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MECCA. 



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N. from Dublin. It containa a neat parish church, a large Roman 

 Catholic chapel, and a dispensary. There is here a remarkable Danish 

 mound called the Moat of Ratoath. Fairs are held in the Tillage 

 on April 18th, June let, and November 20th. 



Slane, population 526, a market- and post-town, is pleasantly situated 

 on the left bank of the Boyne, 16 miles N.N.E. from Trim, and 

 28 miles N.N.W. from Dublin. The town consists generally of neat 

 modem houses, and contains a parish church with a handsome spire, 

 a Roman Catholic chapel, and a dispensary. In early ages Slane was 

 the seat of a bishopric. Slane Castle, the seat of the Marquis of 

 Conyngham, is on the bank of the river just above the town. In the 

 grounds are a large chapel and lofty tower forming the remains of 

 an abbey, founded in 1512 on the site of an earlier structure. There 

 IB a group of tumuli at New Orange a short way down the river ; the 

 largest is a mound 70 feet high, having at the top an irregular area, 

 SCO feet in circumference. This mound, when opened, was found to 

 conceal the entrance to a gallery leading to a remarkable excavation 

 or cavern. Petty sessions are held monthly. Fairs are held on 

 the 2nd of April, June, and September, and on November 8th. 



SummerhUl, population 208, about 6 miles S.S.E. from Trim, and 22J 

 miles N.N.AV. from Dublin, is formed on a regular plan, and contains 

 some well-built houses, a Roman Catholic chapel, and a dispensary. 

 Adjoining the town is the demesne of Snmmerhillj the property of 

 Lord Langford. Petty sesiiiona are held in the town monthly, and 

 fairs four times a year. 



Tara, Tarah, or Taragh, population 122, is situated on the east side 

 of the hill of Tara, 23 miles N.W. from Dublin. The parish church, 

 built in 1823, forms a conspicuous object on the summit of the hill. 

 Up to the close of the 6th century, it is said the kings, clergy, and 

 bards of Ireland assembled every third year at the hill of Tara to 

 settle the aflkirs of the kingdom, and elect a supreme ruler. In this 

 neighbourhood the Danes were defeated in 980. Roderick, the last 

 native king of Ireland collected his forces here before attacking the 

 English at Dublin. In IS89, O'Neill aasembled his troops at Tnra 

 Hill after laying waste the surrounding country, and in 1798 it 

 was the scene of a skirmish between the insurgents and a detach- 

 ment of fencibles. On the summit of the bill is a pillar stone, 

 regarded by some as the coronation stone of the ancient kings of 

 Ireland. 



Meath returns two members to the Imperial Parliament. The 

 county IB in the dioccse of Meath, with portions in Armagh and 

 Kilmore. It is in the home circuit The assizes are held at Trim, 

 where the county prison is. There are bridewells at Trim, Navan, 

 and Kells. Quarter-sessions are held at each of these towns and at 

 Duleek and Dunshaughlin. Petty -sessions are held in 17 places. 

 There are savings banks at ReUs and Navan ; the deposits on 

 November 20th 1853 amounted to 22,3 tU. 17«. Id. The county is 

 in the military district of Dublin, lliere arc barrack stations at 

 Navan and Trim. The constabulary force, consisting of 466 men 

 and officers, haa its head-quarters at Navan. In September 18S2, there 

 were 144 national schools in operation, attended by 7092 male and 

 7038 female children. 



Hittory and Antiquitlet. — Meath appears to have been included by 

 Ptolemsus in the territory of the Blainii, or Kbiani, a nation whose 

 sway extended over the counties of Dublin and Wicklow. At an early 

 period Meath constituted one of the kingdoms into which Ireland 

 was divided, and comprehended, it is likely, not only the present 

 counties of Meath and Vr'e.ttmeath, but also the whole or part of 

 those of Longford, Cavan, and King's County. Teamor, now Tarah 

 Hill, near the Boyne, between Dunshaughlin and Navan, was the 

 residence of the sovereign of Ireland, and the place where St. Patrick 

 made his first eBbrta for the conversion of the Irish to Christianity. 

 After the sovereignty of Ireland became a merely nominal supremacy, 

 the kings of Meath constituted one of the two lines of the great 

 family of the Hy-Nialls, by which the general goremment was 

 alternately possessed. 



In the mvasions of the Northmen or Danes, the kingdom of Meath 

 suffered severely. For several centuries it was exposed to their 

 ravages, or to those of the Irish princes, with whom the kings of 

 Meath were at war. 



At the English invasion, Richard, earl of Strigul or Chepstow, 

 commonly called Strongbow, took possession of Meath in 1171, which 

 was conferred by Henry II. as a county palatine on Hugh de Lacy. 

 In the general rebellion excited in the reign of Henry 11., Meath was 

 preserved to the English by the valour of William Petit, who defeated 

 the Irish invaders in 1186. The power of one of the Do Laoys, who 

 had been created Earl of Ulster, having excited the jealousy of John, 

 that king visited Ireland in 1 21 0, and spent some months in reducing 

 the fortresses in Meath and Ulster. The county was very much 

 disturbed for upwards of 100 yearn afterwards. The native Irish 

 repeatedly renewed their incursions, and in 1329 the English, under 

 Loril Thomas Butler, stutaincd a severe defeat from them near 

 Mullin(;ar in W'estrneatli. Richard, duke of York, Lord-Deputy in 

 the ri igu of Henry VI., erected castles along the border of Meath 

 and other countiis in order to repress them. 



