﻿IBBLiOta 



IRKIJIKD. 



thU, that part of Ibe Chuuel whioh oontaiiu the Ids of Man expanda 

 to a breadth of 120 milea, betwren the ooasta of Louth and Lanca- 

 ■hlr«, and bean the name of the Irish Sea. Beutg again oontraoted 

 by the projeoUag ooaat of Walea to a breadth of about 85 milee, it 

 aaaamea the name of St Oeorge'i Channel, whioh it bean until it 

 ezpanHi into the Atlantic at ite southern extremity. The reniHitidcr 

 of the ooast-Une ia formed by the AtUntic Ocean. The straight line 

 joining Fair Head in the county of Antrim to Mizen Head in the 

 county of Cork, ia the lonfeat that can be drawn upon the island, 

 and measures 303 miles ; but the greatest length measured due north 

 and sooth from Bloody Foreland, in the county of Donegal, to the 

 Old Head of Kinsale, in the county of Cork, is only 237 miles. The 

 greatest breadth, measured due east and weat, from th^ eastern coant 

 of the county of Down to the west coast of Mayo is 1 80 miles. The 

 eoasts are so indented by bays and inlets of the sea, that no part of 

 the island is more than 60 miles from the sea. The area ia 82,508 

 •qnare miles, of which nearly 986 square miles are covered with 

 firesh-water lakes and rivers. The population of Ireland in 1851 was 

 6,551,970 ; namely :- 3,190,507 males, and 8,861,468 females. The 

 majority of the inhabitants of Ireland are Koman Catholics. 



Coatl. — The southern and western coasts of the island are deeply 

 indented by arms of the sea penetrating between rocky and moun- 

 tainous promontories, and funning a great number of excellent 

 harbours. The principal harbours on the south coast are those of 

 Waterford, Youghal, Cork, and Kinsale. Along the western shore of 

 the province of Munster the bays and harbours include Bantry Bay, 

 Valentia Harbour (one of the finest and best sheltered natural harbours 

 in the world, having a double entrance on the north and south sides 

 of the island of Valentia), Dingle Bay, Tralee Bay, and the sestuary 

 of the Shannon, which is navigable for large vessels up to Limerick. 

 On the west coast of the province of Connaught are Oalway Bay, the 

 numerous inlets that indent the coast of Connemara, Killery Harbour, 

 Clew Bay, Killala Bay, and Sligo Bay. Farther north, penetrating far 

 into the province of Ulster, are Donegal Bay, Sheep Haven, Lough 

 Swilly, and Lough Foyle, which last ia navigable for vesaela of 900 

 tons up to the bridge of Derry. The shores of the island are in general 

 lofty and precipitous. The eastern side ia flat and little indented, 

 except towards the north, where Belfast Lough, Strangford Lough, 

 and Carlingford Buy run a long way into the land. The chief of the 

 other harbours on the eastern side are Dundalk Bay ; the beautiful 

 Bay of Dublin, at the southern side of which is Kingstown Harbour ; 

 and Wexford Haven, which receives the river Slaney, a little west of 

 Wexford town. It has been estimated that the total number of 

 harbours on the Irish coast includes 14 capable of accommodating 

 the Ui-gest men-of-war; 14 for frigates; upwards of 30 for coasting 

 TSMsb ; 25 good summer roadsteads; besides numerous inlets for 

 fishing craft. There are 62 lighthouses and 8 floating lights round 

 the coast of Ireland, of which 26 are first-class lights. About 196 

 islands are strewed along the coast, chiefly on the western side of 

 the island : the largest are Hathlin, Tory, Arraamore, Achill, 

 Clare, the South AiTau Isles, Valentia, Dursey, Bear, Whiddy, and 

 Cape Clear. 



