DONEGAL. 



47 



unto, 



Rivers. 



v-1. prietors, possessing estates of from L.200 to L.I 000 per 

 "Y"""' annum, are much wanted. Wherever such incomes are 

 found, they belong only to leaseholders. Milage part- 

 nerships, so common in the west of Ireland, are also 

 prevalent in this county. They amounted at one time 

 to not fewer than 500 ; but they are gradually decrea- 

 sing. In the Ross estate, Lord Conyngham has 30,000 

 acres of granite mountain, which bring him not more 

 than L.2200 per annum. Lord Donegal has nearly 

 100,000 acres in Inishoen. Mr Murray, a gentleman 

 resident in Scotland, has L. 10,000 per annum. The 

 Marquis of Abercorn L.gOOO; Lord Leitrim L. 9000 ; 

 and Lord Erne L.3500. 



Condition of The condition of the inhabitants in general is mean 

 theinhabi- and uncomfortable. In the mountainous districts it is 

 wretched in the extreme. The people there are dirt}', 

 ragged, ill fed, and superstitious. Their habitations are 

 miserable and disgusting, and their habits such as dis- 

 tinguish the lowest stage of civilization. On the coast, 

 Mr Wakefield tells us, that he met with a peasantry 

 who appeared to be native Irish, most of them speaking 

 the original language, and many of them not knowing 

 a word of English, or, as they call it, Scotch. The men 

 wear shoes and stockings, but the women go barefoot- 

 ed. They are different from the people in the inland 

 parts. They have better houses, and are cleaner in 

 their persons. 



The principal rivers in this county are the Guibarrn, 

 which has a short south-west course, and terminates on 

 the west coast; the Finn, which rises at no great dis- 

 tance from the (iuibarra, and running almost directly 

 east, passes into the county of Tyrone, where it joins 

 the Foyle at Strabane ; the Da//-, navigable by small 

 boats for a few miles, from the Foyle to the village of 

 Ballindrait ; the Sit-illy, which loses itself in the lough 

 of the same name; the Erne, which flows from Lough 

 Erne, and falls into the sea at Ballyshannon, where it 

 forms a very rapid though not a high cascade; the Len- 

 Loughs. nan > an d several other streams of less magnitude. There 

 are many loughs or lakes in Donegal. The most remark- 

 Station at a ^' c ' s f-A"g' 1 Dertr, situated in the midst of mountains, 

 Lough and in the barony of Tyrhugh ; and this is remarkable 

 Dcrg- principally for its being the scene of a Catholic station. 



In the centre of the lake, and about a mile from the 

 . shore, is an island containing not more than an Irish 

 acre. There is a cavern there called the Cave of St 

 Patrick, or St Patrick's Purgatory. Thither the Ca- 

 tholics resort during the months of June, July, August, 

 and September, to do penance for their sins, or rather 

 perhaps to express their superstitious veneration for the 

 place ; and so pppular is the pilgrimage, that at no time 

 in the course of that period, are there ever fewer than 

 a thou.sand or twelve hundred persons assembled on the 

 island, nor is there almost a single adult individual of the 

 Catholic persuasion in the counties of Donegal, London- 

 derry, Tyrone, and Monoghan, who has not been there 

 at least once in his life. Those who visit it on this oc- 

 casion, from whatever distance they come, must travel 

 all the way bareheaded and barefooted. They remain 

 nine days and nine nights. They are allowed eight 

 oaten cakes eacli ; they sleep in the open air ; and 

 drink nothing but water out of the lake. The last twen- 

 ty-four hours must ! spent m fasting, and in thj course 

 of this time they all bathe, and crowd to a wretched 

 hovef adjoining the cave, which has the name of a cha- 

 pel, there to make their confessions, and perform their 

 devotions. The Catholic bishop of ('higher nominates 

 a priest and six assistant ministers, to aid the penitents 



in these sacred exercises. The priest receives one shil- Donegal, 

 ling from each person on landing, and the assistants are " ~Y^~ ' 

 remunerated by those whom they confess. One is em- 

 ployed the whole day saying mass in the Irish language, 

 and the others in taking confessions. The priest and 

 his coadjutors have a laborious but a profitable occupa- 

 tion ; and while the poor people are starving on cakes 

 and water, they are feasting on fish, meat, porter, and 

 wine. This county abounds in excellent harbours. Harbours. 

 The bay of Straoragy, in the barony of Inishoen ; 

 Mulroy bay and Sheephaven, in that of Kilmacrenan ; 

 the Guidore, and the Guibarra ; Killibegs, and the 

 road at the Rosses, all afford safe and commodious re- 

 treats for vessels. Donegal bay, formed by the high 

 land of Tiellen head in this county, and the Stags of 

 Broadhaven in that of Sligo, is very capacious ; but Mr 

 Dalrymple, hydrographer to the Admiralty, has found 

 by accurate survey, that it is not so wide by ten miles as 

 it is laid down in the charts. Lough Swilly is an un- 

 commonly fine harbour, being twenty miles long, from 

 two to four broad, and of sufficient depth for the lar- 

 gest ships of war. The entrance to it is between two 

 high cliffs, and, when viewed at a distance, appears 

 so narrow, as to seem capable of being shut by a pair 

 of flood-gates. It would contain the whole navy of 

 Great Britain in perfect security at single anchor. 



The lakes and rivers in Donegal contain all the com- Fish and 

 mon fresh water fish, as trout, salmon, eels, &c. At fisheries. 

 Ballyshannon, on the Erne, there is a great salmon 

 fishery. It is one of the largest, indeed, in Ireland. It 

 belongs to Admiral Packenham, and in 1808 was let 

 for L.I 200. Salmon are killed here, weighing above 

 40 Ib. The river Lennan also abounds with salmon, 

 which, like those of the Bann and the Bryne, are al- 

 ways in season. At Ballyshannon there is an eel fish- 

 cry, which, some years ago, let for L.325 per annum. 

 A few years ago, the herring fishery was a great and 

 thriving concern on the Donegal coast. It was carried 

 on under the patronage of the Right Honourable Bur- 

 ton Conyngham, who made an establishment for the 

 purpose in Rutland Island, and by whom a village, and 

 all the buildings necessary for selling and curing the fish, 

 were erected at an expence of L.38,000 from himself, 

 and a parliamentary grant of L.20,000. Every thing 

 was done to promote the undertaking; and so success- 

 ful was it for some time, that it gave employment to 

 300 vessels and 1200 boats, and that there were returns 

 in cash of no less a sum than L.I 35,000. But the her- 

 rings soon disappeared, and the whole scheme failed. 

 The reason of these fish deserting this part of the coast 

 was thought to be the prevalence of a red animalcule, 

 called the Cancer halecum, with which the whole sur- 

 face of the water seemed to be covered. About thirty 

 years ago, a whale fishery was attempted with consi- 

 derable success. The gentleman who engaged in it ge- 

 nerally killed two or three, and sometimes four in a 

 season. An unfortunate accident, however, happening 

 to one of the boats, which was dashed to pieces by a 

 whale, and had two of its crew drowned, put an end 

 to this enterprize, and it has never since been revived. 

 At the same time, sun-fish, of a monstrous size, and 

 producing each from a ton to a ton and a half of oil, 

 were caught in great numbers. The average value of 

 a whale was about L.750; that of a sun-fish about L.45. 

 Cod and hake also used to be taken in such quantities, 

 that Mr Brice, in his Report to the Committee on the 

 Irish Fisheries, makes mention of four men having 

 caught with UHCS twenty dozen of these fish in two 



