Book I. 



AGRICULTURE OF SLIGO. 



1159 



icm. ROSCOMMON. 556,847 acres of flat surface, in some places sprinkled with rocks, and, in many, 

 interrupted by extensive bogs ; the richest land on limestone, and adapted either for aration or pasture 

 {Wakefield. Sup. Eiicyc. Brit.) 



Coal and iron works were formerly carried on, but are now 

 neglected. 



Estates were once very large ; but they have been broken 

 <lown in some instances, by the granting of leases in perpetuity ; 

 a practice which has given rise to a class of landholders, inter- 

 posed between a few great i)roprietors on the one hand, and a 

 numerous body of cultivators on the other. 



Some of the best long-homed cattle and long-wooUed sheep 

 in Ireland fed, but there are few dairies. During the late war, 

 its line green pastures, under this management, afforded a very 

 ample rent, and tillage was therefore conducted on a small 



scale ; but the plough has been more in request since the peace 

 both here and m oUier parts of Ireland ; and the soil of sucfi 

 rich grazing lands, requiring nothing more than the common 

 operations of tillage to yield large crops, the growth of com 

 throughout Ireland has heen greatly increased ; yet, within 

 these few years, agriculture was here in a very backward state. 

 " In Roscommon," says Wakefield, " I hear'd of horses being 

 yoked to the plough by the tail, but I had not an opportunity of 

 seeing this curious practice. 1 was, however, assured by Dean 

 French, that it is still common with two year-old colts in the 

 spring." Potatoes, oats, and flax, are the principal crops. 



7095. G ALWAY. 1,659,520 acres of varied surface ; above a third part bogs, mountains, and lakes, 

 and very unproductive and thinly inhabited. {Button's Survey of Galvuay, 1824. Wakefield. Sup. 

 Encyc. Brit., Sfc.) 



The east part of the county is flat, warm, and fertile ; with 

 many seats, though none of note. Rivers and lakes abound. 

 Lough Reagh and Lough Coutra are fine pieces of water ; the 

 latter is said to possess all the beauties that hills, woods, and 

 islands, can impart to that feature of landscape. 



Several large estates, affording an income of from SOOOf. to 

 10,000/. a year, and upwards. One of these, the most exten- 

 sive in the British Isles, stretches cUong the sea-coast for seventy 

 miles. Only a small portion is held by absentees. A full third 

 of the land is let on partnership leases, to an indefinite number 

 of persons, very often twenty, who by law are joint tenants, and 

 entitled to the benefit of survivorship. The leases are com- 

 monly for three lives, or thirty-one years. " These people," 

 says Wakefield, " divide the land and give jrortions to their 

 children, which consist of a fourth or a fifth of what they call 

 a man's share,' that is, of the land which originally belonged 

 to one name in the lease. A certain portion of the whole 

 farm, or take, as it is styled, is approptiated for tillage, and 

 this portion is then divided uito lots, perhaps twenty or tliirty. 

 These lots are again subdivided into fields, which are parti- 

 tioned into small lots, each partner obtaining one or two 

 ridges ; but these ridges do not continue in the hands of the 



same occupiBT longer [than the time they are in tillage. The 

 pasture is held; in common ; and the elders of the village are 

 the legislators, who establish such regulations as may be judged 

 proper for their community, and settle all disputes that arise 

 among them. Their houses stand close to each other, and 

 form what is here called a village." 



The cattle of Galtvay are long-homed, and of an excellent 

 description, fully equal, in the opinion of Wakefield, to any in 

 England. But sheep form the most valuable part of their "live 

 stock ; " some of the first flocks in the world, " says the same 

 writer, " are to be found in this county." The crops are the 

 s^me as in other parts of Ireland, but potatoes are not cul- 

 tivated to so great an extent. They plant potatoes on an oat 

 stubble, or on ley that has been burned or manured, and follow 

 with wheat, bear or barley, or oats ; the latter kind of grain is 

 not unfi-equently taken after wheat and barley. Paring and 

 burning the soil is very common. The greater part of the rent 

 of some of the estates on the shore is paid &om kelp, which is 

 prepared in large quantities. 



In common with the greater part of Ireland, Galway em- 

 ploys some of its people in the linen manufacture, and it seems 

 to be the only manufacture in it worth notice. 



7096. MAYO. 1,496,460 acres, in great part mountains, bogs, and lakes ; half heathy mountains, with 

 vallies very fertile, but neither woods nor plantations, excepting on one or two estates. (M'Parlari's Sur- 

 vey of Mayo, 1802. Wakefield. Sup. Encyc. Brit.) 



Many valuable fossils : iron formerly made, but discontinued 

 for want of fuel. Excellent slate ; and jietrosilex semilucidus 

 similar to what is used in the EngUsh potteries. 



The estates worth from 70001. to 20,000/. a year ; but their 

 extent, owing to their containing a great proportion of waste 

 land, is still greater than in the ratio of their value. 



The size of farms varies with the nature of the soil and sur- 

 face, but, though several hundred acres are sometimes let out 

 in one farm, yet, as the farms are commonly held in partner- 

 ship, the space allotted to each tenant is generally only a few 

 acres. As each of them keeps a horse, it is computed that there 

 is one for every ten or twelve Irish acres. The leases are for 

 different periods, iifteen years, twenty-one yejirs, and one, two, 

 and sometimes three lives, or thirty -one years. 



