﻿297 



IRELAND. 



IRELAND. 



in connection with lead ore in varying proportions of 7oz. to 120 oz. 

 in a ton of lead. Native gold was found at the end of the last century 

 in the streams of the Croghan-Kinshela Mountain in Wicklow ; but 

 the quantity realised was not sufficient to pay for working. Tin-stone 

 is found in the auriferous region of Wicklow, but no working deposits 

 have been discovered. Other minerals found in various parts of the 

 country are — manganese, antimony, zinc, nickel, iron pyrites, alum, 

 clays of various kinds, gypsum, ochre, building-stone, marble, paving 

 and roofing slates, besides the various substances incidentally 

 mentioned above. 



Bivert and Lakes. — From the arrangement of the mountain groups 

 round the borders of the central plain, the courses of the greater 

 number of the rivers of Ireland are necessarily short. Of those 

 which drain the external districts, the chief are the Blackwater and 

 Lee in Cork, the Foyle in Donegal and Derry, the Bann and Lagan in 

 Antrim and Down, and the Slaney in Wexford. The rivers of the 

 central district have longer courses and a much greater body of water. 

 The chain of Slieve Bloom divides the central plain longitudinally 

 into two unequal portions, of which the western division is by much 

 the larger. The eastern or smaller division ia again subdivided by 

 the summit level of the Bog of Allen into a northern district, the 

 waters of which discharge themselves into the Irish Sea by the Boyne, 

 and a southern district, which sends its drainage in an opposite 

 direction into the Atlantic by the united streams of the Barrow, 

 Nore, and Suir, all navigable rivers. The western division, which 

 much exceeds the united basins of these several rivers, is drained 

 solely by the Shannon, which, from its great body of water and 

 course through a flat country, possesses the extraordinary advantage 

 of being navigable nearly from its source to its mouth, a distance of 

 more than 200 miles. Those portions of the central plain which lie 

 beyond the basins of the Shannon and Boyne, discharge their chief 

 drainage into a series of lakes which skirt the limits of the limestone 

 country on the west and north. The lakes of Galway and Mayo form 

 such a series, separating the primitive district of Connaught from the 

 plain on the west ; the extended line of Lough Erne in like manner 

 drains that portion of the central plain which stretches towards the 

 primitive district of Donegal and the high lands of Tyrone on the 

 north ; and Lough Neagh, which covers an area of 98,255 acres, 

 collects the waters of the remainder on the north-east. The other 

 principal lakes of Ireland lie within the basin of the Shannon, those of 

 most consequence being merely expansions of that river. The water- 

 power afforded by the different rivers and natural dams of Ireland ia 

 greater than in any equal extent of accessible country in Europe. 



Climate. — The climate of the island, owing to the proximity of the 

 Atlantic, is more moist and less liable to severe cold than that of the 

 neighbouring countries. The mean annual temperature of London- 

 derry is 49° Fabr. ; of Dublin and the central parts of Ireland a little 

 over 60° ; and on the south coast nearly 52°. The maximum heat at 

 Londonderry has reached 81° Fabr., at DublinSrSO", at Kilkenny 79°, 

 at Limerick 75°; and the greatest cold observed at these places 

 respectively is expressed by 21°, 14-50°, 29°, and 28° Fahr. The 

 county of Cork is remarkable for its equable temperature, so much 

 so, that Cove and some other places in the county are resorted to by 

 consumptive persons in winter. The average annual quantity of rain 

 which falls at Cork in the southern extremity of the island is, accord- 

 ing to one authority, 40°20 inches, according to another 3603 inches; 

 at Dublin 30'87 inches ; nt Belfast 34-96 inches ; and at Derry, in the 

 northern extremity, 31-12 inches. Sir R. Kane estimates the average 

 annual rain-fall over the entire surface of Ireland at 36 inches. Frosts 

 are rarely severe in Ireland, and snow does not lie so long as in 

 England ; neither are thunder-storms of such frequent occurrence or 

 of so formidable a character. The prevalent winds are from the west 

 and south, and these are usually accompanied by a mild state of the 

 atmosphere. Elasterly winds are keen, anrl much dreaded by invalids. 