Surface and Geolcffy. — The most remarkable feature in the distribu- 

 tion of high and low land over the surface is the great limestone plain 

 which occupies, with little interruption, the central district extending 

 from the sea at Dublin on the east to the Bay of Qalway on the west, 

 and from the counties of Sligo and Fermanagh on the north to the 

 confines of CoriL and Waterford on the south. The first iuterval 

 between the limestone country and the Channel is occupied by the 

 granitic range of the Wicklow and Mount Leinater Mountains, which 

 extends southward from the confines of Dublin and Wicklow into 

 Carlow, and terminates near the confluence of the Barrow and Nore. 

 Liignaquilla, the higheat of the Wicklow Mountains, is 3039 feet above 

 the sea. From the flanks of this uhain a clayalate furmation extends 

 on the one hand into the eastern portion of Kildare, and on the other 

 to the Hea, forming the more cultivable portions of Wicklow, and 

 almost the entire of Wexford. Abutting on the southern extremity 

 of the granite range commences a series of mountain groups, the 

 main constituent of which is clayalate and old conglomerate supporting 

 flanks of yellow sandatone. This is the most extensive mountain 

 district of IreUnd. Commencing from the east the Slievenaman, 

 Knockmeledown, and Qaltee ranges extend in successive elevations of 

 from 2000 tu 3000 feet across the south of Kilkenny, Tipper <ry, and 

 Limerick. After sutsiding under the coal district which spreads from 

 Limerick over the north-east of Kerry, they rise again towards the 

 Atlantic, where Mount Brandon (3126 feet), between the Bay of 

 Dingle and the mouth of the Shannon, terminates the series. The 

 entire counties of Cork and Kerry are occupied by the same formation; 

 the elevations attain a considerable altitude as they trend towards the 

 ■ea, oocapying the whole western part of Cork and the southern 

 portion of Kerry with precipitous and sterile ridges, among which 

 Carrao-Tual, the highest summit of Mac Qillicuddy's Keeks in 

 Kerry, rises to the height of 8414 feet, being the highest ground in 

 Ireland. Throughout the western parta of Limerick and Clare the 

 limmtone is overlaid by the great Munster coal-tract, from under 

 which it again emerges on the aouth side of the Bay of Qalway. An 

 extensive tract of granite with poiks of quartz and greenstone riling 

 io Muilrea the culminating point to the height of 2688 feet, forms the 



northern boundary of the Bay of Qalway, and from this point north- 

 ward to Killala Bay a series of primitive rocks, consisting chiefly of 

 roiea-alate and protruded masses of quarts is interposed between the 

 Atlantic and the inland plain, except in one instance where the 

 limestone reaches to the sea through the low country connecting the 

 plains of Mayo with the head of Clew Bay. A primitive ridge of 

 mica-slate and granite prolongs this district northward and westward 

 through Sligo to within a short diitauoe of the borders of Donegal, 

 where it subsides to rise again in that extended primitive formation 

 which occupies almost all the county of Donegal and a great part of 

 the counties of Derry and Tyrone. The north-western portion of 

 this district consists uf granite and quartz with numerous veins of 

 primitive limestone, which is uIko of frequent occurrence throughout 

 the great field of mica-Hlatu that constitutes the remainder and rises 

 in mountains from 1500 to 2500 feet high. This district is succeeded 

 on the east by the great trap-field of Antrim, which overlies it through 

 an extent of nearly 800 square miles. The cap of trap is supported 

 throughout by a bisd of chalky white limestone reposing on lias, the 

 denuded edges of which give an extraordinary variety of colouring 

 and structure to the cliff^i of that coast. A tract of clayalate succeeds 

 the trap-field on the south and west, extending over Down and 

 Armagh iuto Monaghan, Louth, and parts of Cavan, Meath, Longford, 

 and Koscommon; The granite group of the Mourue Mountains, 

 which attain in Slieve Donard, their higheat point, an elevation of 

 2796 feet above the sea-level, and the granite and greenstone group 

 uf Slieve Oallion occupy a cousidernble portion of this clayslate tract, 

 protruding in cou'<picuoua masses in the southern }>arte of Down and 

 Armagh to a height of 2500 feet and upwards. 