At the close of the reign of Henry VIII. the ancient county of 

 Meath was divided; and West Meath, including the present counties 

 of Westmeath and langford, and part of King's County, was erected 



Into a separate county. Cavan, which was partly formed out of 

 Meath, was erected into a separate county by Sir John Perrot, Lord- 

 Deputy in the reign of Elizabeth. In the great rebellion of 1641 Trim 

 was entered by the Englisli troops, who designed to make it a mifitary 

 post; and an attempt of the Irish in 1642 to surprise the garrison 

 was defeated by a bold and successful sally. Sir Charles Coote, one 

 of the best officers of the English, and commander of the garrison, 

 fell in the action. In 1647 Trim was unsuccessfully besieged by the 

 insurgents under General Preston. It served as a place of retreat to 

 some of the Royalists on their defeat at Rathmines, near Dublin, in 

 1649 ; but after the storming of Drogheda, and the massacre of the 

 garrison by CromweU, Trim was surrendered by the Royalists without 

 resistance. 



The battle of the Boyne was fought close upon the border of this 

 county, between Drogheda and Slane. The two armies subsequently 

 crossed the county from north to south. In the rebellion of 1798 some 

 outrages were committed in the county by a party of insurgents,, and a 

 body of about 4000 men took post on Tara Hill, where they were 

 defeated with considerable slaughter by the troops and yeomanry. 



There are several remains of antiquity in the county. At 'farah, 

 or Tai-agh, once the seat of the Irish monarchs, are considerable 

 earthworks. Two splendid torques, or collars of pure gold, were dug 

 up here in 1813. There are considerable ruins of the castles of Scor- 

 logestown, Dumnoe, Athlumney, and Asigh. Slane Castle and one or 

 two others have been fitted up aa residences. There are round towers 

 at KelU and at Donoughmoro near Navan. There are numerous 

 interesting ruins of ancient monastic edifices, particularly those of 

 the monastery at Duleek, which present some remarkable traces of 

 rude architecture. The ruins of Bective Abbey ai-e extensive and 

 picturesque. 



The diocese of Meath is in the province of Armagh : it comprehends 

 nearly the whole of the counties of Meath and Westmeath, a large part 

 of King's County, and small portions of CaVan, Longford, and Kildare. 

 The bishop of Meath takes precedence of all the bishops. The only 

 dignitaries are the archdeacon of Meath and the dean of Clonmacnoise. 

 The income of the diocese of Meath and Clonmaouoise is 406Si. Pre- 

 vious to 1162 the ancient sees of Clonard, Fore, Trim, Dunshaughlin, 

 Slane, and Arrlbraccan, withjsomo smaller sees, were consolidated into 

 the diocese of Meath, the seat of which was fixed at Clonard. Duleek, 

 Kells, and Clonmacnoise were afterwards added to the diocese, the 

 seat of which was transferred about 1206 to Newtown Abbey near 

 Trim. 



MEAUX. [Seine-et-Mabse.] 



MEXICA, a oity in Arabia, capital of the Hedjaz, and the birth-place 

 of Mohamme<l, is situated in about 21° 80' N. lat., 40° 20' E. long., 

 and 70 miles ft«m the Red Sea, in a sandy valley running north and 

 south, and from 100 to 700 paces broad. The chief part of the city is 

 placed where the valley is widest. In the narrower part are single 

 rows of houses only or detached shops. The town itself covers a 

 space of about 1 600 paces in length, but the whole extent of ground 

 comprehended imder the donomination of Mecca amounts to 3500 

 paces in length. The heights that screen the valley are from 200 to 

 800 feet in height, barren and destitute of trees. Most of the town 

 is situated in the valley itself, but thero are some parts built on the 

 mdes of the hills. 



The streets are in general broader than those of eastern cities, for 

 the purpose of accommodating the vast number of pilgrims who 

 resort to it. The houses are lofty and of stone ; and the numerous 

 windows that face the streets give to these quite a European aspect. 

 Many of the houses are three stories high. In Mecca it was necessary 

 to leave the passages wide for the visitors who crowd hero. 



The only public place in the boily of the town is the large square 

 of the gre.it mosque, which is enlivened during the Hadj (Pilgrimage) 

 by a great number of well-stored shops. The streets are all uupaved, 

 and in summer the sand and dust are as great a nuisance as the mud 

 is in the rainy season, during which they are scarcely passable after a 

 shower. 



Mecca is badly provided with water; there are few cisterns for 

 receiving rain, and the well-water is brackish. The famous well of 

 Zemzem in the gieat mosque is indeed copious enough to supply the 

 whole town, but tlie water is not well tasted. The best water is 

 brought by an aqueduct from the vicinity of Arafat, six or seven hours 

 distant. There are two places in the interior of the city where the 

 aqueduct i:uns above ground, and in these parts it is let off into small 

 channels or fountains, at which some slaves of the Shcrif are stationed 

 to exict a toll from persons who fill their water-skins. 



All the houses in Mecca except those of the principal and richest 

 inhabitants are constructed for the accommodation of lodgers, and 

 divided into nnmerous separate apartments, each consisting of a 

 sitting-room and a small kitchen. Except four or five houses belonging 

 to the Sherif, two ' medresa,' or colleges, and the mosque, Mecca lias 

 no public edifices of any importance. 



The mosque, called Beitullah (Uod's House), or El Haram, is only 

 remarkable for the Kaaba, or Holy House, which it incloses. The 

 Knaba stands in an oblong square, surrounded by colonnades ; on the 

 east there are four rows of pillars, and on the other sides only three. 

 The pillars are united by iminted arches, every four of which support s 

 small dome, plastered and whitened on the ontside. The number of 



