospital

    Arthurstown · town · Wexford

    Arthurstown, on Waterford Harbour in County Wexford, takes its name from Arthur, Lord Templemore, who owns the estate. A well-constructed pier was completed at government expense, and a fever hospital with 27 beds served the surrounding district, treating 203 in-patients in 1840. A dispensary also served a population of about 10,000.

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    ARTHURSTOWN, a village in the parish of St. James, barony of Shelbourne, oo. Wexford, Leinster. It stands on Waterford Harbour, between Duncannon Fort and Ballyhack, 3 miles below the confluence of the Barrow and the Suir. Its site and the circumjacent estate are the nnoperty of Arthur, Lord Templemore ; and from hia the p\aee has its name. A pier of excellent construction was, a few years sgo, completed at the village ; and is likely to be very useful for export and import trade. Good roads connect it and Uie village with an extensive district. The cost of the pier was £1,560 ; and of this £810 was granted by government, and £750 contributed by Lord Templemore. A fever hospital in the village contains 27 beds, is very efficiently conducted, and has been a most valimble means ot preserving life and preventing the extension of fever. In 1840, its receipts amounted to £69 14s. 3d., and its expenditure to £158 4s. 7id. ; and it had 203 intern patients, all of whom were from within a distance of 5 miles. A

    ART

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 138

60. Abbeydorney abbey dissolved to Lord Kerry

    Abbeydorney · town · Kerry · 1537

    At the dissolution, the abbey and its possessions at Abbeydorney were conferred on Edmund Lord Kerry, created Baron O'Dorney in 1537. Some lands were later granted by Queen Elizabeth to the provost, fellows, and scholars of Trinity College Dublin.

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    ABBEYDORNE Y, Abbey-O'Dornet, or Mont- NAGEE, a village in the parish of O'Domey, barony of Clanmaurice, co. Kerry, Munster. It stands near the river Brick, and on the west road from Limerick to Tralee ; 5 miles east by north of Tralee, and 8 south-west by south of Listowel. Area 16 acres. Pop., in 1831, 338; in 1841, 418. Houses 57. The abbey from which the place derives its name was founded in 1154, called Kyrie Eleison, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was colonized with Cistertian monks from the abbey of Magio, in the county of Limenck ; and its abbot sat as a lord b parliament. The abbey and its possessions were conferred, at the dissolution, on Edmund Lord Kerry, who was created Baron O'Dorney in 1537; but they were to revert to the crown in the event of a default •f heirs male ; and some of the lands were granted by Queen Elizabeth to the provost, fellows, and scholars, of Trinitv college, Dublin. The ruins which remain are ot no note.

    Internet Archive parliamentaryga00unkngoog, Chapter 112