819 



BALLYMONEY. 



BALTIC SEA. 



850 



population in 1841 was 5549; in "1851 it was 6136, besides 357 in 

 the Union workhouse. Ballymena Poor-Law Union comprises 23 

 electoral divisions, with an area of 160,853 acres, and a population in 

 1841 of 74,120, in 1851 of 71,123. 



Ballymena stands iu the midst of a very densely-populated district, 

 extending from the neighbouring town of Broughshane on the east to 

 the river Bann on the west. The population here unite the manufac- 

 ture of linen with the pursuits of agriculture, and Ballymena which is 

 their chief market possesses a very considerable and flourishing trade 

 both in linens and agricultural produce. The town is built of stone, 

 and has a respectable appearance. There are an Episcopal, a Roman 

 Catholic, a Wesleyan Methodist, and three Presbyterian places of 

 worship ; a market-house with a spire, the Union workhouse, a dis- 

 pensary, and a bridewell. Quarter and petty sessions are held, and 

 the town is the head-quarters of the county constabulary. Saturday 

 is the market day. Fairs are held on July 26th and October 21st. 

 In the vicinity are extensive bleach-greens. The surrounding district 

 although divided into very small holdings is cultivated to advantage, 

 and presents a rich and pleasing landscape. 



BALLYMONEY, county of Antrim, Ireland, a market and post- 

 town, and the seat of a Poor- Law Union, in the parish of Ballymoney 

 and barony of Upper Dunluce, is situated on the leading road from 

 Belfast to Coleraine, 3 miles E. of the river Bann, in 55 4' N. lat., 6 81' 

 W. long., 18 miles N.W. by N. from Ballymena, 8J miles S.E. from 

 Coleraine, and 140 -niles N.N.W. from Dublin : the population in 

 1841 was 2490 ; in 1851 it was 2581, exclusive of 373 in the Union 

 workhouse. Ballymoney Poor-Law Union comprises 23 electoral 

 divisions, with an area of 127,115 acres, and a population in 1841 of 

 50,710, in 1851 of 42,418. The town is irregularly built on a small 

 stream which runs into the river Bann. It contains a church of the 

 Establishment, a chapel for Roman Catholics, several chapels for 

 Presbyterians, a town-hall, a dispensary, the Union workhouse, and a 

 bridewell. Quarter and petty sessions are held, and there are here 

 stations of the constabulary and the revenue police. Ballymoney has 

 a small trade in linens. A market for linens and dairy produce 

 is held monthly, and fairs are held on May 6th, July 10th and 

 October 10th. 



BALLYMORE. [WESTMEATH.] 



BALLYNURE. [ANTRIM.] 



BALLYSHANNON, county of Donegal, Ireland, a market, post, 

 and seaport town, and the seal of a Poor-Law Union, in the parishes 

 of Inishmacsaint and Kilbarron, in the barony of Tirhugh, is situated 

 on the banks of the river Erne near its embouchure on the Bay of 

 Donegal, in 54" 30' N. lat., 8 11' W. long., 26 miles W.N.W. from 

 Kim i. -kill, and 129 miles N.W. from Dublin : the population in 

 1841 was 3513, in 1851 it waa 3697, besides 334 persons in the 

 Union workhouse. Ballyshannon Poor-Law Union comprises 21 

 electoral divisions, with an area of 132,082 acres, and a population in 

 1841 of 43,196, in 1851 of 35,891. 



The town of Ballyshannon contains an episcopal church, chapels 

 for Roman Catholics and Presbyterians ; a sessions and market-house, 

 n dispensary, the Union workhouse, and infantry barracks. Bally- 

 nhannon is a station of the county constabulary, and the staff of the 

 county militia is stationed here. Petty sessions are held in the town. 