Af^culture is in a very backward state. The plough com- 

 monlv drawn by four horses abreast, is of the worst description, 

 and the harrows are often furnished with tines of wood, instead 



of iron. It is still the practice, in the mountain district, to 

 yoke the horses by the tail. But, in some of the baronies, the 

 plough is seldom or never employed at all, the tillage being per- 

 formed by the spade ; and in others they use the spade in culti- 

 vating potatoes, and the plough only for com. Yet potatoes, 

 oats, and,i on the sea coast, barley, are sown to a considerable 

 extent, and also flax. Wheat is cultivated only in particular 

 spots, and chiefly by proprietors, a few of whom liave also intro- 

 duced turnips, pease, beans, rape, and cabbage. There is some 

 excellent grazing land for cattle in the barony of Tyrawley, 

 and good sheep pastures in Kilmain. Some graziers hold 3000 

 Irish acres. The English long-homed cattle, which were im- 

 ported by the principal proprietors, have greatly improved the 

 native breed. 



The habitation of the laborers, or cottars, are in general 

 very wretched, and shared by them with their cow and pig. 



7097. LEITRIM. 386,560 acres, one half bog, waste, and water, and the remainder dark fertile soil, 

 incumJjent on limestone. {M' Parian's Survey of Leitrim, 1802. ffalcefield. Sup. Encyc. Brit.) 



Coal, ironstone, lead, copper, &c. are found, but not worked. 



Estates large, and nearly all the great proprietors are ab- 

 sentees. The leases are commonly for three lives, or thirty-one 

 \ears. Agriculture is here in a very low state. . The tillage 

 farms are small, seldom exceeding fifty or sixty acres, and these 

 are almost always subdivided among a number of tenants. The 

 plough is very little used. The most common implement is the 

 lov, a kind of spade eighteen inches long, about tour inches 

 broad at the bottom, and five or six inches at the top, where it 

 is furnished with a wooden handle about five feet long. The 

 first two crops are potatoes, which are followed by flax, and 

 then oats for one or more years. Clovers and other green crops 

 are unknown in the ])ractice of the tenantry. The county 

 raises grain and imtatoes sufficient for its own consumption, 

 but exports very little of either. Its cattle have been much 

 improved by the introduction of English breeds, to which 

 some of those now bred and reared in it are said to he not in- 

 ferior. There are no considerable deuries, yet a good deal of 



butter is made throughout the district. The sheep are of the 

 native race, small, and but few in number. 



About the beginning of the eighteenth century, Leitrim is 

 said to have been almost a continued forest. There is now lit- 

 tle wood in it, and no considerable plantations. The proprie- 

 tors, however, have of late paid some attention to this method 

 of improvement, and several large nurseries have been esta- 

 blished for the sale of forest and other trees. 



There are several bleachfields, and some coarse potteries ; 

 and a number of people are employed in weaving. But the 

 linen made here, as well as the coarse woollen goods, is chiefly 

 for the use of the inhabitants themselves. The houses of the 

 lower classes are of the worst description ; even the more re- 

 cently erected farm buildings, including a little bam and cow- 

 house, do not cost more than ten or twelve pounds. Turf is 

 their only fuel, and ))otatoes and oaten bread the chief articles 

 of food, meat being used on extraordinary occasions only. 



7098. SLIGO. 465,280 acres, a third part bogs, mountains, and waters, and the remainder fit for tillage 

 or grazing. {M'Parlan's Survey of Sligo, 1802. Wakefield. Sup. Encyc. Brit.) 



The subsoil of a considerable tract a grey flag, provincially 

 leaclea, unfavorable to vegetation. Numerous streams and 

 lakes ; the wooded islands and scenery around Lough (iill, very 

 striking. On the Sligo and Moy, considerable salmon fisheries ; 

 trouts abound, and white fish on the shores. 



EsUUes of almost every size. A few are worth from 500/. 

 to 9000/. a year; yet, a considerable proportion of the county is 

 dividetl into small properties. The principal proprietors are 

 absentees. Farms vary in size, from three Irish acres to 5(X) ; 

 the larger farms, however, are not held by individual tenants, 

 but in partnership. The leases are for thirty-one years and 

 three lives ; and, in some instances, for sixty-one years and 

 three lives, l)eing, in'general, longer here than in other narts of 

 Ireland. Tillage-farming is still in* a very backward state. 

 The i)lough is workwl by three or four horses yoked abreast, 

 directed by a man who walks backwards before them. Oats, 



4 



barley, and potatoes, are the principal crops. Of the two for- 

 mer, a great proportion is consumed in illicit distillation, 

 which, within these few years, was carried on in almost every 

 part of the county. It was to the sale of the spirits that many 

 of the small tenants looked as the means of paying their rents. 

 In some parts, both cattle and sheep are ke^it in considerable 

 numbers, and a great deal of butter is exportetl from the town 

 of Sligo ; but the land occupied in this way bears but a small 

 proportion to the whole ; to grow com being' the princiiial ob- 

 ject. Limestone and limestone-gravel, which are in abundance 

 in most places, are in general use as manures ; also marl, and, 

 on the coast, sea- weeds. 



The mumifactures for export are linen, salt, and kelp. 

 ' The cabins, food, fuel, and clothing of the lower classes, seem 

 to be as uncomfortable as in any of the Irish counties. 



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