550 



IRELAND IRVING. 



most extensive are those at Conlig mountain, near 

 Newtownards, in the county of Down ; of Derry- 

 noose, in tbe county of Armagh ; of Lugganure, 

 in the county of Wicklow ; and in the limestone 

 district of the county of Clare, at Ballyhicky, 

 near Ennis. The quantities produced cannot be 

 stated. 



In Ireland coal occurs in seven distinct localities, 

 which have been called the Leinster ; the Slieve 

 Arda, or Tipperary; and the Minister districts, 

 situated to the south of Dublin ; the Monaghan, 

 the Connaught, the Tyrone, and the Antrim, to 

 the north of it. The coal consists of two distinct 

 species, non-flaming coal or anthracite, and bitu- 

 minous or blazing coal. The first, with the excep- 

 tion of two beds of trifling importance which oc- 

 cur in Antrim, are confined to the coal districts, 

 situated to the south of Dublin, while the northern 

 contains bituminous or blazing coal. 



The Leinster Coal District is situated in the 

 counties of Kilkenny, Carlow, and Queen's County. 

 It contains seven workable beds of coal, arranged 

 in regular succession, one above the other. The 

 colleries have been worked for upwards of a cen- 

 tury, and now produce annually about 120,000 tons 

 of coal and culm. The former is used for domes- 

 tic purposes and malting, the latter for burning 

 lime. The upper beds, which are the purest, are 

 now nearly exhausted ; but three of the lower 

 beds, which are very extensive, have never been 

 worked. 



The Slieve Arda, or Tipperary Coal District. 

 The general circumstances of this district are simi- 

 lar to those of the latter. It has, as far as is 

 known, three beds of coal, the lowest nine inches, 

 and the second and third two feet in thickness. 

 The principal collieries are situated at Colebrook, 

 and at Coolquil, in the neighbourhood of Kille- 

 naule. The line of the Main Southern Railway, 

 as proposed by the commissioners, passes through 

 the midst of tbe limestone valley, situated between 

 the Slieve Bloom Mountain and the Leinster and 

 Tipperary coal districts/ It is probable that by a 

 proper construction of the grate, the pure, though 

 dense, non-flaming coal of these districts may be 

 used with advantage for locomotive engines. 



TJie Munster Coal District is perhaps the most 

 extensive in the British empire ; it occupies large 

 portions of the counties of Clare, Limerick, Kerry, 

 and Cork, and coal-mines have been partially 

 worked in all those counties. The coal is usually 

 of a slaty structure, much softer than that of 

 Tipperary or Kilkenny, and is therefore almost ex- 

 clusively used for burning lime. The principal 

 collieries are situated on the north side of the 

 river Blackwater ; and at this moment extensive 

 works are being carried on, particularly at Dro- 

 magh and Gurteen collieries, ten miles west of 

 Mallow. 



From the extent of coal already known in the 

 southern part of this district, no doubts can be 

 entertained of its capability of supplying the coun- 

 try for centuries to come with abundance of culm 

 suitable for burning lime. This circumstance is of 

 the utmost importance to the agriculturists of the 

 south of Ireland, who find lime to be the best 

 manure for raising crops, particularly wheat. 



The Monaghan District In this locality the 



coal formation rests upon a small tract of carboni- 

 ferous limestone, which is insulated in the central 

 graywacke slate district. Hitherto, though many 

 trials have been made, no coal worth working has 



been met with ; only one bed of fourteen inches, 

 one of a foot, and several of inferior thickness, 

 have been disco ven-d. 



The Connaught Coal District is situated on the 

 eastern side of Lough Allen, near the sources of 

 the river Shannon, and comprehends portions of 

 the counties of Roscommon, Leitrim, and Sligo. 

 It consists of a group of hills of considerable ele- 

 vation. The coal occurs in detached basins near 

 the summits of some of the hills : it has never 

 been extensively wrought ; and as there is only 

 one workable bed, varying in thickness from two 

 to three feet, it is not probable that many exten- 

 sive collieries or manufactories will be established 

 in this district. The Arigna iron-works, which 

 are in it, and which are the only works of the kind 

 in Ireland, have been lately at work, and cast-iron 

 of excellent quality can be made there at a mode- 

 rate expense. The coal, though thin, is will 

 adapted for the smelting of iron; the iron-stone is 

 peculiarly rich, and limestone is abundant in the 

 neighbourhood. 



The Tyrone Coal District, which is situated to 

 the north of Dungannon, in the county of Tyrone, 

 though very small, is much richer in valuable beds 

 than any other in Ireland. At present nine work- 

 able beds are known, varying from three to nine 

 feet in tnickness. At Coal island six beds have 

 been discovered and worked with various success 

 during the last century; but the stratification of 

 the district is so imperfect, and the consequent 

 difficulty and expense of working the mines have 

 been so great, that the adventurers have seldom 

 obtained any considerable profit from them. 



The Antrim Coal District is situated on the 

 north coast of the county of Antrim, close to Fair 

 Head, and occupies the country on both sides of 

 that headland. The collieries have been wrought 

 at a very remote period, but at present no coal is 

 raise'd in the district, owing partly to the difficulty 

 of working to the dip of the old excavations, and 

 partly from the want of a safe harbour for shipping. 

 At the same time it may be remarked that the ex- 

 tent of coal remaining unwrought must be incon- 

 siderable. 



It will be perceived from the foregoing state- 

 ments that Ireland contains abundance of valuable 

 stone, marble, and slate quarries, many of which 

 are at present in successful operation ; and that 

 the metallic mines now at work, though limited in 

 number, are very prosperous; and, should the prices 

 of copper and lead increase, much more extensive 

 works will probably be undertaken. Of the bitu- 

 minous coal-mines of the northern districts it may 

 be said, that they are inferior both in productive- 

 ness and purity of coal to those of Great Britain ; 

 but that the anthracitous coal districts of the south 

 are sufficiently extensive, and contain abundance of 

 that coal, which, though less agreeable than the 

 bituminous for domestic use, is most valuable in 

 all cases where a strong and steady heat is re- 

 quired. 



IRVING, EDWARD, late minister of the na- 

 tional Scotch church London, was born in the 

 burgh of Annan, Dumfriesshire, on the 15th of 

 August, 1792. His father was a respectable tan- 

 ner in that town, and became owner of a consider- 

 able portion of burgage and landed property in the 

 vicinity. After receiving a good education in his 

 native place, Edward was sent to the university of 

 Edinburgh, and pursued his studies with great ap- 

 plication. He excelled in the mathematics so far 



