^8 The I) ish NatiiralisL March, 



any, look to the south. As the islands are so difficult to reach, 

 we had hoped to find much wild land upon them ; the}' proved 

 for the most part to be good upland limestone grazings, 

 thoroughly worked and trimmed. 



Canon Island, the largest of the southern group, is divided 

 almost into two parts at the middle. The Augustinian Abbe}' 

 on the northern portion, whr)se square tower is a well-known 

 land-mark for sailors on the river, was founded by King 

 Donald O'Brien towards the end of the 12th century. The 

 church lies amidst a maze of dry walling and scrub. On the 

 walls of the ruins the Parsley (^Pctiosclirium sativum) is 

 abundant, and with it Sisymbrium Thalianum and Saxifraga 

 tridadylites. At Orlin Point, Mentha rotimdifolia and Cala- 

 7}ii7itha officinalis grow on a grassy bank, and on the shore 

 below, the Mullein, Vervain, Artemisia maritima, Teasel, 

 Mallow, Vicia hii'siita and Caucalis nodosa. Rubia pe7-egrina 

 was abundant among the scrub and on the rocks. We also 

 noted A7'abis hirsnta, Poly oa la inilgaris, Sagina nodosa^ Carlina 

 vulgaris^ Pimpinclla 7nao7ia^ Gentiana campestris and Rosa 

 7'2ibigi7iosa. Viola hi7'ta and V. ca7ii7ia, which grew on the 

 crag-land, are now recorded for the first time from South 

 Clare. 



In a pool near the isthmus, we collected Ruppia 7'ostellala, 

 Za7i7iichellia palnst7'is, and Zostera 77iari7ia. We did not find 

 time to explore the southern half of the island. Neither did 

 we manage to land on Inishmacowney, or Horse Island, as it 

 seems to be called, an omission much regretted, as it shows a 

 long and promising range of cliffs to the southern aspect. 



Doon Island is a fragment cut from the shales of the western 

 shore. Inishoul and another unnamed islet adjacent are 

 similar. Flat and grassy, their shores are spread with Statice 

 rariflora^ while the Sea Aster and Scurvy-grass grow in the 

 rougher margins of the turf, of which the Sea Plantain, the 

 Stag's-horn Plantain, and Thrift are the main constituents. 



Inishtubbrid is known as O'Grady's Island. Rising from a 

 gravel shore on the north to a cliff facing south, it reproduced 

 many of the features ofBurren and belongs to the same for- 

 mation, the dark blue Upper Carboniferous limestone. We 

 searched the cliff and rough ground. Spindle-tree, Sloe, 

 White-Thorn, Viola hirta, Asperula odorata, Rubia pereg7i7ia, 