 The river Erne here runs over a wide rocky bed, and is crossed by a 

 bridge of 14 arches. About 400 yards below the bridge the river- 

 course is terminated by a remarkable cataract. The height of the 

 cascade varies with the state of the tide, which flows up to the base 

 of the rocky ledge over which the Erne is precipitated. At low 

 water the fall is 16 feet, and the effect at all times fine is then very 

 imposing. The Erne discharges a greater volume of water than any 

 other river of Ireland except the Shannon. It abounds with salmon; 

 and at the season when these fish return from the sea the salmon-leap 

 here is a singular and interesting spectacle. The course of the Erne 

 from Lough Erne to Ballyshannon, a distance of 8 miles, presents 

 very fine river scenery. Ballyshannon has a trifling export trade. 

 Brewing, distilling, and salt-making are carried on. Fairs are held 

 four times in the year. About a mile N.W. from the town, on the 

 shore of Donegal Bay, stands the ruined castle of Kilbarron, the 

 ancient patrimony of the O'C'lerys, held by them in virtue of their 

 office as hereditary Annalists of Donegal. It was by members of 

 this family that the ' Irish Annals of the Four Masters' were compiled 

 after their expulxion from Kilbarron in A.D. 1632-36. 



BALLYVAGHAN, county of Clare, Ireland, a fishing village and the 

 neat of a Poor-Law Union, hi the parish of Drumcreehy and barony of 

 Burren, is situated at the head of Ballyvaghan Bay, on the south side 

 of CJalway Bay, in 53" 7' N. lat., 9 5' W. long., distant 14 miles S. from 

 Galway by water, 15 miles N. by W. from Enuis, and 139 miles W. by 

 S. from Dnblin : the population of the village in 1851 was 240, besides 

 417 in the Union workhouse. Ballyvaghan Poor-Law Union contains 

 11 electoral divisions, with an area of 71,063 acres, and a population 

 in 1841 of 11,969, in 1851 of 8148. Petty sessions are held here, and 

 there is a station of the coast-guard. 



BALMKKIXO. [KiKKsiiiHE.] 



I^UJi'iTIIKirY, c.Hinty .,f Dublin, Ireland, a village, and the seat 



1'oor-Law Union, in the parish of Balrothery and barony of 



Bulrothery East, is situated in 53 25' N. lat., 6 10' W. long., on the 



nld IN nl < '>:irli road leading coastwise from Dublin to Drogheda; 2 



OtOU. I) IV. VOL. I. 



miles S.S.W. from Balbriggan, and 20 miles N.N.E. from Dublin : 

 the population in 1851 was 257, and 556 in the Union workhouse. 

 Balrothery Poor-Law Union comprises 12 electoral divisions, with an 

 area of 75,133 acres, and a population in 1841 of 27,852, in 1851 

 of 24,774. 



BALTIC SEA is a close sea, which occupies as it were the centre 

 of Northern Europe, separating Sweden and the Danish islands from 

 Germany, Prussia, and Russia. It extends from 54 to 66 N. lat., 

 and from 10 to 30 E. long. It is separated from the North Sea by 

 the low and comparatively narrow tract of land which forms the 

 southern part of the Danish peninsula of Jutland. It is con- 

 nected with the ocean by means of a large gulf called the Kat- 

 tegat, which separates Denmark from Norway and Sweden, and by 

 three straits the Sound, the Great Belt, and the Little Belt which 

 may be considered as three gates by which the Baltic Sea is entered. 



The main body of the Baltic Sea does not lie in one direction. 

 Between Denmark and Prussia it extends from west to east, but 

 between Cape Torhamsudde in Sweden and Cape Brusterort in 

 Prussia it bends to the north ; the remainder of the main body lies 

 nearly due north and south, and branches off into three large gulfs, 

 those of Bothnia, Finland, and Livonia. 



A line drawn from Swinemiinde at the entrance of the Stettiner 

 Huff, about the most southern point of the Baltic, to Torneo, is little 

 less than 900 miles long. The breadth of this sea is not great ; and 

 the most western part is the narrowest. Between the Danish islands 

 and the coast of Holstein and Mecklenburg it is nowhere more than 

 30 miles in width, and frequently less. Farther to the east it is wider. 

