T I P 



485 



T I P 



in a direct line south-south-west of Dublin, or 103 miles 

 by the road through Naas, Castle-Dennot, Carlow, Leighlin 

 Bri lire. Kilkenny, and Callen. 



Surface; Geology ; Bngs. The Knockmeledown Moun- 

 tains, on the south border of the county, where it is conter- 

 minous with Cork, rise to the height of 2700 feet above 

 the level of the sea. They are placed in ' a table-land of 

 clay-slate, partly bordered on the flanks by sandstone, and 

 on the higher grounds sustaining isolated caps of the same 

 rock, or upholding more continuous mountain-masses.' 

 The position of the sandstone on the flanks is generally 

 conformed to the inclination presented by the surface of 

 the subjacent clay-slate, but the masses on the higher 

 grounds approach more and more to a horizontal arrange- 

 ment. This tract (of clay-slate) is surrounded by floetz 

 limestone on the north, the west, and the south : ' this 

 limestone tract on the north separates the Knockmeledown 

 Mountains from the Galtees, of which the principal sum- 

 mils (3000 feet high) are in this county. The general 

 direction of these two ranges is nearly east and west : tlie 

 intermediate limestone plain or valley is watered by two 

 streams (with their respective affluents), one, the Tar, 

 flowing eastward into the Suir ; the other, the Puncheon, 

 westward into the Blackwater. North of the Galtees, from 

 which they are separated by a narrow valley (the Glen of 

 Aherlow), rise the Slievh-na-Muck Mountains, which form 

 a subordinate and lower range, and have the same general 

 direction of east and west. Both the Galtees and the 

 Slievh-na-Muck are composed wholly of sandstone, and 

 the intermediate valley or glen appears to be occupied by 

 the same formation. The northern face of the Galtees, 

 towards this narrow valley, is in many parts extremely pre- 

 cipitous, and even inaccessible: the southern face, towards 

 the broader valley or limestone plain, which separates them 

 from the Knorkmeledown Mountains, is of atamer character. 

 The strata of the sandstone are, in the upper region of the 

 Galtees, almost horizontal, yet gently curved, following 

 the form of the summit, and precipitously broken off on 

 the sides, where they frequenfly crop out. On the flanks, 

 where they are not abruptly broken off, they become more 

 inclined, and appear to be conformed to the surface of the 

 ate on which they rest. The sandstone varies much 

 in character, but in general it is a fine-grained rock, com- 

 posed of grains of quartz closely aggregated. The sand- 

 stone of S!ievh-na-Muck yields excellent flags. 



In the south-eastern corner of the county, north of 

 Clonmell and Carrick-on-Suir, is a group of hills called 

 Slie\ h-na-Man, the geological character of which is similar 

 to that of the mountains already described : the group 

 4 consists of a nucleus of clay-slate, surrounded and sur- 

 mounted by sandstone.' 



In the centre of the county is another important range. 

 It commences in the county of Limerick, north of the 

 little river Mulkerne, or Bilboa, which joins the Shannon 

 a short distance above Limerick. At this extremity the 

 range is known as the Doon Mountains ; but as it extends 

 north-eastward into Tipperary, the most important summits 

 nown as the Bilboa and Keeper Mountains (the latter 

 2100 feet high) and the Devil's Bit : it crosses the county 

 of Tipperary in a north-eastern direction by Templederry 

 :m<l Hoscrea, becoming narrower as it advances, and enters 

 Queen's County and King's County, which it separates 

 from each other, and where it is known under the desig- 

 nation of Slievh Bloom. The geological character of 

 these mountains is similar to those already described : 

 Keeper and Bilboa and the adjacent parts of the range 

 .; of clay-slate, generally flanked by sandstone, except 

 small space on the north-west side, near the village 

 of Sih ermines, where, at the foot of the hills, the clay-slate 

 ontact with and immediately supports the floetz 

 'one. To the north-east of Templederry the range is 

 entirely composed of sandstone. The direction of the 

 i of the clay-slate varies in this mountain-range. The 

 in one part, near Newport, on the west side of 

 . is a coarse red conglomerate, and rests uncon- 

 <,n the clay-slate. Copper was formerly dug in 

 .itnins, at Lackamore,tive miles east of Newport. 

 three veins, one of them thicker than the rest, 

 Bg rich copper-ore in bunches. The workings on 

 this vein extended above 700 feet in length anil LID fret. 

 nth. An attcin. de early in the present cen- 



to renew the works, but the machinery was insufficient 

 to keep the mine free from water. 



