IRELAND. 



aunties, is now a flourishing department of 

 .ndustry. Belfast is the great centre to which the 

 linens, not only of Ulster, but also of the weaving 

 districts in the west of Ireland, are sent for sale. 

 The province of Ulster was also the seat of the 

 irst cotton-manufactory introduced into Ireland, 

 ind Belfast continues to take the lead in that 

 ranch of industry. 



Speaking of Ulster generally, it may be said 

 the lower classes have more self-respect, more 

 industry, more desire for advancement in life, 

 than in other parts of Ireland. In fact, they are 

 -a better educated, and therefore a more improving 

 people. As may be expected, their taste for com- 

 fort operates in the economy of their houses and 

 farms ; and except in the mountainous districts 

 .above alluded to, where old habits still main- 

 .tain their ground, the Ulster peasantry may be 

 considered as a respectable class in society. 

 The river-fisheries, though less productive than 

 tinder better management they might have been, 

 yet form in several parts of Ulster a lucrative 

 property. The lakes and rivers abound with 

 trout, pike, perch, eels, and char; and on the 

 Bann, the Foyle, and the Ballyshannon in Done- 

 gal, are established very successful salmon- 

 -fisheries. 



Chief Towns. 



The chief towns in Ulster are Belfast and 

 ^lntritn,\n the county of Antrim ; Londonderry or 

 Derry and Coleraine, in the county of London- 

 derry ; Donegal, in the county of the same name ; 

 -Strabane, in Tyrone ; Armagh, in Armagh ; and 

 Newry, Lisburn, and Downpatrick, in the counties 

 of Antrim or Down. Without reference to coun- 

 ties, Belfast, Lisburn, Newry, Armagh, and some 

 places of smaller note, may be said to form a 

 cluster of towns chiefly devoted to the linen 

 .manufacture, and all occupied by a population 

 -who, for generations, have been noted for their 

 industry and peaceful habits. 



Belfast is the principal town and seaport in this 

 province, and the second in importance in Ireland. 

 It is advantageously situated on the west side of 

 the Lagan, where that river swells into an estuary 

 called Belfast Lough ; distance from Dublin 85 

 miles. The ground on which the town stands is 

 -Hat, while the beautiful and fertile environs on 

 the western side of the vale are bounded by a 

 -picturesque range of mountains. The general 

 aspect of Belfast is indicative of activity and 

 prosperity; while there is less dirt and smoke 

 than in most of the English commercial towns. 

 Many of the streets, especially in the White Linen 

 Hall quarter, are well built and spacious. The 

 manufactories are mostly on the rising ground on 

 the north and west of the town. Belfast is the 

 chief seat of the trade and manufactures of Ireland, 

 and is second to Dublin as an Irish port. The 

 staple manufactures are linen and cotton. The 

 linen manufacture dates from 1637. Cotton-spin- 

 ,ning by machinery dates from 1777, and linen- 

 spinning by machinery from 1806. The other 

 chief branches of industry are linen and cotton 

 weaving, bleaching, dyeing, calico-printing, and 

 iron-founding. There are many flour and oil 

 mills, chemical works, breweries, alabaster and 

 barilla mills, and saw-mills ; there are ship-build- 

 ing yards, and manufactories of rope and sail- 

 -cloth. The iron ship-building yard on Queen's 



Island employs upwards of 2000 men. The 

 inland trade is carried on by the Lagan, by the 

 Ulster Canal, and by three railways. The har- 

 bour is undergoing extensive improvements which, 

 when completed, will make Belfast one of the first- 

 class ports of the United Kingdom. Before the 

 recent improvements, there were only two tidal 

 docks ; between 1866 and 1872, five new docks 

 and a tidal basin, with about 25 acres of water- 

 area, have been opened. On these, ,370,000 have 

 been expended, making the total assets of the 

 commissioners ^940,000. The imports of Belfast 

 may be valued at .13,000,000 a year ; the exports, 

 at about ^12,000,000. In 1880, 9583 vessels, of an 

 aggregate tonnage of 1,804,930 tons, entered the 

 port ; and 9338 of 1,859,384 tons, cleared. The 

 most important branch of commerce is the 

 Channel trade. Population in 1821, 37,000; 

 in 1851, 103,000; in 1871, 174,394; in 1881, 

 208,122 ; of whom about 70,000 were Roman 

 Catholics. It returns four members to parliament 

 It was destroyed by Edward Bruce in the I4th 

 century. It has been an important town from 

 early in the I7th century. It received its charter 

 in 1611. In the great civil war the inhabitants 

 first joined the parliament, but afterwards became 

 royalists. 



Londonderry ranks next to Belfast, being a 

 seaport of considerable importance. It is situated 

 on the west bank of the Foyle, four miles above 

 the point where that river spreads into Lough 

 Foyle ; and is distant 146 miles from Dublin. 

 The original town, built by Sir Henry Dowera 

 about 1603-4, was burned by Sir Cahir O'Dogherty 

 in 1608 ; and the present city may be considered 

 as deriving its origin from the London plantation, 

 which was the immediate result of that catastrophe. 

 The walls of Derry are described by Pynnar as 

 'excellently made and neatly wrought; the cir- 

 cuit thereof about 284 perches, and in every place 

 the wall being 24 feet high and 6 in thickness ;' 

 and after a lapse of more than two centuries, these 

 fortifications retain their original form and char- 

 acter. The north-west bastion was demolished 

 in 1824, to make room for a market ; and in 1826, 

 the central western bastion was modified for the 

 reception of the pillar erected in memory of the 

 Rev. George Walker, governor of the city during 

 the famous siege in 1689; but the guns used 

 during the siege are still preserved in their original 

 places. The total number of cannon remaining 

 in the city and suburbs is about fifty ; and in the 

 court-house yard stands Roaring Meg, so called 

 from the loud ness of her report during the siege. 

 This cannon is 4 feet 6 inches round at the thick- 

 est part, and 1 1 feet long, and is thus inscribed : 

 ' FISHMONGERS, LONDON, 1642.' 



The chief of the ecclesiastical buildings is the 

 Cathedral, built by the corporation of London in 

 *633- This event is recorded in a tablet, which 

 was originally placed over the door of the porch 

 of the old cathedral, but is now over that of the 

 belfry, bearing the following couplet : 



If stones could speak, then London's praise should 

 sound, 



Who built this church and city from the ground. 

 A.D. 1633. 



There are a dozen other churches in the town, of 

 which six belong to the Presbyterians. The 

 salmon-fishery of Lough Foyle is very productive. 