The principal detached groups which occur within the limestone 

 plain are the Slieve Bloom and Slieve Baughta ranges, consisting of 

 nuclei of clayslate supporting flanks of red and yellow sandatone, 

 which extend to a considerable distance on each side of the valley of 

 the Shannon in the county of Tipperary and Queen's County, and Clai« 

 and Ualway counties respectively. A tract of old red-sandstone rises 

 into a chain of moderate elevation on the borders of Roscommon and 

 Sligo in the north-west part of the plain, and several greenstone 

 elevations occur in the centre and south-west. The limestone plain 

 also contains seven coal districts, the chief of which is in the province 

 of Munster, extending through parts of Cork, Kerry, Limerick, and 

 Clare counties. The Connaught or Lough Allen coal-field extends 

 over a space of nearly 16 miles in its greatest length and breadth 

 in the counties of Koscommon, Sligo, and Cavan ; its total area is 

 140,000 acres. In the other coal-fields, which are small, the aeanu 

 are narrow. 



The central district of Ireland also contains upwards of 1,570,000 

 acres of flat bog, the greater portion of which lies west of the Shannon 

 in the counties of Qalway, Koscommon, and Mayo ; the remainder, 

 extending in various tracts through Kiug's County, Longford, West- 

 meath, and Kildare, ia known collectively as the Bog of Allen. The 

 total area of turf bog, from which the chief supply of fuel is obtained, 

 is 2,830,000 acres, of which above 1,250,000 acres are scattered over the 

 uplands near the coast. 



Besides these incumbrances the lower carboniferous limestone, 

 which constitutes the central plain, is overlaid in many tracts towarda 

 the borders of the district by the upper limestone, and this is gene- 

 rally accompanied by a craggy and rough surface : as iu the vicinity 

 of the coal districta and throughout the counties of Sligo, Fermanagh, 

 Cavan, and Lcitrim. These districts contain numerous caverns ; 

 and streams sinking into subterranean channels are of frequent 

 occurrence. 



By much the greater part of the central plain however is unincum- 

 bered, and has the pure carboniferous limestone for its substratum. 

 Throughout these districts the soil is rich and the surface gently 

 undulating. The mountain groups and waste lands on the whole 

 occupy a compai'atively small portion of the entire island, and many 

 of the di»tricta lying outside the central plain rival the richest lime- 

 stone lands in easiness of access and fertility. 



Alinerali. — The principal minerals are coal, iron, copper, and lead. 

 Lignite is found iu deep strata encompassing the southern half of 

 Lough Neagh. Iron-ores are found in all the coal districts, and were 

 largely manufactured while timber for sm' Itiug was abundant ; but 

 for a long time the mines have been abandoned. The irou-stone of 

 Kilkenny ia but little inferior to that of Arigua iu Leitrim ; and the 

 orea of Lough Allen are only equalled iu richness by the blaukbaad 

 iron-stone of QIaagow. The copper-ore is distributed througliout the 

 clayslate diatricts. The principal mines are in the counties of Wicklow, 

 Waterford, Cork, and Tipperary. The total quantity of copper-ore 

 exported to Swansea in 1851 was 10,577 tons, which sold for 77,7132. 

 Lead is more extensively diflfused through Ireland than copper. 

 Numerous veins ure found and worked in the granitic district of 

 Wicklow, and also in the clayslate districts of the island, where 

 however but few of the mines are profitable. At the Ballycorua 

 smelting-works, in the co\mty of Wicklow, where the lead ores from 

 the minea worked by the Mining Company of Ireland are smelted, 460 

 tons of lead were produced in 1851 from 674 tins of ore obtained from 

 LugauOre mines, being nearly 69 per cent. The machinery in all the 

 Irish mines in driven by steam or water power, or by both, with the 

 exception of three, where horse power is employed. Silver is found 



