GAEBALLY. 9 



some with the short-horn, some with the Hereford, and 

 some with the Ayrshire breeds. Generally they were 

 prime cattle, and in fine condition for fattening off 

 either on pasture or in the stall. 



Ballinasloe seems a very thriving town. The houses 

 are good, and the churches and other public buildings 

 handsome and substantial. It must be much benefited 

 by the influx of people attending the fairs, and it has 

 also the advantage of a careful resident landlord, the 

 Earl of Clancarty. 



At Garbally, his lordship's residence, I met Lords 

 Howth, Monk, Dunsandle, the Bishop of Tuam, and 

 several other gentlemen ; all of whom seemed much 

 interested in farming, and possessed of a good practical 

 knowledge of it. Lord Clancarty mentioned the case 

 of one of his tenants, holding 20 acres, who, notwith- 

 standing the times, managed, by house -feeding and green 

 crops, to dower his daughters handsomely, besides ful- 

 filling all his other engagements. 



From Ballinasloe to Aughrim, six miles, after pass- 

 ing Lord Clancarty's demesne, the land is thin and poor. 

 Beyond that to Loughrea, fourteen miles, it becomes very 

 fine, mostly in grass, and much of it in need of draining. 

 The crops of thistles on the pastures are most luxuriant, 

 and flourish undisturbed. Having viewed the country 

 in this direction, I returned to Ballinasloe, and left next 

 morning for Holly mount by Bianconi's four-horse car. 



Shortly after leaving the town, the road passes through 

 an extensive bog, beyond which the first village reached 

 is Ahascrag, where the appearance of a man in authority, 

 clothed in blue, with sundry stripes of red braid on his 