Considerable quantities of lead mixed with silver w ere 

 obtained last century in an opening at the junction of the 

 clay-slate with the floetz limestone, near the village of 

 Silvermines. This opening had been filled with clay, 

 sandy clay, sand, decomposed slate, and scattered blocks 

 of limestone, Lydian-stone, and sandstone, the whole mass 

 being penetrated or cemented by metallic depositions of 

 various kinds ; and in this ' softness,' as the miners termed 

 it, the operations were conducted. 



Near the lower part of Lough Derg, one of the lakes 

 through which the Shannon flows, are the Arra Mountains, 

 a group occupying a small part of this county on the 

 western side, and extending across the Shannon into the 

 county of Clare (where they are known by the name of 

 Slievh Bernagh) ; they consist partly of clay-slate and 

 partly of sandstone. There are quarries in these mountains 

 which yield slate not inferior to that of North Wales. 



The rest of the county is occupied by the fioetz lime- 

 stone, except a portion of the district between the southern 

 groups of mountains (Slievh-na-Man and the Galtees) and 

 the Central range, which is occupied by the coal-field of 

 Killenaule ; and one or two small tracts on the western 

 side of the county, where trap rocks appear interstratified 

 with the limestone. This floetz limestone presents in its 

 connection with other rocks and in its organic remains 

 several features similar to those of the mountain limestone 

 of Derbyshire and the north of England ; but differs in 

 this, that the tract occupied by it forms an extensive plain, 

 marked only by slight undulations. 



The coal-field of Kiljenaule extends about eighteen 

 miles in length from north-east to' south-west, from near 

 the river Nore to the neighbourhood of Cashel, and about 

 six miles in breadth. It is partly in this county and partly 

 in that of Kilkenny. There are two very small outlying 

 portions near Cashel. This coal-field forms a low range 

 of hills, placed upon the floetz limestone, and elevated 

 above it. It varies in its elevation, being highest and 

 most abrupt on the north-western side, where the hills rise 

 from 300 to 600 feet above the limestone plain. On this 

 side the dip both of the limestone and superincumbent 

 coal strata is greater than on the other side. Towards the 

 south-east the surface declines gradually, and the streams 

 which water the tract mostly flow in that direction. The 

 strata are more gently inclined here. The aspect of the 

 hills varies, but they are commonly rounded with inter- 

 vening hollows. The junction of the limestone with the 

 coal-formation is generally at the foot of the hills, but 

 sometimes half-way up their side. Immediately above the 

 limestone, shale and gritstone alternate, there being two 

 beds of each : the upper gritstone, when not. covered by 

 the superior beds, constitutes the main body of the elevated 

 part of the coal-hills : it is marked by repeated undulations, 

 forming unequal ridges, with intervening hollows or troughs, 

 having their greatest extension or length generally from 

 north-east to south-west. In these troughs the coal-beds are 

 found resting upon fire-clay, which intervenes between 

 them and the gritstone and forms the floor of the coal, 

 and covered by shale, grit, and then shale again. 

 Sometimes this series is repeated so as to give two seams 

 of coal. The troughs are generally from fifty to seventy 

 yards deep from the surface to the coal, near the centre of 

 the trough, and from 500 to 700 yards wide at the surface. 

 The coalis of the nature of blind-coal or anthracite. The 

 coal-works have been earned on with increased activity of 

 late years : before 1825 the yearly produce was valued at 

 about 12,000/. ; since that period it has been nearly doubled. 



The principal bogs are m the eastern and central part of 

 the county : one continuous line of bog extends from near 

 the border of the coal-field, near Killenaule, to the south- 

 eastern foot of the central range of hills at Roscrea, a dis- 

 tance of nearly 30 miles ; and there are smaller detached 

 bogs westward of this, and some in the northern part of 

 the county, between the Lower Brusna and the Shannon. 



Hydrography and Communications. The greater part 

 of the county is comprehended in the basin of the Barrow 

 and the Suir, two rivers which unite in Waterford Haven. 

 A small part on the eastern border is drained by the Min- 

 ster, or Kincr's River, a small affluent, of the Npre, which 

 itself is an affluent of the Barrow. The Nore rises in this 

 county, but has its course chiefly in that of Kilkenny. But. 

 most of the waters flow into the Suir, which rises north of 

 Templemorc, on the south-eastern slope of the mountains 

 that there cross the county, and flows by Thv.rles, Golden, 