 The chief characteristics of the scenery are freshness and verdure, 

 whence Ireland has been poetically styled the Emerald Isle. The 

 surface is less mgged than that of Scotland, and more varied and 

 undulating than that of England ; it is however generally deficient 

 in timber. 



Area and Population. — Ireland is divided into 4 provinces, Leinsler, 

 Mtinster, Ulster, and ConnauKht ; nnd into 32 counties. Leineter 

 contains twelve counties, Muuster six, Ulster nine, and Connaught 

 five. The following table shews the population of each county and 

 city at the time of the Census in the years 1821, 1831, 1841, and 

 1851, with their respective areas in statute acres. The large decrease 

 in population between 1841 and 1851 was mainly owing to the 

 disastrous famine which afHict<^d Ireland in 1845-47, iu conse- 

 quence of the failure of the potito crop : it was pai-tly owing also 

 to emigration. It has been estimated that the total emigration 

 from Ireland during the ten years between 1841 and 1851 amounted 

 to 1,289,133. It is deserving of notice that emigrants who have gone 

 to the United States and have succeeded in improving their circum- 

 Btances, have sent home contributions to a large amount to enable 

 their relations and friends to follow them, or to assist them in their 

 struggle with difficulties at homo. The Colonial Land and Emigra- 

 tion Commissioners say, in their twelfth ' Report,' that " The contribu- 

 tions so made, either in the form of prepaid passages or of money 

 sent houie, and which are almost exclusively provided by the Irish, 



were returnedtous, as in 1848, upwards of 460,000^.; iu 1849 upwards 

 of 540,000/.; in 1S50 upwards of 957,000t ; in 1851 upwards of 

 990,000i. ; and in 1852 upwards of 1,404,000«." The commissioners 

 calculate the Irish emigration in 1851 at 257,372; in 1852 at 224,830, 

 and they add that " as this emigration has varied with considerable 

 regularity according to the variations in the state of the labouring 

 classes, we trust we may consider the decrease as indicative of the 

 decrease of destitution among those classes." The returns for the first 

 four months of 1853 indicate a still further decrease iu the number of 

 persons emigrating from Ireland. The spontaneous emigration from 

 Ireland is chiefly to the United States and British North America. 



] Provinces, Counties, 

 and Cities. 



1 



Area in 

 Statute 

 Acres. 



Population, 



1821. 



1831. 



1841. 



1851. 



Leinster ;— 













Carlow . , 



221,34! 



78,952 



81,988 



86,228 



68,059 



Dublin . . . 



222,714 



150,011 



176,012 



140,047 



146,731 



Dublin city . 



3,700 



185,881 



204,155 



232,726 



258,361 



Kildare . . , 



418,436 



99,065 



108,424 



114,488 



95,683 



Kilkenny 



508,811 



168,716 



169,945 



183,349 



138,773 



Kilkenny city 



921 



23,230 



23,741 



19,071 



19,973 



King's County . . 



493,985 



131,088 



144,225 



146,857 



112,080 



Longford 



269,409 



107,570 



112,558 



115,491 



82,350 



Lonth . . . 



201,434 



101,011 



107,481 



111,979 



90,812 



Drogheda . 



472 



18,118 



17,365 



16,261 



16,845 



Mcatti . . , 



579,899 



159,183 



176,826 



183,828 



140,750 



Queen's County 



424,854 



134,275 



145,851 



153,930 



111,623 



Westmeatlt . 



453,468 



128,819 



136,872 



141,300 



111,409 



Wexford . . . 



576,588 



170,800 



182,713 



202,033 



180,159 



Wicklow 



500,178 



110,767 



121,557 



126,143 



98,978 



Total of Leinster 

 province , . 