 The island of Riigeu is upwards of 50 miles from the southern 

 shores of Sweden. Gradually increasing towards the east, its greatest 

 width is at its bend northward, between Torhamsudde and 

 Brusterort, where it may measure about 150 miles. The main body 

 narrows very little farther to the north, its mean width being always 

 between 120 and 130 miles. But the far-extended limbs of this part 

 are much narrower. The Gulf of Bothnia, which extends to the 

 north for about 400 miles, is only from 30 to 100 miles wide ; and 

 the Gulf of Finland, which runs about 280 miles to the east, is not 

 more than from 40 to 70 miles in breadth. The smallest of the 

 three gulfs, that of Livonia or Riga, is from 20 to 60 miles wide ; but 

 it extends only about a hundred miles to the south-east between 

 Livonia and Kurland. 



The surface of the whole sea according to the calculations of 

 German geographers is upwards of 160,000 square miles. 



The southern coast of the Baltic, from the Little Belt to Cape 

 Domesness at the entrance of the Gulf of Livonia, is low and sandy, 

 and lined by numerous sand-banks. The beach is covered with small 

 pebbles of granite and porphyry, which in some places, as at Dobberan 

 in Mecklenburg, have formed walls of considerable height and extent ; 

 in many other parts there are downs or sand-hills. This part of the 

 coast is characterised by fresh-water lakes called Haffs, which are 

 separated from the sea by very narrow and sandy but somewhat 

 elevated tracts of land called Nehrungs. Cliffs and rocks begin to 

 appear near Cape Domesness ; but the shores of the Gulf of Livonia are 

 low, and commonly sandy, though in a few places interrupted by a 

 rocky beach. The rocky coast becomes general at Cape Spinthambre 

 at the entrance of the Gulf of Finland, and it preserves this character 

 along this gulf and that of Bothnia, and even to the south of the 

 latter to the entrance of the Sound of Kalmar, which separates the 

 island of OZlaud from the continent. With the exception of the 

 innermost recesses of both gulfs, which are low and sandy, the whole 

 of this extensive coast is rocky, though commonly low, rising in very 

 few places to more than 50 feet. Along this coast there are numerous 

 cliffs and rocky islands of small extent, which render access to its 

 ports as difficult as it is rendered on the southern shore by the 

 numerous sand-banks. The shores of the Sound of Kalmar are sandy 

 and low, but at Cape Torhamsudde rocks appear again and continue 

 westward to Solfvitsborg with a considerable elevation. The remainder, 

 or the coasts of Scania, are of moderate height, but not rocky. 



The basin of the Baltic Sea is of considerable extent. On the 

 south it receives by the Oder and Vistula the drainage of countries 

 which lie 300 miles and upwards from its shores. On the east the 

 Niemen and the Diina, near their sources, drain 'countries which are 

 from 250 to 300 miles from the sea. To the north of the Gulf of 

 Finland the basin of the Baltic becomes more contracted, though 

 round the Gulf of Bothnia and southward to the parallel of Stock- 

 holm, it generally expends 150 miles from the coast. It is only at its 

 western extremity, where it approaches the North Sea, that the 

 waters falling into it have a short course, frequently only a few miles. 

 Comparing the extent of country drained by the rivers which empty 

 themselves into the Baltic with that drained by the rivers which fall 

 in other parts of the ocean, it appears that the basin of the Baltic is 

 one of the most extensive in Europe, and is only exceeded by that of 

 the Black Sea, and even by the latter not to any large amount. The 

 drainage of more than one-fifth of the surface of Europe goes to the 

 Baltic. 



The basin of close seas is generally bounded by mountains or high 

 table-lands, as the Mediterranean and the gulfs of Persia and of 

 Arabia; and in such cases the countries lying within the basin tire 

 not subject to have their climate materially influenced by that of the 



3 i 



