IRELAND 



3046 



IRELAND 



The Waters of Ireland. From the central 

 plain rivers flow in all directions to the sea, 

 finding their way through the gaps in the mar- 

 ginal highlands. No dominating mountain 

 mass forms a watershed, and the rivers have 

 often winding, tortuous courses. Many of them 

 widen into series of lakes, notably the Shan- 

 non, the longest river in the British Isles. 

 This drains the central part of the plain, and 

 is navigable for much of its course of 250 

 miles. Other rivers of importance are the 

 Boyne, near which was fought a memorable 

 battle; the Erne, another river with chains of 

 lakes in its course; the Lee, which forms with 

 its estuary the harbor of Cork; the Blackwater, 

 a bog-fed river which well deserves its name; 

 the Slaney and the Barrow. Many of these 

 streams, and other smaller ones, are important 

 means of intercommunication, even in these 

 days of extensive railroads. 



The lakes of Ireland, or loughs, as the Irish 

 call them, are very numerous and, in propor- 

 tion to the size of the island, of considerable 

 extent. Lake Neagh, in the northeast, is the 

 largest lake in the British Isles, having an area 

 of 158 square miles; but the lakes of Killarney, 

 in the southwest, are the most famous, because 

 of the exquisite beauty of their surroundings. 

 In the central plains the innumerable lakes 

 have little beauty, being but sluggish pools 

 dark w r ith peat, but they are favorite haunts of 

 fishermen, for trout are thick in their shadowy 

 waters, and fish furnish no inconsiderable por- 

 tion of the food of the people in many localities. 



Climate, and Plant and Animal Life. It is 

 the Atlantic Ocean which has most to do in 

 determining the climate of Ireland. From it 

 blow those westerly and southwesterly moder- 

 ately mild winds which prevent extremes of 

 temperature, making the average for the winter 

 from twenty to thirty degrees higher than it 

 is in the same latitude in North America or 

 Eastern Europe, and that for the summer from 

 five to ten degrees lower. The mean tempera- 

 ture for the year is about 50, that for the 

 winter being 40 and that for the summer 60. 

 Rainfall is everywhere plentiful, and to this is 

 due the brilliant green of the foliage which 

 gave rise to the name of the "Emerald Isle." 

 Somewhat more rain falls on the outer slopes 

 of the western mountains than elsewhere, but 

 in general the amount is fairly uniform, aver- 

 aging about forty inches. 



The vegetation of Ireland presents few dis- 

 tinctive, features save its vivid greenness, prac- 

 tically all of its plants being related to those 

 of England and the nearby continent, and the 

 same is true of the animal life. Time was 

 when great deer, bears, wolves and wildcats 

 roamed the forests, but the forests have been 

 cut down and the animals exterminated. One 

 lack there is in the animal life which must be 

 noted there are no snakes in Ireland. Saint 

 Patrick drove them into the sea, says the 

 popular tradition, but scientists find nothing 

 strange in the absence of snakes, since Scotland 

 has none either, and England has but two 

 species. 



Resources and Industries 



Minerals. A country which has not an ade- 

 quate supply of coal is seriously hampered in 

 its industrial development, and in this position 

 Ireland finds itself. Coal measures exist in 

 almost every province, some of them of con- 

 siderable area, but much of the coal is of so 

 inferior a quality that it scarcely pays for 

 mining. Usually the total yield of the mines 

 is under 100,000 tons a year, and fewer than 

 800 people are employed in them. This lack 

 of coal is especially to be regretted, since Ire- 

 land has extensive deposits of iron ore which 

 cannot be utilized because of the absence of 

 fuel. The output of other minerals is of no 

 importance save for marble and other stones. 



Manufactures. Naturally enough, with this 

 lack of fuel, manufactures have not flourished 

 in Ireland, and the measures forced upon the 

 island by England during their earlier connec- 



tion made conditions still more unfavorable. 

 The Irish would laboriously build up an in- 

 dustry silk or woolen manufacture, for in- 

 stance only to be cut off by British navigation 

 acts from its markets. To-day the chief manu- 

 factured product is linen, which is of a whiter, 

 more delicate texture than that made else- 

 where. The linen and allied industries center 

 in Ulster, and especially in Belfast, and their 

 total products amount in a year to about 

 $75,000,000. Belfast is also the center of the 

 Irish shipbuilding industry, and its annual pro- 

 duction equals if it does not surpass that of 

 any other yard in the world. Other industries 

 of importance are brewing and distilling, rap- 

 idly taking rank at the head of the list; also 

 woolen manufacture, and such home-pursuits 

 as lace-making and embroidery, for which cer- 

 tain sections are famous. 