4,876,211 



1,757,492 



1,909,713 



1,973,731 



1,672,591 



Munster : — 













Clare . . . 



827,994 



208,089 



258,322 



286,394 



212,428 



Cork . 



1,843,650 



629,786 



703,716 



773,398 



563,326 



Cork city . . 



2,683 



100,658 



107,016 



80,7 20 



85,745 



Kerry . 



1,186,126 



216,185 



263,126 



293,880 



238,239 



Limerick . . . 



678,224 



218,432 



248,801 



281,633 



208,688 



Limerick city 



2,618 



59,045 



66,554 



48,391 



53,448 



Tipperaty . . , 



1,061,731 



346,896 



402,503 



435,553 



331,487 



Waterford 



460,884 



127,842 



148,233 



172,971 



138,754 



Waterford city . 



669 



28,679 



28,821 



23,216 



25,297 



Total of Munster 

 province . . , 



6,064,579 



1,935,612 



2,227,152 



2,396,161 



1,857,412 



nuter: — 













Antrim . 



743,881 



217,683 



268,685 



276,188 



251,381 



Belfust . . . 



1,872 



45,177 



48,224 



75,308 



100,300 



Carrickfergus 



16,700 



8,023 



8,706 



9,379 



8,520 



Armagh . . . 



328,070 



197,427 



220,134 



232,393 



196,085 



Caran . 



477,360 



195,076 



227,933 



243,158 



174,071 



Donegal , . . 



1,193,443 



248,270 



289,149 



296,448 



255,100 



Down , 



611,919 



325,410 



352,012 



361,446 



320,817 



Fermanagh . . 



457,195 



130,997 



149,763 



156,481 



116,007 



Londonderry . 



518,595 



193,869 



222,012 



222,174 



191,808 



Monaghan . . 



319,757 



174,697 



195,536 



200,442 



141,813 



Tyrone . 



Total of UUter) 

 province . . ) 



806,640 



261,805 



304,468 



312,956 



255,734 













3,475,438 



1,998,494 



2,286,622 



2,386,373 



2,011,756 



Connaagfat : — 













Galwny . . , 



1,565,726 



309,599 



381,564 



422,923 



298,136 



Galway town 



828 



27,775 



33,120 



17,275 



23,695 



I.eitrim . . . 



392,363 



124,785 



141,524 



155,297 



111,841 



Mayo . 



1,363,882 



293,112 



366,328 



388,887 



274,612 



Itoscommon , . 



607.691 



208,729 



249,613 



253,591 



173,417 



Sligo • 



461,753 



146,229 



171,765 



180,886 1 



128,510 



Total of Con- 

 naught province j 



Total of Ireland . 



4,392,043 



1,110,229 



1,343,914 



1,418,859 



1,010,211 

 6,551,970 



20,808,271 



6,801,827 



7,767,401 



8,175,124 



AgrioUture, Botany, Zoology, dec. — The extent of land under crops 

 in the years 1850-1853, with the nature of the produce, will be seen 

 from the following table : — 



Crops. 



1850. 



1851. 



1852. 



1853. 



Acres, 



Acres. 



Acres. 



Acres. 



Wheat 



Oats . . . , 

 Barley, Bere, Ilye, \ 

 Beuns, and Peas , . j 

 Potatoes . . 

 Turnips . . . . 

 Other Green Crops 

 Flax .... 

 Meadow and Clover 



604,867 

 2,142,596 



402,093 



875,357 



347,331 



94,884 



91,040 



1,200,124 



504,248 

 2,189,775 



405,378 



808,501 

 333,548 

 100,260 

 140,536 

 1,266,699 



353,566 

 2,283,449 



339,591 



876,532 

 356,790 

 121,565 

 137,008 

 1,270,713 



327,254 

 2,156,674 



349,017 



897,774 

 399,335 

 120,561 

 174,423 

 1,270,309 



Total . 



5,758,292 



5,858,951 



5,739,214 



5,695,347 



